Finding Lilly

Written by D.C. Mitchell

Chapter 3

    The next few hours seemed to drag for both Kristy and her dad. Her dad would mumble about how he should have gone to The Mills but figured Cyndie was right. Who knows what shop they would have went to or if they were even still there. And besides Lilly was with Amber and her mother he would reasoned with no one in particular. But still, she could see her dad was worried.
    Kristy mostly stayed in her room. She had homework to do and Lilly's lying bit wasn't going to keep her from doing it. She knew Lilly wasn't going to get off easily. Their parents took trusting and lying very seriously. She turned on her iPod and began doing her homework. It wasn't until she heard a knock on her door that she realized how much time had passed.
    "Dinner's ready, sweetie," her mom said as she popped her head into her room.
    "Ok be there in a minute," Kristy replied as she tugged gently on her ear buds causing them to fall out of her ears and into her hand.
    She stretched her legs out as they had fallen asleep as she watched her mom shut her bedroom door, noticing that she didn't close it all the way. As Kristy left her room and walked down the hall, she noticed the door to Lilly's room was open but the lights were off. She peered inside to see if her book bag was by her desk, where Lilly always put it when they got home. It wasn't there. Kristy shrugged, maybe it was still downstairs with Lilly.
    As Kristy made her way downstairs to the kitchen she could hear her mom and dad talking about Lilly and the stunt she pulled. Uh oh, Kristy thought, Lil isn't home yet. This is not going to be good. Kristy slid into her seat at the dinner table. She sat quietly waiting for her mom to sit her plate down.
    "Kristy, did you sister happen to mention which store they were going to?" Her mom asked trying her best not to sound worried.
    "Nope, just said she was going with Amber and her mom and she would be home by now," she replied as she reached for her fork. She could feel the worry in the air even if her parents hadn't said as much. She looked at her plate and pushed it aside, not feeling really hungry. She leaned back and quietly tapped her fingers on the table. She had a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was wrong.
    Luke sat down at the head of the table with his plate of food. He looked over at Kristy and shrugged halfheartedly. 

    "We're probably worrying for nothing. You know, how parents do," his facial expression wasn't very convincing and Kristy knew he was only saying such to reassure her.
    "Well, Lilly better show up soon otherwise she is going to be grounded for a very long time," Cyndie replied as she joined the two at the table.
    Just as she was about to sit down, the doorbell rang.
    "Oh snap, there she is now," Kristy said with a sigh of relief.
    Cyndie opened the door and was surprised to see Amber and her mom standing there. Normally, whenever they dropped Lilly off neither Amber nor her mother ever got out of their car. Cyndie looked at them curiously but didn't see Lilly. She felt a wave of panic begin to wash over her.
    "Hi Mrs. C," Amber said with a weak smile. "My mom and I were wondering if you had by chance stopped and picked Lilly up from The Mills?"
    "Luke . . . ." Cyndie called for her husband wishing with all her heart she had not heard Amber right. Luke came up and stood behind her, his hand resting loosely on her waist. He looked from Cyndie to Amber and her mom.
    "Hey Mr. C," Amber begin again, "We were wondering if you had picked Lilly up from The Mills?"
Luke shook his head no, "I thought she was with you two?" He could feel Cyndie stiffen beside him.
    "Well she did come with us." It was Amber's mom's turn to say something. "I dropped the girls off and told them I would be back to get them since I had to pick my husband up from work. When I got back, only Amber was waiting by the curb." She placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders nervously.
    "She isn't here," Luke replied.
    "Luke, where is our daughter?" Cyndie asked trying not to sound hysterical.
    Luke pulled Cyndie away from the door. "Maybe you two should come in and tell us what happened." He ushered them all into the living room and motioned for them to sit down.
    "Lil, you are in so much trou-," Kristy stopped as she entered the room. She looked at the four sitting on the couches, "Mom, where is Lil?" She asked trying not to panic as she moved to sit by her mom.
    "Amber," Cyndie tried to keep the worry out of her voice. She knew breaking down wasn't going to help. She paused a moment before letting out a shaking breath. A tear slid down her cheek, she quickly brushed it away. "Lilly lied about having permission to go with you and your mom to The Mills. Tell us what happened." She reached for the girl's hand, letting her know it was ok to tell them.
    "I am so sorry Mrs. C. We went to the mall to find a dress for me for the Spring Fling. I said we should split up and look for dresses and then meet up at the dressing rooms to try them on. I found some dresses I wanted to try on so I went to the dressing rooms. When I came out she was gone. I waited for her but when she didn't come back I thought maybe you two had picked her up. So I went and waited for my mom. I'm sorry Mrs. C, Mr. C. I lied to her too. She asked me if my mom was going with us and I told her yes because I knew you wouldn't have let her go if my mom wasn't there. I told her she was going to be with us so she wouldn't tell me no." Amber finished in a flood of tears.
    "Luke, we need to call the police, now. We have already wasted too much time. Kristy, get me the phone. How long do we have to wait to file a missing persons report? Oh god, what was she wearing today? Kristy what was your sister wearing today?" Cyndie put her hands to her mouth as a flood of hot tears streamed down her cheeks. It had always been her deepest fear that one of her girls would go missing and here it was really happening. She started sobbing uncontrollably. Amber's mom moved over close to her and put an arm around her.
    "We'll find her," she tried to sound reassuring.
    "What if we don't? Do you know what happens to little girls when they go missing or are kidnapped?" At that thought another stream of tears flowed down Cyndie's cheek. Kristy looked up at her mom and hugged her tightly as she now began crying.
    "I'm sorry Momma, it's all my fault! I knew you wouldn't have let her go on a school night and I didn't stop her!" Kristy cried into her mother's chest.
    "No, sweetie, it isn't. Don't say that," Cyndie hugged her tightly. "We'll find your sister." Cyndie kissed her head and looked over at Luke. He was already on the phone with a police officer.  

Penned on Friday, 17 May 2013