[News reporter]  It’s been 3 years since the 1903 Vanishes. On the 19th march 2025, 20 citizens somehow disappeared whilst walking home. This includes 10 young women, aged between 20 and 23, and 11 men, aged between 19 and 24. Police are stepping up their efforts to find the 21 missing though many now see this as a search for bodies. The families of the missing are reaching out for support. Last week the families of Sharon Perdita and Finn Hope, a young couple who vanished, released this statement . . .

Finn grabbed for the remote and turned the TV off. He didn’t want to see his parents, he missed them enormously and felt bad for the pain he had caused them. He knew if they just understood where he was they would panic so much, instead they would be proud of their vanished son.But he spoke to them, could see them, couldn’t let anyone see him. No one but the Mistress, the Trainer and her 20 other disciples.

25 of them sat around a table, including The Mistress, her two bodyguards and The Trainer. 

Sharon, resting her head on Finn's shoulder, said “They’re still looking for us! I wished the would stop, they should know by know we’re not coming back by now”

“Would you ever want to go back? Don’t you miss them?” Asked a woman called Charlotte. Charlotte was the kindest woman there, the most sentimental. The Mistress said this was a weakness and was always trying to get Charlotte to toughen up. Finn had liked Charlotte for a while now,he liked that there was another person there who missed their family and cared how much pain they were causing them. If he didn’t have Sharon he would have certainly tried to get to know her better.

“Miss them?” asked Sharon, “They were horrid, always trying to correct me. Why would I go back and give up this life? No way. That last life, working lates in the office, having to sit through family meals, that was hell. This is heaven”

“Well then” said the Mistress speaking for the first time in a while., “You won’t have to go back. You will stay here forever and ever”

. . . . . . . . . . . . 

Sophie Hope gazed at her wall in confusion. Ever since her older brother Finn had vanished she’d been collecting clues, searching for him. Her parents Susan and Francis Hope disapproved of her work, that was putting it lightly. They believed that she should just let the police do their work and leave it alone, they were scared that she would find something heart-braking and would rather she stopped searching before that happened. Sophie vowed she would never let that happen. She would find her brother or die trying. She turned the TV up.

“Last week the families of Sharon Perdita and Finn Hope, a young couple who vanished, released this statement, ‘We are, as you can imagine, devastated by this 3 year anniversary. We had hoped and hoped this situation would never happen but here we are and they aren’t with us. When Finn and Sharon first went missing we thought that they would come back home, we’d be relieved, a little annoyed but they would be safe. Now we fear the worst. We fear this has gone from a missing persons investigation to a search for bodies. Finn and Sharon were a light, a hope in the darkness. They not only loved each other but cared for each, trusted each other; they were each other. They knew each other inside out and loved what they saw. They were funny and charming, kind and generous, unbelievable and never deserved this. We thank you all for your kindness and support. Thank you to those who have kept us going and encouraged us. Thank You to those who told us that we can  get through this and we will find them.You kept me, us, strong these last few weeks. I just want to ask the question nobody will tell us the answer to. How can 21 people go missing in a night, how can 21 people not be found, how could we let this happen? Please if you know anything speak up. It’s been three years and our heart breaks every morning I wake up and realize they are gone. Please, we have been hurt enough. Please all we want is closure.’”

Sophie remembered that speech they had given it two days ago in front of the NYPD. She remembered holding onto her mothers arm, that had felt so fragile and soft, like silk over glass. She knew her and her father on the other side were the only thing holding her up. She remembered her mothers voice shaking throughout the whole speech and herself trying to hold back tears. However by the end they had escaped.

                                               *  *  *

“Hold your core tighter. Stand straighter. What was that? Pick it up. Go again” deafening, evergoing, instructions rang in Finn's ears as he picked up the knife he had dropped. For four months now he’d been practising the new throwing technique and just couldn’t get it correct. Gripping the sharp silver knife in his left hand he felt the familiar feel supple leather beneath his fingertips. Tensing his arm he flung the knife over his shoulder. It hit the wall with a satisfying thud. The satisfaction was short lived as it pinged as it hit the floor. Turning around he saw the Trainer glaring at him. 

“Pick it up.”he commanded. The trainer was a tall muscular man with jet black hair. The first time Finn had laid eyes on him after waking up in a narrow hard bunk he had felt an unreasonable surge of anger and hate towards him. He was the one who had brought him here, he was the one who’d taken his old life. That hate had not gone away; it had grown worse.

“Pick it up” repeated the trainer again, eyes narrowing in disgust as Finn didn’t move.

“Why don’t you pick it up if you want it picked up so badly” retorted Finn glaring right back at the burly man, “your closer.”

“Well then” said the Trainer in an oddly sweet tone as he meant over and grabbed the knife,”here you go”  Like a strike of a cobra the Trainers hand flicked open and the knife hurtled out of it embedding itself in Finn’s shoulder. Finn gasped in pain but remained upright. Part of his ridgid training programme was to never show pain or fear. He let his face go blank, his eyes focused on the Trainer.

“Get out” snarled the Trainer, “and don’t come back till you know to keep your mouth shut.” With one last thin-lipped glare Finn turned away and marched out of the room. 

“Sophie” called her mother. Voice echoing up the stairs, “Nate’s here” Sophie sat upright with a smile. Nate was her best friend. They had been bestfriends since kindergarten when he’d noticed her sitting alone in the corner of the playground too scared to make any friends. He’d came up to her and had asked her if she wanted to play catch. She’d smiled and said yes. Since then they’d been inseparable. She remembered when he’d had a bed shaped like a race car and would sleep over every Saturday then have pancakes in the morning. The sleepover became less regular as they grew up. Then when she became 15 and Finn disappeared they stopped entirely. She and Nate still hung out though. Nothing could keep them away from each other for very long.

She bounded down the stairs, a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth. She kissed her mother on the cheek as she went past and flung the door open. 

There he stood, as short and cute as he’d always been. Sophie ran her arms around him before pulling back and pushing him.

“How dare you be late!” She demanded.

“Sorry babe, traffic was a nightmare” She hit him on the shoulder but couldn’t help grinning.

“Well then”, he said, “What shall we do today?” 

Sharon rolled over with a deep groan. Mornings were the worst. Being in the second class of the training team meant she had to get up at 8 o'clock in the morning - not bad - and go to bed at 1am. Training lasts from 12pm to 1am and study sessions last from 9am to 11am. Sharon gazed at the schedule in disgust. Why did she have to train to fight if she didn’t know what she was fighting for. She wished she knew what the plans were. If only the Mistress trusted her, if only the Mistress would confide in her, she could change the plans, she could make them better, twice as good. Behind her calm facade and the head of blonde curls lay a genius.