Vanished: a gripping psychological thriller by Theo Baxter

Author:Theo Baxter [Baxter, Theo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkubator Books
Published: 2023-08-19T16:00:00+00:00

We played witches until the sun went down. I forgot about making dinner for my parents, so they were undoubtedly starving, but for some reason today I didn’t care. They’d left me in the hospital for days and barely acknowledged me when I finally arrived home. They could wait for their dinner. Isabel and I ate by ourselves in the kitchen. I put some leftovers in a bowl for my parents and left it in the living room.

“Mommy, did you miss me?” Isabel asked as we made our way back up to our rooms.

“Yes, I missed you a lot.” I tried to forget about the conversation I had with the Cabots on the ride over. An exorcism didn’t make any sense. My daughter needed help with her mental health. She didn’t need some priest terrorizing her about being “possessed.”

“That’s good,” she said yawning widely. “I missed you too. It’s been such a long time.”

I gave her a hug and told her to go brush her teeth. Isabel plodded into the bathroom and I stood guard outside. Downstairs I heard the faint voice of my father yelling at something—it was either the TV or my mother. Likely it was both. Having this undisturbed time with Isabel was more of a vacation than lying in that hospital bed. What good did all that “observation” do me? None. I came home to the same situation I was in before. My father still abused us, my daughter was at risk of becoming his next target, I still had nowhere and no one to turn to, and I still had the rest of the house to repair. A whole weekend lost, and for what? For doctors to treat me like I was lying to them, or like I was crazy. What was the point in calling that ambulance if my own child didn’t remember what happened? Did they pump her full of sedatives too?

I didn’t want to think about that.

Of course you did the right thing, Maggie. Your daughter was turning blue and had convulsions. There was nothing you could do for her here.

But if I hadn’t called the ambulance, I would never have been restrained at the hospital. They wouldn’t have given me the wrong medication and knocked me out for three days. Most of the problems I faced, beyond those related to my own flesh and blood, happened outside, far away from my home. I was tempted to never leave here again.

“I’m done! I want to read now,” Isabel said, grabbing my hand and dragging me over to her bed.

“What story do you want, my dear?” I asked.

Isabel yawned and pointed at Crime and Punishment.

I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to ruin the placidness of this day with what I might see in there. “I don’t think I can do that tonight; it’s way too dense. I’ll fall asleep long before you do if you make me read that book.”

Isabel rolled her eyes and pulled another book from under her pillow. A murder mystery that I remembered from my own youth.

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