Death Do Us Part

5 - Gone Missing?

Ed opened the door to see two police officers standing in his entrance, one with a notebook and pen in hand. It'd been a week since he last spoke to Mistie, having stayed in contact with her for well over three months after the first night of their... Drunken endeavours. She texted him every morning, talked through the day between his work and her school, and would always end the night with a long message to say goodnight, but lately? Ed hadn't heard from her.
"Mr. Edison? May we ask you a few questions about a Mistie Monroe?" The taller police officer who was standing directly in front of him boomed. Ed blinked, nodding timidly as he stepped aside and invited them in. They walked by while Ed took a handkerchief out and patted his forehead, beginning to sweat. Oh god, Mist, please be safe. Ed's thoughts were screaming as he tried his best to compose himself. If he kept being so nervous like this, he may be accused of kidnapping her or murdering her.
"There's no need to be nervous, sir. You are in no trouble, we just know you and miss Monroe were quite close," the taller officer stood in front of the couch while his colleague sat and held her pen to the pad, ready to jot down a summary of the upcoming conversation, "the messages between the two of you are a dead giveaway of how close you were to her exactly. She thought the world of you and we just want to know if she had mentioned anything to you about a runaway plan?" Ed's ear twitched at the word.
"R-runaway?" He sat for a minute, deep in his thoughts, "I uh, I do remember the first night I met her; she seemed reluctant to go home, due to a lot of parental issues. I didn't think she would run away without notifying anyone first," Ed confessed, "could I interest you two in a cup of coffee or tea?" The two cops declined his offer and as Ed adjusted the collar of his shirt, he gulped hard and began to worry more about the missing Mistie.

As the stars danced in the sky, Mistie continued ahead, tears streaming down her cheeks. With a soft whimper, she kept her eyes open for any sign of shelter. The wind gently passed through the leaves as she shivered, the one sweater she'd packed being wet due to the earlier rain that she had to walk through. Mistie stopped and looked around, darkness interfering with her vision while her eyes strained to see if the abandoned barn was anywhere near. She had to be close, it was never too far from her memory of when her parents used to take her to picnics this way. Those memories stung Mistie as she felt her eyes begin to well with tears. How'd things end up being so shitty?
That all began with dear old mother. Mistie remembers always hating her mother because she'd always get sent to her room every night when mother would have her  so-called 'friends' over while dad was away on his business trips that would last for a few days. Dad really loved mother and dealt with the fact his own wife was cheating on him with numerous guys. It wasn't until he'd found the needles and pills in one of her drawers that he discovered the real reason she'd been sleeping around. He had confronted her one evening shortly after supper, which he'd made that night and little Mistie always knew from the start that when daddy makes supper, she is to go to her room immediately. Her parents, however, got into a very bad disagreement that night and it ended with her mother completely disappearing for the next several years of Mistie's life. When she'd shown up at the door one day, ribs basically showing and clothes torn and tattered, Mistie barely recognized her.
"Daaaad! There's a very sick looking lady at the door!" Mistie called as fast as her eyes met this bag of bones at the door. Her father saw the woman and his face turned white as he told Mistie to go to her room. Later that night, Mistie learned what her mother really was and why she never saw her anymore. After that day though, her mother would stop by all the time and her dad would always have to get rid of the whore each and every time. She was living on the streets, nobody wanted her anymore so she decided to crawl her way back to him, for another shot that dad refused her of every single time. This year had been horrible because her mother found them again even after they'd moved an entire country away this time. So the fights began all over again, and this led Mistie to finally run away, despite having to leave her newfound happiness behind. Eddie may be way out of her league but she was absolutely taken to the stars with him. Spending nights at his place when she needed away from home for the millionth time that week was her favourite thing to do whenever she had the chance and permission. Or late at night, she'd just disappear from home and end up in bed with Ed the next morning. Ed was fine with it, so long as dear ol' dad knew where she was, and of course Ed had met her father, but that's a story for another time.
Mistie soon reached a small old barn, tears and remnants of raindrops dripping down her cheeks as she slowly and carefully found a dry, sheltered corner, placing the few items she had brought along with her in a safe spot. Taking one final look around her, she decided that this was a safe enough place to take a bit of a rest and as she allowed her eyes to flutter closed, she was really hoping nobody would find out where she had run off to.