“They are censoring me!” I yelled. “I’m not a white supremacist!!” This was all too much. I broke down in the middle of the living room.
Mom came over and wrapped her arms around me. “I believe you,” she said as she wiped away my tears. “It’s alright, Marlene. We will win this thing.”
CHAPTER 24
“T he Sylvester family is twenty minutes away. They stopped at the Seafood Shack to grab a bite to eat and then they will head here.” Our lawyer announced.
I said a silent prayer that they would make it here safely. Things were getting crazy. The truth was unraveling quickly. We needed the Sylvester’s story to strengthen the evidence we were gathering against Hullman. I felt a pang of excitement that we were so close.
A couple of hours passed and the Sylvester family still wasn’t here. I started getting nervous. Were we just too uptight waiting for them, or was something really wrong? Our lawyer kept trying to call the family, but they didn’t answer. That didn’t sound right to me. If they were eating, they’d still have their phones and could answer a call. Especially because they knew we were waiting for them.
“Let’s go to the restaurant and meet them there,” my mother said.
“What if they changed their mind?” I asked.
“Let’s find out.” My mother took my hand and walked me out the door.
“We will stay here with the lawyer.” My father yelled after.
We drove toward the restaurants and as we got closer; we noticed several ambulances and sirens in front of the restaurant. I cupped my hands to my mouth, terrified that what I was thinking was actually happening. My stomach dropped as we approached. I knew it was them. I knew the Sylvester family was dead.
My mom parked the car. I jumped out and ran toward the restaurant. My mom caught up and grabbed me. “No!”
I saw on the ground several dead bodies. There was blood pooled around them with bullet wounds on one of their foreheads. My body slumped to the ground, the tears unable to stop. Andrew Sylvesters family. His 15-year-old son and his mother, whom I had been contacting online. My mother and I began crying as we held each other.
“It was a robbery gone wrong” one paramedic said.
“No, they were murdered!” I yelled.
My mother continued sobbing. I choked back tears and took out my phone, taking a picture to post on my profile. It was morbid, but I had to stay strong enough to get the truth out there. I helped my mother to her feet. We got back into our car. My mom took out her phone. “What are you doing, mom?”
“I’m calling your father.” She answered.
A few seconds passed. “He’s not answering. He always answers his phone. Especially right now.” She said.
My stomach felt queasy as I thought about the worst that could have happened to him. I checked my post and realized that it wasn’t getting any likes, shares or comments. “Look mom, I’m shadow banned. Nobody’s seeing my posts now.”
“We need to get home.” My mother turned the key in the ignition, put the car in gear and squealed tires taking off and heading home.
As we approached the house, I noticed something was not right. “Why is the front door open?” I asked.
We jumped out of the car and raced inside. My mother reached the front door first. “Hunny!? Hunny!? We’re home. Answer me!!”
I started crying again and put my face in my knees rocking back and forth on the floor. I knew deep down what had happened.
“No! Please God, no!” My mom shrieked a powerful and painful scream. It startled me off the floor and I ran to where she was in the house. There at the kitchen table sat my father and our lawyer- dead. Each had bullet holes in their heads.
“No! Daddy no!” I screamed.
Mom touched Dad’s face and cried. “We’ve got to go to the police.” She was focused despite her eyes red and swelling.
“Nobody is going to help us! The police will not help, they are with them!” I yelled.
“We’re next, mom! We’ve gotta get out of this town!” . I tried to pull her away from my father’s body.
“I don’t wanna leave him!” She yelled.
“He’s gone, momma. We’ve got to go or we will be next.” I pleaded. I turned around as I heard a car come up the street, it’s engine revving up. It bounced as it hit our driveway. “Someone is coming!” I yelled.
My mom was now in pain. She ignored me and continued sobbing over her dead husband. It was all I could do not to do the same, but I knew we were in danger. I heard the front door open and jerked my head in the noise's direction. It was too late. We were going to die next. I clenched my eyes closed, waiting for the bullet to hit me next.
CHAPTER 25
“Marlene?” A familiar voice echoed in the foyer.
“Janice?” It made little sense. I opened my eyes and ran into the hall to see her standing there. It surprised me to see my enemy at my house.
“I don’t have time to explain. Both of you- get in my car. Hurry! They’re coming!” Janice yelled.
I didn’t think except to collect the paperwork from the dinner table. I noticed that the case paperwork was gone. Somebody must have taken it.
“Hey, let’s go!” Janice yelled.
I grabbed my mom by the shoulders and hurried her out the door. She didn’t want to let go of my dad. “Leave me here, Marlene! Let me die with your father!”
“I need you, mom. Don’t give up on me. We have to go now!” I forcefully pulled her off my father and rushed her into the back seat of Janice’s small red sedan.
Janice pulled her car out of the driveway and squealed, tires driving off as fast as she could down the neighborhood streets. I noticed the FBI cars going in the opposite direction towards our house. I ducked just to ensure they wouldn’t see us.
“Why are you helping us!?” I asked.
Janice didn’t answer. Instead, she kept her focus on the road, turning and sliding into back roads.
“Turn your phone off!” Janice instructed.
“Why? My mom asked.
“Because they will find you!” Janice answered.
My mom and I scrambled to get our phones out of our pockets and turn them off. My mom’s hands were shaking. “It’s alright mom. It will be alright.”
My mom stared into space seemingly in shock. Janice drove us deep into the woods of Virginia. I tried to breathe deeply so that I could sort my thoughts. Why was Janice here? And why was she helping us? None of this made sense.
“Marlene, I believe you.” Janice said. “I always have.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“My dad works at the White House with the President,” Janice said. “I know everything. I knew about Dmitri’s family. I know about the trafficking ring. I’m gonna help you.”
Janice turned into what looked to be a homemade campsite. She shut the engine off but kept her hands on the wheel, then let out a deep sigh. “My family is involved in the trafficking ring, Marlene. I know everything. I’m so sorry for what happened to you.” Janice sobbed.
“What are you saying, Janice?” I asked in horror.
“I can’t do this anymore! My parents bring girls to my house and keep them in our basement. They threatened to send me to a boarding school if I said anything. I’m terrified of my parents and I see these girls every day! I can’t do it!” Janice screamed as she hits the steering wheel.
“You’re saying you had girls under your house too?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yes, Marlene! Many people in our school have victims under their house,” said Janice. “This ring is bigger than you think. They sell thousands of girls a day here in DC.”
I was shocked.
“You mean hundreds of people know about this happening!? Even at your school!?” My mom asked.
“There were kids at our school who knew I was under Dmitris house?” The realization hit hard at how deep the betrayal went.
“Yes. Some kids at our school knew you were under his house. I did
too. Marlene, I’m so sorry.” Janice’s sobs got louder. “My parents are part of the satanic cult.”
“Why are thousands of girls being sold only in DC?” I asked, trying to swallow the bile I felt rising in my throat. “This makes little sense, Janice. There are not enough politicians for all the girls.” I scratched my head.
Janice sighed. “They sacrifice hundreds of people a day under the White House as part of a ritual.”
“Sacrifice?” I repeated her word.
“Yes, Marlene. I can’t live with myself knowing you were going to be sold. That’s why I paid the gang to let you free by the border.” She said.
“Wait, you sent them?” It was all so overwhelming. I was trying to grasp everything she was saying.
“Yes. I knew where you were and where you were headed to. I couldn’t live with myself knowing you’d end up dead. Even though we were enemies.” She said.
“Wow.” That was all I could get out of my mouth. I sat back, astonished that Janice out of all people would save me.
“I know we’ve been enemies for years, but we need to work together on this one, Marlene. We’re going to expose them together.” Janice grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
My mom passed out in the back seat as Janice and I continued talking about what we were going to do next.
CHAPTER 26
I awoke to the sound of my mother crying. Janice slowly stirred awake. “Where are we?” My mother asked.
“Somewhere in the countryside,” Janice answered. “We should keep moving. They will look for us.” Janice put the car in gear and drove out of the woods. Down the road was a truck stop. She pulled in and parked. “We can get a shower, gas and some food here. My mother and I shook our heads in agreement.
My mother followed me into the station where we grabbed several different items including food. When the clerk gave us our total, my mom pulled out her card and was about to slide it in the car reader when I stopped her. “They can trace us. Use cash.”
My mother nodded and pulled out cash to cover the cost.
As we headed back to the car, I saw Janice on the phone talking with someone. She hung up when we approached. “Who were you talking to?” I asked as I remembered Janice had told us to turn our phones off earlier.
“Where are you taking us?” My mother asked cautiously.
“We’re going to meet the resistance,” Janice answered.
“I just saw your phone.” I said.
“No Marlene, this was a text from the resistance.” She unlocked the screen and showed the text. She tapped his profile, and it was a tall, husky man with a beard holding a huge Q Anon flag.
I blinked. “Q Anon? That wacky conspiracy theory? Didn’t they storm the capital a few years ago?”
“No, this is a real underground movement. We’re gonna expose the pedophile ring in Washington DC,” Janice explained. She turned the car on and backed out of the parking lot. My Mom stayed silent in the back seat as I rode in the front.
I wasn’t sure about all of this. Something didn’t feel right. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something about Janice’s story that I found suspicious. I decided I would keep an eye on her. Unfortunately, I had little a choice but to go with her to see where it would lead. If she was telling the truth, then she had a lot of evidence she could produce. That made her my strongest witness and my new best friend.
CHAPTER 27
W e drove for what seemed like hours into rural Virginia. The forest was thick and lush. I couldn’t help but think that it was the perfect place to hide. Janice turned down a back road that wasn’t paved. The three of us continued on for what seemed to be another twenty minutes until a small wooden cabin appeared at the end of the road. We pulled up to it and stopped. My anxiety swelled, waiting for what would happen next. Was this a trap?
A man walked out of the wooden house. It was the man in the photo on Janice’s phone. I was relieved and got out of the car.
“I’m Robert,” he said.
Robert looked like a stereotypical redneck with a Confederate flag on his hat. He was wearing a plaid shirt and dirty blue jeans.
“Mom, come on.” I nudged my mom. She didn’t move. She was awake, but she didn’t move. “Cmon mom!” I raised my voice hoping to knock her out of her shock, but she still didn’t move. “Mom, you need to be strong for me. We are going to get them back for what they did to dad.” She slowly turned her head until her eyes met mine and then nodded her head.
The four of us walked in the front door. There were around fifteen people inside. Q Anon wallpapers filled the entire walls of the living room. I felt a little uncomfortable walking in. There were guns everywhere with a huge Trump 2020 flag in the middle of the living room above the fireplace. A confederate flag was on the ceiling. This scared me a little. I wasn’t sure what we were stepping into.
“We are close to exposing this whole thing to Marlene,” said Robert. “Thanks to Janice here, we know the date of the next ritual under the White House. We’re planning to raid the capital again on that day to expose everything.”
Janice smiles. “Thanks to you Marlene, many people online are on board for this movement” She smiled at my mom. “We will take them down once and for all!”
Robert looked at me. “We have over 25,000 people coming to the capital with guns. We’re going to take those devil worshiping pedophile elites. It’ll be a surprise attack.”
“But I’m being canceled on social media. I’m being called a white supremacist every day. How do we know all these people are coming?” I asked.
“We use other websites with VPN’s and we have special chat boards. We know they are coming. Thousands have booked their flights,” Robert replied.
I smiled and then jumped with excitement. “I can’t believe this is happening. We’re going to get justice!”
“And it’s all because of you Marlene, without your videos online we wouldn’t have had so many people join our cause.” A woman sitting on the couch said. She was wearing a cowboy hat and country boots.
“So this ‘Q Anon’ isn’t some random conspiracy theory online? It’s real?” I asked.
“Yes, Marlene, it’s real. The media, big tech companies, and the government are all in it. We have a few people on the inside who are in the resistance. Like your friend Janice over here.” Robert pointed at a smiling Janice.
“Come with me.” Robert asked. We followed him down the hall into the basement. There was a small bedroom with over 20 rifles on the walls. The woman from the living room brought them some clothes and a blanket. “Thanks,” I said.
My mom finally smiled. “Everything’s going to be alright, mom.” I assured her.
There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” I said.
“We got some food,” Robert came with a plate of barbecue.
I grabbed the plate from him. “Thank you.”
He handed a plate to my mother. “Sorry, I’m on the Keto diet, red meat isn’t good for me.” My mother responded.
“Yall city people are weird” Robert closed the door behind him.
I gave my mom a look. “What?” She asked.
“There probably isn’t a lot of food. You’d better eat what they have.” I said.
I walked over to the bed and unfolded the linens. I made the bed and laid down falling asleep without finishing my dinner.
CHAPTER 28
I opened my eyes, tried to swallow, and realized my throat was dry. I sat up in bed, trying to get my bearings to remember where I was. I yawned and stretched and grabbed the plate on the bedside table that I had used to finish the last piece of chicken from last night and brought it upstairs.
Trying not to make a lot of noise, I noticed everybody was asleep on the couches. I tiptoed to the kitchen and put my plate in the sink, grabbing a glass from the cabinet and quietly filling it with tap water. I leaned against the sink and drank the water, relishing in its cool, soothing liquid going down my throat. That’s when I overheard a voice outsid
e. As I listened, I realised it was Janice. I strolled to the door and listened again until the words were almost clear. I opened the door and saw Janice outside talking to somebody on the phone. Her eyes darted at me. It startled her. She screamed as her phone dropped out of her hand and on to the ground. Almost immediately. She bent down, grabbed her phone and picked it up looking for the off button.
“Who are you talking to this late?” I asked.
Janice laughed nervously. “It’s the others in the resistance. I was trying to find out what the next step was going to be.”
I thought about it for a second, as her words made little sense. Why would they be up at three in the morning? “Why are you talking to them outside like this?” I asked.
“I didn’t want to wake anybody up. Obviously you can see everybody’s still asleep.” Her defensive tone caught me off guard. She quickly passed by me and ran inside the house.
“Janice!” I yelled after her, trying to make it loud enough for her to hear me but quiet enough that the others wouldn’t.
Janice ran up the stairs. I closed the door behind me and ran after her. “Janice!”
“Shut up!” One man shouted out from the couch. His voice was tired and rugged.
I wasn’t looking to make a scene but; it was disturbing the way Janice was behaving. Some things weren’t making sense, and I needed to know what they were. I decided that I would talk to Robert about what happened in the morning. But for now, I was going to go back down to the basement and try to get some sleep.
When I went into the basement, my mom was sleeping. She was snoring loudly, and it reminded me of being back at home. It’s funny how some of the most annoying and frustrating traits about people are what you miss the most when they’re gone. It reminded me of my dad. Tears threatened to pour all over again. I put him out of my mind as I knew that I had to focus on what was happening in front of us. My mind began racing. Could it be possible that Janice isn’t being honest with us? What if she isn’t who we thought she was? Why did she run away like that? What if she’s working for the other side?
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