Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are

“Ready or not, here I come!” Beth tapped out her text, hit send, and tucked her phone into her back pocket. She glanced around, making sure that Elisa had enough time to hide before she began the weekly ritual of searching for her. The Saturday routine was getting on her nerves, but she only had a few weeks left before graduation and the start of her internship. Whatever. At least she would finish babysitting in time to meet up with Greg for dinner and drinks in the city. She could get through another mindless game of hide and go seek in the park.

Forcing an extra cheerful lilt into her voice she called out, “Where is Elisa? Is she under the picnic table?”

Making a grand show of bending down to peer under the redwood table, she called out, “Nope, not under the picnic table. Is she in the tunnel?” 

She knew the little girl was afraid of the dark and wouldn’t choose to hide with the shadows. Not bothering to actually check, she called out, “Nope, not in the tunnel. Where could Elisa be? She found a great hiding place this time. Where, oh where, can Elisa be?” 

As usual, she felt conspicuous and somewhat foolish with the loud singsong nature of their game. The other children played as a group, but Elisa preferred her company, sticking to the same routine every week. Beth reminded herself that it was an easy gig, the extra cash was worth it. Besides, it wasn’t as if anyone was paying attention to her meandering about talking to herself. The young mothers sat scattered around with heads bent and fingers flying over tiny screens.

She sighed as she went to the weeping willow tree behind the swings, the spot where Elisa hid nine times out of ten. Each spring the purple blossoms hung close to the ground, making the space underneath a magical retreat.

“Is Elisa hiding behind the purple blossoms?” Beth stepped over the gnarled roots, fully expecting to see the little girl smiling up at her mischievously. Instead, her heart dropped.

***

“Uni…….” Elisa’s tiny cry was cut short by the hand over her mouth. 

“Shut up, kid,” the stranger whispered gruffly against her ear as she was lifted up off the ground.

Her thin arms flailed against the man’s chest to no avail as he carted her off to the parking lot and dumped her into the back of the already full van. 

***

“Elisa!!” Grabbing the purple unicorn, Beth screamed out for the little girl. “Elisa!! Come out, come out wherever you are!”

Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic.  Beth’s thoughts ricocheted wildly around her head. You know she likes to play tricks on you, that little rascal. She’s somewhere laughing her ass off at your expense.

But Uni? She never left her favorite toy behind.

***

“Line them up!”  The harsh command set off the execution of procedure after the van arrived in the warehouse. 

Carol appeared, looking distraught as she studied the selection. Although assigned to the operation to make the children feel at ease, her true nature was anything but motherly.

“A bit young, don’t you think?” Her steely grey eyes bore into the recruiter. 

“Yeah. Special request by the new guy down south. Freak likes them young.” 

“These are babies for God’s sake.”

“You want to argue with the man? Meet his demands or he’ll come for you in no time, believe me.”

Carol shuddered, knowing that to be true. 

“Boys and girls! Who likes to have their pictures taken?  Let’s get you all cleaned up and sparkling for your photos. Doesn’t that sound like fun?” She called out in a cheerful tone, realizing that the horror show was getting worse by the day.   She would find a way out if it killed her.

“I want my mommy,” the smallest of the children wailed, setting off a chain reaction of tears and demands. 

“Me too. I want to go home.”

“Where’s Uni?” Elisa spoke up for the first time since getting out of the van drugged and disoriented. “I want my Uni,” she slurred, wiping her nose with the back of her dirty hand leaving behind a trail of filth.

***

“Anyone see Elisa?” Beth frantically ran from the empty space under the weeping willow tree to the group of mothers on the benches.

“Elisa? Who’s that, hun?” Pulling her attention away from her phone, a young mother glanced up at Beth only for an instant before the ding of a text drew her attention back down. The question hung in the air.

“Elisa. Little girl, long dark hair and eyes. Wearing a purple t-shirt. Someone must have seen her?” Beth’s voice rose in volume, her tone became shrill. The mothers glanced over, called out to their children “five more minutes” as they gathered their belongings preparing to leave.

***

As the bile rose in her throat, Carol applied the red lipstick to Elisa’s quivering lips. She removed the purple headband, letting her long hair fall loosely around her face. The new black dress she had helped the girl change into was slightly too large, falling off one shoulder casually. 

“Don’t you look pretty. Now be a good girl and look up at the camera.” Carol arranged one hand loosely on her small hip and tilted Elisa’s head to the side. That was the money shot. The child had the look that was in high demand; she would sell quickly.

***

Greg let himself into their darkened apartment and found Beth tucked under her blankets sleeping soundly just as he had hoped. Her only way to cope with the anniversary was to sleep through it, taking a sleeping pill if need be. He sat on the edge of their bed and stroked her hair, letting his thoughts wander back to that day five years prior when Beth had called crying hysterically from the park. He had arrived shortly after the police to learn the horrifying details of Elisa’s disappearance.

He looked around the bedroom turned office at the piles of folders, each representing a missing child that their foundation was searching for. The flyers stacked next to the printer, the ink hardly dry, displayed the smiling face of the latest little girl who had vanished from her local playground without a trace. 

His gaze traveled to the corner of the room where the notebooks sat one on top of the other. Page after page of clues, ideas, scribbles, and sketches had led to false hopes and dead ends. However, refusing to give up, they continued to search for the key to open the door hiding the children. If they could find one child, reunite one family, it would be the miracle that they prayed for. 

He bent down to kiss Beth’s cheek, careful not to wake her. She deserved a day of peace, a day off from the nightmare that had engulfed her life.

“Sweet dreams, Beth,” he whispered.