Everyone has that one person in their lives who would light up a room just by entering. You can't help but smile when they do. My sister was like that. I was eight when she was born. For a while, I resented my parents for having another kid. I enjoyed being an only child. The thought of sharing my parents and everything I owned with this monster in my mom angered me. How dare this thing just pop up and take them away from me. On the days leading up to her birth, they sat me down and told me they wouldn't love me any less. It was going to be a tough couple of months, but it would be fine. They were right.
My sister was born three days later on November 25th. My father took me to see them the day after she was born. Mom called me over to her side, but I just stood in the doorway, terrified. Dad put his hand on my shoulder and nudged me forward.
"It's ok," he said, "go meet Ruth." They had named her after our grandmother. I took a few tentative steps forward. Mom smiled at me and pushed the blankets away from the baby's face. She had the biggest green eyes I had ever seen. I didn't think she would be so tiny! From that moment on, I made sure I was the best big brother I could be.
She never really was a pain at home. Ruth rarely cried. She much preferred to laugh. Everywhere she went, she wanted to learn as much as possible. As soon as she was old enough, my parents sent her to school. From the day she was brought home, I was extremely protective of her. Nothing in the whole world was going to hurt her.
It all happened when she was nine. I was supposed to watch her that day. Our parents had gone up north to help our Uncle Paul move. I was seventeen, so they trusted me to watch her over the weekend. I was never the type of kid to throw crazy parties. I was very much a bookworm.
"Max!" Ruth shouted at my door. I mumbled something unintelligible in her general direction. "Max!" She shouted again, now pounding her fist on my door. I groaned and sat up, glancing at my clock. "For Christ's sake, it's only 8, give it a rest Ruth," I thought to myself. It was a warm saturday morning, close to summer. I shuffled to the door and pulled it open. Ruth stood there, her auburn hair was tied up and a pink clip held back her bangs.
"What?" I mumbled. Sleep still grasped at my soul.
"Can I go play soccer with Julie?" she spoke, words tumbling quickly out of her mouth. I sighed, all I wanted was a little more sleep, but apparently, that wasn't going to happen.
"Where are you playing?" I asked.
"Just out front," she replied.
"Yeah, go for it," I started, but she was already heading for the stairs. "Just make sure if you go anywhere, let me know!" I heard the door slam shut.
It was time to face the day, but my bed called to me. I wanted to cocoon myself in its blankets, and shut out the world. I don't know why I was so tired, I guess it was just one of those days. Before I even knew what I was doing, I was already back in bed. The tempting tendrils of sleep curled around me, and I was out.
I bolted upright in bed and turned my head to the clock. I had slept two extra hours. Under my breath, I cursed. I picked a shirt and a pair of pants up off the floor and threw them on. My feet thudded down the stairs. I grabbed a donut off the counter and opened the front door.
The soccer ball sat in the middle of the yard. My stomach turned, but I brushed it off. 'She probably just forgot to tell me she was going to Julie's,' I thought. I walked over to our garage and opened it up. I calmed down slightly when I saw her bike was gone. Julie lived too far away to walk, so the girls would bike to each other's house.
I still couldn't get rid of the lump in my stomach. Something didn't feel right.
Trying to shake it off, I went back into the kitchen, munching on the donut. I poured myself a tall glass of orange juice. I kept telling myself she was fine. She would realize she forgot to let me know and would call me soon. I finished the juice and set the glass in the sink. That's when I caught it out of the corner of my eye.
Ruth's bike was in the backyard.
My face went pale. I jumped to my phone, dialing Julie's home phone. The ringing seemed to last an eternity. Finally, someone picked up.
"Hello?" a sing-songy voice answered.
"Hi Mrs. Droski, it's Max," I began.
"Oh hi Max! What's up?" She replied. I could hear a faucet running through the phone.
"Hey, is Ruth over there?" I asked, my heart pounding.
"No," she said, " Julie said her grandfather picked her up." My stomach dropped.
"Both of our grandfathers have died." The line went quiet. I heard something splash.
"Oh dear," Mrs. Droski muttered. Immediately, I ended the call and dialled 911. The operator patched me through to an officer. I told her everything I knew about this morning. I told her about Ruth, I told her our parents were gone, I told her I was supposed to watch her. Everything. The officer thanked me for the information and told me she would do whatever they could to find her. Someone would be over later that day. I hung up. The world seemed to stop. Nothing mattered besides finding Ruth.
I ran to the bathroom and threw up every last thing in my stomach until all I could do was dry heave. I sat on the floor, curled up in a ball.
I heard a forceful knock on the front door. I pushed myself off the ground and stumbled to the door. The person wouldn't stop knocking. I wiped my mouth off with my forearm and opened the door.
A girl who appeared to be my age stood there. Her frizzy blonde hair clung to her face. Her bright blue eyes lit up when she saw me.
"Max?" She hesitantly asked.
"Yeah, are you with the police?" I replied.
"I just want you to know that you are my favorite book character and I know how it ends and I want to help change it," she hurriedly answered. 'I was her what?' I asked myself.
"I don't have time for this," I said, and tried to shut the door. She stuck her foot in the threshold.
"You're right, you don't have time for this. Your sister is missing and she only has a matter of hours," the girl stated. I froze in my tracks as goosebumps rose on my skin. Something wasn't right, I knew that deep in my core. The door slowly opened. I turned back to the girl.
"What did you just say?" I spat. She stepped through the threshold.
"I really just want to help. I knew you wouldn't believe me, I mean, why would you? I wouldn't, but I came prepared." The girl brought her navy blue backpack in front of her and pulled out a hard covered book. She stretched her arm out and handed me the novel.
'The Chase' it was called, by R.T. Wallin. The cover depicted a young girl facing away from the camera, her auburn hair tied up in a ponytail. She was wearing Ruth's clothes. She was Ruth.
"Skim the first chapter," she instructed. The binding creaked as I opened the book. 'Max Priller very much cared for his sister, Ruth,' it began. I became captivated as I turned page after page, reading things no one should ever have known about me. 'Two hours can make a difference in someone's life, whether it be for the good or the bad.' This happened only an hour or two ago. There was no possible way someone could have published something in print, and show it to me in that amount of time. I went to turn another page, but her hand jutted back out, ripping the book from my grasp.
"Now, can we get back to the topic at hand? We have a sister to find," she said, pushing past me into my house. "Oh, and my name is Cory."
I stood in my doorway, flabberghasted. At that point, I had no choice but to follow her. She was the only lead I had, and the police wouldn't be there for hours. If I were to kick her out only to find out that she was right, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I made my way to the living room.
"Ok, so in the book," Cory started while opening the book, "the kidnapper's house is described as... a two story house with white paint chipping off."
"Anything else? There are white houses everywhere in need of a paint job," I said, taking my hand through my hair.
"But do they all have a willow tree in the backyard?" A willow tree? A willow tree! We lived six blocks from Ruth's school, and within those blocks sat a house just like Cory described.
"I thought that house was abandoned," I said to her.
"Apparently not," she countered. I felt my fear dissolve into rage.
"Let's go," I instructed, moving towards the garage. Throwing open the door, I stormed in, moving towards the back. Hidden behind a collection of shovels laid three titanium baseball bats. I gripped the red one by its handle and tossed a black one to Cory. This guy messed with the wrong family.
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The first part of the journey was in silence. I was fuming, and Cory was following a few steps back.
"We're gonna find her, Max," she softly spoke.
"But what has that man done to her?" I asked. A long silence followed. "You know, don't you." She remained silent.
"Don't focus on that. We can change the ending," she replied. I stopped in my tracks. Cory stumbled and stopped.
"You keep talking about the ending," I muttered, "how does it end?" In the back of my mind I knew. I just wanted confirmation.
"You don't need to know," she started before I cut her off. I spun around to face her.
"I'm old enough to make my own damn decisions, just tell me what happens to Ruth," I barked. Cory bit the inside of her cheek and looked me right in the eyes.
"He kills her," she said, never breaking eye contact. I felt my throat tighten as I fought back tears.
"And me?" Cory's eyes watered and she shook her head. "Oh god," I mumbled, a tear rolled down my cheek. I turned back around. There were only two houses in between the man and us. I broke into a run.
In a situation like this, you would imagine there would be stormy weather like the gods themselves were readying to fight with me. That wasn't the case. The sky remained a bright blue, not a cloud in sight. Life continued as normal around us. Cars drove by and children played down the street.
I rolled the bat in my fist, gripping it tight. The house stood before us, paint chips and all. The tree in the back peaked out as if checking out the commotion we were about to make. Its branches drooped low to sweep the ground. Cory and I looked at each other. This was it. She nodded, giving me the all clear.
I threw open the broken screen door, slightly surprised it wasn't locked. The inside of the house was in the same condition as the outside. Yellowing floral wallpaper drooped from the walls. A fine layer of dust coated countless stacks of paper scattered in the foyer and livingroom. My nose was bombarded with a stench, so strong, I wanted to retch. Deep down, I knew it was the unmistakable smell of death.
A pair of beady blue eyes peaked out from the kitchen in shock. A small tuft of brown hair sat on the figure's greasy head. Just as quick as I saw him, he was gone. I heard a screen door slam.
I willed my legs to go as fast as they could. I tore through the cluttered kitchen, seeing a few too many knives. Several sat in the sink, covered in what I could only assume was blood. I could see the man heading towards the tree, limping, with Ruth slung over his shoulder, her matted brown hair cascaded down his back. My heart stopped. She wasn't fighting.
Within a matter of seconds, I had made it out the door, and was close behind him. His disheveled appearance made it clear he didn't get out often. He turned his head to steal a glance at me and was startled to see me so close. The man turned back around while grabbing Ruth, and tossed her to the side like a piece of trash. He tried to keep hobbling forward, but he couldn't outrun a teen with a bat.
The titanium connected with his skull, making a sickening wet crunch. He crumpled to the ground, unresponsive. With him out of the way, I could focus on Ruth.
She was laying face down in the grass, right beneath the willow tree. I rolled her over into my lap, gently brushing the hair from her face. There was a lot of blood coming from her chest and abdomen. Too much blood. I found myself sobbing her name, rocking back and forth. Her eyes fluttered open.
"You rescued me," she whispered, and with that, she closed her eyes for the last time.
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It was all a blur from there. Cory found us by the tree and called an ambulance, but it was too late for Ruth. Apparently I put up a fight when they tried to take her from me. I kept muttering her name and how sorry I was.
Her captor had died when I hit him. They said he was dead before he hit the ground. Upon searching his house, they found the remains of at least six other people. The authorities still think there are more bodies out there.
I don't really know what happened to Cory. After calling the cops, she told me that her time here was up, but that she would always be reading. I really hope that's true.
Everytime I close my eyes, I see that man. The dream is always the same. He's running from me, still holding Ruth. I can hear her screams, but no matter what I do, I can't save her.
It's been three years, but nothing has changed. All the counselors say it will get better, but it won't. I was so close to saving her, thanks to Cory. That's actually why I'm writing this, it's for you, Cory.
If you're out there somewhere, I'm sorry. Thank you so much for trying to help, but I guess some endings can't be changed. I'm so, so sorry.
~ Max Priller
