The Daughters : part 1 Olivia

(Olivia POV)

Olivia Watson was not in a good mood. And it was her family's fault, again. First of all, there was her mother, who had disappeared a week ago. But had she really disappeared? That was yet to be verified. Maybe her phone was dead. She'd normally left for Africa. So, it was logical that they hadn't heard from her. Where this posed a problem was that normally she would have returned yesterday, but she hadn't.

That was when Olivia decided to get busy. Her mother disappearing for 2 or 3 days was reasonable. It was in her character. Maybe she'd found herself a new lover, even if she was getting a little old for it.

Her father didn't seem any more worried than that. However, her sister Maria was starting to panic and was planning to go to the cops. Olivia had tried to reassure her as best she could and had to promise to find her using her contacts.

Olivia was only 23, but she already had a vast network of contacts. A 2-year Harvard graduate with a double master’s degree in communications and engineering. She was fluent in 5 languages and was beginning to learn Arabic. She had been in Qatar the previous week to take part in gas contract negotiations.

However, with the whole thing going on with her mother, she'd had to take some time off and come home in a hurry. She had hired 3 private detectives to get her information as quickly as possible. And the first had just sent her a preliminary report.

Observing the contents. She found it hard to hide her astonishment. It didn't make any sense. How was she going to explain this to her sister?

Olivia arrived at the riding school where she was sure to find her sister. She couldn't stop thinking about what she'd read. What the hell had her mother got herself into? She'd obviously asked the investigator to double-check and keep digging, maybe they'd missed something. She asked a member of staff where to find her sister. Following the direction indicated, she eventually found her sister.

She seemed to be in a good mood, but it was not surprising that she was always in a good mood when she was with horses. Olivia couldn't understand what her sister could see in this animal. But that wasn't her problem.

_"Olivia! I'm so happy to see you. How are things in Japan?" _Olivia asked, throwing herself at her.

_"I haven't been in Japan for five months now when you called, I was in Qatar and before that I was in South Africa." _replied Olivia.

"You and your travels, at this rate you'll have been to every country in the world in less than 10 years." said Maria.

_"Don't talk nonsense. There are 200 countries in the world. I'll never have the chance to visit them all. But what about you? You finished high school and turned 18, 2 months ago. What are your plans?" _asked Olivia.

"I'm currently taking the tests to become a riding instructor and at the same time I'm doing a degree in sport. I could always try to retrain as a sports teacher if I don't manage to become a riding instructor. You see, I've got a backup plan. I'm making progress," said Maria, who hadn't stopped smiling since Olivia arrived.

Olivia sighed inwardly. Her sister wouldn't change. There was only riding in her life and nothing else. She would have tried to explain to her that she would hardly get paid, but she would have just wasted her time. But she didn't let on. Lying had become second nature to her over the years.

"I don't suppose you've come just to say hello to your little sister, have you?" said Maria.

"I've got some news for you. Can we go and sit down somewhere?" asked Olivia.

_"There's a bench just around the corner if that's okay," _Maria offered.

It wasn't until they were comfortably seated that Olivia began to speak.

_"I asked about Mom and what had become of her. She had a flight scheduled to Africa a week ago. She got into the airport all right, albeit slightly late as usual, but still well on schedule to catch her flight," _Olivia said.

_"That's good, that means she's arrived in Congo," _says Maria.

_"Unfortunately, not. Because she never got on this or any other plane" _says Olivia.

"Did she get out of the airport?" asked Maria.

"This is where it gets weird. She disappears into the blind spot of a camera and never appears again on any airport camera. She just vanished," said Olivia.

"But that doesn't make any sense - people don't just disappear. What happened to her?" says Maria.

"There are several hypotheses on the table. The first is that she was kidnapped. She was **** and put in a suitcase to get her out of the airport. The problem with this hypothesis is that it's very difficult to implement in a crowded airport, and there's no trace of a large suitcase at the time of the disappearance," said Olivia.

"And the second hypothesis?" asked Maria, who wasn't hiding her concern.

"The second hypothesis is that she's still in the airport, but that's highly unlikely as there's nowhere to hide there. The third hypothesis involves altering the CCTV footage, but not everyone can do that, and so far, none of the experts I've consulted have been able to find the slightest alteration," said Olivia.

_"What happened?" _asked Maria.

_"I don't know, but clearly it's not just a disappearance. The people involved have very big resources. I don't know what Mom's gotten herself into, but it's not simple," _said Olivia.

"Will we ever see her again?" asked Maria, who was starting to cry.

_"I hope so, Maria. I hope so." _said Olivia just before a flash of white engulfed them.

It took Olivia a moment to get her bearings. Sensing danger, she got into a fighting stance with her fists clenched. Perhaps her years of karate would come in handy. She began to turn her head to see where she was and who was around her.

Clearly, she was no longer at the riding school. Had someone managed to lull her to sleep and transport her here without her realizing it? And Maria, where was she?

Turning her head, a little more, she spotted her right beside her. She was in the same position as the last time she'd seen her. It was as if they'd been teleported. It made no sense at all.

She decided to pay a little more attention to her surroundings. The people responsible couldn't have been far away. Who knew what they had planned for her and her sister? Whatever it was, she wouldn't let them.

"Olivia! Maria!" shouted a familiar voice before rushing at her.

She reflexively kicked at the assailant, sending him to the ground. Only then did she realize the identity of the assailant.

"Mommy!" screamed Maria as she rushed at Abigail, who was on the ground holding her stomach.

The kick must have hurt. The situation was strange: the woman on the ground clearly resembled her mother. But more like her mother 25 years younger.

"Mommy? What the hell's going on? Holy shit!" swore Olivia, who wasn't in the habit of hurling insults.