A Nightmare  

It all started on a chilly September morning. I made myself a piece of wheat toast with some avocados on top of it and a tall cup of coffee. I made my daughter, who was 15, some chocolate chip waffles with butter on top of them. I went upstairs to her room where I saw that she was still sleeping.

“Iris get up, you are going to be late for the bus!”

“Sorry mom, I hit snooze.” said Iris.

“Get dressed and come downstairs, I made you breakfast.”

 She came downstairs in her favorite hoodie; which her father had given her before he died, paired with simple black leggings and her red Vans. Her leggings were always too long because she was only five foot three, so she had them rolled up a little past her ankle. She had her long brown hair thrown up in a messy bun with a scrunchie which was the new thing apparently. She always looked so pretty for school even on the days she just threw clothes on or had her hair up in a bun.

“Hey Mom thanks for making breakfast.” said Iris.

“No problem sweetheart.”

It was like any other morning, sending her off to the bus stop. Life was tough ever since her father died. It was hard but we finally built back up our relationship and I was over the moon for that. She had run out of the house without saying anything but a simple “bye mom”.  About five minutes later I got a text from her. It said she missed the bus but that she was going to walk to school. I texted her back saying I hope she had a good day and that I had loved her. It had been an hour but I didn’t think anything of it. I mean most teenagers don’t respond to their parents when they are around friends anyway. I took a shower and got into my work clothes. It was then when I got the call that would change my life forever.

My team called me and said that a young girl had gone missing and they needed help down at the station. I went upstairs got my shoes and then hopped in my car and headed down to the station. When I got there everyone seemed calm and then I walked into the room where my team was assembled. They filled me in on everything and I got to work investigating.  They details were that a bystander saw a young girl who looked to be around 16-18 years old getting into a car with a young guy who looked like he was forcing her into the car. I immediately thought how I would feel if this was my daughter and knew I needed to take on the case. The young boy looked like he was driving an old Toyota, that had the windows all blacked out. We interviewed the bystander and he said it looked like a younger boy. He said he had medium length curly hair which was waved up on his hat that he was wearing. He was wearing a bright red hoodie which had some type of writing on it. I thanked the bystander for his information and got to work. It was noon by the time this had all happened and I still hadn’t heard from Iris. I was starting to get worried but I just reminded myself that she is a teen and why would she text her mom back while she is at school with her friends. I continued to work on this case with an open mind that the girl would be found alive and well. It was about three o'clock when I texted Iris and told her I would be home late due to a new case we were working on. An hour later we got a lead that a young boy in an all blacked out Toyota was leaving a park and looked like he was in a hurry. My team and I raced to where the car was spotted. We searched the area but we found nothing. At this point I was getting worried because Iris hadn’t responded yet and usually she does. But again like I was doing all day I put it in the back of my mind and focused on the case. After no leads at the park we decided to go back to the office and start back at point A. We reviewed the case which was a report of a young girl being taken into a car forcefully. Then from that point on we have no other leads. That's when we decided to take a look at the security cameras. That is when my world starting to flip upside down. When they turned on the cameras and went to around what time he had said the girl was taken into the car. That's when I saw it. I saw her, my one and only daughter walking down the street in her dad’s grey hoodie with leggings and red vans on. She had her headphones and what looked like not a care in the world. That’s when I started screaming.

“Oh God no, not my baby. Please don’t be her. Please God.”

That’s when I saw the car on camera, I thought to myself dear God please be another girl on the street. And that’s when it happened. It almost looked like she had gotten into the car. I started crying and screaming all at once.

“Jenny, it’s going to be alright. We will find her, I promise you.” Said Kim one of my co-workers.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, dear God please no. Please let her answer my phone.”

I had called her, and no answer. Called her again, and again and again and still no answer. I was still crying and screaming hysterically.

“Jenny, come sit down. Kim said you need to drink some water. We haven’t confirmed it was her yet.” Said Donald another one of my co-workers.

“I know what my daughter was wearing today. It was her. Oh Jesus no. Why me. First my husband now my daughter. Why God, why?”

My co-workers had pulled up the front of the cameras to see the front of the girl. At this point Donald had taken me and sat me down in a chair. He had given me a glass of water to drink but all that was on my mind was the fact that my daughter was taken and we didn’t know by who or why. The glass I held in my hand was shaking. I couldn’t stop it. I was in shock. The rest of my team came in and gave Donald a head shake. I know what that meant. It meant is was Iris. It meant my whole world was taken from me. I knew that we had to find her so I went back into the room.

“Don’t worry about her, we will find her. Why don’t you go rest?” Said Kim

“No, I can’t go rest. My daughter is out there probably fighting for her life. I need to find her. She is all I have left. If she is gone, I have nothing, I have no one!”

I went back into the room and got to work. We followed the car on the cameras until suddenly the car just disappeared. Which was normal for most of these cases because they find a spot or road which isn’t covered on camera and take that. About 3 hours later the car was driving back in the same spot in the park. My thought was whoever was driving that car knew we would end up searching the park which is why he drove his car there. Half of my team went to the location where the cameras had shut off. That’s when my team called and said they were on a long gravel road which lead to a shed. It looked like the shed had a lock but that the lock had been cut off. They went into the shed and started searching it. That’s when they found a gun. I immediately started to cry because I knew that could have been used to possibly kill her.

“Jenny it doesn’t mean she is dead. It could have just been an old one someone was storing in there.” Said Ron another co-worker.

He was right. The gun doesn’t mean she is dead. It could have been a trap. My team was still searching the shed. That’s when he got the call.

“Jenny, they found a body.” Said Ron

“Oh Lord no. Please. Why me.”

“They need us to go there and confirm. I know this is going to be hard but we are all here for you and it may not even be her.” Said Ron

I had said no words while Ron was driving. I was silent. I was shaking. It was like the world around me was coming down in flames. That’s when we pulled up. I saw my team standing there. By the looks of their faces I could tell it was her. It was my baby girl. I got out of the car where Donald and Kim had met me and walked with me. That’s when I saw her. I saw my daughter’s lifeless body laying on the ground in front of me.

It’s been five years. Five whole years since my world was flipped upside down. In case you were wondering, no I never finished my story but I’ll finish it now. It’s been 5 years 4 months and 24 days since my beautiful daughter left this earth. It’s been a rough couple of years. So I don’t go into too much detail for you, I know you are all wondering the same thing. Did we find her killer? The answer to that is no. Someone somewhere on this planet has been free from killing my daughter for 5 years 4 months and 24 days. Life’s been rough since it’s only me. I still work at the police station but I only work two times a week. This past week we had gotten a call that a body had washed up on the shore. We ran the mystery person’s DNA and some of it matched the DNA that was found on my daughter. But obviously we can’t ask him questions or charge him with the murder of my beautiful daughter. I knew whenever I saw the body that it looked familiar but I didn’t think anything of it. It was right now, as I am writing this I realized who that body was. It was a boy whose name was Eli and he worked for my husband’s brother’s company. Him and Iris talked occasionally because Eli was like a son to Davis. It would make sense why Iris got into that car. She thought he was a friend. Davis knew she wouldn't get in the car with him dso he had Eli pick her up. It was then when I put all of it together. Davis, who is my husband, James’ brother, had always blamed the death of James on me. It wasn’t my fault, but I knew that his family would always blame me. It was a cold icy night and we were driving home from date night when a semi-truck slammed into his side of the car. James was killed instantly.

Loss makes you do and feel many emotions. It makes sense why Davis would kill his niece. Davis always blamed me for his brothers death.  I was in the car with him. I survived, and James did not. Davis lost his best friend that day. He blamed me for taking a big piece of his world away from him, that’s why he took my world away from me. I reached for my phone to contact my partners at the station and alert them when someone completely unexpected showed up at my door.    

2 hours later

Breaking News: Woman was found murdered, 5 years after her daughter was brutally murder and 8 years after her husband was killed in a car accident. Evidence shows it was the same person who killed her daughter. More details coming soon.