When Anne was left by her mum, Lisa was a year old, and Anne was left under her mum's care. It was easy for them to bond since they were still young kids. Two years later, Lisa's mum gave birth to Carol, because of the addition of responsibility Lisa's mum knew she couldn't keep on looking after another person's child for the rest of her life, so she decided to look after Anne until when she was about to go to Primary School. Lisa had a lively, bubbly personality and yet Carol was so quiet, calm, and warm which made Lisa always bully her all the time.
Nevertheless, it didn't take any time or effort for the three cousins to bond, they were like blood sisters such that those who didn't know would think that they shared the same parents but Carol was closer to Anne because she could always protect her from Lisa, also, they had almost similar personalities and Carol's warmth always attracted people to her. As time went on, the two siblings with opposite personalities were growing, and they had one thing in common that never changed and that is: kindness towards their cousin. It's like they could feel the tragedy that was coming for her in the future.
Years later, it was time for Primary School and Anne was moved to one of her mum's sisters (her mother had four sisters in total), who would maltreat her, and move her from one relative to another, luckily, she was allowed to visit Lisa and Carol who were the only relatives that she could share her problems with. For her it wasn't easy to bond with other relatives' kids, only Lisa and Carol were in her comfort zone. Sometimes whenever she visited, Lisa and Carol would report what she would have told them to their parents as a means of trying to seek help on her behalf, but that would make things harder for her each time she would go back to her other aunt, even some other relatives were no longer fond of her because they found her a gossiper and an ungrateful b*st*rd.
Her living conditions made her mature quickly so with time, whenever she had the chance to visit Lisa and Carol, she would tell them just a little, and the rest she would keep to herself, but still, she would also urge them not to tell their parents the little that she would have told them. Years passed and it was the same routine, Anne would spend months in other relatives' homes and then come visit Carol and Lisa during the holidays. However, when Anne turned sixteen, Lisa was fourteen and Carol was twelve, she never came to visit and that's when the two siblings overheard their parents talking about Anne running away from one of her uncles to live with a stranger. The girls were quite sad because they knew, the only place that they could ever see their cousin again was in the pictures that they used to take and also in their dreams. The tone their parents were using when they were discussing the story was proof that Anne was disowned for good.
End of that same year that's when news about Anne's death was announced and it was believed that the teacher, she was living with was behind her death. The people who had come with the news had proof, which was the clothes that Anne used to wear which were stained with blood. DNA tests proved that it was Anne's blood, and unfortunately for the teacher that she had run away to stay with, she was accused of killing Anne and was immediately arrested. After a month, investigators couldn't find what happened to Anne or even locate her body and her relatives finally decided to declare her dead. Though they didn't have a body, they did hold a funeral and even put a tomb under her name. Also, on the day of the funeral, Anne's biological mum came. She made a fuss and created a scene but unfortunately, her sister, brothers, and brothers-in-law had her arrested for child negligence and abandonment.
Well, towards Anne's death those who were kind couldn't help to feel the pain of losing someone and also the guilt of not taking care of the poor child properly but some deep down they were rejoicing, because they had saved their family from a shame like Anne, in their minds and hearts, she was the black sheep and her presence was causing division amongst them. But Lisa and Carol's hearts crashed, and they spent some days mourning their cousin, though they were a bit young they could understand what was happening. They were the only ones that knew how kind Anne was, how she valued their relationship and how she looked out for them just as a big sister should do.
Four years down the line, Lisa fell pregnant, by that time she was eighteen, and Carol was sixteen. The moment she found out about her condition, she knew how much her family valued their reputation and if the other relatives knew that she had fallen pregnant for some nobody from nowhere, it was going to be hard for them to maintain the noble and classic picture that they would always portray during functions and all family gatherings. Another thing, if they were to find out, they were not going to spare her, worse would come. She thought of abortion but then quickly dismissed the idea because if any accidents happened her parents would know, and also, she feared losing her life in the process. Even though she thought of getting help from a professional doctor but still, she couldn't stand it. She was so careful to hide her condition from her parents, and on the day their school was having a High School leavers party, she asked permission to go and she was allowed. She took a backpack that had a few clothes, underwear, a wallet, and a phone to the party, where she met the person who was responsible, his name Henry Roberts, who was her High School sweetheart.
Henry's family wasn't well-off as Lisa's family, the reason Lisa ended up with him was that she found him very charming, and it was also one of those High School relationships where you will be experimenting with everything. Since he knew what had happened between him and Lisa, he didn't deny the fact and took her to his family. Well, Henry's family was so large that even the extended families were living together. After all, it was something like their custom, and they believed that living together will help them to bond, and also it was used as a means to save money and other resources.
However, Henry's family wasn't united as they tried to be, there were control freaks, there were gossipers, and there were those who would hate others for nothing, but that same family was good at pretending. They would pretend that they loved each other whilst stabbing each other in the back but thank goodness they wouldn't go as far as killing each other. Unfortunately for Lisa when she arrived, she found herself on the list of those that were hated. The main reason was that her family was well-off and also the way she carried herself some would think that she was showing off. Besides, how she came to live with them wasn't the proper way, and they knew that her presence was going to create trouble for the family. In the end, after a month it was then decided that Henry and Lisa should move out of the family house so that they won't inconvenience others when trouble comes.
One of the uncles who was the head of the family gave them money that was enough to rent a small space and pay bills for three months. They moved to a small town that wasn't overcrowded, a bit far from home but also had good job opportunities, although they were not going to be more professional since they both had just finished high school. They rented a small place that was suitable for the two of them and the baby that was on way. They decided to pay for two months' rent and the one that was meant for the third month was put to start a small fast-food store that Lisa would have to manage.
On the other hand, the day Lisa left her home she was given a 9 pm curfew, but when her parents saw that the time had passed the curfew, they just thought that she was being naughty and they decided to look into the matter the following day. Morning the following day, her mum, went into her room but it was empty and her bed was still nicely spread, she went on to look for her in Carol's room and she found Carol still sleeping and it was only her on the bed. This made her panic and she quickly went back to her bedroom to inform her husband about her findings and assumptions. They checked the whole house but they couldn't find Lisa. They went on to report the case to the police and were told to come back again after 24 hours.
They didn't want to wait for the police so they went on and took Carol to accompany them to each and everyone close to Lisa. All her friends confirmed that she came to the party but she left early. They asked if she left with someone but they said they didn't know (That's because Lisa had called them in advance and begged them not to disclose her whereabouts). They then decided to wait for their time to report again to the police and tell them about their findings. But they were so restless and anxious and ended up printing small posters of a missing person and began to distribute them that day.
The following day, they went back to the station and reported Lisa's disappearance and their previous day's findings. After the case was reported, the following day a team was dispatched to look for Lisa, days turned into weeks and weeks into a month then two months, and yet there was no news. Finally, her parents then decided to post the story online that's when they received a message from an unknown person.