The Princess with No Memory

The beginning

Margaret POV:

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*15 years earlier*

Another day was dragging out, and the emptyness in our hearts and home was still as strong has the day our son Thomas went missing, 8 years ago at the age of 25.

He could be described as a good son, at least from our perspective. I'm not saying he was perfect, he could be bold and act up sometimes like any other person would, act without thinking sometimes. But he was always thoughtful of us, he would help us with any chores without the need of us asking. He would actually keep his room clean and tidy, even during his teenage years, he studied hard and recently had gotten a good job that he wanted, working hard everyday doing his best. As far as we know he never did anything illegal, so when he went missing one night, it was completely out of the blue. Especially considering that he had dinner with us just a few hours earlier as we always did with. And it was just like any other night, we ate, we talked, he told us about his day how he was enjoying his work and what his plans were, there was no hint or sign.

After dinner he helped me with the dishes as always and then excused himself to his room saying he was tired and was going to sleep.

That was the last time we talked, my last words to him was wishing him a good night.

There was a knock on the door, I went to open it and standing there were officer Clarke and Peters, nothing ordinary considering they were the officers responsible for this missing case, at the time Richard Clarke took a special interest in it, as he knew Thomas our sons were friends and he too found it extremely odd for Thomas to just vanish out of thin air.

Every year around the anniversary of the disappearance they would come over if for nothing else just to offer a bit of support and remind us that his case hadn't been forgotten.

But it was still one month away.

"Hi officers! Coming for the usual visit I'm assuming. I'll call James in and put the kettle on"

"Hello Margaret. How have you been doing? We are actually here as there have been some developments on your son's case. Please do call your husband as this is better if said to you both at the same time."

"Did you find him? Where is he, why isn't he here? What happened to him?"

"We'll tell you everything and answer all the questions we can, but it is better if we do this inside with your husband present, and I strongly recommend you sit down first."

My heart is racing, fearing the worse, they way they were talking and my instincts telling me my son was gone to the ancestors world. I thought I had done everything I could to keep him protected from the prophecies, trying to prevent my seers visions from happening before I locked that side of myself permantely away from my reach.

I let the officers in, and called James to the living room, in the meantime I got tea ready, I knew I was going to need some.

I walked in with the teapot and cups on a tray and some of my homemade cookies that I knew Richard couldn't say no to.

I served the tea for myself and James and was going to serve some for Richard and Peters as we always did, but they refused clearing their throats and telling me to sit down. Something was definitely wrong.

"Mr. and Mrs. Patterson, today we are here on official business, as you have concluded it is indeed related with your sons disappearance."

They looked extremely nervous and were avoiding our eye contact, almost afraid of what to say next.

"He is dead, isn't he?" James blurted out with a choked voice.

Peters bowed his head wich only confirmed my husbands words.

"Unfortunately we have a very strong lead that points towards that scenario, we are still investigating and still need the results of the autopsies to be concluded, and we can't give much information as the case is still an open investigation for murder"

I gasped at these words and James just held me tight. "How? When...? Wha-at happ-pen-ed?" was all I could say between the sobs that were trying to escape as my heart was breaking with the news.

"I'll start from the beginning and will give you the story we were able to figure so far... As I said the case is still ongoing so some details are still either unknown or we can't disclose, but everything else I'll share with you. Even because there are some more important news and matters that you must be aware of...."

"... It's about your granddaughter." Richard Clarke said after what seemed an eternity to us, you could clearly see his discomfort and he was struggling with how best approach whatever it was he wanted to say.

" Granddaughter... Just tell us how it is, Richard we've been awaiting for anything about Thomas for 8 years, we knew this could happen, of course it is extremely hard to accept it at this moment, as we always hoped he would eventually come home safe and sound, but what about this child you say is our granddaughter."

"well, you see" started Richard clearing is throat "we've been contacted by the police department of Castletown, they stumbled upon Thomas case when trying to find any living relatives for a 6 year old child that has been under their care, if we can say that, for the past month. Initially they were looking for matches within their county, but when they got 0 results they expanded to a national search and got a 50% adn match with Thomas adn which means this child is without a doubt Thomas daughter. After having these facts checked with an external laboratory just to be certain they contacted us, late last night."

"Before you ask, the only reason why I didn't come rushing to tell you, is due to the circumstances surrounding this case, I wanted to read all the reports they sent me before sharing with you."

"This will be extremely hard to hear, but you must focus now on the most important which is your granddaughter". Peters mentioned giving a go ahead nod to his colleague.

"The police had been called to a residence in Castletown by one of the neighbours after they saw a strange and unknown person leave one of the houses and a fire inside the house spreading.

Firefighters and police were dispatched straightaway. The fire was contained within the hour with the damage restrained to the kitchen area where it seems it had been started. One body was found, unfortunately they haven't been able to proceed with the full identification due to the fire and water damages on it. And upon further inspections on the residence they found another body, female with a fatal wound on the chest area, the cause for it is unknown at this stage, there was also what the firefighters thought was a third victim next to the female body, of a 6 year old child, initially they believe she was dead due to the blood she was covered in, but upon close inspections they saw that the child was actually unharmed, but in a very frail state and ended up collapsing with the shock and horror of what she witnessed. She was in what seems a vegetative state for the first 2 weeks.

The reason why none of the bodies can be identified is because all documents present in the house were fake, apart from the birth certificate for your granddaughter, so at this stage we only know for certain that the female found with the child was the mother, by the adn match and that the child is a daughter of your son, but so far we cannot know for certain if the other body found was your son's and we do not know who the mother really was.

As you've been identified as the only relatives of the child and she needs a safe and secure place to go after she is released from hospital, the officers in Castletown contacted us to see about the possibility of you being her guardians if not permanently at least until we can... "

" She will stay with us!" both James and myself said at the same time." If this child is Thomas daughter and our granddaughter there is no other place for her to live. When can we go meet her and bring her home? " I added.

" I knew that would be your answer, so I've started all the necessary procedures to have her transfered to the local hospital, so far we do not know what psychological damage she has suffered, or what and how she was living before, so you should prepare yourselves for a very traumatized child, she will need all your love and patience, that I know you both are more than capable of providing, to help her overcome this".

"Thank you Richard!" I said trying to contain the tears falling from my eyes. Within 10minutes I learnt I had lost my only son, I had a granddaughter and she most likely had been gone through the worse moment of her life, that no human should go through, at such a young age.