Elizabeth Black's (Charlie's mom) pov.
I feel my phone buzzing vigorously in my dress pants pocket. I quickly excused myself from my meeting. Despite the fact that the meeting was an extremely important one, I had more important things on my mind. The call could only possibly be from 4 people; my husband Ben, my daughter Charlotte's (Charlie) school, the police, or Charlie herself.
Three days earlier
"Honey, where is Charlie?" Ben asked his faced all scrunched up in confusion on why Charlie wasn't in home yet.
"Ben she's probably stayed after today." I replied reassuringly. Something was wrong I could sense it. I shifted uncomfortably in my coffee brown recliner. The house phone then exploded the silence with a single ring. Ben picked it up in hopes that it was Charlie asking for a ride home from school, or asking for permission to stay at a friends for the night.
"Hello?" Ben answered. "Mhmm.....mhmmm...... WHAT??!?!?!?!?!?!??!?" He bellowed harshly and dropped the phone.
"BEN! What's the matter, Where's Charlie!?! Where's my baby?!" I pleaded. "She went to school today didn't she?" I called down to Ben as I ran up to find her bright lime green room was abandon, and there was a small pile of books and her book bag flopped down carelessly on her bed. I collapsed on the floor and sobbed at the foot of my missing daughter's bed. Both Ben and I leave for work before Charlie get up for school. She wakes up on her own and gets herself ready for school and her Aunt Carrie (My sister) brings her to school. I got a text today saying Charlie would have to catch a ride from the bus because she had to go early this morning. For all we know Charlie could have been missing since this morning. I felt an easy breeze rustle my hair, and I looked up to see the window wide open. Or last night! I suddenly had a flash back from the night before, the conversation I had with Matthew and Charlie about my father. MY FATHER!!!! That was the answer!
"Ben!!!! Dad's house!!!" I yelled as I sped down the stairs. "She probably ran to My Dad's house after our argument last night." I hurriedly explained as Ben and I hopped in the car to drive to Conner Bailey's house to find her. But no such luck.
Presently
"Hello?!" I answered anxiously.
(from over the phone) "Hi, Mrs. Black? This is officer Kerrigan Newman. As we were searching through your father's house in order to find clues leading to your missing child and father, and we found the door to the attic was open. We went up and found nothing except for and old emerald covered book called The Land of Stories lying in the middle of the floor. It is all dusty and we found some finger prints on it. We checked and they were Charlie's finger prints. It doesn't give us many clues other than she read the book recently. Do you know anything about the book that may inspire her to go somewhere or do something?"
"Um, Yes actually. My father and daughter had a very close connection and he would read her the stories in the book."
(from over the phone) "Could you tell us anything more about that night, anything that may have to do with the book."
I sighed. I had been debating on if I should tell the police about the weird stories that Charlie was telling me the night before she disappeared. I was scary on how well her tale fit in with her missing. But there is NO such thing as MAGIC!!! There just can't be, can there?
