Chapter 2

Her Uncle Toby and her grandparents where due to come back home around 7. They had decided to have a meal with some friends after the funeral.

Things had been pretty quiet all night until Tim spilled his meal all over Sarah.

"Ew!" Sarah squealed. "You've ruined my favourite dress Tim! Mom bought this for me!"

"Sowwy," Tim giggled.

Sarah's pretty little face quickly turned into a bitter mask. "You think this is funny?!"

The little blond haired toddler bobbed his head up and down.

'Oh great,' Alice thought to herself. 'Things were going so well too.'

Tim and Sarah were both good kids and got along well together but they were far from perfect. Sibling quarrels had become a common occurrence recently.

"Sarah, calm down I'll put it in the wash before the stain dries, it'll be fine." Alice sighed. The beef gravy had left a significant stain on Sarah's pale blue dress. It was going to be hard getting rid of that stain.

"Ugh! I hate you sometimes Tim. You always destroy my things! I hate it!" Sarah thundered then childishly flung the dress off before stomping upstairs to the bedroom.

Tim giggled again and Alice gave him a stern glance.

Alice could sympathise with her. Tim and Sarah's mother was a pretty absent figure in their lives just like her father had been. The only time they ever saw Cheryl was maybe once a year if that. When she visited she would act like she was the best mother on the planet and shower them them with gifts. Which irked both Alice and Toby to no end.

The gifts weren't very impressive if Alice did say so herself. They often consisted of second hand clothing or toys from thrift stores. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Alice found that sometimes the best deals were found in thrift stores. You could find some really cool and unique stuff for cheap prices.

Cheryl, however, didn't put much effort into picking out anything of interest for the kids. It was usually junk that was of no use to anyone, yet, her gifts still meant the world to Sarah and Tim.

It made her cringe to think her Uncle Toby was working ridiculous amounts of hours a week to support them and still struggle to make ends meat. Meanwhile Cheryl lived the high life, buying herself nice clothes and the latest gadgets yet never lifting a finger financially towards her own flesh and blood but then again who was Alice to judge. She didn't even know who her dad was. It's not like he ever paid child support. She didn't even know what he looked like.

Alice tried to support Toby where she could. She currently had a job in a library which wasn't particularly fulfilling but helped towards costs.

Sarah hoped to get somewhere with her music but she was also prepared for 'Plan B' in the sad reality that it didn't work out.

Her uncle Toby had always been so supportive of Alice and her music, her grandmother however… not so much.

"You won't get anywhere or make any money doing this!" her grandmother would often say. "I just wish you had done better at school. Like your mother!"

Alice cringed at the thought. She would never be like her mother. No matter how hard she tried. She was brought painfully back from her thoughts when she heard a screech from upstairs.

A furious Sarah soon followed, now clad in a t-shirt and jeans.

"Tim's taking stuff from my bag aswell!" Furiously she presented before them her old, now muddy, Lancelot plush. It would seem that Tim took him into the garden to play with before ditching Lancelot unceremoniously back in Sarah's weekend bag. The toy used to belong to Alice's mother, then herself before she grew out of it. She had quite a few fond memories with Lancelot.

"Mine!" Tim squealed. "Mine, Mine, Mine!"

"Like I'm going to give you this. Get real!" Sarah snapped.

It was then Tim started mimicking her voice which only proved to rile Sarah more.

"Urgh. I wish… I just wish..." Sarah started.

"I wish the goblins would come take you away right now!"

To Alice's surprise it wasn't Sarah who uttered those words but in fact Tim. Sitting there proudly he flashed a toothy grin. Proud that he was able to recite the lines from the labyrinth tale Alice often read to them both before bed. His pronunciation wasn't the best considering he actually said gooblins instead of goblins but he still managed to get his point across.

Alice rolled her eyes and Sarah huffed a 'whatever'.

"You guys quite done here?" Alice sighed. Both said nothing in reply. "Okay then, I'm going to clear the dinner table, try to get along please while I'm doing that," she said scooping up some plates and taking them into the kitchen. "Sarah can you bring the remaining dishes through please," Alice called from the kitchen. There was no reply. Alice was really not in the mood for this tonight. "Sarah!" Still no reply.

She was greeted by a still giggling toddler enthusiastically clapping his hands when she walked back into the dining room.

"She's gone! She's gone! No more sister! Yay!" Tim gushed excitedly.

Alice definitely was not in the mood for fun and games. "Sarah can you come down please?" she called, assuming she must of ran upstairs.

The room suddenly felt eery. Like there was someone else unseen in the room. Though there was only herself and Tim present. She shrugged it off.

"She's gone! He's took her away!" Tim continued to giggle.

Alice sighed again and ventured upstairs to find Sarah. She was probably upset. She was quite an emotionally 10 year old. "Sarah you can come out I'll wash your dress and Lancelot for you. They'll be as good as new, no biggie!"

Nothing.

She had thought she was just hiding and would eventually get bored, jump out and say 'gotcha' but that didn't happen.

Annoyance soon turned to panic when Alice came to realise she was no where to be found in the house.

What was going on was impossible. The doors to the house had been locked. Only Alice had the key apart from her grandparents. Did she go out one of the windows?

Frantically searching the garden and checking every nook and cranny, panic soon turned to desperation.

"Why are you sad Alice?" Tim, by this point, had stopped giggling.

"Tim, where did Sarah go? Please this isn't a game. Where is she? Where did you last see her?"

"I told ya, he took her,' was all Tim would reply.

Frantically grabbing her phone she retreated to the hallway and dialled the first person she could think of. Uncle Toby.

"Hey kid. You okay, how's Tim?" Toby drawled down the receiver, she could tell he had been drinking. Her grandparents would be thrilled.

"Uncle Toby! She's gone, Sarah's gone, I can't find her!" Alice was sobbing uncontrollably down the phone at this point. Perhaps a bit undignified for an 18 year old girl but terror was coursing through her veins. She had one job. Look after her two cousins. They were practically her siblings. Could she seriously not even do that right?

Alice knew the odds for a missing child being found diminished after 24 hours. She scolded herself for not phoning the police first but she couldn't think straight.

What if Sarah had been abducted? What if she was going to be sold into some child trafficking ring? What if the abductor was still in the house?!

"What? I don't get it. Who's missing? What's happened?"

"Sarah! She gone!"

"Who's Sarah?"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She kinda felt groggy. Also nauseous.

"Sarah! Your daughter Sarah!" she was in disbelief. He couldn't be that drunk could he?

"Alice..." Toby stuttered. "I don't have… a daughter? You know what I don't think you're feeling too good are ya kid? Me and your grandparents are coming back right now".

"How could you forget your own daughter!"

"Alice just go lie down -" she cut him off.

"So you're trying to tell me you don't have a daughter?!" Alice felt faint. She legitimately thought she might pass out. At that point her grandmother took over the phone. Not surprising since she was a serial eavesdropper.

"Hey hunny. What's going on. Who is this Sarah you're talking about? Not your mother is it? You're not suffering from trauma are you? Look it's been a long day. Maybe the memories and anniversary of your mothers death is triggering you. Sorta like, uh, what do you call it again? PTSD y'know. Look we'll be home shortly-"

Alice hung up the phone. She could not stand to hear Karen's voice right now.

PTSD? Alice knew for a fact she did not have PTSD. She also knew for a fact that she most definitely had a cousin called Sarah. She knew for a fact that she had been in her very presence minutes before.

Running back to the dining room she picked Tim off the floor and sat him on a chair.

"You need to be honest with me Tim this is serious. Where is your sister?"

"I am always honest!" he protested but then paused for a moment. "I asked the gooblins to take her away so the kingy of the gooblins did."

"Tim!" At this point she was exasperated. "The labyrinth isn't real. It's only a story. Goblins and goblin kings do not exist -"

"But they do. Their kingy is very scary looking. He asked me if I wanted her back. I said nope," he looked sheepish. The novelty of wishing his sister away must have been wearing off.

As much as it sounded crazy, Alice was starting to believe it too.

here's chapter 2 will probably write more over the weekend.