Missing Persona

Chapter 2

     Aliyah… How could she be?... After all this time. Someone else had to be doing this. Someone found her phone and was doing this as a prank. A horrible prank. Yes, that has to be it. I can’t unlock my phone, my hands have forgotten how to work. Six hundred and seventy-eight messages. I can’t get my hopes up, not to have them be destroyed again. Open the phone dummy. Yeah… Yeah I have to check.

      I finally unlock my phone and go to my messages. The first text is from September 24, 2016. The day she didn’t return home. Exactly a year ago.

Im sorry about this morning, I didnt mean 2 sound so harsh.

I wont be back until 10pm Ill explain everything then.

     She was going to come back! So it really wasn’t that she ran away. The police had started saying that when they first started the case. Eventually they had ruled it out because she hadn’t taken any money or clothes, but I had never discarded the possibility. I knew Aliyah and when she wanted something done she got it done. The time stamp from the next text is dated September 25, 2016; a day after.

I couldnt return. Theres something Im working on. Its very special.

I dont know when Im coming back

But dont worry.

    So at first she did run away. Although she wouldn’t call it that. Ali would just say she was a bit late, even if she came back after a week. I keep on reading. The date on this text message says this was sent a week later.

Things arent going so well.

There have been a couple of setbacks.

Ive just realized you arent getting these because the little sent symbols arent appearing.

Oh well.

     I keep on reading. The texts from that day forward were just little status updates. Things like:

Its getting colder here.

or

I just saw the cutest cat.

     Eventually she does elaborate more. She starts doing this almost three months after she ran away.

Im starting to doubt this Werner.

Theres this new guy on our team.

I haven’t told you Im on a team.
…
Well Im on a team but you probably figured that out already.

He doesnt seem right.

I have a bad feeling.

     The messages stop for two weeks after that. What was she doing? Who was this team she was talking about? I mean I never thought she was truly on her own. Most of the times I just thought of the worst case scenario. I start to get even more worried. I need to know more.