Chapter I
Empty
Carrol Winters came home to an empty house. She set her purse and keys on the small table by the door.
"NADINE, WHERE ARE YOU!" Her thirteen year old daughter did not answer.
Carrol wracked her brain, trying to recall if Nadine had some kind of practice or game or club meeting today, perhaps a sleep over at a friends. Carrol made her way to the kitchen, the hub of the house hold. There was nothing noted on the month-at-a-glance calender and no note on the table. Carrol frowned and went over to the answering machine. There were three messages on the machine. The first was from Luke, a coworker of hers whose fondest wish involved her in the copy room sans clothing. She deleted it almost immediately. The second message was a hang up and the third message was from Dr. Neely, Nadine's orthodontist. He was confirming Friday's appointment. There was nothing from Nadine.
Panic didn't come first, annoyance did. Nadine was usually so responsible...it just wasn't like her to run around and not tell her first. She was going to find herself grounded. No phone, no TV, no friends, no computer. She pulled out the list of Nadine's friends's numbers and started dialing.
Twenty fruitless calls later, true panic had set into her heart. She could not find Nadine. In fact, none of her friends had seen her all afternoon. Carrol's next call was to the police.
Little Nadine was perfect, a perfect little girl Golden hair, blue eyes, she was perfect. She sat there on the little bed in the corner of the room that had been designed just for her. She was crying, but that would soon pass. She would realize that this was where she belonged, this was her home now.
"I WANNA GO HOME!" The young girl's voice cracked as she continued to sob. Cries of "I wanna go home" became a constant mantra.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! YOU ARE HOME!"
The girl would not be quiet. She was misbehaving...she had to be punished.