The Secret of Darkcliff

Chapter Two: The Missing List

4:16pm (Victoria's P.O.V)

By the time we emerge from the woods, we're both breathless. Thankfully, the Palm Haven Cafe is only two streets down from our current position. I put my longboard down on the pavement and ride down the street, along side Bruce on the sidewalk.

I'm always very careful going down this street because this one leads to the road that goes to the facility. Cars going to the facility are always in a rush and always drive up this street. We pass the bank and our school to the cafe.

The island has everything a normal town would have. A mall, town hall, church, market, gas station, theater, restaurant, library, schools, park, playground, pharmacy, gym, hospital, bank, and of course a bunch of houses.

We finally reach the Palm Haven Cafe and I pick up my board to walk inside with Bruce. As soon as we walk in, Sandra and her friends wave to us from a booth in the back. As we walk towards it, a flyer catches my attention.

It's the same one that I always see when I come in here. "The Missing List". Except today there are new pictures and new names on it, instead of the old ones. I drop my board and walk over to the cork board hanging from the wall, surrounded by posters and menu's.

I lift the paper to see that the new list is pinned on top of the old one. It's happening again. 11 years ago, six kids went missing. No one knew what happened to them. Were they kidnapped? Killed? One of them was my bestfriend. I look at the old list to see his name and picture. Jackson Comeau (6 years old). Of course now he would have been my age.

I let the paper fall back into place, covering the old list. Once again, six kids went missing. All around the same age. Just like 11 years ago. I put my hand over my mouth. I can feel the tears fighting their way into my eyes. These kids could have been any one of us, anyone on the island.

A kid could have lost their bestfriend. Just like I did. A mother has lost a child. Families are a huge part of life on the island. Everyone has a big family and every family is tied to another because the island is so small. Everyone knows their neighbor.

This will cause a huge devastation. Just like last time. Families turning on families. Nobody knows what happens to these kids or who's responsible.

"Vicki!"

I turn my head in the direction of Sandra's voice.

"Come sit, what are you standing around for?" she says.

No one notices these things. I'm the only one that feels affected when things go wrong in this heaven of theirs. I'm the only one that views this paradise-bathed-heaven as a scorching hell. I'm the only one who lost her family completely.

My father works at the organization 24/7 and I barely see him. My mother is the town drunk. I don't have any siblings and my friends are honestly a bunch of blind idiots that are being hand fed lies. I can't wait until college. I can't wait to escape this nightmare. If I'm scared of anything, it's of being stuck here forever.

I pick up my longboard from the floor and head over to the booth. I sit down next to Sandra and she rubs my arm.

"You okay, hun? You're shaking" she says.

"No. Didn't you guys see? There's a new missing list! Just like 11 years ago, six kids are missing. Three girls and three boys" I say.

"People go missing all the time. It's not a big deal" a girl speaks up.

"It is here. People have no reason to go missing. This town is small as fuck and no one would notice six kids being kidnapped?" I ask them.

As I talk and I can see that Bruce isn't paying attention. He's staring at some girl's ass that just walked by. That answered my question. No one would notice. No one is even paying attention to the things I have to say. To the things that only I seem to notice.

I don't wait for a reply. I get up from the booth and storm out of the cafe. I can hear Sandra calling my name but I don't even bother to look back. It's not like any of them would understand. I'd be simply wasting my time.

I walk across the street and past the park. I enter the playground and walk over to the swings. I drop my board under my feet and sit on the swing. I watch the kids playing and running around. I'm watching out for them. Searching for any suspicious activity, any lead to go on. It's been a while since I've last been here. Almost 11 years...

***

"Jack! Jack wait!" I call out.

"You can't catch me!" he yells back.

I stop running and fall into the grass. My mother smiles at me from the bench. She's talking with Jackson's mother. Mrs. Diana Comeau. My mother, Dolly Middleton, was at the time a very proper woman. She barely drank, even for special occasions.

"Vicki come on! You're it! You're suppose to chase me!" Jack calls out.

He's sitting on top of the monkey bars and smiling down at me. His blond hair glistening in the sunlight and his blue eyes cold like snowflakes.

"I can't. I'm tired. I won't catch you!" I reply.

He jumps down from the metal bars and lays down beside me. Our mothers watch as we pull out multiple strands of grass and pretend to eat them.

"You don't have to catch me. You don't even have to chase me. I'll always be with you, Vicki. I'll never leave your side" he replies.

He leans closer and gives me a big, moist kiss on the cheek. I would normally rub it off and scream "ewwww" but this kiss wasn't a romantic one. It was more of a promise. A reassuring kiss, like the one that a mother gives to her child when it has a nightmare and can't go back to sleep.

I simply smile in response. I believe him.

***

Little did the six year old me know, that the very next day, my best and only friend would be gone like the wind. That his promise wouldn't last. That our friendship would be torn apart for reasons that I will never know.

I wipe away a tear and continue to watch the little kids. I swing lightly as my eyes fall on the now empty bench. That was the last day that my mother left the house. That was the last day that I had a mother.