Chapter One

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Chapter One

            Amelia woke with a start at the sound of an airship passing by her window. Her dream still played through her head, clinging to her mind and refusing to give her peace. The sound of the airship flying away and her sister’s voice echoed through her brain. Amelia curled into herself and waited for the dream to fade.

            Dreams of her sister’s disappearance haunted her, especially today. TodayElizabethhad been missing for six years. Amelia’s body shook trying to hold in her tears. She wouldn’t appear weak. She couldn’t afford to. AfterElizabethwent missing, Amelia joined the police force in hopes to find her sister. Amelia was relentless in her search. She scoured the town for any clues, questioned every family within a two-block radius of her home and discovered so many clues the police didn’t know what to do with all of them.

            Amelia rose from her bed to inspect her clue wall. An intricate collage of pictures, news articles, and strings covered the wall opposite her bed. Her Uncle once asked her why she placed it there. Those pictures must haunt her at night. But to Amelia, it was what got her going in the morning. Looking at the photos did not keep her up; they drove her to keep going.

            One of the recurring pictures was of their most crucial evidence, the black ‘X’ on the children’s hands. Amelia stared at her board hoping answers would come. Gently she grasped a red string and ran the length of it between a picture of a small girl and a picture of her hand. Tracing it further took her from the ‘X’ to a witness report of when the girl was found.

            “I was out one night trying to catch my cat after she climbed out the window and I just saw her standing in the middle of the road. She was wearing a beautiful white dress with lace around it and buttons up the front and a note pinned to the front. She had a vacant look but when she saw me, she seemed to realize where she was and started crying.”

            Amelia read the report for the hundredth time and traced the string to the note on her dress.

            “To whom it may concern,

            While I’m sure you child is a delight at home, I must return her. She simply does not fit with my plans. I assure you she is unharmed.

            Yours Truly, the Puppet Master”

            Amelia let her mind wander to the name. “The Puppet Master.” Her mind reeled with reasons. He obviously had some sort of superiority complex. He wanted attention. He wanted to be known yet not found. She traced the string yet again to the statement from the victim.

            “(This is the report of Officer Amelia Wells.) M’name’s Maggie Temple and I’m 3. H-he came to my window and told me he could take me to a fun place. And then he drew this on my hand. (The victim holds her hand up to show me the black ‘X.’) And he left. He came back every night and then brought me with him.”

            Amelia looked to her hand written notes attached to the same string.

“The child Maggie Temple told me that the ‘Puppet Man’ tried to make her join his sister but she says that the sister wouldn’t take her and he brought her back. She seems delusional. Her statement makes little sense and further interviews revealed nothing else. More information is required.”

            Amelia sighed. Dead end’s covered her wall. At least seven children had been returned over the years. The one’s that came back always showed up three days after they had been taken. For Amelia, those were the worst days. The morning they disappeared, the families would rush to the police station. They were always crying, and always sent to Amelia’s department. They would tell her everything she already knew. Their daughters were missing with no sign. The window was open and the child’s favorite toy was gone. It seemed he liked them to take something with them to remind them of home. Amelia would tell them what they were dealing with and that there was a chance that she would be returned. Amelia would watch as the families faces filled with hope. They would have police in and out of their homes, looking for clues that wouldn’t be there. Amelia would be on edge for all three of those days. She knew if they returned it would mean happy days and more confusion as to why they were returned. But if the weren’t, well that meant there was one more child they would never find.

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