Finding Maisie

Finding Maisie: Prologue

'I know where to go,' I told Maisie.

She looked at me with curiosity, 'Where?'

'A secret place that I found. But you can't tell anyone, not even your mum.' I commanded.

Maisie looked at her mother apprehensively. Maisie had always been the more cautious one of us two. 'How long will we be gone?' She questioned.

'Before they start looking for us, I promise.'

Maisie still looked wary but her curiosity broke through. 'Alright then,' Maisie whined.

I grinned at her and began pulling her into the small gap between the bushes. I led her down the dusty, abandoned path that I had been down once before and to the enchanting haven.

I ran. My legs moved faster than they had ever moved before. I had to get out of there. I had to escape what had happened.

We had been a lot longer than I had said to Maisie we would be. I could already hear our mothers calling.

The journey back from the waterfall had taken a lot longer than it was meant to, blinded by my tears. The thought of why I was crying made my legs move even faster and a hole filled with sadness invade my heart. My naïve mind felt dizzy and insecure after what I had witnessed. The illusion of the safe world I was living in had shattered and I couldn't bear it.

I had to get out of there. I had to escape.

'POPPY! MAISIE!' My mother called, panic rising in her voice.

I stumbled out of the final bush and my mum sped over to me. The amount of relief I saw overcoming her face was enough to make me feel guilty for sneaking away in the first place, as if I didn't regret that decision enough.

'Poppy, where did you-'. My mum froze, looking at me for a split second before rushing the rest of the distance over.

'Poppy!' My mother cried, alarmed from my state. I had tear stained cheeks, my clothes were ripped, hair knotted and mud splattered up my legs. And that was only my physical appearance; emotionally, I was a wreck.

'Where's Maisie?' Maisie's mum spoke as I saw her figure from behind my mother.

I could do nothing but give her a look of pure sorrow. The memory alone was enough to fill me with an amount of sadness making me incapable of speaking.

'No...,' she whispered. Maisie's mother hurried behind the bush I had just come out from whilst my own mother hugged me tighter.

Maisie had gone.

**

I walked into my room and fell on my bed, hugging my knees to my chest. I wanted to cry but I couldn't. I had cried enough in the past half an hour alone that my tear ducts felt dry. The whole time I had been half expecting to wake up from a nightmare, but with every passing minute the reality dawned that this nightmare was now my life.

I turned to lie on my back and let out a small whimper. My attention was taken when I noticed a note on my desk. I walked over to it and gingerly picked it up. It had my name written on it. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as I opened the note. The handwriting was eloquent, I noticed, and wasn't one I recognised.

'Poppy,

It was very nice seeing you today. Shame you didn't want to stay for long and left us with only Maisie. I'm going to tell you now that Maisie is not dead... Yet.

You will have your chance to find her but in good time. In ten years I will contact you when you are eighteen and an adult and are allowed to leave home.

But for now I wish you goodbye. Stay safe. I'm looking forward to seeing you again.

Love,

The abductor.'

I stared at the note for a few moments, trying to decipher every word. Being young I thought nothing of it other than the fact that I would get to see Maisie again. Or at least that's what the note said. I was too naïve to question the fact that the note had been placed in my bedroom.

I climbed into bed after throwing the note away, too exhausted from what had happened today to wait for my usual bedtime. The memories of what had happened not long ago replayed in my mind and I cringed. I tried to forget them, to block them out of my mind. I tried so hard to think of anything else. I needed to forget them and I would.

The next morning I woke not remembering anything of yesterday. Not running to the tree with Maisie. Not the intense heat and my solution to it. Not Maisie disappearing. Not how she disappeared. And not the note that I had thrown away from the abductor.

I remembered nothing.