~Gone; A Short Thriller~ ~Gone~ By Sarah C Styman "I have seen unspeakable things in my #life..."Shaking my head I throw the flyer to the ground ignoring it as I head toward Central Station, there had been rumours ever since I was a young girl about children vanishing at the dead of night. Walking toward the station I hear the sound of a child's soft sobbing; turning I frown and head in the direction of the sobbing, knowing that if I don't find out where it was coming from it will haunt me forever. I continue to follow the sounds toward a darkened alley, the full#moonshining down from above lighting my way, I can feel my heartbeat starting to race, as fear for the child enters my mind, my pace increasing with every step I take. I try and get to where the sound was coming from as fast as I can. Turning the corner I come to a stop, my eyes going wide at what I see; a small discarded shirt on the ground. Making my way toward it, I scoop it up. Examining the shirt I notice a small imperfection in the uppermost breast pocket. Raising the shirt to my nose I take a long inhaling breath as I try to determine the substance of the stain. The stain carries no scent but the colouring looks like dried blood scrunching up my face and move the shirt away. "Who do you belong to?" I say to myself as I look around the alleyway, I realize the sound of the sobbing had ceased. I look around the alleyway once more, before turning and heading back to the station at a brisk pace, the shirt still held tight in my hand. I can't shake the feeling that someone is watching me as I head back to the station, trying to push past the feeling of fear for the child, I know I have to go to the police station to report what I found, it might be nothing but for all I know there's a scared child out there that has been hurt and who knows if anyone's out looking. As I raise my eyes and look up the steps of Central Station I take a long slow calming breath, the anger I feel at the situation finally catching up to me as I growl out the words "Not. In. My. Town". With the shirt tightly in my grip I turn from the station and venture back toward the alleyway, there has to be something there, some little clue that can tell me what was going on, I want to find out as much as I can before I report it to the police, I know they wouldn't take it seriously if I just turned up with an old child's shirt and no evidence. "This can't be right" I say when I walk into the mouth of the alleyway to see another piece of discarded clothing on the ground, moving toward it I pick it up a frown crossing my brow when I recognize it as a pair of children's sized jeans, glancing at the tag I see that it's the same brand and size as the shirt "They match" I breathe out as I place the jeans in the same hand as the shirt. "Are you okay miss?" A voice says from behind me causing me to whirl around, coming face-to-face with a woman, I take a step back, she couldn't be much older than I, perhaps in her mid 20's, but that's not what made me take a step back. Her eyes were wide with fear, she looked to the clothing in my hands than back to my eyes, as I say "Where is the child?" I frown deeper when she says nothing, raising the clothing higher I shake them, my voice becoming angrier with every word, "You KNOW where the child is". She looks to me shaking her head before turning toward the mouth of the alleyway her words filter back to me "No. You know, where the child is". I stand in the alleyway watching night turn to day, nothing happens the women doesn't return and no more clothing appears. I turn from the alley the light making me blink as I finally head toward the station, the clothes held tightly in my hands, and they will lead me to the child. When I returned to my home I felt a smile spread out on my lips, I held the clothes in my hand as I opened the door with the other. "Mummy's home" I say to my children as I walk into their room, "and I brought you a new brother" I continue to say as I walk to the far wall and the only vacant space in the room. Reaching toward the windowsill I pick up several thumb-tacks, Holding the shirt up against the wall I tack it there, doing the same to the jeans before reaching out and picking up a piece of blue chalk. I begin to hum a lullaby as I outline my new son's body on the wall. Placing the chalk back on the windowsill I walk backward until I can see the entire room, the smile spreads out on my lips as I look around the room at all of my children, the dozen outfits line the wall, chalk outlines of their bodies and shoes lined up against the wall. Everything for my children's room is perfect. Everything that is except my newest son, he has no shoes. "Mummy will be back soon" I say as I step out of the room. Closing the door behind me I head out the front door, knowing that I'll need to find some shoes for my new son, and I know just where to head. ~The End~