Takeover

Chapter 1

The glowing flames of the hundreds of candles slowly flowing over the soft waves of the salty lake. All along the shoreline, families stand in solemnity in each other's presence and embrace. Many of the girls my age quietly cry in shear anguish but I can't.  They are lucky to still have the luxury of letting their feelings gently flow out. Mine just build up with no breaking point. 

After a silent eternity, a whistle pierced the strenuous tension that lingers heavily in the evening mist. Every stone faced person turns their back to the calming sight of the sea of luminous hope to find the mayor standing in the bed of a pickup truck. 

He shouts over the thunderous roars of the wind, "A year ago today, we lost the future of our city. Every young man ranging from 10 to 17 went missing." He pauses to let a few motherly sobs subside before continuing, "while we have made no progress in our extensive efforts to find the 984  minors, the national investigation will not halt. Thank you."

Respectful applause ensues as I stare at the damp sand. Everyone is reluctantly making their way up the beach to the bonfire some volunteer dads started as a symbol of hope that the boys will find their way home. Not me though. I went through that stage months ago. I was selfish. I prayed and prayed not for the parents who lost their sons or for the little kids who were still too young to understand why their brother is not coming home. Instead, I prayed that Marcus would come back to me. My mom continuously tells me to move on saying "it's what he would have wanted." That statement alone essentially denies all possibility that he's still on God's good Earth. 

I look towards the glow of the fire surrounded by thousands of mourning people. My dad said the whole town is here. I sigh deeply with remorse. Plopping down in the sand away from the crowds, I observe the waves as they climb on the shore just enough to tickle my feet with the cold ripples rolling in. I compact myself in sadness, squeezing my knees into my chest. I try to cry but no tears pool in the empty pits called my eyes.

Suddenly a loud boom erupts and a frightening amount of fiery light reflects off of the water. I swing around to see an explosion with smoke billowing hundreds of feet in the air. My eyes grow wide and my stomach clenches tightly. Oh my gosh...