JOE The day had barely birthed when she had stolen out of bed. I had been shocked to my bones when I had awakened that morning to find her gone. A number of thoughts had raced through my mind, and I had tried to understand why she would choose to return to Zach in the first place. I wanted to understand, but the one person who could help me understand had vanished. And so, I had sat down on the bed, ruminating on everything that had happened, and then there was a knock on the door. Suzy had been my first thought. Maybe, Ellen had sent a message to me through her, but a greater disappointment had struck when I found Cole at the door. "Where's Suzy?" He had asked, and at that moment, I understood that they were certainly up to something. I had waited for a few hours, delaying my trip to the hospital in order to get B.J but none of them had shown up. And just when my exhaustion had reached its peak, and I was about to step out, a car drove parked beside my la
FIFTY SEVEN DEVAN The wind had an eerie chill to it. It seemed like there was something in it, but I couldn't just place my hands on it. Something really sinister, really trying hard to pull out every fibre of my being apart. I buried my face in the newspaper that had been brought in, but yet there wasn't no news about Robb, or Ellen, or even Sam. I had imagined this whole game as a quick one, but life did know how to make a big fool of me. There was a sharp knock on the door, but I didn't pay any attention to it. I was in no mood to speak, or share thought with anyone yet. However, the knock persisted, and it began to seem really awkward to not answer it at all. Perhaps it was the doctors coming to do their routine checkup on me. "Come in, the door is unlocked." I ordered, as the door knob turned, and was pushed open. "Mr. Barker?" The nurse buzzed, as I took the newspaper off my face. "Yes ma'am, how may I be of help to you?" I quizzed, uninteres
ELLEN There was no need to hide anymore, Cullen had found me. I couldn't explain why it was so important to keep on running away, but the more I tried, the more unending the story turned out to be. I was alone at the table. Tommy had stepped outside for a smoke, and Big Joe had gone along with Cole to comfort him about his wife's disappearance. Although, it didn't seem necessary to me, Suzy wasn't dead yet, so why the pity? I sighed deeply, and felt a cold wind hit me. Winter had really set in, and I was barely prepared for it. A thicker jacket would have helped greatly, but it was the least of my priorities at the moment. "There you are." Tommy intoned vocally, walking into the room. "What do you want, Tommy?" I fired, barely glancing up. I heard him scoff, but I paid no attention to him. "You consider that to be a really good question to ask at this time? What do I want? That's crazy, don't you think." "It's a simple question, Tommy. You either answer
DEVAN TWO YEARS BEFORE... It was Robb's birthday, and as expected, the house was supposed to be bustling with activities. However, no one really cared about irrelevant issues as birthdays anymore. We had more on her hands than the usual. The house was really quiet now, and everyone was busy with one thing or the other. Mum was barely around anymore. She had become scarce, after securing that contract at the firm where she worked at. Dad tried not to be so hard on Mum regarding her consistent absence, but slowly he began to lose himself in the process, and now we barely knew him anymore. He was out drinking tonight with his buddies, just like the previous nights. And slowly, our once perfectly knitted family, began to loosen at its seams. "Devan," Matt called, walking into the room with a jersey on. I glanced over him quickly, and shook my head quickly. "No, Matt. Not tonight, I am not covering up for you tonight." I informed, as he started towards me.
ELLEN Tommy turned Joe's truck around as we headed down the street again for the third time in a row, in search of Cole. We had driven through every single street that was close to Joe's house, but still we hadn't found him. I was terribly frightened. Perhaps something had happened to him, and he had had gotten caught bin Cullen's games as expected. That was barely possible though. There was no way Cole would have been taken, right under our noses. "We should go back to the house." I began, as Tommy shook his head, and continued driving. "Tommy, what if something has happened to him already, I mean what if Cullen took him already." I argued. "Ellen, you can't just blame everything on Cullen. A little thing happens, and you start insinuating or making up silly stories." "They're not silly, Tommy. He did take Suzy if you remember? That shouldn't be too difficult to remember, it happened just yesterday." Tommy exhaled, and patted the steering wheel li
DEVAN MONTHS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT... Sparkly whites, glowing faces, sweaty palms, and a bride to be handed off. It was Uncle Viktor's wedding ceremony today, and the whole family was present. I sat in my cheap suit that had bought at last minute from a thrift store downtown, all in a bid to make me as fashionable as the rest of the family. I cared less about fashion, than anyone I had ever met. Matt had always been the good-looking and most fashionable one between us. But still, most of the time, people failed to tell who was which one. "When can we leave?" Robb fired, beginning to feel uneasy again. He wasn't much of an outdoor person, and neither was I. Yet again, Matt was again handed the responsibility of being the social one amongst us. "Shut your mouth, Robb. We don't need any of your madness today." Matt fired. "Watch your tongue, Matt. Or I might as well cut it off, since you have no use of it." Robb retorted, as Mum glared at him. Robb had
SIXTY TWO ELLEN Times were changing so quickly. With Suzy gone, every minute we spent frolicking about, was a gamble on her life. We weren't even decided on what to do yet, especially with this new found discovery of the dead crippled boy, and Cole being in possession of his stuff, which was weird. Partly because, who was stupid enough to trust a drunk person with privy information? A crazy prospect it was! "Don't you think we should bring the boy along?" Tommy quizzed, as he hauled Cole's drunken ass into the truck. "The dead boy?" I buzzed confusedly. "Yes, I mean. We could be able to get some answers, or understand what Cullen's game plan is." I rolled my eyes at him. "Hold on, Tommy. And you want to get all these answers from a dead crippled boy?" I fired, as he sighed, and shut Cole's door. "That's not exactly what I meant, Ellen..." "You didn't mean anything, Tommy. We've found Cole, and surprisingly he was useful in getting a few ans
DEVAN A MONTH BEFORE THE ACCIDENT... Black on white, and a red bow tie to match. It was Christmas again, and just like every other year, the whole family was here to celebrate it. However, Uncle Viktor's absence was greatly noted. He was the one who always one funny joke or a story to tell, but he wasn't here now. The last I had heard about him was that he had moved far away for holidays or vacation of some sort, after separating from his wife of a few months, over a cheating scandal. Heartbreaking, it was! And it didn't seem fair that he never got to enjoy his marriage as much as he should have. Howbeit, it was what it was, and there was nothing that could be done about it. "Pass me the sauce." Aunt Lisa ordered, as I obeyed without hesitation. I wasn't left with much of a choice though. Aunt Lisa, wasn't a friendly one, or someone who could be kept waiting. Her rage was always waiting to flare up into a wild engulfing fire. I passed the sauce to her