A day passed. Then a week. Then a month.
There was still no sign of the missing teenagers.
The police gave up searching. So did the townsfolk. Life went on.
Willis was Dan's brother. He was about three years older than Nick was, and went to a nearby college.
He had loved his brother. They were practically inseperable. They shared the obsession with fantasy creatures and they shared the fascination with magic.
Dan was the only person that Willis had told the turth about his sexuality. Likewise, Willis was the only person who knew that Dan was gay too. It had come as quite a surprise.
But now that his brother was missing, and probably dead, he was alone again.
A year had passed and everyone forgot about the missing teenagers.
Not Willis though. Life wasn't the same without his younger brother. He had nobody to confide with, to share his feelings with, to talk with in complete honesty.
Even Willis couldn't search forever.
He would spend his time sitting in the common room, not really doing anything. Just staring into space.
People left him alone, too wary to speak to him, aware of the trauma he must be going through.
But it had been two years.
Willis graduated. Everyone knew he was planning to head to the city.
But he didn't. He stayed in the small country town. He got a job at a diner there. Not a very good one, but it brought in money.
He was a good worker, but frighteningly quiet.
"It's because he lost his brother," people would whisper, "He doesn't want to leave in case Dan shows up"
But it had been three years.
And yet, after so long, something turned up.
"Hey Willis, have you heard?" Robert, a regular customer at the diner, asked.
"What?"
"They found something in the forest. A jacket. They're saying it belonged to one of the - where are you going?"
"Tell the boss there was an emergency," Willis called, pulling on his coat.
He walked briskly to the police station.