Chapter 16
1266 Words
Meanwhile back at the main household..
Nancy stared at her daughter and for a second—just a second—she looked like she might completely fall apart, but then it snapped. “No,” she said sharply. “No, she doesn’t know anything.”
Amelia didn’t answer straight away because she did know; she recognised that kind of quiet and that kind of absence, and it wasn’t confusion or hesitation, it was certainty, and certainty meant danger.
“She wouldn’t just leave,” Nancy continued, pacing now, her voice rising. “Not today. Not like this. She knows what today means.”
Amelia’s jaw tightened slightly. “Yes,” she said quietly. “That’s exactly why she left.”
Nancy stopped and turned slowly. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Amelia held her gaze. “It means she wasn’t confused,” she said. “She wasn’t emotional. She wasn’t having second thoughts.” There was a pause before she added, “She made a decision.”
The words landed harder than anything else.
Nancy’s lips parted slightly. “No,” she said again, weaker now. “No, she wouldn’t—she wouldn’t ruin everything like this.”
Amelia’s expression hardened. “She didn’t ruin anything,” she said. “She walked away from it.”
Silence stretched between them, tense and uncomfortable and real, until Nancy’s voice cut through it.
“Where is Daniel?”
The question came out sharp, immediate, necessary.
Amelia turned. “Still in bed.”
Nancy didn’t hesitate. “Get him up.”
Amelia moved instantly, because now this wasn’t just inconvenient, this was spiralling.
Daniel didn’t wake gently because Amelia didn’t give him the chance.
“Daniel.”
No response.
“Daniel.”
Sharper now.
He groaned slightly, shifting. “Mm… what—”
“She’s gone.”
That did it.
His eyes opened immediately, clear and focused and fully awake. “What?” he said, pushing himself up.
“Maisie,” Amelia said, watching him closely. “She’s gone.”
For a moment—just a moment—something flickered across his face, not confusion and not shock, something else entirely, and then it was gone.
“What do you mean gone?” he asked, his voice tightening.
Amelia stepped back slightly, folding her arms. “She’s not here,” she said. “Room untouched, bed made, phone off, no one’s seen her.”
Daniel ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. “That’s not possible,” he muttered, but he was already moving, already out of bed, already thinking.
Amelia watched him closely, too closely, because something about his reaction didn’t sit right.
Within minutes, the house shifted from panic to controlled urgency, with phones in hands and voices lower and sharper, staff questioned, rooms checked again, doors opening and closing.
But there was nothing.
No trace.
No sign.
“She can’t have just vanished,” Nancy snapped, gripping her phone tightly. “People don’t just vanish.”
“They do when they plan it,” Amelia said quietly.
Nancy shot her a look. “Stop saying that.”
Amelia didn’t respond, because she wasn’t wrong.
Daniel stepped into the hallway now dressed, composed—too composed. “We need to check the CCTV,” he said.
Nancy turned immediately. “Yes. Now.”
“It’s already being pulled up,” a staff member replied.
“Good.”
Daniel nodded once, and then his eyes flicked to Amelia, quick and subtle but enough to make her stomach tighten.
They gathered in the study, silent and tense, watching as the screen flickered on and cast a cold glow across the room.
“Play it,” Nancy said.
The timestamp appeared, early—too early—and the front entrance camera filled the screen, still and empty.
Seconds passed.
Nothing.
Then there was a flicker, the image distorting with a brief crackle of static.
Amelia’s eyes narrowed. “What was that?” she said quietly.
The footage skipped, barely noticeable unless you were paying attention.
Then it cut completely.
The screen went black.
Nancy stepped forward instantly. “What is this?”
The staff member frowned, fingers moving quickly. “Just—one second—”
The screen came back.
Same camera.
Same angle.
Same doorway.
Completely empty.
Nancy’s voice sharpened. “Where is she?”
The staff member hesitated. “There’s… a gap.”
“A gap?” Nancy snapped.
Amelia didn’t move, her gaze locked on the screen. “How long?” she asked.
“…Twelve minutes.”
Silence fell, heavy and sharp.
Twelve minutes.
That was all it would take.
Nancy let out a disbelieving laugh. “That’s not possible. The system doesn’t just cut out.”
“No,” the staff member admitted quietly. “It doesn’t.”
Amelia felt it then—that shift, that cold creeping certainty.
“Then why did it?” Nancy demanded.
The staff member glanced between them, his voice dropping. “It looks like… manual interference.”
The words landed hard.
No one spoke.
Because that meant this wasn’t an accident.
Amelia turned her head slowly and looked at Daniel, just for a second, but that was all she needed.
He wasn’t shocked.
Not really.
He wasn’t confused.
He was watching.
Thinking.
Like he was measuring something.
Confirming something.
And that wasn’t right.
“Twelve minutes,” Amelia said softly. “Convenient.”
Nancy turned sharply. “What are you implying?”
Amelia didn’t answer, because she didn’t need to. The implication was already there, hanging heavy and unspoken in the air.
“She planned this,” Amelia said instead, slow and controlled. “She knew exactly when to leave.”
Nancy shook her head. “No. No, she wouldn’t know how to do something like that.”
Amelia’s gaze didn’t leave Daniel. “Maybe she didn’t.”
There was a pause before she added, “Maybe someone helped her.”
The room stilled completely, and Nancy’s eyes flicked between them as her expression shifted from panic to something sharper, something suspicious.
Daniel finally spoke, calm and measured. “We’re not jumping to conclusions.”
Amelia’s lips curved slightly, not quite a smile. “Of course not.”
But her eyes said otherwise.
The screen continued to play, showing nothing but an empty doorway, a quiet house, and a missing twelve minutes—and a girl who had vanished without a trace.
Amelia folded her arms slowly, her gaze still fixed ahead. Her mind was no longer entirely on Maisie, because something had changed—something she hadn’t planned and something she hadn’t controlled.
“Turn it off.”
Her voice cut cleanly through the room. It wasn’t raised and there was no panic in it, just sharp, deliberate control.
The staff member hesitated for half a second before doing as told. The screen went dark.
Amelia exhaled slowly, her jaw tightening. “Find her,” she said coldly. “I won’t have her ruin this.”
No one moved immediately, because this wasn’t panic anymore. This was something else entirely—something colder.
“She’ll be back.”
Daniel’s voice came from behind her, calm and certain.
Amelia turned slightly, her eyes narrowing just enough to notice the difference. He wasn’t guessing and he wasn’t hoping. He sounded like he knew.
Before she could respond, he walked out of the room without another word.
Amelia didn’t follow. She just stood there, still, watching the dark screen and thinking, because now this wasn’t just about Maisie leaving. This was about who had helped her—and why.
- Writer
