The chimes of the outdoor patio rhymed with one another, blowing in the snowy night that Christmas day. The snow covered the neighborhood like a layer of white fluff in pure coldness, smothering the streets in its blanket. The ornaments reflected the dull yellow light that filled the room. The Christmas tree is decorated in red, blue, green, and white, organized in circular motions. The star glimmered as if to give hope, hope to Millie's grandfather, Isaac. He sat patiently in the old leather chair, with the hard comfy cushions sinking, as if at any given moment, the chair would suck him into another world. The sky was dark, very cloudy, with passing cars on the icy roads. The dull light and the fireplace conflicted with different radiances of color, one yellow, one red. It merged into a sort of orange atmosphere that haunted Millie's grandfather. He heard the phone ring as he picked it up, his hands shaking. "Any sign of her?" shakily spoke Millie's grandfather, with a silence on the other end for a moment. "Not yet, we'll keep looking for her. The police keep saying she ran away but not Millie. She wouldn't do that...". Millie's grandfather hung up the phone as he began to cry. "What happened to you, Mille?" silently spoke to no one in the empty sad room, decorated with joy. The presents for Millie, all with name tags written in cursive handwriting, were under the tree, forever waiting to be opened.

    Above the fireplace laid a simple wooden box where it began to sing a calming melody. A lullaby that almost soothed him, but not quite. On the floor, a simple red old carpet laid and scattered over it, laid the unopened present boxes of Millie. He almost choked up and he decided to get up. On his feet, he mindlessly guided them into the dark kitchen. He flicked the light switch and in an instant, the entire room flooded with blinding light. In the reflection of the window, he saw himself. Almost pale and his eyes swollen with tears, behind the reflection, he saw the darkness that seemed to swallow the entire house. The only thing he saw was the snow that covered the grass and the simple shed that laid outside with all his junk. He glared outside, as if listening for someone. Clutching the sink that sat under the window, he clenched tightly onto its white rim. It looked like the only light was his house, the last home with lights in the slumbered city.

   
    Isaac didn't know how long he had spent in the same position, staring into the void of the night. He heard the front door open steadily followed by a murmur of voices. He recognized some, which were Rob, one of his sons, and his wife, Sheri. Another voice sounded like Cameron and Hayden, both his grandchildren. But now, he wanted to see Millie. He dashed into the room, expecting to see smiling faces and Millie, with her usual all black clothing and the dark hair that poured over her shoulders. Isaac imagined her with a blanket of snow, shaking from the cold. But what he saw was not joy, but utter sadness. Isaac's heart felt like it shattered, pounding as if it were to explode out of his chest. Shaking, not from the cold, but the realization that Millie is just gone.

    "I'm sorry Isaac" said Rob as he dragged his kids into another room. Sheri sat by Isaac, who sat down, sank into the chair. It had been only today that he had seen her, they were at her school enjoying, at least him, the Christmas Party, and now, she just disappeared. Intrusive thoughts began to flow into his mind. What if Millie got kidnapped on her walk? What if she's lost? What if... Suddenly, there was a ring that interrupted the depressing room. With the last bit of strength, Isaac took the phone as Sheri, sitting there, unknowing what to do or say stared at the phone. Isaac answered the phone. Over the background noise, Isaac heard a familiar voice. "Hey dad, it's me Jeff. I just wanted to call you to check up on how Millie is doing. Is she still wearing all black?" Isaac froze. On the other side, Jeff chuckled as Audrey, his wife, began to speak. "Yeah, how is Millie? I know she doesn't like Christmas, but we sent her more presents. I know it was a lot to just leave her for almost a year. But, don't worry, we'll be back in a month or so. So anyways, where's my Millie?" Isaac choked up, almost sobbing, with an urge to scream."Dad," answered Jeff concerningly. "What's wrong?"

It was hard to break the news, but the worst part wasn't telling them. It was what happened after. Their call almost abruptly ended with Audrey in disbelief and then crying. Jeff, although Isaac couldn't see it, could feel him shaking and almost to the point of crying as well. The call ended and Isaac got a text that they would leave early to return. Isaac felt so useless, so pathetic, and he wanted to look for Mille himself. He felt as useless as the vast amount of items he had collected in the junkyard, stuffed and stored away in that shed of his. He felt anger at that very moment. He wanted to destroy everything and yell at the world, Where is Millie? Sheri was by his side, her cheeks that were once glowing, streaking down with tears and smudged makeup. "Isaac, I..." her eyes scouted the room as if the objects could tell, whispering to her the words to utter. "I'm sorry... that this happened". Sheri then walked into the kitchen and came back with a full glass of water. Isaac poured the water down his throat and closed his tired eyes.

In the morning, he awoke in the same position, same clothes, with the haunting memory striking him like bricks when he noticed the festive joyous decoration that lined the walls, the shelves, and the windows. He noticed Jeff sitting on the couch, waiting for him with his elbows placed on his knee. Today was supposed to be a day to be happy, and at this time, his relatives would be waving goodbye with him and Millie waving goodbye, whether happy or her usual serious self. "Everyone already left," said Jeff. Isaac stared at him, but he could not look into his eyes. "I stayed here so I can help you clean up". Isaac looked around the room, knowing that he would have to touch the very same decorations he had put up himself, back when a smile formed on his face."I'm fine-" "No, I am going to help you clean" said Jeff, with a slight voice crack and sniffle. Isaac also sniffled as he went into the kitchen and the cloudy snowing day outside was nothing but white and pale. He began washing the dishes and again, looked outside to see the shed that laid back there.

    In the living room, Isaac heard Jeff begin to take down the decorations and the wrapping of presents. Isaac mindlessly grabbed the sponge, poured soap on it, turned on the facet, and just scrubbed in a slow circular motion. He continued, with the scent of tragedy blocking his nostrils. He felt like he wasn't in the room, as if he was numb and trapped within a dark room. He could imagine the freezing temperatures or the feeling of dread if actually stuck in a void-like room, with the only thing waiting for you was death. Isaac hadn't noticed he finished at least half the dishes already. His hands, covered in soap and wet, felt not his own. Felt weak and tired, even though he hadn't done any heavy physical work at all really.

    Jeff came into the kitchen. "I cleaned up the living room". He cleared his throat. "Thank you Jeff, you can leave" said Isaac. "No, I'm not leaving" He looked around the room. "Millie was here, and... I just want to see where she lived for a year..." He mumbled and he was about to walk away but Isaac tugged at his shoulder. "What was that?" Isaac asked. "This... it's my fault, I shouldn't have left Millie. I should have never taken that job offer. I wanted to tell her that I truly loved her, and I know she didn't feel it. And now, she's gone" Isaac began to tear up again as he paced around the kitchen. Outside, a black crow cawed loudly. Isaac for a moment glanced at the window, and the crow was on top of the shed outside. He turned away while Jeff began to cry. "I lost her, I let her down. She could be dead, she could be kidnapped, she could have run away" Isaac felt like he was being torn apart in half. "No... she would've never run away. I know she wasn't... the happiest person but she couldn't do that..." There was a silence before Jeff looked into Isaac's eyes. "I'll be back" said Jeff and Isaac heard the gravel in his front yard and the car sped away.

    Isaac didn't know what to do, but he guessed cleaning might keep his mind off. He went upstairs to clean his room, which only needed dusting. From his window, he saw the shed. That's a good idea. Cleaning my shed might distract me. But within him, Isaac knew it wouldn't really but the sight of suppressing those gnawing flesh-eating feelings was appealing to him. He opened door after door, cleaning windows, dusting, and just looking around. But he froze at the sight of a single room... Millie's room. He twisted the doorknob and entered. Her room perfectly matched her all black outside, the black make up, her serious personality, and especially, her shining hair. Her bed was tidy and the strange posters of rock bands in her room were just like how they should look. But, for some reason, Isaac felt like something was there. A feeling that felt to be soaking into the bed, on her walls, the curtains that blocked off sunlight, the floor, the roof, everything. He walked and began looking at her possessions. On a shelf, Isaac saw stacks of books with tons of paper that laid within them.

    Curious, he decided to check out all the variety of things she had. It felt wrong, but he wanted to know. He inspected the books, mostly poems and mystery novels. None of those interested him but he was intrigued by the papers with her handwriting. There were many papers of poem's about... death? Isaac's eyes widened as he re-read lines, and continued looking through the piles of poems that talked death. Ways to die, welcoming death, but Isaac couldn't believe it. Could Mille have... He shrugged that thought off, chills and shivers down his spine, and he couldn't accept that... Millie could have done that. He left the room and went outside for a breather. Isaac finally looked up to his shed. A passing crow cawed at him, as if telling something he couldn't understand. He sat on the back porch, almost crying but he didn't want to. So, without thought, he decided cleaning his shed would distract him. In all honesty, he just wanted to escape reality, fall asleep and wake up to Millie. He didn't care if Millie was angry or not, he just wanted to see her again.

    He creaked open the shed, closed the door shut, and turned on the light. Inside, piles of useless junk lay, such as old bikes, air conditioners beyond repair, his old fridge, piles of rusty scraps, backpacks, bags, boxes, old car parts, wheels, piles of wood, and tools. The room was dusty, dirty, with webs streaking the room everywhere. He began to move the bicycles and the wood away. Making a path would be helpful first before he tried to clean anything. Pushing over boxes and wood, he saw something shine. On closer inspection, he just saw what he once considered his best find in the junkyard. At the back of the shed, there was a seemingly deactivated animatronic bear, which had seen better days. It looked to be white with purple cheeks, a toothy grin, and strange design such as lines that streaked over his face and body. Its arms had metal casings for each part of an arm, as if it was a wearable cosplay. The most disturbing part was the wire that stuck out in certain places, the pale endlessly staring eyes, and the strange compartment on his stomach. On his stomach, there was a purplish plate that could open. Right now, Isaac didn't want to open it. One thing for sure, he was going to get rid of it. It stank of a rancid iron like smell that almost made him want to gag.

    An hour turned into two, and two into three and his shed was barely half way clean. The webs and dust were mostly gone but he still had a lot of work to do. Maybe he should call Jeff to help or Rob. While he cleaned, he heard a metal scrape. He jumped for a second and looked around. Nothing seemed out of place until he laid his eyes upon the deactivated robot. Wasn't it looking down? Isaac wasn't sure, but then again, he was turning old. Maybe he had forgotten. While continuing to clean, his memory of Millie continued to disturb him like a monster stitched to his back. It was something that would stay with him forever. Then, he heard another scrape. This time, he looked straight at the robot first. Isaac didn't notice anything wrong, until he looked at its jaw. Its lower jaw was now hanging down and it appeared to be smiling even more. Isaac didn't know if he had just missed the hanging jaw the first time or if he had imagined it. Whatever the case though, he decided to leave the shed for another day. He entered the house and decided to skip something to eat. He didn't want to eat alone at the dining table.

    Hours passed by, and he was laying in bed, staring at the moonlit ceiling casting haunting shadows. Isaac felt the chills and put the blanket more up and slept on his side. Then, his breathing slowed and he fell to a slumber. Isaac was walking on the streets, with no one in sight, not even the sound of a car, the distant barking, or even the crickets. It was just a terrifying silence and the darkness that engulfed his surroundings. He followed the lights that shone on the sidewalk. On each light though, on the concrete, snow ridden floor, he found one of MIllie's poems. Isaac took off and continued to follow the light, although, not sure why. Then, he reached his shed at the end of the trail. Steadily, he opened the door. Inside, his shed was empty, no dust, no webs, nothing. Not even the old window he had installed on the side of the wall, just an empty dark room. Finally, moonlight shone through the planks and aligned to the end of the rooms, where the bear animatronic stood, with its uncanny jaw hanging down. Isaac felt like running away, but for some reason, he approached the bear. He felt the terror consuming his veins, his heart almost pounding out of his chest, and the hollowness inside of him. He approached ever so slowly. Isaac then began to approach the jaw and look inside. Isaac wanted to close his eyes but they remained opened. Suddenly, a hand came out of the darkness and grabbed him by the neck. It tried to pull him inside.

    He awoke in the middle of the night, breathing heavily, sweating, and felt like he wasn't alone. He was in his normal bedroom, pale and average like any other. The pictures on the wall were the same. His head looked around, alerted but he tried to convince himself he was fine, but there was something telling him it was not. As if his body knew before his eyes saw, he sprinted out of bed when he saw the closet door opening. He ran downstairs, almost tripping on the way down, and was going to go to the garage when the door suddenly began to open as well. He ran outside the backyard and was going to go around, but then, he saw the rustling in the bushes. Isaac was panicking, and didn't know what to do. He felt like everything was going too fast. He ran into the shed to go look for a weapon. Unfortunately, he could not find the light switch and aimlessly began walking, avoiding sharp objects because he didn't want to step on them, and began looking for weapons. He could find nothing to defend but then, he saw the deactivated robot and noticed something he never saw before. A simple sharp blade that cut into its chest. He pulled it out but that's when he noticed the strange substances that streaked on it. On closer inspection, he smelled it and recognized it as... blood.

    He then used the blade to pry open the chest. He didn't know why but Isaac had a strange feeling. He froze when it opened. Although the rooms were as dark and dim as it ever was, the moonlight showed the decapitated body of Millie Fitzimmons.

    Isaac stood around the coffin, with all their relatives that surrounded it. The coffin lowered and lowered until it was out of view of everyone into the hole where Millie would reside. Everyone was sobbing, wearing the same thing Millie would have worn everyday. Everyone made their prayers, with Isaac staying last to talk to her. "Millie... everyone loves you. We all cared for you. I miss you" a tear fell down his cheek onto the grass that covered her grave. Suddenly, a woman approached Isaac. "I'm sorry for your loss," said the woman. Isaac didn't care about her being there, but he nodded, thanking her. "Count The Ways, Millie" said the woman. Isaac turned to her, noticed the strange woman, with brown hair, a black dress. Everything about her looked like Millie, (except the face of course) except for the heart pendant that dangled over her throat. Then, Isaac saw the mysterious woman walk away, disappearing seemingly forever.