The Vanished

Today is the day of Melanie Blake's funeral. The only difference between this funeral and other funerals, is the fact that there is no body to bury, no body to say goodbye to, no explanation as to why there was cause for a funeral in the first place. Melanie's family, the town of Misty Falls, and myself, being that I was her best friend, have waited two years for an explanation as to what happened the night she went missing. What we thought would be a nice evening at the Misty Falls Public Park, watching the sunset, practicing catching and pitching techniques for our softball game coming up, quickly turned out to be one of the worst days of mine and many others lives, but most of all, the worst day of Melanie's life.

It all happened so suddenly and in front of so many people, yet not one single person is able to provide an explanation of what they saw. She just vanished. No object in the sky beaming down on her and bringing her towards it, no physical being to blame, no obvious supernatural being to blame, just air. We were all so shocked at what we saw, even the non believers of the supernatural were trying to theorize the most absurd of possibilities to make sense of what had happened. She was standing there, then she was gone. I am not sure that she was even aware of her own vanishing.

To this day, I think everyone was hoping that it was maybe a magic trick, or that even if it was something of the supernatural, she would just show up again. That day never came. So here we are, memorializing a person who was such an important part of many peoples lives, but vanished without a trace, without a shred of evidence, without a goodbye. I am unsure if we will ever figure out what truly happened.

The air at school has felt heavy and sad the last two years. Even more so in the days leading up to the funeral. A day we dreaded would come, but had hoped with every fiber of our being, would never arrive. After Melanie's funeral today, I did not have much to say to anyone. I spent most of what was left of the day looking at our yearbook pictures, drowning in my own thoughts and questions, and crying. A lot.

It happened again. Bridget Walker. Funny, this happened the same way it did with Melanie. Same time, same date, same place, only difference being three years time. Again no explanation, no goodbye, but there was a small shred of what I believe to be evidence. The grass... seems to be dead... in the exact spot both vanishings have taken place, and a dark black patch in the center of the of the rotting dead grass seems to appear almost as fast as the girls vanished. Police and FBI brushed this off as an act of nature, nothing outside of normal. I find it hard to be so easily persuaded. Something is not right about this and I intend to figure out what happened. The most investigators have done about the disappearances, is take witness statements from everyone present when the events took place, tape off the area being investigated, and " look further into it ".

It has been one week since Bridget's vanishing. Like before, the whole town has been on edge and gloomy. Her funeral is today. Again the same circumstances. No body to bury, no body to say goodbye to, no explanation for what happened. Seeing this has happened before in the past, Misty Falls was not so hopeful of a miraculous return this time. There were just a lot of sad faces, people dressed in black, sappy and cliché condolences, and lots of flowers. I wish I could say I feel the same as everyone else, of course I am sad that both the girls are missing, but I have grown suspicious of what I have seen happening to the grass in the park, and I truly believe it will lead to some sort of explanation.

I faked sick this morning. Everyone will be attending the funeral today, so, this is the perfect chance to do my own personal investigation of the "dead grass". I wait until the streets have quieted and a few minutes past the start time of the funeral to make my move. I grab the bag from under my bed that I had prepped the night before with moms garden tools and make my way to the park as fast as I can. I duck under the caution tape, and being. I dig and dig. As I get closer, the rotting smell of the grass became overwhelmingly pungent. A smell unfamiliar to me, and almost unnatural. Then, I see it. A large, odd shaped object. Once I grab it and remove as much dirt as I can, the object begins to rattle and shake with vigor, until a bright light projects from it and the object bursts open.

A portal. A portal so big I very curiously and anxiously look inside, ever so slightly. Creatures I could never imagine. Terrifying features but no faces, fire, sounds of screams, and chains clinking together on the ankles of shackled, prisoners? I am struck with fear, until, I see them! All this time Melanie and Bridget have been alive! Held prisoner in an alternate world. Seemingly right below our feet all this time, so close to us but worlds or maybe even galaxies away. They don't look great, but they are alive, and right now that is all that matters. I call for help hoping that someone will hear me. We have to save them. But how? We have at least 3 Earth years to figure it out before the next vanishing happens. Lets just hope the portal will stay open long enough for us to go in and others are smart enough to stay out.