Chapter 25
Astrid
As soon as Dr Sheridan said it, I knew exactly what goal I wanted to work towards.
“Might be a long shot.” Theo says, as we turn the keys in the lock and head into the house, “but I think our goal should be to try and find Darla again.”
I let out a faint smile, “that’s exactly what I was just thinking.”
Theo nods, chucking the keys onto the side and taking off his coat, “Then operation find Darla is a go.”
He’d got me to ring in to his work and pull a sicky for him, just to give us some extra time. I mean, he was off anyway due to my suspension, but we knew that we needed the both of us if we were going to have any luck in locating Darla’s whereabouts. This time, we weren’t relying on Facebook or the phone book, considering we had absolutely no leads there before. This time, we knew we were going to have to go bigger, to search deeper. Last night after the session, we began drafting our mission almost immediately. We knew as soon as we started planning it, that we were going to look crazy, but it was a needs must situation. Don’t judge, but we’d decided that the only way anyone was going to take us seriously, was to say that she was missing. Theo had recommended that we say that she was my grandma, because his lived in the town, and everyone and their mother already knew who she was and would grow suspicious. Mine on the other hand, had passed donkey’s years ago, she wasn’t from around here, so we had more of a chance, (Rest in peace Grandma Mary). We were almost certainly going to hell for this, but we’d started penning a description of Darla, and where we last saw her. Annoyingly, we didn’t have a photo of her for obvious reasons, so we knew that that could be our potential downfall, we just had to hope and pray that tugging on people’s heartstrings with our award winning acting abilities would overshadow that tiny missing detail.
“5 ft 2, Silver cropped hair, glamorous, last seen at Giovanni’s in Newbury wearing a Teal cocktail dress and matching heels-”
“A witch bitch who has ruined two people’s lives by voodooing them into each other’s bodies…” Theo interrupts, jokingly.
I roll my eyes, “yes, because that would go down amazingly on a missing person’s poster about my supposed grandma. ”
I did feel bad doing this. What if it didn’t even work and we never found her again? Or worse, what if we do find her and then she gets us arrested for being stalkers and forging a missing person’s poster. The last thing I’d want is to be put in a…. men’s prison . A shiver shrills through me at the thought and I instantly get cold feet.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I ask Theo through a grimace, staring down at our mass of A4 fakery.
“Astrid.” He sighs, walking over to the table, “This is the last resort. It’s the only way we might stand a chance of finding her. If we don’t, this is our new life.” He waves to the two of us, “Is that what you want?”
I gulp. This couldn’t be the rest of our lives. I had a job to do, I wanted to be able to hang out with Yaz as me , I wanted to enjoy the activities of womanhood that I often took for granted. I wanted to have children someday. I want my life back. My eyes start to well at the thought of never being graced with the opportunity ever again and I know it’s now or never.
Picking up the wad of posters, I reply firmly, “Let’s go find this bitch.”
◆◆◆
“No sorry. I’ve never seen here before.” The lady said with a sympathetic smile.
We must have scoured over half of the town and were still coming out dry. Everyone was so lovely and sympathetic, which made my gut twinge with guilt. I was honestly starting to think that Darla had gone off the grid, had moved away to a different country and changed her name, leaving without any trace. She knew the repercussions of what she’d done and clearly didn’t want to face them.
Obviously sensing my defeat, Theo pipes up, “We still haven’t asked anyone downtown yet, there’s bound to be someone who knows her, come on.” He grabs my arm and gently pulls me after him. When we reach the bottom of town, it’s jam packed. I’m surprised it’s so busy, considering it’s a Monday morning. But to be honest, upon closer inspection, I’d say that a good 90% of the crowds are pensioners, getting in their morning mooch.
“Excuse me!” Theo shouts at an older couple who were currently sitting on a bench, their arms interlinked. They looked adorable.
“Yes, can we help you?” The older gentleman mumbles, looking irritated that we disturbed their peace. He probably thought we were trying to sell them something, and I wouldn’t blame him to be honest. If I saw two people holding posters on the street, I’d frantically dart in the other direction and avoid eye contact at all costs .
“Sorry to disturb you both. I was just wondering if either of you might know my Grandma Darla? We haven’t seen her since May 3 rd at Giovanni’s restaurant. We have tried calling her multiple times, and we’ve even visited her house, but we haven’t heard anything in response. We’re extremely worried about her wellbeing.” Theo was giving Meryl an absolute run for her money honestly. The guilt I felt earlier was absolutely tenfold now as I watched his lies unfold before these unsuspecting elders.
The woman’s eyes widen, “have you checked that she’s not dead in there?!”
Bloody Hell lady didn’t expect you to be so morbid.
“Uh- well, we have a spare key to her house.” Theo starts to wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead, a keen indicator that he was lying. Thankfully, they don’t know that though. “We went in and she just wasn’t there? We checked everywhere for her. All of her things were still there though.”
“And have you informed the police of this? She may well have been abducted.” The old man says through a frown, clearly not all old men are cute grandpas as expected then.
Theo starts to bite his tongue now, “Uh- yes. Yes we have contacted the police. We just wanted to see for ourselves if anyone in the local area had seen her. We’re desperate to find her. ”
The woman sighs, “Sorry loves. We’ve not seen her, but we hope you find her soon.”
Great. This was a woman who clearly didn’t want to be found.
We walk away from them and perch down on a wall. “I’m exhausted.” I whine whilst rubbing my head, “this is useless! Why the fuck did this have to happen to us? Why did I have to be so stupid?”
“Hey.” Theo says, rubbing my arm gently, “How were you supposed to know what would happen?”
I mean, that was true. I don’t think anyone would have anticipated finding a sweet old lady in a toilet stall who planned to use some sort of magical powers against you. I just wished that I could have forced my way out before I answered her question. She had the strength of a bloody body builder at that point though, so I would likely have broken a bone even trying. But then again, at least a broken bone could have been fixed. What did she get out of doing this anyway? Was this just some sort of sick joke that she used to pass the time? Were we the first couple she’d done this to, or was this something she did often? How sick do you have to be to get a kick out of something like this? I was still furiously trying to come to terms with the fact that, you know, magic was real, and all that. It was all just too much to comprehend. I felt faint as I pushed my back further into the wall, I was losing myself by the day. I couldn’t explain it, but it made me feel almost existential, making you realise how you’re truly nothing but your mind. I felt trapped. My thoughts, feelings, and desires encased into someone else’s body. It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t right.
“Sorry.” A petite woman says as she pulls her pushchair in next to us. “I couldn’t help but notice that you’re looking for someone called Darla?”
I immediately hurl myself up from the wall as she says this.
“Yes, that’s my uh- grandma.” Theo says, not as convincingly this time.
The woman smiles, “Well, I’m not 100% sure, but there is a lady who goes to my grandmother’s dance class called Darla, and she fits the exact physical description you have on that poster. I also know that she loves Giovanni’s, my gran went there for her dance Christmas meal. So it’s likely that it could be the same person.”
Oh my god. Did we finally have a win?
“When did your grandma last see her if you don’t mind me asking-uh?...”
“Ashley.” She smiles. “And actually. It was a week ago today! The dance class is at the village hall every Monday at 12:00pm. ”
Double win!
“Oh my gosh.” Theo says excitedly. Although, I don’t think he’s faking the tone. “Thank you so much for letting us know! So that’s Newbury Village Hall, at 12:00pm yes?”
She nods, “I’m so sorry to hear you haven’t had contact from her. That’s so strange? She never even mentioned to my grandma that she had any grandchildren. Fingers crossed that you can be reunited today then!” And with that, she grabs the handles of the pushchair, turns it around, a tiny little face beaming back at me from the seat, and then she leaves.
We wait for her to disappear into the distance before jumping up and down in joy. “We’ve got her!” I shout. “We might finally get our lives back!”
Theo shakes his fists in the air like a sweaty spectator at a football match, “Hallelujah!”
In less than half an hour, we were going to come face to face with her again. The instigator of this absolute shitshow, and if there was one thing that I was sure of, she was going to fix it. Even if meant that we had to trap her in the village hall like a rogue criminal in order to do so.