Missing Things*

The tunnel felt like it went on forever. Powder crawled as fast as she could, until she pushed on the little door and summersaulted, finally tumbling out on the other side. Panting, Powder sat up, and was almost blinded by the light. She saw the blandness of the drawing room, the gray clouds outside her windows, and knew instantly she was home.

Turning, she quickly shut the little door and locked the key. She hastily took it out of the keyhole and put it in her pocket.

Her triumph made her cry out to the house, "I'm home!"

She tried in vain to brush the cobwebs off her clothes and her hair, walking around the house. But Powder didn't mind. She giggled to herself, ready to scare Mylo if he came around a corner.

"Anybody here?"

But the house was quiet, despite the daylight outside. Nobody greeted her.

"Hello-hello!" Powder called out, sticking her head into different rooms, but found them empty. Nothing touched or moved.

It took her a minute to remember that Mylo and Claggor weren't even home. They were staying at Ekko's.

She sighed in disappointment. But still…

Where was Violet?

"Vi! Viiii!" Powder called.

She passed by the kitchen and saw two empty plates set on the table.

As Powder approached, she wrinkled her nose. Something smelled wrong.

She looked around and found two brown paper bags on the counter. When she touched a bag, she flinched as a fly landed on her hand, knocking the bag over, spilling the contents on the table.

Fruit flies buzzed around everywhere. The fruit inside had gone bad.

"That's disgusting," she grimaced.

The doorbell suddenly rang, and Powder ran down the hall to get it. The shadow in the stained-glass window seemed as tall as her sister.

"I missed you so much! You'll never –"

But when Powder opened the front door, she saw who was standing there. For a split second, she froze in panic, a wave of emotions hitting her, then logic caught up to her and she scowled, pinching the bridge of her nose, exhausted by the sudden spike of adrenaline.

"Oh… the Ekko that talks."

The real Ekko blinked with his real brown eyes.

"Huh?" he asked, then he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, um, 'hi' to you too, um…" His smile dropped as his eyes narrowed at her face. "Are you okay? What happened to your chin?"

Stunned, Powder touched her face and felt the reminiscent sting of the scrape on her chin. She couldn't believe she almost forgot it. She touched it twice and found no blood on her fingers.

"Nothing. I just fell. What do you want?" she snapped rather quickly.

He seemed to want to say more, but cut to the chase, "S-So, you know that old doll I gave you?"

Powder arched an eyebrow at him, already impatient.

Ekko had a hard time looking her in the eyes, wringing his skeleton gloved hands on the pockets of his coat. "Um… my grandma's real mad. Says it was her sister's..." He looked at her for recognition when she didn't reply, "… the one that disappeared?"

Powder pointed an accusatory finger at him. She sounded almost shocked, "You stole that doll, didn't you?"

Ekko shrugged sheepishly. "Well, it-it looked just like you, and I figured you might like –"

But Powder blurted out before she could stop herself, "It used to look like this pioneer girl! Then Huck Finn Jr.! Then it was this 'Little Rascals' chick with all these ribbons and braids and –"

Ekko merely stared at her, choked into silence, until Powder suddenly blinked and a smile crossed her face.

"Grandma's missing sister! I think I just met her! Come on!" she exclaimed.

She suddenly pulled on Ekko's hand and dragged him into the house, much to his bewilderment and panic.

"Listen, I'm really n-not supposed to – whoa!" he cried out, stumbling behind her.

Powder didn't let go of his hand until she dragged him into the drawing room and only let him go to point down at the little door.

"She's in there," Powder said with a hand on her hip.

Ekko glanced around the drawing room, his eyes pouring over everything with curiosity. "Who is?" he asked.

"Your great aunt! Keep up!" Powder snapped her fingers.

Ekko stared at her for a moment, his eyes very wide. He looked from the little door to her, twice. "C-Can you… Can you unlock it?" he asked gently.

He reached out to touch the door and Powder grabbed his wrist, stopping his hand.

"Not in a million years," Powder said flatly. Still holding his wrist, she exclaimed, "But it wouldn't matter! She can't escape without her eyes." Then Powder shrugged sadly, "None of the ghosts can…"

Ekko eyed her for a while in confusion. "Right…" The words failing him, he wrestled his hand out of her grip and stood up, rocking on his feet. "Yeah, so, I really need to get that doll," he said.

"Great! I'd love to get rid of it!" Powder exclaimed.

Before he could protest, she grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room, further into the house. She brought him upstairs toward her bedroom.

"Where are you hiding, you little monster?" Powder yelled as she kicked open the door to her room, finally releasing Ekko's arm.

Ekko stood back and watched Powder go around her room, throwing toys and books and things aside.

"You and Grandma been talking?" he asked, hesitantly shuffling inside the doorway.

As Powder knelt and searched under her bed, she told him, "The doll's her spy. It's how she watches you, finds out what's wrong with your life."

"The doll… is my grandma's spy?"

"No, the other mother!" Powder said, throwing aside her toys, and looking under the seats by the bay window. "She's got this whole world where everything's better! The food, the garden, the neighbors!"

She turned and got in his face to stare him directly in the eye, pointing her finger at his nose.

"But it's all a trap!"

Ekko gulped, a bit cross-eyed, stepping back and finding himself almost about to trip over a cardboard box. He stepped around it, nervously. "Yeah, I-I think I heard someone calling me, Laney –"

"Don't believe me? You can ask the cat!" Powder snapped.

He stared at her and cocked his head to the side. "The cat…"

He chucked nervously and gave her a wide berth, tiptoeing around her boxes and trying not to step on the things thrown on the floor. Erring on the side of caution, he crawled over her bed to get to the door.

"Uh, I'll-I'll just tell Grandma that-that you couldn't find the doll – ow!"

He winced and rubbed his head from where Powder threw her shoe at him.

"You're not listening to me!" Powder snapped as she hopped on one foot to pull off her other shoe.

"That's… because… you're… crazy!" Ekko exclaimed, scooting further and further out the door before pointing at her and taking off.

Powder threw her other shoe, and it sailed over his head. He screamed as he ran down the staircase, Powder chasing behind him.

"You creep!" she yelled, picking up her shoes in the hallway and throwing them at him again.

He bolted out the front door onto the lawn, grabbing his bike.

"Crazy!" he yelled over his shoulder, climbing on and pedaling away as fast as he could.

"Crazy? You're the jerk wad that gave me the doll!" she yelled after him, standing on the wet lawn in her socks in the rain. But he was already gone.

Then Powder glanced up the driveway and spotted the garage.

"Vi! Vi?" Powder called, running to the garage.

When she opened the garage door, she saw Vander's worktable sitting silently in the corner. The radio was off. Vi's truck was still parked inside. The flowers were still in the hatchback. But no one was here.

Powder came around the driver's side. Opening the door, she climbed into the driver's seat and looked around. She felt small in front of the large steering wheel and her feet not reaching the pedals. Glancing around, she found Vi's red phone on the passenger seat.

Grabbing it, Powder immediately opened it and dialed Vander's number.

"Come on, Vander. Please, pick up!"

She called him ten more times, but all she got was his voicemail.

Powder almost wanted to throw the phone. Who else could she call? She didn't know Benzo's number. The cops? The army? They'd never believe her. Mylo and Claggor likely weren't going to be helpful either. They might just be furious with her, even if they believed her.

Powder looked at Vi's red phone. There was one other person she could call.

…

Powder waited and waited, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel while the dial rang.

"Hello?" a voice finally said.

"Caitlyn!" Powder exclaimed a little overzealously. Clearing her throat, she asked more politely, "Is-Is this Caitlyn?"

"Hold on, this is her father. I can give the phone to her."

Powder waited a moment, listening to soccer game noises on a TV in the background, before another voice spoke on the line, a voice that matched the girl from the flower shop.

"Hello?"

"Caitlyn, this is Powder. Vi's little sister," she said quickly.

"Oh, hey! What's up?" Caitlyn said, brightly.

"Did Vi come over to your house?" Powder interrogated quickly.

There was a beat, a pause of confusion.

Caitlyn replied, "Actually, no… She called our date off."

Powder blinked. "What?"

"Yeah. Vi said that she was going to spend some time with you this weekend. Which I totally get! It's important to have family time together," Caitlyn said.

Powder didn't know what to say.

Sensing her hesitation, Caitlyn asked, "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Huh? No, I just…" Powder chewed her lip. "S-She forgot her phone. I was just checking if she stopped by your place… so… I'll just wait until she gets home… thanks anyway."

Just before she could hang up, Caitlyn interjected, "Say, Powder?"

"Yeah?"

Another beat.

"You're a good sister. I wish I had a sibling like you."

Powder held her breath, her eyes burning.

"Bye, Caitlyn..."

Then Powder hung up and put the phone down on the dash. She crossed her arms and buried her head in them. She cried against the large steering wheel of the empty truck. The cabin felt emptier than ever.

The rain poured outside, drumming against the roof of the garage.