I woke up at 7:30am on the first day of the holidays, still in the school rhythm. When I looked over to my twin sister’s bed, I was surprised not to see her sleeping. I put on my slippers, rushing out of my room.
“Scarlett?” I yelled. Scarlett never woke up early, but I still hoped I would find her sitting in our living room watching TV. I started to panic when she was nowhere to be seen in our house or our front yard.
“Scarlett?” I yelled again, getting worried.
“Ivy!” I heard someone shout.
“Scarlett?” I asked, relieved.
“No. It’s not Scarlett! It’s your tired father who just woke up due to your shouting!” my Dad said disgruntled.
“Oh. Sorry Dad. But … But where is Scarlett? Dad! Scarlett is gone!” I stuttered. “Why would she leave without saying anything?
“Scarlett and I got into a disagreement last night. She probably just needed some space and went to her friend’s house. No need to worry,” Dad explained, making his way back to his bedroom. Scarlett is not like that, Dad knows that she wouldn’t do that, I thought to myself. I gave her a call on my phone and when she didn’t reply, I knew for sure that something was wrong and that I was going to find out what.
I started looking for clues and since my Dad was acting so suspiciously, I started my search in his study. This used to be my mother’s dressing room but ever since she left twelve years ago, my Dad has used it as a study. I don’t know why my Mum left us, but whenever we asked Dad, he told us he wasn’t in the mood to talk about it, so me and my sister gave up hope of finding her a long time ago. I was rummaging through his closet, unsure what I was looking for. When I made my way to his desk, I found a small piece of paper with an address “Chestnut Grove 16, Brighton”, and a familiar name: “Victoria Gilmore”. Gilmore, that was my mother’s surname! This must be my grandmother. I can’t believe father had always told us she had passed away, when he knew where she was all along. Knowing Scarlett, she must have found out and gone there herself. She should have told me, I thought to myself. I immediately pulled out my phone and typed in the address on Google maps. It was half an hour away by car from our village. A few minutes later I found myself getting into a cab and asking to be brought to that address.