by Adalynn Rafe
I look into her stern face. “This is us. Everyone here knows about it and we are in it together. Do you really think we are going to try to stop this serial killer by ourselves?”
Sabrina shakes her head. “Fine.”
I leave her side and sit between Kelly and Hazel on the big couch. Sabrina stuffs in between me and Hazel, and Darien lounges in the loveseat by himself. Kelly’s arm wraps tightly around me and I already feel like the world is going to be okay.
“This is my uncle, Lee Owens,” Kelly introduces. “He’s with the FBI.”
Knowing that Kelly can personally vouch for his uncle makes me feel a thousand times better. If he’s as good at his job as Kelly promises, then I think we’ll be okay.
My mother leaves to grab Owens a glass of water as he sits down in a leather arm chair across from the couch. The aroma of pizza fills the room and makes my stomach pang with hunger, but I think it would be better to talk first and eat later.
“Start from the beginning and tell me everything that has happened,” Owens says.
Silently, Sabrina and I exchange nervous glances and Mom enters the room.
“Thank you,” he says, after taking the glass of water from her. His leg crosses over the other and he rests his arms on the padded arm rests. “Perhaps I should be more specific. Tell me about Leison,” he says, looking from me to Sabrina, “and his interactions with you.”
Sabrina nudges me with her elbow to go first. I can hear an annoyed hiss come from Hazel.
“I––yeah, he’s a bad guy,” I say with nervousness, my voice barely audible. It isn’t every day that you tell a strange man that you were molested by a serial killer teacher, is it? “What has Kelly told you?”
Owens tilts his head just barely and his eyes narrow for a split second, as if he is ripping down my walls of protection and reading my mind. “I want to hear what you have to say about it,” he says to me, his voice smooth, “Cecily.”
I clear my throat and nod. “Okay.” I pause. “Leison attacked me the Friday after last, did bad things, threatened me––”
“Bad things?” Owens asks, his head moving forward slightly. “Like what?”
Does he not believe me? He doesn’t even know me! He is awfully judgmental.
“Not rape!” Hazel pipes in quickly.
I lean forward, past Sabrina, and give Hazel a look to shut up, and then face him again. “Just molestation . . . I guess.” My stomach fills with dread and Kelly’s grasp tightens on me.
Owens simply nods. He beckons me to continue with just one look.
“He bruised me really badly, and––” I can’t talk about it anymore and look away.
“You said he threatened you?” Owens asks. “How so?”
I try not to look at Mom. “He mentioned my sister,” I whisper.
Mom becomes uncomfortable, already well aware of the Adie fact. Hiding her panic, she turns to leave the room. This is too hard for her.
Owens holds his hand out. “Mrs. Wolf, stop.” He stands up quickly.
She stops and looks down at the ground. “Mr. Owens.”
“I know you’re worried about your other daughter, and we’ll deal with that soon enough, Mrs. Wolf,” Owens says, a promise in his blue eyes.
“Where is Adie?” Hazel whispers to me from behind Sabrina.
I glance at Owens and back to Hazel. “Daphne’s,” I whisper.
“You so lucked out.”
My narrowed eyes meet hers. “Shh.”
“Cecily,” Owens says, his voice domineering now. “What else did he say or do to you that kept you from seeking the help of the authorities?”
“He claimed that no one would believe me. Though he mentioned my sister, he didn’t threaten her life directly––but I couldn’t be so sure over it.” I wish I had never said that part about Adie. “The reason he didn’t… go all the way is because he said I was being reserved for initiation.”
Owens stood straighter. “What is initiation?”
Sabrina speaks now, “It’s where his goons collect you at a party and rape you.”
“Did you do initiation?” Darien asks her.
“No, I slept with Leison directly.” She is trying to be tough as stone, but I see the soft cottony core underneath her shell. It holds a pulsing heart, filled with terror and ache.
Hazel laughs. “We all know that.”
“Watch it,” I hiss to my best friend.
Owens doesn’t even blink. “When were you to be initiated?” he asks me calmly.
I clear my throat and look at Sabrina. “Last Friday,” she answers.
“Why weren’t you?”
My gaze meets my Mom’s, who is chewing on her nails anxiously. “I didn’t go to the party,” I reply. Tears fill my Mom’s eyes and I can see the prayer of thanks on her lips.
“Sabrina, tell me your side of the story.” He coolly sits in his chair and watches her, evaluating everything she does with his analytical mind. “When did it start for you?”
She looks down as she speaks, “Well, I had noticed Leison when he first started teaching. He had a mutual interest and assigned me a spot to be his teacher’s aide starting my first semester of senior year.” Sabrina looks at Owens. “I willingly had sex with him.”
Darien and Hazel cover their mouths in shock and I have to do the same. We all know it, but to hear it from the horse’s mouth is priceless.
Owen’s face pales a little, but he keeps his blank composure. “Leison did not push or threaten you to do sexual acts?”
“I was in a dark place,” Sabrina admits. “And it felt good to be lost in something. How was I supposed to know that he’d be such an evil man?”
Mom points a worried finger at Sabrina. “I’m calling Gordon. As soon as this is over.”
Sabrina jumps to her feet, nearly pushing a growling Hazel to the ground. “No, Mrs. Wolf! Please!” she begs, tears spilling down her cheeks. “My father hates me as it is!”
Owens rises and stands with his hands above his belt, jacket pushed back to reveal a black button up and the straps of a shoulder holster. “Mrs. Wolf, if you will.” He points to the kitchen and she goes ahead, him following behind her.
I tiptoe over to the red-painted wall and tell the others to be silent.
“I will swing by the Sheriff’s office tonight, Mrs. Wolf. Don’t make a ruckus with the girl’s parent’s—it will only escalate the situation,” Owens says.
“The situation? Our girls are being raped! The—the parents have a right to know!”
Owens clears his throat. “Listen to me. Let met speak to the Sheriff and the two of us will contact Gordon Drake.” He sighs. “If Gordon goes after him, he’ll jeopardize the chances of the authorities getting there first. Gordon will be reckless, or, so I can assume.”
“Well, what are you going to do about Leison?” She sounds frantic. “Something has to be done!”
“Something will be done. He’s terrified these girls half to death. With the Sheriff’s help, we’ll arrest him and stop this once and for all.” Owens sighs. “He’s a sick man—very twisted and dark. He must be good at what he’s doing because these girls are terrified beyond comprehension.”
Mom coughs lightly. “Cecily says that Leison has connections to Sheriff Copper. That’s why she hasn’t told him.”
Darien lets out a raucous laugh that distracts me from the conversation and I glare at him.
“––is just a child,” I catch from Owens. “She doesn’t understand the dynamics of her situation.”
Tears sting my eyes. Why does everyone think that I’m a stupid kid!? I’ve evaded Leison twice now, but perhaps that is only because he let me . . .
Owens sounds composed, as always, “This man is playing on their fears to control them, Mrs. Wolf. For example: Did you ever see the actual bruises on your daughter’s body?”
“No, she wouldn’t let me,” Mom whispers. “Just a corner of one.”
“He has them so terrified that they can’t even run to the people they
trust and love the most. I despise creeps like this and he won’t get away with it.” Owens finally shows emotion in his voice. “Mrs. Wolf, if you wait for these girls to go to the authorities, it will never happen. They can’t think logically right now. They are too scared by this perpetrator.”
They come toward me and I jump on to the couch again. Darien and Kelly are talking about Battleship vessels. Sabrina’s face is in her hands. Hazel is picking at the dead ends in her golden hair. I stare at Owens and Mom as they enter back into the room.
“One more question: Do you know any other girls that have been harassed by this man?” he asks us seriously. He remains standing.
Sabrina speaks quietly, her face still hidden in her hands. “There were three others.”
My stomach lurches. I can just see them starving to death, pleading for help.
“What are their names?” Owens asks, taking a touch pad out of his coat to take notes.
Sabrina looks up at him, her face now white and the bruises dark. “You know . . . there is a pattern here.”
Everyone becomes silent and looks at her. Owens seems unnerved by something, but is hiding it masterfully well.
“He told me once. After he had drugged me up and had his way. The slut, the brain, the victim. He is smarter than you realize.” Sabrina’s dark gray eyes pierce through Owens. “He does his biddings in increments of three.”
His eyes narrow analytically. “Their names—do you know them?”
“Kimberly Evans. I took her place,” she answers. “That’s all I know.”
“The others,” he demands.
Sabrina shakes her head. “I don’t know who the others are.”
“So it’s speculation? These other girls are rumored to be missing?”
I stand up. “No, it’s not speculation. She’s right,” I say, looking back at her. “Leison says he has three victims, chained up somewhere and dying.”
Owens looks at each of us. “How do you know he’s telling the truth?” His eyes rest on me. “Can you be sure it’s not a scare tactic to manipulate you?”
He really doesn’t believe us? He thinks we are scared teenagers too stupid to see the truth?
The only chance we have to seek safety and it’s a gimmick . . . I can’t do this anymore. Instead of answering him, I start crying as hopelessness fills me.
Kelly wraps his arm around me and whispers words of hope. Owens softens for just a second before his face fills with contemplation.
“I know you think we’re stupid, but we’re not.” My lip quivering in upset, I look up at Owens. “Leison said they’d die if we told . . . and we still told you.”
Mom nods, looking at the man seriously. “That ought to count for something.”
Owens’s brow furrows as he thinks to himself. “As I said, I will contact Sheriff Copper and discuss the situation with him.”
Sabrina stumbles to her feet. “He said he’d kill me if we told! Don’t think for a single second that he won’t know that you’re in town, that you’re talking to Copper! You need to bring in reinforcements, more FBI agents––the authorities here are corrupt!”
“How can you be so sure, Sabrina?” Owens puts his hands above his belt again. “Is it the fear that makes you think that this school teacher has connections with the law enforcement here? Has he told you that he has connections or not?”
Tears fill her eyes and her hands ball into angry fists. “You don’t believe us!”
Finally, Owens allows emotion to cross his face and he is clearly aware of how seriously sinister Leison is. Suddenly, his face turns to stone and a look of contemplation replaces his worry.
“I saw him talking to the Sheriff,” I say quickly. “That should answer your question, shouldn’t it?”
“When, Cecily?” Owens asks, his eyes narrowing in speculation. Finally, a fact he would believe.
“The night he hurt me.”
Owens nods once. “Let’s go over this again, the three girls included. Tell me everything.”
“We just told you!” Sabrina whines.
One look from him silences her. “This is procedure. Tell me what happened, again.”
After eight trillion repeats of the same questions, he stands to leave us, his eyes filled with even more worry. “Be careful,” he says to us and turns for the door. “If needed, I will come and ask more questions. Please call if you find yourself in a situation with him, or even see him for that matter,” he says over his shoulder. “And most importantly— let the authorities do their jobs.”
He heads into the foyer and Mom follows him. “Owens?” she asks, as if clueing into his worry. I sneak against the wall so that I can barely see them.
He stops and looks at her. “I need to speak with your Sheriff.”
“You seem more adamant about it now that you were before,” I say, walking out from my hiding space. “Why?”
Owens zips his jacket up. “I’ve always been adamant about it, I assure you.”
Mom shows him to the door.
“I need to contact my partner. I will keep you updated, Mrs. Wolf.”
“What does that even mean?” Mom asks.
Owens is quiet for a minute. “It means you’re going to be seeing a lot more of the FBI around your town.”
She gasps and covers her mouth. “You said he was just a pedophile.”
“Good night, Mrs. Wolf. We’ll be in contact.” Owens leaves and Mom shuts the door.
I step into the foyer hesitantly. “What’s going on, Mom?”
She grabs me in her arms and kisses my head. “I don’t know, Ces. When you see a federal agent act like that, you know it’s not good.”
My stomach drops violently and I know that my face is pale. Owens is no fool indeed, but he chooses to ignore the fact that we know exactly what is going on.
This feeling hits—the one that makes you shudder and cry. It’s called letdown, fear, disappointment. Even though I have my friends surrounding me—lounging around the living room now, eating pizza—I have never felt so alone. Did I mention the part about us talking about the serial killer—as if it was so casual?
I lean back onto the couch, arms crossed over me like some shield that is supposed to block all the bad things from entering my life. “Leison definitely knows that someone is on his tail.” My head turns and I stare at Sabrina as my eyebrow lifts.
“I’m sure he loves it,” she says from the other side of the couch, dead serious. Her attention goes to her baby pink polished nails. “You know how much he loves a challenge.” Her eyes meet mine for just a second before she goes back to chipping the light polish off her nails.
Darien and Kelly are back to playing video games, though Kelly repeatedly looks over at me to ensure I’m at least semi-okay. Hazel is curled up in the leather seat that Owens sat in, book in hand, chewing her bottom lip. She can’t focus on what she’s reading, but she tries.
My hand claps over Sabrina’s arm—instead of smacking her face—gaining her attention. “We have to stop him. You know him best, remember?”
“What do you suggest we do?” She smiles, as if amused by our little game of low blows. “Go behind Owens’s back?”
Mom clears her throat as she enters the room. “You heard what Owens said. If you see him, you turn him in. There is no reason to go behind his back.”
I go to open my mouth but snap it shut. My hand drops from Sabrina’s arm.
There is a reason; it’s called the hostage situation. Leison will kill the girls when he finds out that we told. Their blood will be on our hands.
“He’s FBI.” Kelly places his controller down and faces us. “You can’t exactly go behind his back, Sabrina.”
Mom’s phone goes off and she goes upstairs to get it. It’s probably Adie.
Sabrina glares at Kelly. “It’s not going behind his back if the fool won’t open his eyes to the truth.” She flips her silky hair behind her shoulder and focuses back on her nails. “It’s obvious that Owens doesn’t believe us.”<
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“He will after we show him the map with the coordinates . . .” I glance from Kelly to Sabrina and nod. “It’s our only chance to prove that he is truly a serial killer.”
“The map!” Sabrina sits straight up and covers her mouth. “With the fluorescent writing? I’ve seen it so many times, but it never made any sense. They’re coordinates?”
“Yes!” My eyes widen. “I think it contains the coordinates of the kidnapped girls. It could lead the FBI to their location!”
“One problem, Cecily: every night, Leison takes it home and every morning he puts it back up. If you check that classroom now, a replica will be in its place,” Sabrina says informatively.
“Why does he do that?” Hazel asks.
“That map is obviously important to him and he doesn’t want it leaving his sight,” Darien explains. “It has to have coordinates of the girls’ whereabouts.”
“But where would he hide them . . .?” I ask. Everyone seems to go quiet.
“Hold on—” Kelly’s on his feet and crossing his arms, ordering attention. “You are not suggesting––”
“––that we get the map?” Sabrina smirks.
They exchange cold looks. “Lee said to stay out of it!” Kelly exclaims. “And I agree. I don’t want you getting hurt!” He stares at me.
I stand up and put a calming hand on his shoulder. “Kelly, we aren’t implementing a rescue mission. We simply want to steal the map and hand it over to the authorities.” I let out a short laugh. “There is no way I would willingly go chasing a serial killer for this . . .”
Sabrina laughs, it sounding like a bark, and gives me a disbelieving look. “You’d risk your life to save them if you had to.”
My eye twitches. She’s right. “If we get that map to Owens the FBI can handle it from there.” I flash a smug smile.
“How do you know that it’s not a trick?” Kelly asks.
Sabrina rolls her eyes. “Don’t be a fool. Of course it’s a trick. Everything with this man is a trick.”
“What if this is a trap you are going into? Maybe he’s luring you to wherever the other girls are . . . into the position where he wants you?” Kelly sighs loudly and then shakes his head. “Why else would he show you that?”