Chapter 39

Abigail's POV

The playground was my kingdom, a place where the swings soared higher than the clouds and the slides were steep enough to make my stomach flip with excitement.

The sun was shining so brightly that everything looked like it was made of gold, and the air smelled like fresh grass and the faintest hint of chocolate from the ice cream truck that was parked just beyond the school gates.

I was running around with a few of the girls from my class—Emma, Lucy, and little Mia—playing tag and giggling like we always did at recess.

Normally, Owen and I would be playing on his laptop—he always had so many games to choose from! But today, the sun was calling, and Owen had been a little down ever since staying with us.

The ground was warm beneath my bare feet, the dirt soft and squishy between my toes. I could feel the wind rushing through my hair, my ponytail flying behind me as I ran faster and faster, pretending I was a race car or a rocket ship.

Everything was so fun, so perfect!

But then, something changed. It was small at first—just a flicker of movement in the woods at the edge of the playground. I didn’t know what it was, but it caught my eye.

The other girls didn’t notice. They were too busy with their own game, chasing each other around the jungle gym and laughing. But I couldn’t look away.

There was something in the woods. Something dark. A shadow.

I stopped running, my feet coming to a halt in the middle of the playground. I squinted, trying to see better, but the trees were thick, and the shadows were deep.

The woods were a place I’d never really been, not on my own. I had always been told to stay away from the edge of the playground, where the trees grew wild and the grass was tall.

My teacher said it was dangerous, that I should never wander there. But I didn’t feel scared.

The shadow moved again, and this time, I saw it more clearly—a shape, tall and thin, like a man, but the way it moved was wrong. It wasn’t like a person walking. It was more like a slither, like a snake or a shadow that didn’t belong.

A growl rumbled from the woods, low and deep. My heart skipped a beat, but my feet didn’t move. Instead, I took a step closer, my curiosity pulling me toward the unknown. What was it? What was hiding in the dark?

“Hello?” I leaned in. “It’s okay… I wouldn’t hurt you. Do you need help?”

I felt my feet crunch on the dry leaves as I stepped toward the tree line. The girls were too far away, laughing and shouting. They wouldn’t notice me sneaking off, not until I was already too far.

Another growl, this one louder. I could almost feel it in my chest. But still, I wasn’t scared. I wanted to know what it was.

Maybe it was an animal—maybe a big dog or a bear, though I didn’t think bears lived around here.

The shadow moved again, closer now, and I could almost make out the shape of it, the tall figure, crouched low to the ground. Its eyes—its glowing, yellow eyes—were fixed on me.

Then, before I could react, it lunged.

I didn’t have time to scream, to run, to do anything. A cold, rough hand gripped my arm, and before I could blink, I was yanked backward, pulled into the shadows.

The last thing I saw before everything went dark was the sun above me, the playground far away, and the distant, terrified shouts of the other girls calling my name.

Lauren's POV

The house was quiet when I walked in. Daphne was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping tea, flipping through a magazine with a bored look on her face.

I almost smiled at the normalcy of it all, the peacefulness. The kind of peace I could never have imagined would be interrupted.

“I was thinking,” Daphne started, not looking up from her magazine, “should we go by Alexander’s and get Owen some clothes? He can’t keep wearing the same washed three sets.”

I sighed, my fingers running through my hair. “I don’t know, Daph. It’s complicated.”

“Complicated?” She raised an eyebrow, finally glancing up at me. “It’s just clothes?”

“No, I mean, it’s not the clothes. It’s just—that means I would need to call Alexander. I’m not sure I can right now.” My voice trailed off, and I glanced out the window. The day was so perfect, so beautiful, but I felt the weight of everything pressing on me.

Daphne leaned back in her chair, arms crossed. “Alright, fair. But the kid needs a shirt without a superhero on it or a full-on tux. We’ll go shopping later.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but just then, the phone rang.

The sudden sound made my heart skip a beat. I walked over to the kitchen counter and picked up the receiver, half-expecting it to be a call from one of the nurses from work. But when I heard the voice on the other end, my blood ran cold.

“Dr. Ava? It’s Miss Peterson. There’s been an incident… Abigail’s missing. We can’t find her anywhere. We’ve searched the playground, and the woods, and we—” Her voice broke off, and I could hear the panic in her tone. “I—I don’t know what happened, but we can’t find her. I think someone took her.”

My hand went limp around the receiver.

I felt like I was falling, like the ground beneath me was disappearing. “What do you mean, ‘someone took her’?” My voice was shaky, panicked, and I barely recognized it as my own.

“I—I don’t know. We just found her things—her jacket and her backpack—by the tree line. But there’s no sign of her. Ava, I’m so sorry.”

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My world tilted, spinning wildly out of control.

“No,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “No, this isn’t happening. It can’t be happening.”

“Lauren, we’ve already called the authorities, but you should get here as soon as you can. We’re doing everything we can, but please—please come.”

I slammed the phone down, the room spinning around me. “Abigail…” I whispered, my chest tight. “No. Not my…”

Daphne was already standing, her face pale as she grabbed my arm. “Lauren, what’s happening? What’s wrong?”

“She’s gone,” I whispered, the words feeling foreign and hollow in my mouth. “Abigail’s gone.”

Daphne froze, her face going as pale as mine. She couldn’t say a thing, only stare at eachother as we gripped our arms, searching for answers for panic we didn’t have.

I could feel the weight of the panic sinking in. I didn’t know what to do. Who to call. What steps to take. I could barely breathe. And then, before I could stop myself, I snapped for my phone again.

I dialed the number I never thought I would dial again.

The line rang twice before he picked up.

“Alexander,” I said, my voice hoarse, breaking with emotion. “I—I need your help. Abigail’s missing. I don’t know what to do, but you have to help me find her. Send out your men. Please! Now!”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, a silence so heavy it almost crushed me. Then his voice, calm but steady, came through the phone. “I’m on it. We’ll find her. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Don’t go anywhere.”

And just like that, the line cut off.

I grabbed my coat, and Daphne was already at the door, her hand on the knob. “We’ll figure this out, Lauren. Don’t worry. He’ll find her.”

I nodded, stepping into the dimming heat of the evening outside. “I know.”

My mind was a blip in time, but Owen’s voice echoed somewhere in there. I had this feeling that maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t an accident.