SONNY'S POV
Every year on September 29th my family gets together. We've been doing it for five years now. Each year less of my extended family joins us. There aren't as many casseroles, or conversations and now there's barely any tears. I mean I don't blame them five years is a long time to cry over my sister's disappearance.
This year only my immediate family showed up to my mother's house on this anniversary. My oldest sister, Maren, has her act together, always has. She's moved on better than the rest of them with her law school distracting her. Paying no attention to anyone is my little brother, Jude. He's your basic pre-teen boy, obsessed with video games and video games only. Then there's me, mindlessly scrolling on my phone to act like I'm doing something. I didn't really have a choice in being here. Our mother is in the kitchen, prepping for a family dinner for the first time in months. Maren doesn't live at home anymore, and I chose to live with our dad after our parents separated. They couldn't handle being around each other after Lane disappeared. They constantly blamed the other and could never forgive themselves after she was gone. They ended up finalizing their divorce a year later.
As if tensions weren't already at an all-time high, my dad bursts through my mother's front door.
"Turn the TV on now," he directs at my siblings," to the news. Hurry!"
Maren grabs the remote and quickly turns the news on to the local station.
"On the five-year anniversary of local teen, Lane Michael's, disappearance, another 16 year old goes missing. This is the 2nd girl to go missing in five years. On tonight's segment we'll be covering the abduction of Shay Barrow," the news anchor reports.
I watch alongside my family as everyone seems to move in slow motion. I can see all the mixed emotions stir around the room. Each person's defense crumbling at the mention of Lane's name in the news for the first time in several years. We've worked so hard to keep it held together.
My mother is the first to crumble. She starts wailing. Her heart breaking for the other girl's mom as it has for every mom each year another girl goes missing on the same day I did. She knows exactly how Shay's mom feels: scared, confused, in denial, not her baby girl. Not the girl she so carefully raised into being a respectful child.
Maren instinctually grabs hold of my hand even though we've never been close. She already has tears in her eyes, and reflects the day she went missing like it was yesterday. Her and Lane shared a room, and were the closest even though we were complete opposites. My little brother doesn't really know what to do, but he sets his game down. My dad has a few tears roll down his cheeks. He wipes his anxious sweaty palms on his jeans. Her name being brought back in the news could mean the possible reopening of her case. The police didn't try very hard in looking at the time, and just let the case go cold. My family has never given up hope in finding her though.
"The police say Shay is 5 foot 3, brown hair, brown eyes, athletic build. She was seen running on her usual route this morning but never returned. If you have any information regarding the missing teenager please call the police," the news anchor presses on. A picture of Shay is shown on the screen.
"Do you think it's the same person?" my little brother asks the room.
"She looks eerily similar to Lane and the other girls. This is definitely a pattern. How can the cops not put this together? How come they haven't stopped this psycho already?" he's pleading desperately as if the news anchor can hear him. He walks out the back door, and he pulls his phone out of his pocket. With the flailing arm gestures, one can only assume he's on the phone with the authorities. I watch as the rest of my family process the news that has unfolded. I wonder to myself if we'll finally get closure.
