1 The Disappearance

@Krenzacole

"I want to grow up to be just like you!"

Little Sage Jones beamed cheerfully at her mother. She was a walking resemblance of her, but that wasn't all, there were almost completely identical. They both had short curly hair and small moles under their eyes, they were very very alike.

Maybe a little too alike.

Ms. Jones simpered at her only daughter,"You shouldn't be like me Sage, you don't want to be like me."

Sage cocked her head curiously at her mother,"Why not? I want to be strong and powerful, just like you!" Sage threw her arms in the air to amplify her excitement. Ms. Jones crouched down to look her daughter in the eyes. She placed her hand on her small shoulder and sighed gloomily. Just with these small gestures Sage knew that whatever her mother was about to tell her, she wasn't going to like it.

"My beautiful Sage, you are my most prized possession, and I cannot let anything happen to you. I may be strong and powerful in your eyes, but I am too powerful, the world cannot contain what I am really made of." Ms. Jones smiled wistfully at her Daughter, but all Sage heard was excuses.

The world cannot handle her, because the world is too weak.

Excuses on top of excuses, Sage was already five years old and too smart for her age. She knew a lot of things, like how to skip count by two's, but Sage was redundant. She knew that her mother did not always tell the truth. She knew when her mother deceived her and she knew when she did not. One thing that Sage was never supposed to know was that her mother was never who she thought she was.

At a the young age 5 year's old you supposed to be afraid of things like this, but it never made Sage look at her mother indifferently. One day when her mother came home late at night she was covered head to toe in blood, it wasn't her blood for sure, because Sage had seen her mother's blood from a paper-cut, but no human can exclude that amount of blood and still be walking. When she saw this she was supposed to be sleeping in her bedroom, so she was secluded from her mother's vision, behind the slightly cracked door. Her mother does not know of Sage's knowledge.

For a long while, this was Sage's secret.

Sage knew when her mother was sad or angry. She knew when she was happy or motionless. Sage knew a lot of things, but it wasn't enough. By the age of twelve Sage had practically figured her mother out. She comes home at exactly 10:00 pm every night and she leaves the house at exactly 5:00 am.

She tried her best to keep herself concealed from her mother during her prying, but one day Ms. Jones arrived home at 9:00 pm instead of 10:00 pm. Ms. Jones sat her daughter down on their expensive couch and smiled at her glaringly."How long have you been spying on me?" She spoke in a low monotone voice. Sage's eyes grew wide, she had never been caught. So when exactly did she see her?

Was it yesterday?

Two weeks ago?

When she started?

Only fear filled her heart as she peered at her mother shell shocked. Ms. Jones only laughed, her laugh was loud and high pitched almost like the witches in cartoons. Sage never feared her mother, but on this very day it was the only thing she could feel."Spying on me isn't going to do you any good my prize. So stay out of mother's business if you want to stay on my good side." She smiled once more as she stroked Sage's short coiled hair.

Sage has never felt the fear that she is feeling now.

Ms. Jones smiled at her daughter again, before leaving Sage astonished on the expensive couch. So many things were swimming through her brain. How did she know? When did she find out? Sage was very smart, but Ms. Jones was clever. Despite seeing her covered in blood at a young age Sage was not appalled, because Ms. Jones taught her to be this way.

Sage may be a few steps ahead, but Ms. Jones was a mile away. She was so far ahead that all the things 5 year old Sage had seen were seen on purpose. She purposely wanted her to see these things, specifically the blood. Ms. Jones wanted her daughter to be aware of what she might get herself into, but Sage kept spying, kept hiding, kept lurking. So she had to put her foot down at some point. That day was today, the day she put her foot down. Ms. Jones did not know exactly how much her daughter was aware of, but she knew that it was enough.

Enough to keep her on her good side.

So there Sage was, on the expensive couch, stunned, frozen, terrified. Sage did not know why she was so scared. There was no actual reason she should be this frightened, but she had a rough idea. She was convinced that her mother would do something terrible to her. Maybe she thought the next time she would see her she would be covered in her blood. That thought alone shook her enough to stop prying on her mother.

But this prying was temporary.

On Sage's sixteenth birthday her life had changed drastically. Today was supposed to be a special day for every sixteenth year old girl on her sixteenth birthday, but today Ms. Jones hadn't shown to her own daughters birthday party. It was late, 11:00 pm to be exact, and her mother was no where to be found. The loud party music and the drunken teenagers were making her head swim. She didn't care about the expensive cake or the beautiful party dress, only one thought had circled her mind.

Where was my mother?

She checked the large house countless times, even checking her own bedroom, but she had disappeared. "Hey you got anymore liquor? We're out." A blond boy who Sage was not familiar with had waltzed into the house drunker than who knows what. "Check the top left cabinet." She said quickly before hurrying out of the house. She raced to the front door only to find out that the black car her mother drove everyday was missing."Mom!" She called, but only the loud music from her backyard could be heard.

"Sage?"

She turned around to only be face to face with Gisella, her 'best friend' since 2nd grade."What are you doing out here?" Gisella said as she made her way over to Sage who was about to loose her mind."You okay you don't look so good." She said concerned as she inspected Sage's worried face. She only shook her head at her and grinned."I'll be fine you should go back, I just need some fresh air." Gisella patted her shoulder twice and headed towards the back yard gate.

Sage squatted on the drive way with her hands on her head. Why was she panicking so much? It's not like she won't turn back, or will she? Growing up her mother was always secretive, but not to the point where she wasn't aware. She had now known that Ms.Jones was always a step ahead, "But how many steps ahead is she?"

She was so far ahead that Ms. Jones couldn't even count herself. She had prepared everything perfectly. She dusted her daughter up to be the perfect replica. It was so perfect that she was impressed herself, but what exactly did she dust her up to be?

It was simple.

So she could be immune. She wanted her prize to be immune to failure, to hate, to emotion. It sounded like she wanted her to become a motionless robot, but that's not the case at all. She loved her Sage too much to do such a thing, so that is not what Sage will become.

She needed emotions to function, so it was only best she teach her this way. That's why Sage was crying her eyes out on her driveway frustrated. She was so angry at herself, and there was no specific reason why, but she just knew that she lost some kind of race.

A race she never knew had a starting or finishing line.

But she never lost, and she never won either.

End of Chapter

Next Chapter: The Horrible Part

~Krenzacole

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