The Darkest Days

104. Little Princess

Green Cally, Korland

Kristen's phone rang and she placed her pencil down. She searched for her phone between the sketches that she had been drawing all afternoon.

"Hello?"

"Hello. Am I speaking to Kristen Middleton? Kylie Middleton's guardian?"

"Yes. May I know who this is?"

"I'm speaking from the Modern Secondary School. Kylie hasn't been attending any of her classes since a month. Nobody has called to inform about her absence either-"

"I'm sorry, I think there's some mixup. Kylie has regularly been going to school."

"Ma'am, there's no mixup. She is the only student with such a low attendance. Do you drop her to school yourself?"

Kristen frowned. "No, I- I used to but this year she started taking the school bus."

"Can you let me know her stop? I'll need to talk to the teachers on that route."

"Y-Yes, she gets on at Low Hill."

"Alright. I'll call you in a few minutes and let you know what I learn."

"Yes. Thank you."

Kristen hung up and her lips parted at the realization of what was being implied.

"Jake! Jake, come down!" She called.

When no reply came, she hurried to his room.

"Jake! I've been yelling your nam-"

She stormed into his room to find him reading a book with earphones in.

She exhaled and then tapped his shoulder.

He turned around. His eyes widened and he quickly removed his earphones. "What happened? You look-"

"Kylie. You always walk her till her stop, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Do you stay till she gets on?"

"Of course not. I have my bus to catch, too. I hurry back home. Most of the time the bus is already here by the time I reach. If I stay there with her, I'd be-"

"So ever since we moved here, you haven't seen Kylie get on the bus."

"Um, no. Why?"

Kristen sighed loudly. "This girl. Where did she say she's going today?"

"Some Mina's house."

Kristen immediately called Mina's mother since she knew them.

After hanging up with the mother, Kristen's eyes narrowed. Immediately after, the school called back.

"Ma'am, Kylie hasn't even been boarding the bus. She's never present at the bus stop."

"I'm sorry but I knew nothing about it. I'll make sure I talk to Kylie. Thank you for letting me know."

Kristen hung up and Jake raised his eyebrow. "What's going on, mom?"

"Kylie has been lying that she's going to school. When you leave her, she leaves the stop and God knows goes where for seven hours."

"What?" Jake stood up. "So she's not at Mina's?"

"Not according to Mina's mother. She hasn't seen Kylie in long."

"Oh, my God. Where is she then!"

****

After frantically trying to find Kylie for an hour, it occurred to Kristen that maybe Kylie had not run away, but maybe she got into trouble with a reporter or some fan of her sisters.