I woke up the next morning with a ray of light in my face, that had managed to sneak through the living room curtains. 'I am still on the couch?' I thought. 'Had I not woken up when mom got home? Why did she not wake me up?'
I sat up and called for her, "Mom?"
There was no answer. "Mom?!" I yelled as I walked into the kitchen.
She was not there. 'Is she still asleep?' I wondered.
I went upstairs, the bathroom door and my bedroom door were open, and I could see she wasn't there when I walked past.
"Mom?" I called again as I reached her bedroom doorway.
"Huh?" I said out loud in surprise. She was not there. 'Where was she?'
I rechecked the entire house including the basement, but she wasn't there. I found no note left behind and I could think of no reason she would not be home. I returned to the living room and unplugged my cell phone from the wall charger. I unlocked it and called my mom's cell phone number. It rang and rang, but she didn't answer. Instead of getting her voicemail, I got a female robotic pre-recorded message, that informed me the client number I had reached was no longer in service.
Shocked, I almost dropped the phone to the ground. 'I must have made a mistake!' I thought. I hung it up and dialled more carefully this time, focusing on each individual number. I glanced over the typed number twice, before I pushed the green 'phone' icon. It rang again, no answer, and the same pre-recorded message.
I sank to my knees. 'There is no way!' I thought. I had called the right number- her number. 'What is going on? Where is my mom, why didn't she come home last night? And why is her cell phone number out of service?'
How did I know she didn't come home last night? Because there was nothing in the house that had changed since I got home; not even one thing, to indicate she had been there.
I felt sick to my stomach, and my emotions were running wild. 'I have to keep calm and be logical and reasonable about this.' I thought. 'I will never find Mom or figure out what is happening, if I am running around emotional and unobservant.'
I decided to take some small first steps. I went upstairs to shower and change into fresh clothes. I had some breakfast, and decided, under the circumstances to skip school. Instead, I would walk around town all day looking for my mom, or any clues to where she was or had been.
When I was ready, I almost texted Kyle, 'not able to walk to school with you today', when I realized today was Saturday; there was no school.
With my cell phone, wallet and house key on me, I locked the front door behind me and walked in the direction of downtown, noticing, as I left that wherever Mom was, she had the car with her.
My first stop was a bakery and café combo that I knew Mom liked. I recalled her telling me two weeks ago, when she first discovered it, that it had really good coffee. She also mentioned a lady in her 30's who worked there named Maria. Maria, my mom had told me, seemed like a nice lady and was the sort of person Mom would become friends with if she could.
When I reached the place, I went inside and noticed it was a bit busy. I got in line and waited patiently. The whole time in line, I watched everyone around me, and by the time it was my turn at the counter, I had yet to see any lady in her 30's with the nametag saying 'Maria'.
"Good morning! What can I get for you today?" The young woman asked.
I glanced at her nametag, it read 'Bonnie'. "Good morning, Bonnie!" I greeted sweetly. "Do you know if Maria is working today? My mom says Maria always gives such excellent customer service and likes for me to say 'hi' to her if she is unable to come in with me."
"Well, that is very sweet of your mother!" Bonnie said. "Do you want me to pass the comment on to the manager later? Maria is not here right now."
A look of concern crossed my face.
"I am worried about her too." Bonnie tried to reassure me. It's not like her to not show up for work two mornings in a row, and not even call in or answer her phone."
I tried my best not to let any unwanted feelings show themselves on my face.
"Anyways, dear. What can I get for you?"
'Crap!' I thought. 'Is this something bigger than I thought?'
I plastered a fake smile on my face and asked, "Could I get a small black coffee and a blueberry muffin for my mom and a medium peppermint tea and a piece of banana bread for myself, please?"
"Of course!" Bonnie said as she pushed buttons on the register. "Anything added to your tea?"
"No, thank you."
It was not until I had paid, gotten the items and left the store that I breathed a sigh and spotted a nearby empty bench. I went and sat down, eating the banana bread and thinking over this new information.
'Bonnie said two mornings Marie did not show. Could this be something related to my missing Mom?' I had never met Marie, so I could have absolutely no way of knowing if she was a shapeshifter, human or what. This disappearance of Marie did have some things that were in common with my mothers' disappearance. Both occurred around the same time, both without any warning, and neither of the women were contactable by their cell phones.
"Hey!" a male voice shouted.
'Danger!' my anxiety told me.
I turned my head to the source of the voice. There was Kyle and Serina walking towards me.
"Hey!" Kyle called again. Serina waved at me.
"Hey!" I called and waved back.