Chapter Text
Camila Noceda checked her phone for the fifth time that night, the last message she received from her daughter was three days ago. She bit her lip as she pushed down her worst thoughts. She's probably just busy with her friends. Camila sighed, glancing at the clock. It was late, she needed sleep. She texted her daughter a goodnight and fell into a dreamless sleep.
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Camila immediately glanced at her phone, her heart bursting with joy as she saw a message from her daughter. She unlocked her phone quickly, opening the text.
The person you are trying to message is out of your service range. Please click the link below to see our coverage map.
Panic was the first thing that came to mind, don't be stupid, they might have just went on a hike or she dropped her phone in the sink again. Camila let out an amused huff from her nose, remembering when she first got Luz her own phone and how almost a week later it had met a watery end. I'll just call the camp tomorrow. Camila sighed as she continued getting ready for another long shift at the hospital. Her fear, despite her rationalizations, still in the back of her mind. She grumbled to herself for being too worried, as she glanced at the stack of letters. She's fine.
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Camila was up before her alarm even went off, as she dialed the number to the camp on her phone.
"Hello"
"Yes, I would like to speak to my daughter Luz Noceda-"
"Thank you for calling, Inside the Box Summer Camp, helping troubled minds learn how to navigate the real world since 2004. Our administrative hours are from 9 AM to 5 PM. Please leave a message and we'll be happy to get back to y-"
Camila growled as she hung up, glaring at her clock which displayed 7 AM. Mierda. She grumbled as she started her day, carefully making a note to call them during her lunch break. As she walked out the door, she swallowed down her frustration. Her fear lingered gently, like a train whistle in the distance. She closed her eyes, steeling her nerves, then drove to the hospital.
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Time seemed to drag endlessly during the first half of her shift. Everywhere Camila turned, she heard the clock, and it only seemed louder after it struck nine. She was, however, the master of being able to save face. She smiled, laughed, and was on top of every task, while inside she was dying to just grab her phone and make the call. She let out a sigh, just focus on the tasks at hand. It was her mantra when she was worried. That phrase had saved her countless times in college and throughout her messy divorce. The clock seemed to quiet, and she felt relief as her lunch break seemed to arrive faster than she had thought.
She paced carefully outside, in the sunny picnic area next to the cafeteria. The dial rang four times before a voice picked up.
"Hello-"
"Hi, I would like to speak to my daughter, Luz Noceda."
"Of course, ma'am. Let me just run through my list of campers to see what group she is in." The chipper voice sang on the other end, they hummed quietly to themselves as they typed. Then the humming stopped. "Ma'am could you spell your last name please?"
"Yes, Noceda, N as in Nancy, O as in Oliver, C as in Cat, E as in Eric, D as in Dog, A as in Apple." Camila said patiently, while her pacing only got faster.
"Would it be under any other name?" The person seemed to pause, their chipper voice sounded more strained.
Camila felt her heart start to race, "No, can you check again."
"I'll do you one better, I'll transfer you to the camp administrator." They said quickly, "They'll have better access to the records."
Camila wanted to argue but quickly was met with hold music, she bit back a frustrated scream. Luz has been there almost two months and they can't find her on a fucking list.
"Hello Ma'am?" An older female voice asked.
"Hello, I'm Camila Noceda, mother of Luz Noceda and I would like to talk to her." Camila all but spat into the phone.
"Of course ma'am and Noceda is spelled N, O, C, E, D, A is that correct?"
"Yes. Can I talk to Luz or Not?"
"Give...give me one moment please."
Camila was seeing red as the hold music went on for what felt like an hour, when the voice picked up again she felt rage growling to get out.
"Ms. Noceda, our records show that Luz never arrived on the bus to camp."
The rage was dead, shot by the fear that now poured from every cell in her body. It felt like time had stopped right there.
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The room felt too alive, Camila thought, as she sat in the busy police office. My daughter is missing and all they do is carry on?!
"Now, when did you last see your daughter Ms. Noceda?"
"The morning....the morning she was leaving for camp."
"Have you had any contact at all recently?"
"Yes, I received a text from her five days ago and a letter Monday." Camila felt herself slipping into her fear, but she shoved it down. She needed to focus if she wanted to find Luz.
"Do you have the letters and the envelopes they were sent in, we see if there are any mailing records from the camp." The officer asked, not looking up from his notes.
"Si, Si, I have them inside." She nodded walking into her home to retrieve the letters. She watched as more police cars showed up. "Here you go Sir."
"Thank you, Ma'am. We've already started a search party for the local area. I'll take these to evidence....now I know this may be disheartening to think about, but is there anyone who would want to hurt Luz or take her away from you. I know from your paper that you have an ex husband, Luz's father-"
"Hector walked out on our daughter a decade ago, none of us have had any contact since the divorce. He didn't even try for custody." Camila said, her voice filled with a mixture of anger, fear and pain. "Please find my little girl."
"We'll do our best Ma'am" The officer nodded, handing her a card, "if you hear anything or get any news call that number right away."
Camila took it, before following the search party into the nearby woods.
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Camila awoke on her couch in the living room, the memories of yesterday's events flooded her mind like a bad dream. Tears pricked her eyes as she checked her text messages from her daughter, only to find them exactly how they were before. Any hope for denial was smashed when she saw the business card the officer had given her the other day. She saw the missed calls and called them back immediately.
"Ms. Noceda?" A soft voice asked.
"Yes, that's me." She responded so meekly she almost didn't recognize it as her own.
"We checked those letters and there's no record of them ever being received by the post office...."
Camila didn't think her heart could break more than it already was, "then how did they get there?"
"We think whoever put these in your mailbox were the people who took your daughter.-" the detective continued on but her words fell on deaf ears.
The words 'took your daughter' repeated themselves in a loop. Camila was a nurse, she had seen more than her fair share of worst case scenarios, car accidents, assaults, abuse. All those flash into her mind as she thought of her little girl. Her Luz, her light. Trapped, abused.
"Ms. Noceda?" the detective's voice called.
"Yes?" Camila sobbed, she hadn't even realized she was crying.
"We will do everything we can to find your daughter." The detective reassured.
"Thank you."
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The Nocedas didn't live in a bad neighborhood. It was on the poor side. The abandoned house nearby was a dead giveaway to that. However it didn't have a lot of crime or violence. Camila remembered when she moved here, with Luz when she was only four. It had been shortly after the divorce. Luz was so happy to find out she could paint her room, as that wasn't allowed at their old apartment. Camila could almost hear the four year old running to her in the store holding a light purple paint swatch, saying "por favor Mami!".
She felt herself break for what felt like the millionth time in the past two days. 48 hours had passed since the police had been involved. The words of a young officer, words that weren't meant for her to hear echoed in her head.
"Detective, aren't the first seventy two hours the most crucial for finding someone? How do we find a kid that's been missing for a month and a half?"
Those words were branded into her brain, still hot to the touch. Leading to a line of thoughts that Camila didn't dare touch. She knew that if she even dared consider them.....she wouldn't know if she could go on living. A knock broke the monolog. Camila rushed to the door.
"Ms. Noceda, we found part of a brochure in the abandoned house down the way." The detective stated.
Camila's eyes stared at it, immediately recognizing the inside the box logo. Her heart swelled with emotions. "Luz."
"We suspect she may have gone there at least temporarily. However we didn't find anything else. Did Luz ever mention she was unhappy? Did she ever threaten to run away?"
"She wasn't happy about summer camp, but I didn- don't think she would have just left. She knows how much I love her." Camila felt fear trickle down her spine. You pushed her to this. It's your fault.
"We'll keep watch by the house to see if she's been hiding out." The detective said, "don't give up hope."
"Never." Camila snapped with a force she didn't know she still had.
"Good."
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Camila stared at the messages from her daughter. These texts were the last connection she had. She felt tears running down what felt like an ingrained track down her face. She typed.
Luzita, mija
Wherever you are. Please give me a sign you're okay. That you'll come home. I know I haven't always been the best, but I love you with all my heart. So please. Come home.
The person you are trying to message is out of your service range. Please click the link below to see our coverage map.
Camila stared at her phone, tears rolling down her face and sobbed herself to sleep for the third night in a row.