Welcome to Drew Lane

"I cannot" The words fell in an almost whisper, her mothers face had turned a light shade of white, her cheeks lost the little colour left and staring straight out the window; time seemed to of came to a halt.

When Marcie was a child she would often wake up to the screams of her mother as she fought away from her nightmares but was unable to wake herself up. The screams would last only around 10 seconds before her dad would manage to calm her down, but from Marcies room they echoed endlessely. So when her dad left and disappeared through the door a few years back, there was noone to wake her mum up, after weeks of persuasion she finally went to the doctors for help, and slowly the nightmares became fewer and further between. However still to this day, she would refuse to speak of her experience down the alley. All Marcie knew is that her mum was only the one that got out, and whatever was in there chased her.

The room remained in silence, however it seemed that the world had come to a stop the murmer of traffic had died off and the bouncy ball was in the middle of Marcies left clammy hand. The room was in dead silence - the telephone rang.

"Hello Miss Harriet Walters speaking... yes.... what?!... SHUT!? It has only just opened.... I have a child you know..." The other end of the line cut off, but her mum didn't remove the telephone from her ear, her mouth was drooped open, and a silent tear sprung down her cheek and splashed against the ice cold tiles beneath.

"Whats happened?" Marcie questioned.

"The case... they can't find the kidnapper, he's not down the alley... they're shutting it, theres nothing they can do" Harriets voice twisted into anger and fear, dropped the phone onto it's holder, just a week of attempting to keep the town safe, and the kidnapper was left walking free.

Marcie threw the bouncy ball against the wall with all her force and watching it's multi-colours come to a halt next to her foot, she recalled the ball at the end of the alley and screamed. What she wouldn't do to of walked away that day, then maybe... just maybe... Jack would still be here.

Chapter 3

The divorce rate in the UK is high, however Poston seemed to contribute nothing towards this, at the most you would see 2 divorces every 5-7 years; and for as long as Marcie could remember her mother and father divorcing a year back was the first she had ever encountered. With a small-town mentality the news spread faster than it did to Marcie, who ended up finding out from a couple of kids at the park one afternoon, after they questioned her on what it was like to be the offspring of single parents - and what was she to say, she had only just found out that she was.

Marcies dad had never been a Poston boy, he often called himself a "Fish living on land" And with that made-up term created by her father Marcie would often wonder what it actually meant, so after the fish divorced his wife and returned as quickly as possible to the sea, where he belonged; Marcie was left with what her dad actually meant - Poston was not his home, the city was.

Twice had she seen her dad in over a year since he escaped, he made little attempt to try and see her regularly Marcie often wondered if it was her that split them up and that's why he disliked her so much or if it was just the obvious reason, he felt trapped in Poston. A few weeks back after the dissapearance of Jack, Marcie had made an effort to come into contact with him in the hope for someone to listen to her, 32 missed calls and still no answer - turns out through a friend he's living in the city with his pregnant girlfriend, those 32 calls were not missed, they were ignored.

A few days ago Marcie was shouted at after she asked her mother why she married such a "bastard" she was sent to bed for rude language and as she sat on the stairs eaves dropping her mothers conversation on the phone, there was a knock at the door.