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Sylvie stood at the doorway to Ruby’s bedroom looking inwards at the dust covered bed sheets and toys that were scattered across the floor. Ruby had promised to clean them up when she came back from Grandma Moons… Why didn’t she come back, who took her Ruby, who took her little girl? Sylvie had so many questions, so many questions and so little answers, the detective was practically useless and Ray was… absent. He was never here, always at work and returning far later than he should, smelling like medicine and sweet perfume. Sylvie didn’t like that kind of perfume, it was too Veronica, and she didn’t like Veronica. She was always dressed in skimpy scandalous clothing and drew the attention of Ray far more often than she’d like to admit. Ruby also spent too much time around her, Veronica didn’t seem to like Ruby… Maybe it was her, It could’ve been Veronica! It must’ve been her! Veronica didn’t like Ruby and she despised Sylvie, so it must’ve been her! It must’ve! If it wasn’t then who…?
Sylvie quickly dressed herself and briskly walked over to Veronica’s she was going to confront her about Ruby, she would confront her and then she would confess and then Sylvie would finally know what happened to Ruby! Sylvie looked around at the houses, they seemed older then she remembered, oh well it didn’t matter. She stopped in front of number five. The white paint on the front door was yellowing and flaking off the brass handle was dull and unpolished, Sylvie looked closer at the house and noticed that the curtains on Veronica’s window looked different, they weren’t the delicate lacy ones she remembered but thick gray ones that blocked out the light from the setting sun.
Sylvie took a deep breath before knocking on the door, minutes went by and there was no response, Sylvie knocked again and waited still nothing. Sylvie’s patience began to wear thin. She turned the brass handle of Veronica’s door and it opened, Sylvie hesitated before pushing the door open and taking a look inside. The house was empty save for an old table, an armchair, a floor lamp and a couple cheap paintings stacked over in the corner of the lounge room. Sylvie was in disbelief she was sure Veronica lived here, when did she move out? How long has she been gone for? Why hadn’t Ray told her? Sylvie was distraught, she had more questions than answers and… When did it get so dark, had the sun gone down already? Was Ray home and wondering if Sylvie had disappeared just like Ruby? Sylvie panicked and began to run, she dashed out of the front door and raced home in a panic.
When Sylvie reached her own front door she was breathless, since when had running such a short distance tired her out so much? She didn’t know but she didn’t have time to ask anymore questions, she had to get started on dinner so that it would be ready when he got home. Sylvie took a deep breath before heading into her house, she had no answers to her questions. But that didn’t matter, she’d be fine. She had to stay calm, she couldn’t be panicked while making dinner, she’d get hurt. She took another deep breath and calmed herself down before heading to the kitchen to start on dinner.