Missing

Chapter 11

The door was shut and soon a commotion followed.

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Jeanne had made her way home after the shocking revelation. She slumped onto the sofa and stared at the black screen of the huge TV.

In the police force, the paranormal did not exist, and such claims meant the victim had a mental illness which needed specialist treatment. Besides there was always scientific explanations behind strange events.

The word aemulum kept swarming in her head until it forced her to switch on the computer and search it up. As she waited for it to load up she thought over the nurse's story.

Mathew was a hidden case from the public and within the hospital. Indeed something weird was going on with him, but she did not believe the devil was behind all of this. Mathew must've had a rare condition which was unknown at that time.

Her mother was very religious and she would have been the first person she went to for things like this. Unfortunately she had passed away, but she vaguely remembered a priest her mother had used to visit for all her problems. His number was stored away in a diary her mother had kept.

She pushed that to the back of her mind and began searching in the Google search engine. She typed in aemulum and there were pictures and links to a type of plant which helped with pollinations.

No use.

After a few more searches she found it was a Latin word and had other similar adjectives. Frustratingly, nothing was coming up for the word and was suggesting to try another similar word, aemulus. So she gave that a try.

It was also a Latin word which meant rival, but also something else which drained the colour from the officer's face.

Emily.

There were many forms of the name, all derived from the Latin word Aemilia which originally came from Aemulus.

Jeanne stared at the screen, stuck on the name Emily.

Mathew's last word was Emily?

How's that possible, why her name and did he even know her at that time?

The logical side argued maybe Mathew had learned Latin words and had known Emily as a child, so he must've remembered her last or could have been an entirely different person.

The other side ....what if Emily wasn't born at that time and it was indeed the work of Satan which she did not want to believe ever.

Mathew was submitted in June 1994 and died on 6th June 1998 early in the morning. But when was Emily born? She pulled out a sheet with Emily's details on them and looked for her date of birth.

6th June 1996, at 6pm.

So Emily was born before he died. So maybe he did know who Emily was since Maria did, but still...it was best to make sure. She called up the nurse who she met last and waited until it connected.

"...Hello?"

"Hi there, it's Jeanne speaking the officer you spoke to."

"Ah yes, what is it my dear?"

"I was wondering if Mathew ever knew a child called Emily while he was in hospital?"

The nurse thought for a moment, "....At that time, I don't think so. We tried to keep children away from him and denied any children from any families to visit him. Maria didn't speak about any other family members when she visited him."

Jeanne bit her lip and asked after a couple of seconds, "How about a girl called Emily Anderson?"

"Definitely not that name, but I do recall on one particular day, he was very quiet and wouldn't speak a word. I asked him what was wrong many times but he wouldn't answer. I asked him one final time in the evening and he replied Aemilia has entered the world."

....

....

"What day was that?"

"I remember clearly the date as it was the only time he was quiet for the full day. It was the 6th June 1996."

Emily was born on that day.

"...Ok, thank you for that. Goodnight."

"Goodnight my dear."

Jeanne shakily put the phone down and stared at the computer in front of her.

Must be a coincidence or something.

What if she was overthinking and Mathew's situation had no connection to Emily. He must've been ill, more than what the nurses thought. It was impossible something that happened years ago was connected to Emily's disappearance.

But whatever happened with him wasn't normal, something she even agreed with. She had come across bizarre things in her life, but never something like this. It was clear the nurse wasn't fibbing about the story, but that didn't help at all.

Why was she even trying to make connections between Emily and Mathew? She forced herself to stop thinking of that because now Maria had been caught, she would have to answer all their questions and give Emily back.

She headed straight for bed and switched off the lights, giving the room a final glance before heading upstairs.

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