Page 2 of If You Love Me

The woman in the picture could have been my twin. My grandmother always told me that everybody had a twin somewhere in the world, but this was a little creepy. I swallowed hard as I looked up at him.

“I’m sorry. I hope you find her. I have to go.”

I sprinted away from him. When I looked back, he was standing at the endcap, staring after me. Quickly, I darted down another aisle, then bobbed and weaved through a few spaces until I felt secure in the distance between us. After taking a few deep breaths, I continued with my shopping. At one point, I saw him leave the store. With a sigh of relief, I headed for the counter.

“Did you find everything okay?” the cashier asked.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Are you okay? You look a little flustered.”

“That man in the trench coat… he grabbed me. He thought I was his wife.”

“What?” She motioned for one of the bag boys. “Go make sure that man in the trench coat is gone. If he’s not, call the police.”

The boy nodded before jogging out the door. The cashier continued ringing me up, apologizing profusely. When the bag boy came back in, he let us know he didn’t see anyone but offered to walk me to my car. I accepted his help, and he grabbed my bags. As we made our way to my car, I searched my surroundings to make sure we weren’t being watched.

With me and my bags safely inside, I thanked the young man before pulling out of the parking lot. I was still more than a little creeped out at the weird interaction. Deciding to find something to distract me, I turned on some music. The sun had set, and the streetlights had come on. The further I drove out of town, the darker it became.

I’d just turned onto Highway 61 when a set of bright lights damn near blinded me. I looked in my rearview mirror, but I couldn’t see past the brightness. All I knew was the car was coming up on me fast. The next thing I felt was the impact of being rammed from behind. My car swerved into the grass, but I managed to pull it back onto the road.

Panic surged through me as I tried to speed up to get away. No matter how fast I drove, they were right on my ass. Again, I felt the impact of being rammed. This time, my car swerved and went completely off the road. I screamed as it flew into the woods. My head slammed into the steering wheel as the front of the car collided with a tree.

Everything around me went silent for a moment. My ears rang, and my head was pounding. As I came to fully, I realized the airbags had deployed. Smoke began to fill the car, causing me to cough. Just then, the door opened. The moment I thought I was being rescued, I felt a cloth covered hand cover my mouth and nose. A scent and taste I couldn’t describe infiltrated my system, causing my body to feel weak and heavy.

The fight I put up to free myself was useless, as I succumbed to the powerful substance.

“You promised you’d never leave me, Lisa…” I heard as I felt my body being pulled from the car. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you back, and I’m never letting you go again.”

Those were the last words I heard before everything faded to black.

1

Tyrion (Tee-ree-uhn) Lewis

Ten Years Later

I smiledas my baby girl posed for mirror selfies in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom. I couldn’t believe she was almost eleven years old. Today was her first day of fifth grade, and my heart couldn’t take it. One minute, I was holding her in my arms, and now she was entering her last year before middle school. I couldn’t pretend like I hadn’t cried this morning.

I had to get it out of my system before I got her up and ready.

Time had moved so fast yet slow the last ten years. After the disappearance of my wife, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I harbored so much guilt. If I’d just gotten up and insisted on going to the store for her, she’d still be here. She wouldn’t have missed so much of Summer Rose’s life—her first time sitting up, her first word, her first crawl, her first walk and run.

There were so many milestones I wished she could have been a part of, and it killed me every day that she was gone. Myfirst thought when the police found her car in the woods was maybe someone had found her. Maybe she was hurt, and they were nursing her back to health. Clearly, I’d watched too many movies.

If she was hurt, any good person would have called the police or at least took her to the hospital. For months, I waited for her to walk through the front door. I waited by the phone to hear that she’d been rescued safely. Then months turned into years. Instead of a rescue, I waited to hear that her body had been recovered.

I heard nothing.

It was like she’d disappeared without a trace.

For years, we lived with the agony of not knowing where she was. If she was dead, we at least wanted to give her a proper burial. She needed to be where we could fully mourn her loss. All we had were memories now.

“Don’t I look pretty, Daddy?” Summer Rose asked, twirling around.

“You look beautiful, baby girl.”

She walked over to the picture of her mother and tiptoed to kiss it. I made sure my baby knew who she was and how much she loved her. Though she’d only known her for six months, I would never let her memory disappear along with her. I told Summer Rose stories of how we met and our life together before we had her. I also shared pictures and videos of her. The older she got, the more it comforted her since she didn’t have her mother here in the physical form.

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