Hello everyone! I know I seem to be MIA lately, but I am back now! This story has taken over and I wanted to finish this story before I posted anything else, so that I could give my other stories my attention again. This story is actually already completed, except for edits. So I will hopefully be able to post every day or every other day with a new chapter. I will just need to make sure I edit the chapters first. And my other stories will begin to be updated again very soon! I hope you enjoy this new story!

Gone

There was a balloon that had unlatched itself from the terrace at the restaurant. Anna watched as the strings untangled from the wood and the purple balloon rose higher and higher into the sky slowly growing smaller and smaller against the clouds. Her eyes followed it until it was just a mere dot above her. A tight knot had formed in the base of her throat and she swallowed hard. Balloons, especially purple ones, always reminded her of her.

Despite the fact that Anna had been terrified of balloons and the choking hazard they posed, her daughter had always been fascinated by them. Anytime they saw one, they would have to stop so that she could observe them and then beg to have one. More often than not, they would both give in. But then Anna would be a nervous wreck watching her daughter closely to make sure she didn't bite into it and cause the balloon to pop and lodge into her throat.

In the end, she had been terrified of the wrong things. She blinked, the sun starting to blind her and ducked her head down slightly. Her eyes glassed over in tears and her hand came to clutch over her beating heart.

"Anna?" Her friend's kind voice broke in.

Swallowing down the lump, Anna turned her face to her friend and gave her a shaky smile. Mary's brows furrowed and she brought her hand to brush against Anna's shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Anna squeaked. She could tell that Mary didn't believe her, but that she also wasn't going to push the matter. Over the past five years, Mary had learned when to and when not to push the truth out of her friend. Instead, she just gave her a tight smile and sighed.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned John," Mary stated a moment later. Anna curled her lips slightly to the side.

"Why shouldn't you? He isn't the boogie man," Anna replied, finding her voice. "Hearing his name doesn't bother me." It was a lie. It did hurt. It brought back all the memories of a life that there once was and a life that should have been.

Their lives had been as close to perfect as a life could be. Everything had been so wonderful and then in a blink of an eye, it was gone. It was absolutely terrifying how fragile life really was. How what you had known as your entire existence was gone, just like that.

Anna watched as Mary's lips pursed into a thin, worried line. Her pale cheeks sunk in slightly and she busied herself at the table, as though she had a lot to say, but was trying not to. Mary had always been the one to bluntly tell anyone what she thought, not caring about the recourse of those actions. But in the past five years, she had treated Anna with baby gloves, making sure to watch her words carefully. She got enough of that from her father. He was always so very careful around Anna, not wanting to say or do anything to upset her. Her mother, though, was a bit more firm. She felt as though Anna needed to move forward, not live in the past.

"Just say it," Anna finally said. "What is it?"

"He…he has a…significant other," Mary stated.

"Yes, I know," Anna's eyes fell to her hand.

"Oh," Mary's lips formed into the perfect O. Then they fell and she attempted to curl them into a tentative smile. "Right, of course you knew. Why shouldn't you?'

"I saw it online," Anna simply answered. She rarely got on her social media anymore. It hurt to see families with their happy faces and celebrating happy events. But she had the other week. John had never posted much, if at all. However, he had been tagged in a photo with some woman. The two of them had been out to eat and the woman mentioned it was their six month anniversary.

"I…I hate to even bring this up, but Matthew does need me to ask…"

"I have them on my desk. I'll sign them tonight," she promised.

"It's just…"

"I know," Anna stated, growing agitated. She could tell that Mary hated to be the one pestering her about signing the divorce papers. Several months ago, she had felt blindsided when they showed up at her doorstep. Not that she should have, they hadn't spoken to one another in nearly 8 months at that time and hadn't lived together for nearly three and a half years. It was time. But Anna couldn't put the pen to that paper. It was like she was finally giving up on them, on her.

"What if you let me set you up on a date?" Mary offered. Anna let out a low scoff and shook her head.

"I don't want to go on a date, Mary."

"It doesn't have to be serious, just for fun," Mary tried. Anna tried to smile; her friend was only trying to help.

There was no fun, not anymore. It felt wrong to even smile sometimes. In some ways, she hated John for being able to move on. Had their life meant nothing to him?

"Perhaps," Anna quietly said. Mary's smile brightened.

"Great!"

Anna sighed.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

When Anna walked into her home, she was instantly accosted by her parents' small dog. He came up to Anna's feet and began to sniff. Anna bent down and gave the dog a gentle scratch on its head.

"Hey Butler," Anna murmured. The dog rolled over onto his back, pleased with the attention he was receiving.

"Ah, Anna! You're home," her mother said with a kind smile. She stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on the apron around her waist. Standing from the floor, Anna gave her mother a quick nod. The puppy whimpered. "Did you have fun with Mary?"

"It was nice," Anna answered.

Once things changed and her life crumbled completely, her parents moved in with her. They had retired and moved to the beach. But then, as things changed, they came back and moved into the finished basement of Anna's home. It was nice to have them around, but Anna always felt guilty that she had pulled them from their retirement.

Her mother, Elsie Carson, bent down and picked up the sad puppy. Once it was in her arms, he made a content sound and cuddled against Elsie's chest. Anna eyed the puppy. Her father had been against getting a dog, but Elsie had talked him into it. Now her father was attached to the dog, never wanting to be away from it.

Anna didn't mind Butler. He was a nice distraction. He was just not allowed upstairs. That was Anna's space.

"I need to go upstairs and do some things. Where's Dad?"

"Out back in the garden. Would you like me to get him?"

"No," Anna replied, giving her mother a small nod. "I just have some paperwork I need to do."

Anna made her way up the staircase, her hand resting on the handrail. As she walked up the stairs, her eyes landed on the photos that hadn't changed in five years. Time had frozen in the upstairs portion of the house. Nothing had changed except for John's things, which he had taken with him when he moved out four years ago.

Taking in a deep breath, she pushed herself up the stairs and into the small office. The papers were still sitting right there, like they had been for four months now. Eventually, John could take harsher steps if she refused to sign them. She knew that. He had been patient, for now.

Anna sat down in the office chair and picked up the pen. Clicking it on, she brought it over the first page that she was supposed to sign. John was being generous. He offered her alimony and the house and everything else would be split in half. It was fair and how life was already being run. Signing these papers wouldn't change her day to day life now. But she couldn't do it. The moment she tried to touch the paper, her hand grew shaky and her eyes watery. She dropped the pen and instead opened her laptop.

Quickly she went to Facebook and found the photo of the woman, Casey, and John. He had a smile on his face, but it was the type of smile that said he was annoyed he was getting his picture taken. He had never been fond of a lot of photos. The girl was pretty. And she appeared older than Anna, closer to John's age. The photo didn't tell her much. She couldn't tell if there were real feelings in this photo. She couldn't tell if John was truly happy or if it was all an act. Her lips fell and she closed her laptop, closing her eyes.

Her hands pressed over her face and she inhaled sharply, before dropping them and standing. Her legs walked her to their daughter's bedroom. It was still exactly the same as it had been left. The small toddler bed sat against the side of the wall with the Tangled blanket lopsided.

Every night, her timed nightlight still turned on to scare the monsters away. The drawings that she had insisted needed to be hung up were still taped on the small little area Anna had set up for them. Her little shoes that had been kicked off the night before she went missing, were still in their spots: one beside the bed and one upside down by the wardrobe.

The only thing Anna had brought herself to do was dust and vacuum around the things that had been left on the floor. Other than that, she tried to keep it the same, as though she'd come back now and resume life as it had been left. But she would be eight now.

Taking the doorknob in her hand, Anna shut the door. The big E on the door caught her attention and she brought up her hand to touch it.

"Emmy," she whispered to herself, the hardness growing in her chest. Blinking harshly, she turned away and headed toward her bedroom.

It felt empty now. Even with everything in it, it didn't feel whole anymore.

She sunk onto the mattress and laid down.

The phone rang. Pursing her lips together, Anna sat up. She lifted her phone from the table top. The number did not look familiar and she nearly ignored it. But something made her pick up.

"Hello?" She hated the crack within her voice. She hoped the person on the other end hadn't heard it.

"Mrs. Anna Bates?"

"Yes, that's me," Anna answered.

"Yes, hello, Mrs. Bates," the kind man's voice said on the other end of the phone. "This is DCI Maxwell. Do you remember me?"

The name alone made her heart skip a beat.

"Yes…" she croaked. Her heart began to hammer within her chest. This was it. He was going to tell her they found the body. That she was unequivocally gone. That the last bit of hope she held on to was about to be washed away. Tears built up in her eyes and she found it hard to stay grounded. She wanted to call for her mother to be by her side, but her body remained stuck within its spot and her mouth screwed shut.

"Mrs. Bates," he started. Anna felt her body tighten. "We think we've found your daughter. We think we've found Emmeline."

To be continued...

Thank you for reading! If you are interested to see where this story is going, please let me know. I will update again soon! :)