15 LSAFH
I'm now contemplating my entire life story as I sit here staring at my reflection in my mirror. Does it really have to be this way? My seventeenth birthday is in nineteen days, how will I enjoy that day knowing I still have yet to put this crazy woman in her place? I feel even worse about Olivia and Easton being dragged into this mess, and even though they are helping me with this situation, I can't bear to put them through this. It is not their responsibility to help me take care of something that wasn't their fault. I almost have forgotten to let Easton know that I am free this weekend for the date, and although it will be my first date ever, I don't feel much nervous about it.
Hey- Alexis
*7 minutes later*
Oh, hey- Easton
So are you busy this weekend?- Easton
Nope, I'm free- Alexis
Okay, good- Easton
Yup.- Alexis
*ring* *ring*
Why is he calling me?
"Hello?" I answer, "why are you calling?".
"I don't know, just wanted to hear your voice I guess" he responds.
"Oh, well I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow. Wear something nice, please" I hang up and step over to my closet to pick an outfit.
Hmm... I don't want to wear something that's over the top, but I also need to dress nicely to impress him. Should I wear my cornflower blue lace dress or my silky pastel pink spaghetti strap dress? Or is that too much?
Hey umm, I don't know what to wear to me and Easton's date, could you give me some tips?- Alexis
First of all, don't overdo yourself, no need to look like a fashion model if it's your first date.- Olivia
Well I already know that, I'm just trying to find an outfit that isn't too much or too little- Alexis
Do you know what you want to wear? Something you personally like?- Olivia
I want to wear my blue lace dress- Alexis
Then wear that- Olivia
Okay- Alexis
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"Alexis, I need you to- Woah, what are you all dressed up for?" my mother comes walking into my bedroom and watches as I caress the bottom of my dress, fixing a small wrinkle.
"I have a date with Easton tomorrow and I was looking for a dress to wear" I turn toward my dresser to search for a pair of earrings.
"Oh. Well, I'm leaving again today for a few days. I'm sorry if that bothers you, but I and my work have been really busy lately. I need you to go in the basement and grab the box of family photos."
"Mom, you don't need to hide your business from me, I know you work for the FBI. Also, you have arms, it's not that hard to get it yourself." I pull a pair of dangle earrings out of the bottom drawer of my dresser and stick them into my earlobes.
"Did you not just hear me say that I'm leaving? Go downstairs and grab the box, please, I'm not telling you again" she sneers at me and exits my room.
"Wait, mom!!" I peer outside of my door, "Did you get those cameras for the house yet?" I ask.
"Yes, they're in the basement next to the suitcases." I hear the front door slam shut as her car engine starts running.
I retreat to my mirror to study my dress, and I'm sure Olivia might want to see it, so I'll send her a picture.
Look- Alexis
*3 minutes later*
What? There's nothing to look at- Olivia
My dress- Alexis
Oh- Olivia
It wasn't showing up, but yeah, I like it.- Olivia
Thanks, but I gotta go. My mom is leaving again.- Alexis
Oh okay, bye- Olivia
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"How'd you find out about me working for the FBI?" my mother inquires while cleaning the dishes.
"Let's say that when I blacked out, I saw you and two other people talking at a conference desk."
"And you assume that just because I was talking to those people, I work for the FBI? It doesn't work like that, Alexis."
"No, mom. Olivia and Easton were here when it happened, and I told Easton about it when I woke up, and he said that those other people were his parents because you work for them."
"Well it's none of your business, so stay out of it. Where are you and Easton going to eat?"
I sigh, "We're going to eat at that Mexican restaurant by Macy's."
"Be back before twelve, and I mean it." she finishes rinsing off a plate and sets it into the dishwasher.
"Okay, fine. When are you leaving?" I ask.
"I'm leaving right now. If you need anything, call me- and as I said before, do not let Serena in the house." she grabs her purse and scurries out of the door.
Ugh, not again. I understand the mess going on with her job and my dad's case, but she has no reason to hide it from me if she already knows that I know about it. It's such a cliche that I get left here alone and bad things happen, such as Serena tackling me and holding me hostage in our own house. What more is there to expect? She could arrive here any moment for all I know.
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*Ring* *Ring*
It's my mother. "What?" I answer.
"Did you set up the cameras? If not then I need you to before I get back home." I can hear the radio playing in the background.
"No, I didn't" I answer.
"Well do it, please. Bye."
As I make my way down the stairs to fetch the security cameras, the trapdoor knob catches my attention once more. The severe desire to look through all those files is sending a chill up my spine, and I most definitely need to figure out how Serena got a hold of them. The only place she could've got them from is the FBI station, and now that I'm thinking about it more, it's beginning to make much less sense than before. This is ludicrous. I mean, how could she have gone to the FBI station to get them? Unless she used to work for them, I would understand, but this is so confusing I don't even know where to begin. How could a serial killer work for the FBI? Although she is still sentenced as not guilty, I don't get how she could've worked at the FBI station.
Suitcases... Where are the- Aha! I find the boxes of security cameras and turn to run back up the stairs. As soon as I reach the last step, someone knocks on the door. I swear if it's Serena, I will kill her.
"What do you want?" I groan as I open the door.
"Um...h- Hi" surprisingly, it's a woman other than Serena.
"Hi?" I answer.
"Sorry... but could you help me contact the police?" She asks.
"Uh, sure... But what for?" I inquire.
"My daughter recently went missing. She was spending last weekend with her friends at a cabin and she was supposed to be home on Monday, but she hasn't been home since she left."
"Have you left the house to make sure she's okay?" I step outside and close the door behind me.
"I just did that a few hours ago and they were gone. The car was still parked when I got there."
On a bad note, this is a good thing.
"Did you see anything there? Was their stuff gone?" I question her.
"Well, their clothes were still in the cabin, but there was nothing else. When I was leaving, I swore I thought I saw a woman carrying something," she explains.
I'm not surprised by this, but it's a serious matter. I feel pity for this woman because she has no idea of what could've happened to her daughter, but I do.
"Okay, here's what we're going to do," I continue, "we're going to go to the cabin to look for your daughter. If we don't find her, we'll come back and call the police, okay?" I insist.
"Okay, thank you," she answers.
---------------
As we pull up to the cabin, I can already sense something has gone bad here.
"What's your daughter's name?" I ask.
"Sarah Griffith" she answers.
We approach the front door, which is covered by a mass of vines and moss. As soon as I take a step into the cabin, the floorboard creaks and almost snaps as I lurch further into the living room. This place looks like it's bound to fall apart at any second.
"This is where they were staying?" I ask as I scoot past the old-fashioned sofa.
'I didn't know this was the exact place they were going to be staying at, but it's so far into the woods and so rotted, I should've known better-"
"HELLO?!" I hear a girl shout from somewhere in the cabin.
"That sounded like her friend Mackenzi" she pleads.
We begin searching around the house for the girls, to question them what happened.
"You go upstairs, I'll head down here." I find a door that leads to the basement of the cabin, and just as I thought, it's locked. Whoever lived here is strange, nobody puts a lock on their basement door...
"SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP US" the yells are somewhat audible, but barely able to hear. She seems like she's so far away from us yet she sounds like she's somewhere near the left in the back of the basement, but I don't see anyone.
"UP HERE- THEY'RE UP HERE!" the woman shouts.
I rush up the stairs into the room where the girls are tied together.
"Where's Sarah??" the woman asks the girls.
"We don't know. Some woman drove here in the middle of the night and knocked on the door, we thought she was just asking for directions to somewhere but she drug us up here and took Sarah with her when she left." one of the girls answers.
"Did you see where she went?" I ask.
"She went around the back, and I think that's where an old bus is cause we took a walk around here the other day and found it." another girl answers.
"Okay well we need to get you guys out of these ropes, afterwards, I'll have her send you guys home, I need to look for this woman and Sarah." I turn toward the woman, "What's your phone number so I can call you if I find your daughter?" I pull out my phone.
She reaches for my phone and begins typing numbers into my contacts app. "Please find her." the amount of worry that is shown in her face is enough to make me feel more pity for her- she has no idea that this woman is a serial killer, and she has no idea what she's in for.
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"SERENA! I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE!" I yell into the seemingness of dead silence, and as I expect to hear an answer, the leaves around me float away with the wind and dance around like ashes burning away from a fire. The air is bitter and cold, while I walk slowly around the trees that surround me and make me feel as though we humans are just tiny specs of life, roaming around this world of mystery.
Why is she doing this to me? Can't she just put an end to this disaster and stop torturing me? It shouldn't be my job to get her into prison, I'm only sixteen. Once I do, though, she better get a life sentence- I'm not doing all of this just for her to be put in prison for only ten years; she killed my father and many other innocent people.
*RING* *RING*
My phone interrupts the silence around me.
"What?" I sneer.
"Where are you?? I've been here for five minutes." I can hear Olivia ringing my doorbell.
"Olivia now is not the time. I'm really busy right now, I'll call you later, okay? Sorry." Just as I hang up, screams begin echoing through the woods.
Ugh! Where is this stupid wo-
I fall to the ground as a girl comes crashing into me.
"Get up- Get up. We need to run, go- go- go" she tugs my arm and pulls me to my feet.
"What happ-"
"Call the police, now." she cuts me off.
-----------
We finally stop at the back door of the cabin, and I break down onto the floor as I pant, trying to catch my breath.
"Who are you?" she asks, placing her hands on her hips, and trying to catch her breath as well.
"Your neighbor" I answer.
-----------
"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!" the woman rushes over to Sarah and pulls her into her arms.
"I'm fine, mom, I'm fine." She pushes her off.
"Okay, everyone get in the car" we all scurry outside into the car and leave.
-------------
"So, what happened" A police officer pulls a notepad out of his pocket and asks Sarah.
"Okay so we were staying at this cabin over the weekend, and around midnight on Sunday, this woman with black hair pulled up in the driveway and knocked on the door. We let her in because we thought she just got lost and needed directions to get somewhere, and then she just barged in with a rope, tied my friends' hands together, and put them upstairs in the back room. She took me into the woods near a bus that we found the day before, and she had an ax in her other hand." she explains.
The officer lowers the notepad to his waist and stares confusedly at Sarah. "So she took you with her, but not your friends?" he raises an eyebrow.
She nods.
"Well, we're gonna head that way, and search for any DNA or weapons. Did she hurt any of you?" he asks.
"No" one of the girls answers.
"You didn't even ask them what the woman was wearing. You can't just leave without getting any information like that." I bud in.
"Of course." he turns to Sarah again, "What was the woman wearing?".
"She was wearing a black long-sleeve shirt, and jeans." She answers.
He finishes jotting information down in his notepad and returns to his car.
"We will do everything we can to find this woman. Please be patient while we search for background information and continue the process to schedule a court date. Be safe ladies." he pleads, then drives away.
I turn to Sarah's mom, "May I know your name please?".
"I'm Laura," she shakes my right hand, " and thank you so much for helping me- do I owe you anything?" she asks.
I nod, "I need to get home, someone's waiting for me."
"Okay, I'll let you get going. Again, thank you."
"You're welcome."
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"Where the hell were you??" Olivia barks at me.
"I don't want to talk about it." I unlock the door and jump onto the couch.
"You know, I've been sitting at your doorstep for thirty minutes. You could've given me an explanation as to why you left your house," she sneers. "were you with Easton?".
"No,' I sigh, "my neighbor's daughter went missing and I had to help find her and now the police are involved because she and her friends said there was a woman there and her friends were tied up in one of the rooms of a cabin they were staying at. There, happy now?"
"Yes- Yes I am."
"So why are you here?" I sit up and turn on the TV.
"I don't know- I just got bored" she chuckles.
"Well I'm gonna need you to leave in a little bit, 'cause it's eight o'clock and I need to go to bed soon."
"Why can't you let me stay the night with you? We ride the same bus, I can just run back home, get some clothes and grab my book bag," she suggests.
"I just want to be here by myself, okay?"
"Fine, it's your loss if you get scared."
"I know" I snicker, not even bothering to say goodnight or bye to her.
"See you tomorrow, I guess" The door clicks shut, and finally, I am alone.
I never thought being alone felt so great until now. I mean, look what I've been through, how could I not want to be alone after all of this? I just hope that this will all end sometime soon. I can't bear to push myself through it anymore- I'm tired of doing it on my own, although I'm necessarily not, because my mother is also, very slowly working on this case. If only Serena could realize what she's doing is absolutely horrid, I would be in a better place, and I'd finally be at peace with myself and my past. I can't move on until she goes to prison, it's the only way I'll find closure. Until then, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
