The Wicked of Wicker Woods

Missing

Sheriff Scott Walker and a VERY boring chapter, but bare with me, it's important!

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"𝙶𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙶𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝." 

Guilt is a punishment. A suffering that can last a minute or a lifetime. 

The clink of silverware on the porcelain plate brought Anna back to reality, forcing her guilty conscious to rest for a moment. Days had passed since the news broke of Molly's disappearance, but the longer she was gone, the more difficult it was to forget.  

Anna's mother, Nora, and father sat at each end of the dining room table, enjoying their meals as they chatted about the workday. Grace, Anna's sister sat across from her sipping her glass of water.

Nora was a honors history teacher at the same high school Anna attended, which at times was awkward. Thankfully, the only times they ran into each other was in the hallways between certain classes. 

Her mother was a woman of natural beauty and intelligence. She never failed to amaze Anna with her brilliant mind and motherly advice. Her blue eyes and blonde hair were enough to make her a bombshell, even in her 50's.  

She was also very understanding, willing to uproot herself from everything she's ever known to come to Wicker Woods. Not only was she a good mother, but she was an exceptional wife. 

Nora picked at her plate, eyeing Anna as she too played with her food, "Anna, how was school?"

Looking to her mother, she could sense that her intuition was beginning to spark, "It was fine, uneventful honestly," Anna shrugged, not wanting to bring up the fact that she had involvement in a classmates disappearance. 

The idea had been weighing on her mind since the news broke. 

"Gracie, what about you? How'd the algebra test go today?"

Raising her eyebrows, Grace stuffed a piece of chicken in her mouth, "As well as it could go," she took in a sharp breath, a clear sign to Anna that she hadn't done so well on the test after all. 

Grace was fourteen going on 25. In terms of personality and looks, she was the complete opposite of Anna. While Anna a mix of her father and mothers dark and light tones, Grace was completely dark and her attitude sometimes matched it. 

She was a rebel, looking and acting as well she were well over 18 at times. And although she was more worried about her social life than school or family, Anna and she were always close.

"Grandma called to wish me a Happy Birthday yesterday," Grace blurted, either wanting to change the subject or start chaos, Anna wasn't sure, "She misses us."

Both her parents tensed, setting their forks down and side-eyeing each other, only to resume to their normal behavior seconds later. They hadn't bothered to comment on Grace's statement.

Anna can remember the day that her father shut out his own mother for good. It was an ugly day and the words he had spoken to her reminded Anna of the words Claire used on Molly.

The last time she saw her grandmother, she was 12. 

"That girl that they said is missing, did either of you know her?" Nora asked, curious as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. 

Anna could have kicked herself for thinking she could put that out of her mind, at least for tonight's dinner. Of course, her mother knew about Molly's disappearance and so did her father. As the sheriff of the sleepy town, he would have almost all knowledge on the case. But he was known for keeping a tight lip about his discoveries. 

Popping a green bean into her mouth, Anna resisted the urge to spit it out. Her appetite was non-existent, "We have a class together and I've seen her in the halls a few times, but that's about it."

It felt wrong, talking to her parents as if she didn't have some part in all of this. With the disappointment she felt in herself, she could only imagine how her parents would feel, knowing their daughter tortured some poor soul before she vanished. 

Nodding, Nora continued to eat. But Anna could sense that the conversation wasn't finished and that more questions would follow. 

"I mean, the last time we saw her was on Christmas five years ago. You know, I don't even think she knows you've moved back to town dad. She said she's feeling much better," Grace pried, "What is it with you and her anyway? She doesn't seem like she's sick.  And even if she was, shouldn't you be taking care of her?"

Scott suddenly slammed his fist into the wood of the table, nearly causing glasses to fall in the shock. His eyes were low and his jaw clenched as he peered down at the table in front of him.

Grace was startled, swallowing hard as she too bowed her head. Both girls knew it was best to leave that subject alone. But Grace often got carried away with questions that didn't have answers.

Silent moments ticked by.

"We're gathering volunteers for a search party within the week," Scott quietly announced as he looked over to Anna, "Maybe you could talk to some of your friends and see if they'd want to help the department out," he suggested as he sipped his water, his composure already back to normal. 

Anna wanted to remind her father that Claire and her friends were exactly the type of people he thought they were, uncaring and bad influences. But she couldn't, that would only lead to more questions. 

So for now, she would agree that she'd talk to everyone at school about joining in the search. A tactic to shut her parent's up for the night and allow her to leave the table and rest for the remainder of the evening.