By her twentieth birthday, there are a few things Valarie Ricci knows for certain.
She knows that her waitressing job barely covers the costs of living out of a beat up old van. She knows she's stuck in the dead end hometown her high school friends...
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Valarie's phone screamed like murder against the coffee table as it vibrated with an incoming call. Half-awake, her hand groped through the darkness for the phone, causing her to almost roll off the couch. She did not hide the irritation in her voice when she blindly swiped the screen, brought the phone to her ear, and said, "Hello?"
"Hello." Alice. It was the first time Valarie had heard her voice all week.
Valarie sat up, all the blood fleeing from her head with a rush of dizziness. "What's wrong?"
"I..." The line filled with quick, heavy breathing. "S-sorry. I'm–I don't know where I am."
Panic shot down Valarie's spine. "What? What do you mean?"
"I'm so sorry–"
"Alice."
"Sorry–"
"Alice. What happened?"
"Something hurts."
"What do you mean? What hurts? Are you hurt?"
The sounds in her ear became muffled and fuzzy, as if the phone had been dropped.
"Hello? Are–Did someone hurt you? Alice?"
"I'm here," she said, after a moment. "I'm here."
"Where's here?"
"I... don't know. I was walking..."
"It's the middle of the night."
"I lost my shoe."
"Honey, focus. What do you see?"
"Trees... a street. I'm sorry."
"You don't need to–"
"I shu–shouldn't call you. I don't–" Alice made a noise somewhere between a sob and a hiccup. "You'll leave me. Oh, God. Oh, my God."
"I'm not going to–"
Alice hung up the phone. It took three tries for Valarie to get her back. When she did, Alice seemed stuck on the same train of thought. "I won't–I promise, okay?" She pleaded. "I won't do this again."
"Alice–"
"You're the best thing I ever had. You know that? Don't leave."
"Honey, just tell me what you see, okay?"
She rattled off some disjointed details: an empty road, a fence, a pothole.
"You said you went for a walk?" Valarie pressed.
Alice made a noise that may have been confirmation.
"Where's your Dad?"
"Away. For Grace." Mr. Bell had been traveling to Toronto at least once a week since Grace disappeared, doing whatever he could to help with the search efforts and investigation. This left Alice alone for long stretches of time.
