14 LSAFH
"Good morning" Natalie approaches me as I rummage through my locker, trying to find a specific piece of paper.
"Morning" I reply.
As I continue digging through the large number of papers piled up, a blue sheet catches my attention. "Something may have happened the other day... I'm not sure what to think of it, but it's pretty serious. I'm coming over after school to talk to you about it. -Easton"
"Seriously? There just has to be more and more, doesn't there?" I groan.
"What?" Natalie asks.
I sigh and slam my locker shut, "Easton left a note in my locker saying that something happened the other day and that it's pretty serious. I swear if it's another dead body I'm going to go insane, this is bullshit, and I'm tired of it."
"It could be, you never know. But don't worry about it so much- It could simply just be something else, you know?" she guides me to her locker.
"Natalie, you are aware of what has been going on this past month, right? What else could it possibly be that is so serious?" I scan my surroundings and turn to gaze at the sunrise pouring into the hallway we're standing in.
She walks up beside me and rests her hand on my shoulder, "You think too much, Alexis. For once in your life, you just need to take a breath and not worry about everything, okay? I get that you're tired, stressed out, and wanting to get closure from everything, but try to live freely. Some day you won't be able to live like that anymore."
"I know that. I just want it all to be over. I want what I believed for nine years to actually be true- that my father was only killed by a drunk driver and not some mass murderer. It's not so easy to ignore your problems for a day and act like you're okay." I step aside from Natalie and approach the huge window, placing my hand on the cold glass, and peering at the unthawing grass.
"Don't worry. Someday this will all be over, but you need to relax. Whatever it is that happened, no matter if it's something that woman did, in the end, she will be caught under these circumstances. Easton's been telling me everything, and I understand how you're feeling. It's going to take some time to get through this, okay? And it's not going to be easy."
"I know" I sigh.
*ding*
Hey, our class is starting in a few minutes. Are you coming?- Gavin
"Hey, I have to go, I'll see you later." I wave.
"See you" she replies.
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"Where were you?"
"I was with my friend at her locker," I answer.
"Oh. Well I talked to McKenna and she said she was just joking around"
I roll my eyes, "Well she shouldn't joke around like that, it's immature and she's obviously trying to start drama, but she has no reason to because I haven't done jack shit to her and that's what's pissing me off" I slouch in my chair and stare blankly at the table.
"Calm down, she's only doing it to get a reaction out of you- just try to ignore her."
"Alright," Mr. Milton claps to grab our attention, "as you all may or may not know, the first nine weeks of school is almost over, which means you will be getting your interim grades on Friday. You have three days to turn in any missing work for this grading period, after five o'clock I am not accepting any late work! I'm giving you the first fifteen minutes of class to get things done and then I will be discussing what we learn in unit four!"
"Are you any good with English? I need help with the um- the rhetorical questions assignment." Gavin asks.
"Wasn't that due two weeks ago? I think Mr. Milton said that we can't turn in assignments that are a week or more late."
He sighs, "Yeah, I know. Some people have poor time management, you know? I'm one of them. If I don't turn in any of my missing assignments, my dad will kill me. I have to turn this in whether I get points or not."
"Touche." I continue, "but you're out of luck because I am no good at English. My friend helped me do mine, so... Oh wait! I have the paper in my bookbag, you can copy off of it if you want to."
"Sure." he shrugs.
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"Who's that guy you're talking to?" Easton approaches me at my locker.
"Who? Gavin? He's my English partner." I turn around to see him standing so close to me I could almost feel his body warmth. "Uh- what are you doing?".
"I need to ask you something," he says.
"Do you need to be this close to ask me a question?" I turn back around to finish jamming notebooks into my bookbag.
"Perhaps." he rubs the back of his neck.
"What do you want?" I ask as I shut my locker, tossing my bookbag strap over my shoulder.
"Uhm... Are you free this weekend, at all?"
The nervousness is written all over his face although I can tell he's trying to hide it.
"Let me guess, you want to go on a date? I don't know if I already have plans so I'll have to check my schedule when I get home and I'll let you know if I'm free. See you." I wave.
"Okay" I hear his voice fade as I walk away.
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"Easton is weird... He talked to me earlier as if he didn't remember putting that note in my locker this morning, and he didn't bring it up. He was going to ask me on a date but I already got the impression of him hesitating to ask so I told him I have to check my schedule." I explain to Natalie while I scroll through my Instagram feed.
"Maybe he didn't want to talk about it."
"Yeah, true. I mean, he did say he was going to talk to me about it at my house." I shrug.
"So then that's probably why he was acting weird. I gotta go though, I'll see you tomorrow. Text me after he leaves your house."
My bus pulls up at the curb as she and her mom drive away.
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Easton's car is the first thing I see as my bus approaches the driveway.
"You're already here?" I ask, stepping onto the concrete.
"I actually just got here but yeah."
"Oh. Well, my mom usually gets home around five so you can't stay here for long." I unlock the door and step inside to find it surprisingly chilly. "And she forgot to turn off the AC- great."
"I have to hurry up anyway because I have a football game today." he lies his book bag on the floor and plops himself onto the sofa.
"So, what happened?" I take a seat next to him.
"Okay, so I got home from the store because my dad asked me to get some groceries. I walked into the house and all the lights were on, cabinets and drawers were open. Then when I went out to my backyard to let my dog pee, our shed door was also open. Our ax was gone and so were our weed cutters." he explains.
"Was anything stolen from inside the house?" I ask.
He nods, "No. But they were looking for something because my parent's stuff was fucked with and thrown around."
Hmm, the only explanation I can come up with is Serena. All of this weird stuff going on has to be an act of hers. I mean, she's a serial killer, and she's been getting away with dozens of murder cases. She came to my house out of nowhere to "talk" to my mom, a box filled with files of missing people is underneath my basement, and my friend found a dead body while taking a walk. She needs to turn herself in or we can't do anything about my dad's case. This bitch is crazy like it's some sort of guilty pleasure to kill innocent people and make their families suffer.
I get up out of my seat and head toward the basement door, grabbing the doorknob. "Come here, I need to show you something."
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"These are files of missing people that I think Serena somehow got a hold of." I direct him toward the box of papers.
"Woah, that's a lot. Does your mom know?" he steps back and scans the room.
"No, and I don't want her to. She's going to lecture me about getting involved with something I shouldn't." I complain.
After minutes of letting him look around the room, we climb back out and return to the living room.
"I got to go now, I'll see you tomorrow." he leaves without looking back to wave at me.
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I sit in the living room for a while longer before someone starts banging on the door.
"Who is it?!" I shout.
"Can you let me in please?"
It's Serena- I can tell from the tone in her voice.
As soon as I open the door she tackles me onto the floor and shoves a rag into my mouth. I struggle to set myself free as she begins tying my legs together. She finally lets go of me. I spit out the rag and try to position myself as she closes the door, locking it behind her.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I breathe heavily as I stare at her menacingly.
"I don't know, Alexis. Why don't you tell me?" she chuckles.
"You're insane. You need mental help, like seriously. Why are you here?." I laugh nervously and try to untie the rope but fail miserably.
"Why am I here? What did you find underneath your basement?" she kneels in front of me for a few seconds and retreats to the front door, staring at me like a lunatic.
"What do you want?" I ask.
She folds her arms and leans back against the door. "I want to know what you're going to do. Are you going to tell your mom what you found? Or do I have to kidnap you and torture you to keep your mouth shut?"
"No, I'm not going to tell my mom because I don't want her to know and if you're wondering why it's because she won't acknowledge the fact that I found a large number of files of missing people. How did you even get them and how the hell did you get in our house?" I inquire.
"That's for you to find out. You found what I've hidden for over a year, I'm just waiting for you to pick up the clues," she smirks.
"What clues? Are you telling me that the body my friend found was a plan of yours? Are you stalking me and my friends or something? I don't get what you're trying to do here."
"Maybe, maybe not. You see, it's a game. I didn't actually meet your dad at a bar. I and your dad were kinds of close, but then he met your mom. My obsession with him was something horrific and wonderful, and I felt betrayed when your dad chose your mother over me. So I took that anger out years after they had you, and I am fully aware of the pain I caused you- I don't care. It's for my sake of sanity, if I stop killing people, I'd end up killing myself, and I'd rather not do that." she lurches over to me and sits beside me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"How do you know you'd kill yourself? That doesn't make any sense- and get your hand off of me." I move over to let her hand slide off.
"That's not your business. Anyway, after I got arrested and placed in jail for a month, one of my relatives bailed me out. They thought I was just drunk, so they let me go, and after another month went by, I moved from state to state, and now here I am." she explains.
"How did you get into our house, and who was that person that was with you the first time?" I completely ignore what she was saying.
"You don't need to know, you'll figure that out yourself. If I find out that you tell anyone about this, just know you won't have a happy ending."
"I highly doubt that." I watch as she stands up and begins untying the rope around my legs.
"Keep your mouth shut, otherwise I'll throw you in the storage room and hold you, hostage, until you die. Have a good day, Alexis." she finally leaves and I slam the door shut as she exits the driveway.
