"The search for missing seven year old Cindy Miller is still on going. No leads have come up yet, along with no evidence as to where the abducted girl could be. Neighbours and police are baffled, as they say no crimes happen here in Tompton. Cindy Miller was last seen two weeks ago today, on March 13th while walking to school. If anyone has any information about this little girl, they are advised to contact the Tompton police," the news lady spoke on the television as Stephanie Mantler finished the last of her breakfast rather quickly.
"Still can't believe they haven't found anything. That poor family, they must be going wild," Amy Mantler, Stephanie's mother said in a down tone as she picked up another dish to dry off. Stephanie watched as her mother tried to keep busy, avoiding eye contact with her daughter of eighteen. These weeks had been somewhat hard on her mother, for reasons she wasn't quite sure on. She had tried to ask her about it the week before, but her mother only brushed it off as just being able to 'feel' for that family, and not wanting to think of the same thing happening to her.
This was huge news in their town recently, since bad things rarely happened in their tiny, boring town which held a population of 1,254. The only news was who split up with who, which business was closing down or opening, and who just added a new addition to their family. Nothing at all exciting, to most people around. But the thing was in this town, when anything happened, no matter big or small, everyone would know. Gossip, rumours, whispers went around and spread like fire; real fast. Never ending. Many liked to stick their noses in each other's business, even if they didn't belong. Know one kept to themselves, 'what was the fun in that' people would think, with that thought multiplying. Over and over again.
The searches in the town started every morning at nine o'clock and went till three in the afternoon. Some newbie's who started looking, along with others who had done it before. There was no giving up, for the boarders of their town were surrounded by forests. Miles and miles of forests, trees, wood. Police pulled out their radar, and a bunch brought in the dogs. A few of many breeds, but the common type were bloodhounds. They walked and sniffed almost half of the forests, but still, they turned up nothing. No sight, no smell of the little girl. But it would not stay that way for long.
Steph checked her watch quickly, realizing the time it was then.
10:48 am.
I start at 11. I gotta hurry.
"K, I'll see you later Mum," Stephanie shouted as she was about to leave through the front door.
"Alright, see you later. Have a good time at work! Love you!" Her mother shouted back from the kitchen as she just finished the dishes. With one single click of the door, she locked up and went on her way.
She tried not to drag her feet as she stepped down the road that lead to her work. The roads in their town were brutal. They had been uneven for the longest time, causing people to always be off balanced. It became worse if you dragged your feet, you always ending up falling. Falling in potholes or cracks that would scrape up your limbs more and cause cuts. Cuts that would eventually heal over and become scars, but those scars would soon be cut on top again, with the simple swipe of cracks on those old roads.
Steph worked at a small pet store, just down the street from their place. There was not a lot of jobs around their part of town, the side where stores were held and stood but not a very wide selection. The more appealing stores, like the ones that owned and sold clothing or music, they were on the other side of town. Steph would have much rather worked over there, but without a car, or a license it would be difficult to get there in time. She relied on her mother taking her to those places, since they were a far walk away. Not too far at that, but far enough. Steph enjoyed walking, or sometimes riding her bike; since there was always nice weather swirling around out of their houses. She was never in any hurry to obtain her license, since she did drive around somewhat, but thought that any place she would like to go she could walk there in time. And she was very good at time.
She had gotten the job the summer before; the summer of '94. "Wag-a-Tail" was the name of the shop. I know, funny right? But that place was tiny, and only consisted of pet food/treats, toys, collars and leashes; nothing more, nothing less. Not a huge selection either. But it was due able. They made it work. They occasionally had an event in the daytime, where puppies and kittens would come in and could be adopted. "The National Adoption Day" was the name of them, and she adored those days. Although she was not a huge animal lover, she most certainly loved when they came in. It made work less boring those days, since the regular customers a day were around five to fifteen. Steph had been working full time hours now, since she recently finished high school the year before. She wasn't exactly sure as to what she wanted to take in college, or which one to go to. All she had in mind was writing. Oh, she loved to write. In school, the short stories in English were her favourite. The fact of making up particular characters and stories that could come to life set fireworks in her head. Her bedazzled head which possessed unique thoughts and stories that came to mind as she wrote and situations that had never happened, but would on the paper. Steph always had a big imagination, she knew as well as others told her. Her stories were real, her teachers would tell her. Real. Unique. Believable. Mysterious.
She liked to think she had a gift, in some way. Her gift of writing and sharing stories with others who needed them, who needed them to help them in their lives, and to enjoy a story like old times. Times as when they were a child and read children's stories or looked through picture books of unicorns or dragons. The good, old times.
As she walked to the two way road, she looked both ways before passing on straight ahead towards her destination. Her short light, wavy hair swirling around in the cool wind above. The way her eyes gazed with specks of a certain colour, a colour most people didn't have. They appeared golden, in every light she stood. But not the brown golden most people were used to; it was just that, gold. A deep, yellow golden. Like wheat that blew in fields that some farmers would grow. Like the colour the sky would show some days when the crack of dawn was coming. Gold.
*SLAM*
A car door shut hard somewhere behind Stephanie, which caused her to jump high. She turned fiercely around to notice it was only a little boy running out of a car to meet the house which looked as if he already knew. A mother—or what seemed to be a mother— following behind him.
Sigh.
Steph was relieved that was all it was. She had been on edge for a while, not only because of the missing child, but because of an incident that happened about a year ago:
It was around spring of '94 when it all started. She didn't think anything of it at first, but eventually she started to feel it, hear it. The feeling you get when someone is watching you. The noise of someone walking behind you, following you.
It started one day as she was walking home from school. She didn't have a last period class, so she left early every day. Around two o'clock. As she walked with her hand tucked into her warm pockets, she was thinking of the story she would be writing in her English class very soon. Whenever she had a story to write in class, she gave it great thought and every little detail had to be perfect. Not just to get the good grade, but she wanted it to be perfect. She never thought of writing as a task or something she had to do, it was always something she wanted to do. Something she loved to do. And still did. But that day, something, or someone dragged her out of her thoughts as she heard a strange noise come from the patch of trees she was walking past. It was a noise she only heard if it was someone's birthday, or if something big happened in the family. A new birth perhaps, or someone opening gifts. It was the sound of a camera. A big camera at that. The ones photographers used, like when taking family portraits.
She stopped for a moment in her tracks, and peered into the woods that stood beside her. But, as she stood there, she saw nothing. It's probably birds or a tree snapping, she told herself before heading back her way. But then it happened again, and she stood once more examining the forest, until the thought came to her that she was loosing it.
It's just a bird or something.
And then she went on her way again.
She didn't tell her mother at first, not for a little while. But then the day came, where she could have sworn she saw someone. Someone move in those woods as she past by them on a different day. She could have sworn she saw the camera, and then she quickly got out of there. No time for examining.
And then the other day came, where she saw someone following her. He was behind her, about twenty feet away. He stood tall, but could not see a face. For he had his hood up; a hood that made him look like a black smudge of nothingness. Her heart began to race, and a lump rose in her throat. I have to get out of here, she thought. As she walked faster, she noticed she kept looking back about every five steps, seeing how far he was then. And every time, he was still there. The dark blur stalking behind her. He stalked closer, and closer each time. And then she booked it, until she got to the safety of her home. Her mother walking quickly towards the door, wondering who made the door slam shut and breathing heavily.
"Steph? What's wrong? What happened?" She asked giving her daughter a frightful look. Steph's eyes had grown wide, like she had seen a ghost, and perhaps, she did indeed. Did. Indeed. She didn't speak at first, just let her breath catch up to her.
"Mum, I...need to tell.....you....something," she tried to catch her breath with every breath in she took. "I...I think someone's following me."
After the two of them went to the police, the pictures, the following, the stalking all seemed to just, stop. Like the man, or women responsible knew they were being investigated. But ever since then, Steph had still been paranoid. Always, whenever she was alone or not. When she walked home from work or to. She couldn't shake that feeling, and whenever she heard any noise behind her, she would freak a little bit inside. Sometimes outside as well, like she had in school once. Everywhere she went she had that little feeling inside that someone was watching her, following her. But that feeling decreased with time. She sank back into routine. But still, in moments of her life, she would hear something, or feel something, which made her think it was starting again. But it never did.
She strolled down the road, which was more of a side street, until the store came into her sight behind a few trees. There it stood, a small building with glass windows and doors that kept the place together. A store that held a sign right above those clear doors, with a dog's tail sticking out of the name. It was a cute little store, little enough that it only had about five employees. Three of them were in their twenties and thirties, and the other two were both eighteen. Stephanie and Mary. Mary was Steph's best friend. Ever since ninth grade. They both came from different schools, and within the first week began to hang out. Them being in every class together, they started to connect more. Grow closer. There was never any drama between them, they just got along great. Sure, they had a few fights, because who doesn't? But they were nothing big.
Mary and her family moved from the Philippines to California, where they had become citizens now. But the change for her was huge, perhaps more than her family, for she had never been anywhere else. But she would learn. She did learn.
Mary's parents were always so welcoming and nice, or at least to her friends. Or friend. Her mother, Erika, always made the best food, from what Steph had always said. She enjoyed trying foods she had never heard of, or seen. It was something different, something different out of the little norm that was her life.
Mary worked at the pet shop first, that's how Steph got the job. They didn't hire often, there was no need. But sometimes, an employee would be fired or quit—not too often—it did happen, and that's how Stephanie received the job placement. And she remained there still, almost a year. There also wasn't a lot to learn, just the cash register mostly, putting stock away and basic knowledge of the products. Which wasn't hard to pick up for they didn't have a wide selection.
Stephanie never told Mary about her stalker, she didn't want her to worry too much; for she knew Mary would. Mary always worried about things like that. She never liked walking at night, or going out alone. Both things Steph enjoyed doing. She wasn't as afraid as Mary was. At an early age, Steph learned self defence and a bit of karate, and still remembered the basics. She could fight someone off if she had to, but hoped she never would. Also Steph played soccer through ages six to sixteen, where she learned many exercise skills and techniques, something else that helped her with self defence: having that strength. Mary didn't have any of that. If she became a target of anything, she would be a sitting duck. Nothing to protect herself. Nothing. Hence why her parents forced into her head the idea of those things she was worried about, making her never forget about them.
"You should always be on the look out", they would say to her, as if something bad could happen at any moment. Mary's parents could be sort of over protective sometimes, and hypochondriacs as well. Not so much Stephanie's mom.
As Steph grabbed for the cold, metal handles that attached to the door, the smell of dog food and rubber rushed to meet her nose.
*Ding**Ding*
The bell above the door went off as the clear, glass closed behind her. Mary was writing something behind the desk that held the register, with the bell causing her to take a break from her writing and look up.
"Hey, right on time," she announced with a smile on her face as she checked her watch. "Thought you might be late like last time," she laughed before going back to writing. Steph started to remove her jacket before going into the back room which was just around the corner.
"Hey hey, that was only one time. I told you, the road was blocked off down my street and I had to go the long way," she explained again, like she did the days before. A tiny laugh escaped both their mouths as Steph put on her work jacket that read 'Wage-a-Tail' on the back, and 'Stephanie' on the front. She quickly signed in before going back around the corner to meet her friend. "I didn't know you were working today," Steph spoke as she went behind the desk as well.
"I wasn't supposed to, but I covered Emily's shift. She's sick or something," Mary answered as she continued to write. Steph looked over her friends shoulder, examining the words she was writing:
Bread, ham, eggs, muffins, milk, cherries, honey, carrots, flour.
Read the list.
"Why are you writing a list of foods?"
"My mom wanted me to pick these up on the way home. I'm just trying to remember everything she said," she spoke back as she assumed the thinking position, which was quite funny to see.
It turned out to be dead that morning, for nobody came into the store. "How long are you working today?" Mary asked Steph as she swept the floor around them.
"I'm here till three. You?"
"I opened today at ten, so I'm here til two," Mary answered. Everyone who worked there knew how to close, which made them all pretty much managers. The head though was Carrie, the owner. Since there were only a few workers, Carrie figured it would just be easier to train all the girls on closing and opening. And it certainly did make it easier.
"Hey, so how are you and Ken working out?" Steph asked between sweeps as she peered over to her friend with a smirk plastered onto her face. Mary's expression changed as she looked down a bit.
"It didn't work out."
"Wait, what? I thought you guys were good? You guys seemed to really hit it off," Steph spoke her belief as she stepped away from her dirt pile.
"Well, we did, but, my parents interfered. They didn't like him," Mary said in a down, quiet tone as she organized the desk.
"Seriously? But, your parents seem so nice. I thought they would have definitely liked him."
"Yeah, well they're only nice to people they like. You, for example. They love you, but him, not so much," she explained to her as she stepped away from the desk. "Give me that. You suck at sweeping," Mary laughed as she quickly changed the subject and grabbed the broom in a harsh manner.
"Hey hey, give me that I can do it. It's sweeping, how can I suck at it," Steph laughed as she took the broom back
"No give it here."
"No. Give it back to me."
"No."
"No. I can do it!"
And with one aggressive pull, the broom swung backwards and knocked one of the glass, dog dishes right onto the floor.
*CLASH*
The glass shattered onto the stores' hard, wooden floor. The girls quickly jumped back, not wanting the glass shards to stick to their shoes.
"Oh shit, look what you did now!" Mary accused Steph as she pointed to the smashed bowl.
"Hey! That was all you!" A sigh was let out.
"Ok, go get the dust pan from the back. We'll tell the others later," Mary ordered Steph as she picked the broom back up and began to sweep the freshly broken glass. Steph speed walked to the back, searching for the pan. As she got to the back, she dodged bags of pet food that were practically spilling off the shelfs. The back room was always the dirtiest, not matter how many times or hours someone cleaned. It was like the dirt was permanent. Never leaving.
Steph searched the shelf quickly, just waiting for Mary to say something. The shelf which held the cleaning supplies sat unusually empty. The dust pan was no where in sight.
"Hey! Where is it?" Steph yelled from the back.
"Uhhh, look on the shelf with the garbage bags. I think Carrie re-arranged some things back there!" Mary yelled back from the front. Steph walked a bit further to the other shelf. She searched through the clear bags, rows upon rows, but still, no pan.
"Hey! It's not here either! Where else could it be?" She yelled again waiting for an answer, but this time, Mary didn't speak. She waited a moment. "Mary? Where else could it be?" She waited another moment, but still, no answer yet again. "Hello? Mary?" Steph shouted in a louder tone this time. But Mary's mouth remained close. No sound of moving or shuffling. Perhaps she was with a customer, but no loud voices seemed to be made. The only voice being quiet, more like a murmur, coming from the small tube tv that sat above the desk at the front. Steph finally moved from her spot and turned the corner towards the front of the store. Mary stood still in her spot by the glass, but she stood frozen. "Hey, Mary, didn't you hear me calling? Why didn't you answer?" Steph spoke as she neared her friend. "Mary?" She spoke behind her, not yet realizing what was being said on the television. Not realizing what Mary's eyes were glued onto. She followed Mary's gaze and looked up at the tv where a news lady with papers in her hands spoke above a headline on the news. But Stephanie quickly zoned out on the women talking, and instead became glued to the words written underneath:
"Breaking News: Police Find Body Of Missing Girl Cindy Miller."