**Roughly a week ago**
It all started when I received an unexpected phone call. To be honest, it was also a phone call that I dreaded. After being sent abroad by my family and breaking things off with them, I had not heard from my parents for more than four years. The only person from my ‘old life’ that I kept in touch with was my elder twin sister and that felt like more than enough for me. It was hard but I had moved on with my life and I was working hard toward building what I hoped would be a bright and free future for myself.
“You’re working so hard again today. Don’t stay too late, ok?” Louise turned to tell me with a sweet smile on her lips.
After graduating with a degree in business, I was lucky to have found a job in sales and planning in a decent-sized company in the city. On top of that, I had a very supportive team leader who always looked out for me.
“Thank you but don’t worry about me or the work. I’ll definitely get it done by tonight,” I replied with confidence.
“Honestly, I’m more worried about your health than the work. Make sure you get enough sleep and please keep your diet healthy. Don’t go out partying so often...” she warned before winking at me.
“Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow!” I called out to her as she headed for the door.
Louise turned and waved at me before disappearing through the door. Now that my team leader was gone, I was the only one left in the office. Despite my confident words from earlier, the truth was it would be a very long night for me at the office if I didn’t focus properly on the work in front of me.
**Ring Ring Ring**
The sound of my mobile phone ringing sounded too loud in the almost silent office. I quickly grabbed it only to find out that it was an international call from a number that I did not recognize at all. My first reaction was to ignore it but when I thought that it could be my sister calling me from an unknown destination, I hesitated a little before moving my finger to answer the call. Little did I know at the time that this phone call would be one that would change my life forever.
“Hello?”
“I need to talk to you...” a woman’s solemn voice spoke through the phone after a brief moment of silence.
My blood ran cold at the sound of her voice, and I truly felt that I would have rather seen a ghost than hear her voice. Facing an unknown ghost would have felt much better than facing a cruel ghost from my past. A lump formed in my throat and suddenly my face felt numb. My hands balled into fists as I struggled to get my words out.
Why is my mother calling me? Why is she getting in touch with me now after all this time?
“Mum...” I said in a breathless whisper while still shocked and in disbelief.
“Listen to me. Your sister has gone missing,” she stated coldly.
“What?! Dina is missing? What do you even mean?” I asked while almost shouting into the phone in shock.
“Don’t call your sister with that disgusting nickname. It’s just as I have told you. Diana is missing. We don’t know where she is, and we can’t get in contact with her. She’s been missing for almost three days now. Do you know where she could be?” my mother asked me coldly.
Although her tone was solemn and dry, I could tell that she was hiding a lot of distress under her calm act. Not that I cared at all about how she was feeling. At that moment, all I cared about was the fact that my sister had gone missing. I prayed that nothing bad had happened to her and that she would be found soon.
“How am I supposed to know? I live in a completely different country,” I reminded her without bothering to hide my hostility.
“It’s always you who talk your sister into doing crazy things so I’m just checking if you have a hand in her disappearance this time as well,” she said accusingly.
The truth was, I had never played a part in my sister’s sudden disappearance before but that was something that my parents didn’t need to know about. They could keep blaming me forever and I was willing to take the fall for it as long as my sister would remain unscathed. If someone had to take the blame for everything, I would rather it be me than her.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you but I have no idea where she is this time,” I replied while thinking that I should just hang up.
The worry that I had for my sister stopped me from committing such a careless action. My brows furrowed tightly together as I tried to sift through my memories while searching for clues as to where my sister could be or the reason behind her disappearance. This wasn’t the first time that something like this had happened, and it was highly possible that she would randomly return home after a few days of staying away.
At least, that was normally what would happen...
“Try calling her. She might pick up your call. Make sure that you report to me immediately. We need to find her and we’re running out of time!” my mother yelled through the phone.
Whatever calm front that she managed to put together had cracked completely. For once, I was thankful that I was the only one left working behind late at night at the office because that meant that no one was here to overhear such a melodramatic phone call.
“Call the police. Have you contacted the police and filed a missing person case?” I asked.
“No. You know well enough that we can’t do that...” she replied softly.
For a moment, I completely forgot that I was dealing with a woman who worried more about the family’s social standing and reputation than the life and well-being of her daughters.
--To be continued...