Unlikely visitors

Inside the envelope were several pictures of Harper that were obviously taken by her captor. As Ava stared at the pictures, tears welled in her eyes and a lump formed in her throat.

How could anyone be so callous to do this to an innocent child? Harper was held in what appeared to be a basement, and the picture was clear enough for Ava to see welts where the girl had been beaten with what must be a belt.

"Oh, God! My baby! My poor baby!" Ava cried.

"We shouldn't have shown it to her, Mom." Ava's sister said again, crying alongside her sister.

"No, no. It's fine. At least we know that she's alive. We just need to find her faster before this sadistic demon does worse than this."

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a knock on the door and Ava's mom opened it to see Gracie's mom standing there.

The woman was crying as well and in her hands was an envelope that was identical to the one that Ava had received.

Inside the envelope were pictures of Gracie as well, but she