Chapter 7

It had been a month since the Fullers had last heard of the Grace Miller case, news of her disappearance had somehow leaked to the media and all of Wraysbury already knew that Grace Miller had disappeared; which in a small town put them all in the public eye.

“Mom we are in the news again"

Ellen yelled from the living room, Ella was the only one excited that her house was on the news.

"Honey you should watch something else, don't you feel like a movie?"

Her mother asked her from the kitchen, the seven-year-old girl walked to the kitchen entrance like an adult, standing straight with her chin raised, she put her hand on her waist.

"Who do you take me for, madam?"

Ellen asked very sure of herself, Lera looked at her carefully with the expression not of a mother but of a director that she has to deal with rebellious boys all the time.

"I mean Mrs. Mom"

“Besides, Dad likes the news, so I do"

Ilem was at the dining room table watching the exchange of words between her sister and her mother, this was strange her mother in the kitchen and her father about to come to dinner, one could almost believe that they were a common family, but no, that was all facade as the hubbub of reporters passed by, they had to be a royal family.

“Hey, what are you doing sitting there, are you that hungry?"

Allin asked ilem with feigned curiosity.

“No, it's just weird that she's here, she wanted to see if she was alright but she seems pretty focused on the chicken and potatoes."

Allin turned her head to see her mother cooking as if that was her favorite place, it wasn't, she could see all the mess around her mother, Lera was never in the kitchen maybe in the study or in the office, even in the living room, but never in the kitchen. Her mother had always said that she was allergic to housework, so Allin always made dinner for everyone except today.

"You're fine?"

Ilem asked her sister, this time she could see the nostalgia in her eyes, Allin walked down the hall towards the stairs and Ilem followed her, she knew that Allin was going to say something that Lera should not hear.

I hate to see her like this, Ilem.

"She is so scared and she wants to be a good mother more than that, a perfect one, listen that social services will come in a week to see how we live, if they are good parents"

Ilem already knew that she hadn't said anything to Allin for obvious reasons, she would get upset and it was the last thing she wanted; her family was already upset enough to suffer more.

The second Ilem fell silent was all Allin needed to put the points together and see that her older sister already knew.

"You knew that, didn't you? And you did not tell me anything!"

Allin ran up the stairs, Ilem after her.

"Why do they come? Since Grace was an adult they didn't have to take care of her, they can't take us away from our parents."

She complained her sister, although she was right in a way, her parents had agreed to take care of Grace during her stay there, she was her responsibility.

Ilem hugged her sister, Allin was fifteen years old, yes, but sometimes things surpassed her like now, everyone saw her as the strongest, as the mother duck who always manages to unite them all and often forgot that she was still a girl.

"True, when Grace came here she was not yet a legal adult in her country, she was nineteen years old so the social servers will come, but nothing will happen well, it is just a routine to see if Grace lived well"

“No one is going to separate you from this Ally family."

"First they will have to pass over all of us."

Gabe was heard behind them, Allin smiled in her brother's direction and went for her daily dose of love from Gabe, that's what he called it with Allin and Ellen since they both wanted to play with him all the time when they were kids they only had a dose of love in the day.

"What about you Ilem? How do you handle fame?

he joked"

"Enough, it's not funny, at school they avoid me like the plague thanks to the fact that according to the newspapers I am suspicious, the police never use that adjective on me"

Gabe put her hand on his shoulders and they headed down the stairs with Allin leading the way.

When they got to the kitchen they could see her parents together laughing and serving food, Ellen walked from one side to another talking about her day with dad, Allin had joined the work of preparing the table, it was so...

"Is incredible."

Gabe said, stealing what she thought. Both smiling like they hadn't for a month.

"We're all together, no work or homework, no one's even using their phone. It feels like Christmas fourteen years ago again"

Gabe joined the picture, but like every sunny day comes its night and every spring its winter, the doorbell rang and everything in bustle became deathly silent until Ellen stopped talking.

"Don't worry, I'm going."

Ilem offered quickly.

"Keep going."

She walked towards the entrance and the laughter sounded again behind her, but when she opened the door, all traces of smile on Ilem's face vanished, like an illusion.

"Hello"

The girl seemed to hesitate for a second but then she breathed again.

“I'm Hannah, I'm a friend of Grace's, and I… I wanted to talk to Gabe, could you please let him know"

Ilem didn't know if the girl's hands were shaking from the cold or if she really was as scared as her voice suggested. Ilem was about to lie and say that her brother wasn't home but she heard Gabe call her name and then walk up to her.

“Hey mom and dad ask…"

His voice trailed off like a toy that runs out of string.

The girl seemed much more confident to speak now.

"I know I didn't want to tell you anything the last time you went to my house, but now I'm really worried, I thought she had gotten away from you… but she doesn't answer my calls Gabe, I call her and she goes to the mailbox, she hasn't sent no email and I don't know anything about her, I'm afraid that something really bad has happened to her and..."

"Go away Hannah, enough of this, for the first time in years my family is together one day and I'm not going to let you ruin it, I was also worried when I went to ask you for help and you didn't tell me anything, now I don't want to listen"

"You don't understand, I went to the police and declared everything I knew, now I want to tell you, I didn't know that this was like that, I recorded... "

"Enough! We'll talk later, now Ilem closes the door, we're waiting for you to eat"

Gabe walked away from her leaving her alone with Hannah.

"I do want to listen to you, but not now. I'm so sorry Gabe will behave like this, she's going through the grief phases, now she's in denial she doesn't want anything to do with Grace, it's not your fault."

Hannah seemed to take Ilem's statement well and she nodded vigorously, as she turned to leave Ilem stopped her.

"Can you talk to me tomorrow? After school would that be alright? My parents usually arrive until five in the afternoon "

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow"

•••

That day the classes became slower than ever, and the more the hours passed Ilem felt the time to talk with Hannah much longer, near the time of dismissal Ilem received a text from Gabe announcing that he had had an exam unexpected and to return home on the bus.

“Did you think your brother would dump you? "

Ilem looked back to see Ian leaning against the door of his car. She hoped so, she thought to herself.

"Are you going to take me home or are you just going to bother me? "

Ilem asked suspiciously, the truth is that she didn't want to be alone with Hannah but surely Ian wasn't one of the companion options she wanted.

“Lovely as always, go get in the car before she runs away from you "

Ilem was wringing her hands in her lap, Ian could see that she was fidgeting.

“Is something wrong, Fuller?”

His gaze went from her hands to the road. Ilem was the most unpleasant of the Fuller brothers, but Ian still adored her, she was like her sister and she worried about what happened to her.

"Now you are going to pretend that you care something about me, Ian you told me that you did not want me to interfere in your life. And now you get into mine, you still owe me an explanation on top of everything"

Ian felt a little remorse for how things had turned out that last time, she had stopped talking to him, and for him, that her life has revolved around the Fullers since he was a child, it is difficult to avoid being around her.

"I'm so sorry, I love Amanda; What can I do, I've loved her since before she was with Gabe and I still love her now. She doesn't love me or she doesn't do it enough; not yet at least"

"A person who doesn't love you isn't going to love you. Ask Gabe he is learning it the hard way."

She felt bad for having been so harsh with him, but she deserved it, he had done the same thing to many girls before, cut them out of her life, now she was suffering with Amanda, she had to receive bad for bad. Life is what it is gives you the same coin back.

She heard him take a deep breath to continue the discussion but the sight of Hannah sitting on the porch of her house left them both speechless.

"It's about time, I've been here for a long time.

Hannah told the two of them when she saw them get out of the car"

"Sorry to keep you waiting… "

Ilem continued long until the entrance of her house and both Ian and Hannah followed her, she could hear Ian's murmurs towards no one in particular and that made her more nervous, now she would finally have something concrete from Grace .

They all sat down in the living room, and Hannah wasted no time before she began to speak.

“Well, I went to the police and declared what I knew. She was dating someone who wasn't your brother. "

"I never met him; I think that person was married or something I don't know, I really didn't care, Grace knew what she was doing or so I thought"

Ilem slowly sat down on the sofa since she had been standing in front of the girl, Hannah blurted out everything so sudden and forceful that she didn't have time to sit down.

"A month ago she discovered that she was expecting a baby, do not ask me who she was, I just know that she had told your brother, that's why a week before she disappeared she went to my house. I am very scared I know that this guy was not good, he never seemed to care about her, he hurt her a lot once, I think he hit her, she didn't tell me anything about him and I thought maybe you could see his things, if there is something that can use to search for the subject his computer something not..."

"We'll tell you later, Hannah"

Ian answered for her before any meaningful words entered her head.

“I need it to be now, Ian she could be hurt"

Shades of tears filled Hannah's eyes, Grace was her friend and she had let a month go by before telling anyone what she knew.

"Okay, I'll go, but I need you to help me, with what I asked you; Please I need to find her."

She asked ilem, she just turned on herself and left, to the front door, Ilem was still speechless everything seemed too slow, Ian was there as dumb as she was.

"Say something Fuller, get mad, yell or whatever, but don't stay like that "

Ian took her from her face making her look at him, a tear escaped from her right eye, Ian she was expecting a baby that could be my brother's, what if I did something to her? And if that day I find out about this and that's why I confront her, what happens if something bad happens to her because of me?

Ian hugged her like never before, holding the little brunette until she regained the will to speak.

“Ilem is not your fault, we don't know anything. What if she ran off with that man? Maybe she's fine, enough, don't cry anymore "

She raised her head and looked at Ian for the first time in a while.

"He didn't tell me… he didn't trust me, he was going to leave too, wasn't he, Ian? That's why he asked you for the car, he was going to go with her and leave us."

She said in that tearful, breathy voice Ian hated hearing from her loved ones.

"You don't know that, Gabe would never have left without saying goodbye "