FicWad

A/N: Last chapter, I hope you enjoyed reading :-)

The day finally came for the funeral. As time ticked slowly towards heading off to the service, Amy McMahon sat in front of her mirror staring intently at her reflection. What she saw was someone fragile and on the verge of tears, someone who was struggling to stay strong. Although she felt so solemn, Amy was determined to not fall apart today and to stay strong for herself, for Grace and for all of the people attending her mom’s funeral.
At ten o’clock precisely, Amy tore her eyes away from the mirror, collected her bag and went to her car to collect Grace. She silently drove towards Grace’s house and as she drove she tried to collect the thoughts rushing through her head. These thoughts were of what to say to the people attending the funeral and how to battle the tears that would surely form behind her eyes, as her mom was laid to rest.
Upon reaching Grace’s, Amy parked in the driveway and went to the front door. She knocked on it and waited patiently for Grace to answer it; but she didn’t. She never came to the door.
Amy didn’t know what to do, here she was trying to hold herself together which was very tough to do and now she had no idea what on earth had happened to her sister. She tried knocking on the door again but still no one answered, so Amy looked through the windows trying to see if Grace had fallen or was unconscious-something like that. From Amy’s view, no one lay on the ground, but instead the room had been cleared. There were none of the possessions Grace treasured around and no sign of anyone even living there. It was a strange sight and a deeply concerning one for Amy, but she had no time to take it in at all. She got out her cell phone and rang Patrick. He would know what to do and right now she just needed his comfort as everything seemed to have gone wrong. First her mom had died and now who knew what had happened to Grace.

Patrick arrived soon after Amy rang him and once he got out of the car Amy ran up to him, put her arms around him and cried into his chest. She couldn’t stay strong anymore, not after finding no sign of her sister anywhere, as if she’d never existed. After a minute of Patrick consoling Amy he finally got her to calm down and they held hands.
“Alright, let’s take a look around,” Patrick said as they began to walk back towards the house, “So there’s nothing in the front room?” He added.
Amy shook her head and said, “Nothing, nothing at all.”
Patrick squeezed her hand and then put his arm around Amy. They reached the front porch of the house and Patrick glanced through the windows Amy had looked through earlier. He studied the room for a few seconds before stepping back.
“I can’t believe it,” he stated turning to look at Amy, “Nothing there at all.”
Amy nodded, “She’s gone…but I don’t know where or why and what can I do? I’m supposed to be at the funeral in…” she looked at her watch, “Ten minutes!”
“Okay…” Patrick said in a soothing voice, “Well do you have the number for the funeral home?”
“Yeah, I do, you think I should ring and let them know?” Amy asked.
“I think it’s the best thing to do, they can let people know that the funeral will be postponed and then we can call the police to get in the house and find out where she’s gone.”
Amy stepped forward and hugged Patrick again before saying simply but very meaningfully, “Thanks.”

After ringing the funeral home and the police, Amy and Patrick sat and waited for a patrol car to arrive. Eventually it came into sight and pulled up behind Patrick’s car. Two officers got out and approached them. Amy recited the story of what had happened, to the officers and they decided that the best thing to do was to get into the house, as there might be a note from Grace in there that would explain where she had gone and what had happened. One of the officers kicked down the front door in a way, which contradicted the movies completely, and following the officers Amy and Patrick headed into the house. They then searched through all of the rooms trying to find a note, anything. Each room had been cleared out but when they got to Grace’s bedroom, there on a mattress-less bed was a crumpled note. Amy went to grab it but one of the officers held her back, which caused Patrick to say, “Hey!” And pull Amy towards him protecting her.
One of the officers explained that they had to not let anyone touch the note in case foul play was involved and it became evidence. Amy found this to be a silly idea; she could never imagine her sister involved in any dangerous business, ever.
Using some tweezers, an officer picked up the piece of paper and let Amy read it, it read:

Dear Amy,

I can’t cope with mom’s death, I really can’t, and so I’ve left. I’m so sorry to leave you on your own, but if I stayed…well I’m not sure that I could have guaranteed to keep going. Please don’t try to find me; I don’t want to be found. Someday I may return but right now I need to be on my own. I know that you’ll be strong and get through today’s funeral and I know that you’re life will be brilliant. I’ve always known that.

Love Grace

Amy stared at the paper for what seemed like hours and then she slowly nodded and walked out of the room. Patrick followed her and tried to get her to stop, but she needed to get out of the house to get some fresh air. She felt as if she couldn’t breathe anymore. Once they got out the front, Amy sat down in a state of shock and Patrick sat next to her rubbing her back in small circles. Finally she managed to speak, “I can’t believe it Patrick,” she whispered.
“Sshh,” Patrick said putting his arm around her and holding her close, “I don’t think you’re meant to understand,” he said quietly, “But what I do know is that she’s right, you have to be strong and you have to keep going…and I’ll be right beside you alright?”
Amy looked into his eyes, “How do you know?” She asked, “You can’t know.”
Patrick sighed, “I do know…I want to be with you forever.”