Jesse narrating ⬇️

Ten years later...

As the years went on, Me, Lukas, and James all grew stronger as a family. Every so often, me and Lukas struggled to find  time to be there for James, but nothing drastic. Lukas had to balance writing and keeping Beacontown running as jobs, unlike me who only had running Beacontown as a job, which was a struggle but he always made time for me and James.
When James was about six, we told him that he was getting sister. We named her 'Analiese' and she was, and still is, a little bundle of joy....even if she was hard to manage sometimes. We all have our ups and downs but we always found our way to handle them. I love my family more than anything and I couldn't imagine my life without them.

But this story truly begins when James was 10 and Analiese was just four years younger...

Jesse's POV

I was packing James and Analiese's lunches as Lukas helped them get ready, the usually routine. When I heard a young voice call for me--
"Mom!" James yelled. "Yes?" I called back. I didn't get an immediate answer,  but a few seconds later James walked into the kitchen and took a sneak peak at what I was making him and his sister. "Peanut butter and jelly...again?" He said in that annoyed, child-like voice. I smirked and rolled my eyes at his remark and continued to do as I was doing. A few more minutes passed before my name was called again. "Mom!" "Yes?" I replied for a second time. "Are our lunches ready yet?" James hollered. He and Analiese walked up to me and I handed them their lunches. Analiese happily said goodbye to me before walking off toward the door, James was about to do the same but I stopped him. "Now, remember, don't let Analiese out of your sight! She is only 6..." I reminded him. They transferred to a new school recently due to issues we had with the previous one. However, their old school had a school bus for them to ride every day, unlike this one, that had the parents drop them off or they walked instead. But their new school was only a block away so we allowed them to walk, but if it had been any farther then we would have dropped them off instead. James was fairly responsible for his young age so we entrusted him to take care of his sister on the walk to and from school. They had been going to this new school for a few weeks but I still remained him anyway. To be safe.

He agreed, and they headed off to school. Me and Lukas signed documents, contracts, and various other papers for the next several long hours, as we were unfortunately very behind. By the time I looked at the clock for the first time, it was 3:00pm. The kids should be home soon...

3:25...a little weird but it's nothing to get to worked up about, they're probably held up by something.

3:35...Odd...

Lukas:" Jesse, what time is it?"

"3:45"

Lukas:" Shouldn't the kids be home by now?"

"I...don't know. I'm gonna call the school."

I grabbed my phone off of the side table and walked over to the fridge. I spotted a note card hanging there that was held up by a magnet, that had a small list of numbers from teachers and the principal. My first thought was to contact the principal, but all I wanted to know was where James and Analiese were, so I figured that he wouldn't know that information. So I decided to call James' home room teacher instead. I looked at the number once more before looking down at my phone and dialing in the numbers. I held the phone up to my ear and as I listened to the ring tone music, I realized what an idiot I was for not calling sooner. It felt like an eternity before I heard the ring tone stop and I heard the home room teacher say- "Hello?"

"Hello, this is James' mother. Where is he?" I asked shakily. It's been forty five minutes since school got out. And neither of them have any after school activities today. The school's only a block away, they should defiantly be here by now...

But what she said next sent a chill down my spine...I will never forget what she said...

"Ma'am...your son hasn't been at school...all day..."