Guess who joined the party?

It'd been weeks and there was still no word from the Chief or anyone we knew. We figured the search was over and people had given up but how wrong we were; before we knew it, we had throngs of people lined up in front of Casey's house, each carrying a lamp lit for her. She was not forgotten and the town would not rest until she was found.

I quickly turned up the volume when I saw the headline 'Local Teenager found abandoned in a warehouse'. The report hid any pertinent details, only explained someone had been found and the location, it left out the details of her name and who may have been responsible for this. Mum called the Chief when she heard the news and from what I gathered, they had checked the girl into a hospital because she was pretty scared and seemed out of it. I screamed, "Is it Case?", Mum reiterated what I had blurted out without reasoning and she nodded her head to something the Chief must have told her.

She got off the phone and headed straight to the Barneys, I followed right after because I knew there was something she must have heard from the Chief which she could not tell me, at least, not yet. I stood in the kitchen while they talked in the living room, the Barneys had hosted many wellwishers and sympathizers and were busy all morning. The crowd seemed to only get bigger and there was little room to contain everyone who wanted to show their support and keep the search going.

Kyle, did you see the news, mum asked. No Trace, been a little busy taking care of everyone who came around; answering questions and just keeping the memory of Case alive. Why, what's happening now? Well, I just got off the phone with the Chief and they claim there's a teenager checked into a hospital right now, she was found abandoned at a warehouse right outside the town. She is right about the same age as Case and the Chief was headed there himself to verify her identity. I thought you might want to hear the news from me so I hurried down here to let you know. Want me to bring Leila in on this or you think it's best we wait till we hear back from Chief?

You know how she can be, she'd get her hopes high and if it turns out the girl is not Case, it would break her heart all over again. Maybe we keep this between us for now? I think you should head to the hospital, be our eyes and ears on the ground and let us know what you find. Keep this a secret Trace, I don't need anyone breathing false hope now, not when we have this many people coming out to support us. Sure thing, Kyle; keep your phone close.

And just like that, my mum headed straight for the hospital and met with the Chief shortly after arriving there. He took her in, the doctor allowed for one more visit after evaluating the survivor. Her face was turned to the other side but when she heard footsteps, she turned in fright and in her eyes, there was fear. Trace got close to get a better look, she looked pretty shaken up and bruised, she had sustained a good number of injuries attempting to escape but being here, she was grateful for the bruises and was thankful she could escape that world. Trace shook her head sadly when she realized this wasn't Case, she looked older now that she was standing right in front of her and her hair was short, too short; Casey wore hers long and she was blonde.

The chief asked her several questions about where she had been and who took her, what she remembers and how she escaped. Going over those details seemed to dredge up some painful memories and stories, he asked for her name before ending the interrogation and what she said blew their minds. My name is Melanie Barnes, I used to live right down the road from the farmer's market and my mum owns the toy store. The Chief stared at Trace in disbelief, Melanie had been a bright young kid living in Chestnut but had gone missing over 7 years ago. Everyone who knew the Barnes felt this pain, it cut deep into the fabric of the town and people were riled up by the experience.

It'd been seven years since she was taken and her parents searched day and night to find her, 7 years was a long time to look for a child but the Barnes poured everything they had into finding their little girl and when that failed, they found a way to honor her memory. They opened a small Community Center for the people of Chestnut in Mel's name and invited kids to spend their free time there, they made it a fun place to be to keep all the kids from wandering off into the dark, and parents took time to Chaperone, keep the kids safe.

Where was Melanie and who kept her all these years? How did she return and who was behind the recent attack now? Were the kidnappings linked or was it a simple coincidence that Melanie returned shortly after Casey was kidnapped? There was definitely more to the story than the Chief knew and he would spend hours, days and weeks, pouring into the details of the investigations from 7 years ago to find more clues.