I Found

Chapter 1

TRIGGER WARNING: BLOOD AND ABUSE

"Mom!" 

A young woman looked up from her book to find her daughter standing just inches away from her. If she did not already hear her footsteps, she would have jumped. When she made eye contact with her daughter, she couldn't help but return her radiant grin. She just looked so much like him. 

"Yes, Rachel?" 

"I found a rock shaped like a hat!" 

"Wow! Can you show me what it looks like?" She nodded at her hand which was closed tightly around the rock in a fist. 

"Yeah," Rachel murmured, bring her hand up and opening it revealing the rock, "you can have it!" 

"Thank you, sweetie," she said with adoration and leaned over to hug her. 

When her daughter did not return to her playground set like she expected, she frowned. 

"What's wrong, baby?" She questioned and her daughter looked around as suspiciously as an  eight year old can. When she seemed satisfied, she leaned over to her mother to whisper in her ear. 

"She tried to take it away from me. I told her that I wanted to give it to you but she wanted it for herself. So she pushed me and now I'm scared." 

She leaned back after she finished and there were tears welling up and falling in big fat drops. Her mother was shaking with anger by the time she finished. Her face was red and her lips were pursed in a straight line. 

"Thank you for telling me, sweetheart, you did the right thing," her voice was strained as she spoke. 

She needed to take care of this and she wanted to distract her daughter. She reached in her purse to grab her wallet. She remembered distantly hearing the familiar sound of the ice cream truck's song so she took a few quarters and gave them to her. "Here are some coins for the ice cream truck." 

"Thank you, mommy!" She grabbed the coins and left, tears forgotten, through the opened gates of the backyard. 

"Be careful!" She instructed half-heartily, her mind already focused on something else.

She got up from the her bench swing and placed her book on it. She stalked towards the slides and kicked the plastic as hard as she could. The whole play set wobbled. 

"I know you are there. Come. Out. Here. Now." 

She didn't have wait long before a girl a bit older than Rachel crawled out behind the slides. 

But before she could get to her feet, she yanked her upright. She crouched down to grab her arms and began shaking her. She stopped briefly to yell at her.

"Why are you always trying to take her toys? Don't you already have enough? You should know better than to hurt her. You don't even deserve to touch her, you ungrateful brat." 

She shook her a few more times and then shoved her to the ground. She stood up and looked at her hands in disgust. She wiped them on her jeans and walked away.  Finally satisfied, she went looking for Rachel.

"Rachel!" After a few minutes of no response, she walked through the gates toward the front yard. Just as she was about to call for her again, she saw her at the end of the street. 

At first, she did not understand what she was seeing. Why was her daughter lying face down on the asphalt?  

She began sprinting toward her daughter hoping to have a clearer view of her. Her run soon came to an abrupt halt when she saw the blood that was spilling steadily onto the streets. Her eyes unwillingly trailed up to her daughter. Her daughter's body was contorted in an unnatural way and her glassy eyes stared into nothing. 

She wavered and she could only collapse onto her knees. Distantly she heard choked off screams and she soon realized they were coming from her. She began shaking her head in denial. 

"No, no, no, no," she gasped, "come on, Rachel." 

She crawled over and soon the blood began to stain her hands and seep into her jeans. Her hands shook as they fluttered over her daughter's body. Finally, they stopped at her shoulders. She lifted one of them to flip her over gently. She gathered her into her arms and began rocking her. 

That's how her neighbor found her when he came back outside. A few minute ago, he left the house to pick up mail and he saw his neighbor's daughter run across the street. He paid her no attention as he sorted through his mail. When he heard the screech of tires and a loud thump, he looked up in time to see her roll across the roof the car and hit the ground. He stood frozen for a few seconds before running back into his house for his cellphone. He called for help and when they instructed him to go check on the girl, he went back outside to find his neighbor holding her. He could not help but stare.

"Sir?" The phone operator's voice brought him back and he went over to them hesitantly. 

He stopped before he could step into the blood. His stomach turned when the coppery smell hit him. 

"Mrs. Wilson?" 

He was not surprised when she did not respond. He told the operator that she was ignoring him. But the operator insisted that she take the phone.

"Mrs. Wilson?" He tried again. She continued her rocking and whispers of denial.

"Elle, they need to ask you a few questions. I'm going to give you my phone, okay?" He spoked softly as if to a spooked animal. 

As he handed his phone to her, her arm struck out suddenly knocking the phone out of his hand. 

"Don't-" she growled, "don't touch her." 

He shook his head and went over to where his phone landed. He picked it up careful not to touch the blood that had gotten on it. He tried turning it on but nothing happened. Just as he was about to go back into his home to get his home phone, the sound of sirens stopped him. He stood by the mother and daughter until a police car and an ambulance pulled up. 

One of the police took him aside to ask him questions. In the corner of his eye, he saw the paramedics and another police officer try to get his neighbor to let go of the girl. He went back to giving his report and when he looked back, his neighbor was sitting on a stretcher with a blanket wrapped around her. Then he saw them zipping up the body. 

That was when he lost his composure and began throwing up on the ground, barely missing the officer's shoes. He heaved a few more times before wiping his mouth shakily. 

"Sorry." He whispered. 

"It's alright, sir. Do you need anything?" 

"No thank you, anything else?"

"No, thank you, sir, for your cooperation. If you have any questions or concerns, here is my number,"  she replied scribbling on a new page on her notepad before ripping it out to give to him. She also reached into her pocket to take out a tissue packet and she handed it him.

He thanked her and took the tissue to wipe his mouth. 

"Do I need to stay?" He asked even though he did not want to. He would feel bad if he left her alone. 

"No, you do not need to stay, you can leave." 

He nodded, relieved, taking one more glance at his neighbor before going back into his home. 

A few weeks later, a moving truck showed up and he watched the Wilsons move away. 

I would love some feed back! It this can get three comments, I will continue this story!