The waitress came and took our orders. Milkshakes and fries to share. I wanted this meeting to last as long as possible. I didn’t know if I could go home and pretend like everything was okay after this. I wasn’t just scared for Mady, but now I was worried for Mackenzie’s safety too.
“So, what’s your role in all of this? Does Metrix know about you and everything?”
“No, he thinks he’s the only person helping Mady. She just wanted me to make sure you guys weren’t in any trouble, and watch for anyone following you, since they might be the ones after her. Her idea was that she would send you on a hunt to find her, and in the process you would be able to find out who was following her and take them down so she could come back.”
“It seems like she told you more about her plan than she told Matrix. Did she tell you where she was staying or anything? I just want to make sure she’s okay, and then I can help her find out who’s trying to get her,” I pleaded with Mackenzie.
“I knew where she was staying for a while, but I don’t know if she’s still there. She told me never to come and visit her, and not to tell you guys where she was. If someone is following you, then they could easily follow us right to her, and then we have a bigger problem on our hands.”
“Is there any way you could check on her? I mean, you said nobody in town should know who you are, so how much trouble are you really in?” It made perfect sense. She had only been in town a couple of months, and she worked at one of the least popular places here, how many people could really know her?
“I know they stole the laptop, Brian.” She leaned over and sipped her milkshake.
“How do you know that?” I was shocked. She already admitted she was watching, but how?
“I watched them break into your house when you weren’t home, and come out with it, I couldn’t get a good look at their faces, but that wasn’t the first time they had been in there. They broke in a day or two after you got access to every new blog post without fail. I couldn’t tell you because you were never supposed to find out who I was until all of this was over. If they didn’t know who I was before, they do now, and I need to act dumb so they won’t come after me.”
I guess it made sense, but it also angered me. If Mady and Mackenzie trusted each other as much as she said they did, then Mackenzie should go and check on her to make sure she was okay. I was sick of this conversation, and sick of being told that there was nothing any of us could do to protect Mady, when there quite obviously was something we could do. We needed to find and protect her. Just as I thought that, I realized that probably wasn’t even an option. If we blew Mady’s hiding place we probably wouldn’t be able to protect her. I had to trust in the plan she made, and hope that it all panned out okay.
“Come on, I’ll drive you back to the library,” I told Mackenzie after a few minutes of awkward silence.
We both slid out and stood up. I dropped enough for the milkshakes and fries on the table. It wasn’t a long drive back to the library, and before I knew it, we were pulling back into the parking lot.
“I want you to help us,” I said, turning towards Mackenzie before she got out of the car.
“No Brian, that’s not a good idea.” She took her hand off the door handle, and met my gaze. I figured if she really didn’t want to help, she would have left her hand on the handle ready to open the door.
“If you’re in danger like you think you are, it’s safer if the four of us can protect you. That way you’re not alone just waiting for somebody to show up and take you.” I reasoned with her.
“You guys are doing just fine without me. I don’t want to get in the way, but I’ll buy the cake when you find out who this person is.” She opened the door before she could change her mind, and stepped out.
I had to pull out everything I had if I wanted Mackenzie to help us. In all honesty, I didn’t really know why I wanted her to help so bad. We were doing just fine and flying through these clues faster than I think anyone expected us to. Something about her made me want to not only protect her, but I felt like she would be a good person to have on our side, so I started to cry. A lot of emotions had been building up in the last couple weeks and once I started, I wasn’t sure I could stop. I just couldn’t deal with this anymore, and I thought maybe if she joined us, then we would have a better shot at trying to find out who had Mady.
Mackenzie snapped her head around right away to see what was going on. I sniffled quietly, looking down at the floor of the passenger’s side floor mat, like I was lost to the world.
“Okay, okay, I guess I could meet up with you guys once in a while to help figure out some clues,” she said after a moment.
“Thanks!” I said, smiling at her through the tears.
“See you tomorrow at noon!” I said, signaling for her to close the passenger door.
“I think you’re forgetting something,” she said slyly.
I hadn’t asked for her phone number on purpose. I didn’t want her to be front and center in this unless she was all in, but it seemed like she was ready to help us.
We exchanged phone numbers, and in a matter of minutes, I was on the way home. It felt good to add someone new to the equation, it gave me hope we’d find the truth soon.
My parents were watching some sort of home renovation show, Mom’s pick I was sure, and they almost didn’t seem to notice me. They were cuddled up against one another and it made my heart squeeze in my chest. It’s weird, but when I look at my parent’s relationship, I know that’s what I want for the rest of my life. It made me want to see Mady so bad. All I wanted to do tell her how much I loved her. It didn’t matter what I learned about her within the past month, I still loved her.
“Hey guys,” I said, walking into the living room.
“Oh, hey bud, where’ve you been?”
“I just went out for some milkshakes with friends.”
“This show’s almost over, then we’re going to bed. I’m beat.” Dad stretched his arms over his head.
“Yeah, I’m going to bed, too. It’s been a long day.” I kissed them goodnight. Then I went up to my room, got ready for bed, and slipped under the covers.
I really did intend to go to bed and sleep, but I should have known something would come up. As soon as I started to doze off, my phone went off. Instantly, I was wide awake. I reached for my phone; my heart plummeted at the sight of Metrix’s id. I knew it was bad news.
‘Hey, you up?
‘I am now, what’s up?’
‘Did you find out who Mady’s friend was?’
I was about to text him about MacKenzie, but in all likelihood, he’d probably hacked into some computer already and knew that.
‘Yeah, why?’
‘Mady said when you find that letter, it was time to make the last post live.’
My heart dropped. I’d seen it in the letter, but it had completely slipped my mind for the moment. The fact it was the last blog post weighed on me. It was all about to end, whether it was good or bad, it was the end. I wanted it to be over with all of my heart, but at the same time, I had no idea what the post was about, and I didn’t feel ready to find out.
‘Can you post it in the morning? I can’t deal with this right now.’
If Mady was still out there, I wanted to find her as soon as possible, but if this was just something else she wanted me to do. I didn’t feel up to sneaking out and doing it right now. There was no point in reading it and losing sleep over something I had no control over.
‘Yeah, whatever you want. Talk to you then.’
He signed off, and I shut my phone. I was determined to get a good night’s rest since I had a feeling I’d need it.
That night I did sleep well, for the first time in what felt like forever. I wasn’t plagued with nightmares for a change. The fact I would see the last blog post in the morning gave a strange sort of comfort, what was done was done, and I couldn’t change it now
I woke up the next morning with my mom shaking me vigorously. She hadn’t
been this adamant about waking me up since the school year ended, something was up.
“Yes? I rubbed sleep out of my eyes.
“Brian, I’m sorry. I totally forgot I booked an appointment with Nancy for you today. I guess with your Dad coming home unexpectedly and everything, it just slipped my mind. It’s in a half hour.”
Great, now on top of everything else that was going on, I had to sit through another session with Nancy Kim and postpone reading Mady’s last post.
I got out of bed, nodding on my way, too sleepy to form words yet, but Mom understood what I meant. She left the room and I went to the shower.
It was probably the quickest shower of my life. I got out and dressed. I didn’t even bother doing my hair since it felt like the day was going to be long and hard, and in all honesty, who was I trying to impress?
What felt like moments after I had rolled out of bed, I was getting in my car, coffee in one hand and keys in the other, and pulling out the driveway. I thought I was going to make it on time, but of course, I should have known the universe wasn’t going to make today easy on me. I ran into a road blocked off because a man hit a deer halfway into town. The first thing I thought was the world was sending me a sign, that this wasn’t the only life I would see lost today. My second thought was I had to backtrack, and I was never going to make it on time.
I pulled up in front of her house five minutes late. I ran to the door and knocked. Something was off. Whenever I knocked on Nancy’s door, she always opened the door promptly.
After waiting a respectful amount of time, I tried again, knocking harder this time. At first, I thought she was coming. The floor boards creaked and I prepared myself for the door to open. Maybe she was teaching me some sort of lesson by making me wait, since I made her wait. After a few more seconds, nothing happened. It was almost like she was trying to hide.
My phone rang, and I opened it to see an unknown number calling. I didn’t want to be rude when Nancy opened the door, but I couldn’t just let an unknown number ring through right now, so I picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Hey Brian, it’s Nancy. I wanted to let you know I won’t be able to make our appointment today. My sister got sick and I had to fly out to California. I tried to call your mother earlier, but her phone must have been off.” She sounded rushed, almost like she was trying to get me to hang up as quick as possible.
“Yeah, that’s alright, I hope your sister is okay.”
“Thanks. I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Bye now.” Just as she was about to hang up, something sprang into my mind.
“Hey Nancy?”
“Yes?”
“How did you get my number?” I questioned her. In all honesty, I was just curious.
“Oh, your mother gave it to me, just in case I ever had to reach to you.” There was a moment of silence before she responded.
“Oh, okay.”
Nancy hung up the phone without even saying goodbye.
I tried not to let the conversation with Nancy get to me. If her sister really was sick and she needed to help her, then I understood, but something seemed off. A thought occurred to me: what if whoever was after Mady had taken Nancy? I mean at this point in the game, she knew almost everything I knew, making her just as much of a target as I or my friends were. What if they made Nancy call so I didn’t worry about her? They probably couldn’t find Mady, and wanted someone that knew a lot about the situation to help them. If any of us teens went missing, our parents would know by the end of the day, but if Nancy went missing nobody would know for a long time. She had never talked about any friends or family in town, so who would even notice she was gone?
Either I was extremely paranoid, or Nancy was in serious danger. Whatever the case, I needed to find out what was going on, and fast.
It was time to read the last blog post, and put this to rest once and for all.
Chapter 15
I parked in the drive without realizing or remembering anything after I left Dr. Kim’s place. All I could focus on was reading the last blog post. I called Jessica, Kent, Jason, and Mackenzie before I got out of the car. I filled my friends in about Mackenzie, explaining the basics. Leaving the car, I went upstairs, collected the laptop, and went to the kitchen to wait for them.
It was tempting to start without them. But, that wasn’t fair; my friends were in this as deep as I was.
In the meantime, I satisfied my curiosity by checking how many views each post had. I was flabbergasted. Every single post had over three million views.
I stared at those numbers as if they’d somehow change and then I heard someone at the door. Kent and Jessica stood in the doorway. They looked tired and nervous, but I guess I did too.
“Hey guys, come on in.” I picked up the laptop and we went into the living room.
“So, what’s going on with this new addition?” Jessica asked as soon as we settled on the couch.
I explained about the latest blog post and how when Mady mentioned the library I realized who the librarian actually was. I shared how I confronted her and the information she shared. Jessica looked a little bit hurt, probably because I didn’t call any of them.
Mackenzie texted me asking if I had a gate at the front of my house, and I told her she had the right one. When I had people coming over I usually just left it open, so she drove in.
I just finished telling the story, when Mackenzie arrived. She kept looking over her shoulder and seemed anxious to get inside. I stepped back and let her in.
“Hey.”
“Hi. Sorry I’m late. I thought I had the wrong house. The gate threw me.
“No problem, we’re still waiting on Jason.”
I led her into the living room where Jessica and Kent waited. Jessica tensed when we came into the room. What’s up with that?
I was just finished with introductions when Jason came in. I introduced him to Mackenzie and centred the laptop on the coffee table. It was time to end this.
The first words of the blog post made my vision blur and it felt like all the air was sucked out of the room.
I’m Dead
At this point, you’re all confused. Let me explain. Of course, I’m not dead while writing this, that would be impossible, but by the time you’re reading this, the odds are I’m gone. At this point, I’m sure there are a handful of you looking for me, and I want you to know you can’t blame yourself. I trusted you, and I truly believe you did everything in your power to help me. To the people that stumbled across this website and decided to read through it, I’m sorry. The truth is I’ve been stalked for the past few months. Someone wants to abduct me just like what happened a few years ago. I created this blog so after I left, people close to me could realize I was in trouble, but still alive and I hoped somehow you could find me. To my friends, whoever has been threatening me threatened the lives of you and my parents if I ever came out with the truth. I thought it best if I got them focused on finding me instead of going after all of you. That’s why I ran. If you’re wondering if the posts are fake, I need you to know they’re real. The facts are real. To my friends, I need you to tell my parents. I can’t keep what happened to me a secret, and my parents need to know I didn’t kill myself. Tell them everything, and that I love them forever. I hate what I had to do to keep myself, as well as them, safe. Other than that, I’m done. If you haven’t found out who’s after me by now, you probably never will. I’m either dead or they’ve taken me somewhere like they threatened. I’m hoping for the second option, so maybe one day I can escape and come back here. I want you to put this to rest. Thank you for all you’ve done, and I loved every minute I ever spent with you guys.
Everything went blurry for a minute. Some people may think it was better this way. I had closure, but I had convinced myself she was alive, that one day I would get to see her again, and now it really felt like it was all over.
Tears stung the backs of my eyes then spilled over and ran down my face. Jason looked like he was about to cry, and
Kent had that stunned expression you get when someone gut punches you. I couldn’t read Jessica’s expression. MacKenzie hovered in the background.
Mady wanted me to tell her parents everything. I had no idea how to tell them she didn’t commit suicide, but had been likely killed by a psycho stalker. I had to do it — for Mady.
I needed to decide what I was going to say, and who do I go in with. I immediately thought of bringing Mackenzie. Maybe that way it would make what I was saying seem more real to them, instead of their daughter’s ex-boyfriend coming in and acting like a crazy man.
“I don’t think we should do it,” Jessica said.
“Why?”
“They’re gonna be pissed we didn’t tell them before. Maybe they’ll think we were playing some kind of game or something and they’ll blame us for not coming forward with the information.”
I considered her words for a second.
“Even if they do, I have to do this for Mady.”
I waved Mackenzie into the kitchen where we could talk in private. She looked like she was either going to puke, or have a mental breakdown.
“Would you come with me to talk to her parents? I can’t do it alone, and they’d remember you from the earlier abduction. The others don’t need to be part of this. If Mady’s parents are going to get mad at someone, let them get mad at me. I should have told them sooner and I see that now. I was trying to be a hero and I failed.”
“Yeah, I understand. Of course I’ll come with you. I should have put a stop to this as soon as I found out Mady’s plan, but she just seemed so sure of herself. I’m not sure if I could live with the guilt of not telling her parents the truth.”
“Thanks” We rejoined the group in the living room.
“We’re not going to tell them,” I announced. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Mackenzie was confused. I hoped she followed my lead.
Dangerous Past Page 14