Taken

Chapter 1

It has been two years since I last saw my sister. Two years since she went missing. We don't know how it happened. One night she was here, and the next morning she was gone.

            Father thinks she ran away. I have no idea what Mother believes since she doesn't talk to us anymore. My younger brother, Charlie, used to ask us where she was. Mother wouldn't answer him, which left Father and I to reassure him that she'd be home soon. After a while, he stopped asking, and we stopped telling him lies.

            I glance over at Charlie from where I sit at our large dinner table. He's silent as he stabs his fork into a piece of chicken and plops it in his mouth. His white collared shirt is tucked into his khaki shorts; the pastel green sweater vest sits snugly on his chest. He even has his napkin lying across his lap and his elbows off the table.

            My eyes flicker to Mother.

            Her attire consists of her typical navy skirted suit with her hair curled around her face that is lined with neutral make-up. Her posture could rival that of a queen, but her eyes are trained straight ahead, staring at nothing.

            She doesn't eat.

            Father is late, still at work, leaving me as the only normal person in this house―or semi-normal, I guess, since I am still in my school uniform and don't act as most teenagers do. I study them, what's left of my family that is, as I take small, tentative bites of my meal. I have no appetite, but I know that I need to eat something or I'll end up like my mother.

            I glance over at her again, taking in her thin, narrow features. Her eyes are glazed over, her cheeks hollow. There are bags under her dead grey eyes and her skin is so pale that it's practically translucent.

            No, I won't bring myself to that.

            I take a bite of my chicken as if to promise myself this, and chew slowly, savoring the juices of the meat. At least Mother's food is still delicious. I just wish that she could have made my favorite meal since today is my birthday. I am officially the same age as Nina when she went missing.

            Nobody told me to have a happy birthday this morning.

            We sit in silence, the only sounds consisting of the ticking of the old grandfather clock in the main hallway and the soft clinking of the silverware against the ceramic plates. I bite my lip as I glance between my glassy-eyed mother and silent brother, contemplating on whether or not I should speak.

            I swallow and wipe my mouth with the cloth napkin that sits on my lap.

            "It's my birthday," I say aloud, watching as my brother turns to look at me and blinks once. He gives me a small smile before turning back to his plate and taking another bite of the mashed potatoes. One of his front teeth is missing, making him appear even younger.

            Mother says nothing. I don't think she even heard me.

            "I'm turning sixteen," I press, hoping to get some sort of reaction out of her.

            Nothing.

            I'm her daughter―her only daughter for that matter―and I get nothing. Not a nod, nor a smile, not even a "Happy Birthday, Arianna."

            That's a little disappointing.

            I set my fork down on my plate and push my chair back before standing up and clearing my throat.