I am so so so so SO sorry! I haven't updated in ages because of exams and writer's block! You're probably all sick of my absence. Well, here's an update, at least. _

Ten minutes later dad's car pulled into Joey's street, heading to the forth house on the left. All through my life it had been like a second home, the place I would go when I'd had a fight with dad or locked myself out of the house.

The place that now had five police cruisers outside it, and a small group of people talking gently to a crying Mrs. Montgomery.

I fell in my hurry to get out of the car, scraping my knees, but scrambled to my feet and ran for Joey's house. When Mrs. Montgomery saw me, she pointed and said to the police, 'That's her!'

Two cops started walking towards me, holding small notebooks and staring.

When they were close enough one said, 'Are you Emma Bell?'

'Yes.' I managed to squeak.

'Well, we're going to need to ask you some questions. You were one of the people to see Josephine.'

I swallowed.

Dad came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. 'Are you sure there was no one else?'

'Yes, we're sure.' The other one said. She had her pen poised and was looking intently at me.

'What time did Joey arrive at your house?' She asked simply.

'Um, I don't know…' I said, feeling faint, 'Around eight-ish?'

'Why was she there? Were her and you planning to do anything tonight?'

'N-No.' I stammered. 'She needed some help, 'cause she died her hair the wrong colour… And she went to me.' Like a baby, I started crying.

'And then…' I sobbed, feeling only slightly embarrassed by all the people staring at me, 'And then we had a fight, because she said she was going into the forest with Myra…'

The cop's pens stopped on their pages, and one of them looked at me.

'She said she was going into the forest?'

I nodded.

'Well?' Janice, who had until then been quiet, yelled, 'That's where she is! You need to go looking for her!'

'Well, it's a big forest, m'am.' One of the officers said.

'I don't care!' Janice yelled, actually jabbing a finger into his chest, 'Get sniffer dogs, use heat radar, I don't care! But my little girl's in there, and you're going to find her.'

'There's a possibility the scent could have got lost in the rain.' The cop said, 'But we can try.'

He walked away and started talking to another officer, and then I noticed Joey's dad. He had divorced from Joey mum when she was ten, and then had moved to the edge of Montana with his girlfriend and her kids. Joey had often said that he'd probably forgotten Joey was even alive.

The fact that he had driven from Montana to Washington in one night showed how unbelievably wrong she was.

'Um, Emma?' He muttered. He was never a big one for conversation. 'I found this on the coffee table.' He held his hand out and pressed a piece of paper into mine.

'She says she's sorry.' He muttered.

This was too much for me. I staggered into her house and fainted there on her sofa.

At five thirty am, Annie, her mum, dad, older brother and younger sister arrived. When she saw me, Annie ran towards me, and then collapsed against me, sobbing. I was kinda shocked. Normally, when she was sad, Annie preferred to swear, punch something, hurt her hand on whatever she punched and then swear again. This was the weakest I'd ever seen her.

Annie's normally fun (okay, annoying) older brother Justin was oddly serious, standing in silence. Her little sister Tiffany still looked half asleep, sucking her thumb and stumbling when she walked.

'Oh Janice, I'm so sorry.' Annie mum said, hugging Janice.

'Joey was a lovely girl.' Annie's dad said solemnly.

Suddenly, an emotion new to everything I had felt so far entered me. It wasn't shock, it wasn't sadness.

It was anger.

'But Joey's not dead.' I blurted out.

'Emma…' Dad hissed at me.

'Well she's not!' I yelled. 'She's just lost or hurt or…'

Dad put a hand on my shoulder. 'I think it's time we went home, Emma.'

'No! I have to stay! I have to be here when she comes back!' I yelled, trying to stop dad from forcing me into the car. 'I have to…' My voice trailed off, and suddenly I was exhausted. I gave up and let dad push me into the car.

I didn't sleep at all, and I gave up and got out of bed just one hour after trying. Dad, however, slept until 8:30, and bounced into the kitchen like he'd got a full night rather than just five hours. Me? I could barely keep both my eyes open at the same time.

Dad took one look at me and said, 'Woah.'

I tried to say "What?" but it came out more, 'Whmph?'

'You look terrible.' Dad said.

'Thanks.'

'You need a day off.' He continued.

'No dad, it's fine, I can go in…' I started, but I didn't finish because of the glare dad was sending at me.

The next day, I walked into school, still feeling like death. Everyone was staring at me, because I was close to Joey. Everyone seemed to know that now.

Ebonie ran up to me. 'Emma! I'm so sorry about what happened to Joey.'

'Yeah, well…' I muttered.

'I mean, I wondered, when you weren't in yesterday,' Ebonie rambled on, 'if like, you were helping with the search or something, but then I thought that was just stupid because, like, Myra was in yesterday, and she was the last person to see Joey before…'

My brain went from sluggish to high alert in seconds.

'Myra was in yesterday?' I asked.

Ebonie nodded. 'Yeah. She seemed really… Hey, where are you going?' When she said that Myra was in school yesterday, I turned and almost ran down the corridor.

When I got to front reception, I tapped impatiently on the glass until one of the office people came.

'What?' She snapped, trying to make it seem like she was doing something uber-important, like filing her nails.

'What class is Myra Stuart in next?' I asked hurriedly.

She sighed and opened a window on the computer. I tapped my nails impatiently against the counter.

'With a U or with a W?' She asked, looking up.

'A U.' I snapped.

After a minute, she looked up and said, 'We have no records of that name.'

'What?' I snarled. 'Of course you do! I'll describe her. Tall, pale skin, brown eyes…'

The receptionist wasn't listening. She was rummaging around a filing cabinet. She pulled out a sheet of paper, read it, then walked over to me.

'Myra Stuart, seventeen, date of birth twenty-third of March…' She asked.

'That's the one.' I said.

'Yeah, she transferred yesterday.'

'Transferred!' I nearly yelled the word. 'To where?'

'No idea.' The receptionist said, sitting in a chair and pulling out a candy bar.

'GAHHH!' I yelled, and then I turned around and sprinted to the nearest restroom.

As I sat in sink, trying to calm down, I thought about three things:

1) Joey has went missing, Myra hasn't.

2) Myra transferred schools two days after Joey went missing.

3) One of Myra's friends in this school had already disappeared, Lluvy Bones.

It was official, Myra was connected to Joey going missing, and I was going to find out how.

R&R

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