Something’s happening in my city. Something that I can’t explain. My name is Joshua Wellington. I’m an Inspector under the employ of this United Kingdom. For the past fifteen years, a spike in missing children cases has spread all throughout the country. The children range from between the ages of five through twelve. I’ve come up with many theories ranging from serial killers to human trafficking. And had we been in any other part of the world, those would most likely be the answers I’m looking for. But not here. No. Whatever is happening, is something far more complex than that.

 It’s easy to forget that they’re, that we’re, still people. That we’re not just a badge. I don’t know when I was able to disconnect. When I learned to just focus on the facts. But I was grateful for it. Wasn’t so long ago that I was in her shoes. Every tear from a mother, every horrified scream of a victim, every child’s wail, they haunted me. They never teach you how to block them out at the Academy. That’s something that you’d have to learn for yourself. Lisa wasn’t there yet. For her, every case was still personal. For her, every case still hurt.

I ended the call and rushed back inside. I made my way to the basement where we keep all of our files on cold cases. I poured through file after file, until I found them. Hundreds of children go missing every day all over the world, and I’ve handled more than a few cases involving them. I’d like to say they all had a happy ending. But that would be a lie. A good amount ends up there. Collecting dust. But sometimes something comes up that sheds some light on the past.

This was one of those times.

In the end, I found the files I was looking for. Thirty-two in all. Thirty-two cases. Thirty-two children. Thirty-two failures. I took them back to my office. And put on a pot of coffee.

It was going to be a long night.