Nevertheless, I was not one for letting looks deceive me. I’d seen enough documentaries to know how people like Ted Bundy worked. I did not falter in my caution as I stood there, waiting for him to declare his intentions.
He must’ve been expecting my parents to open the door or something because it took him a minute to respond. “Hi,” he said, injecting a cheerfulness into his voice I was sure wouldn’t typically be there if it weren’t a teenage girl staring at him from the doorjamb. “Are your parents around?”
As soon as he finished the sentence, a bolt of recognition struck me surer than if Zeus had tossed down a shock from heaven. I knew that voice! This was the guy from my sister’s room the night before! My eyes widened, my mouth dropped open, and I felt my heart pounding in my chest. If there were words formulating in my head, they were not connecting with my mouth.
“Cassidy?” he said quietly, “are you okay?”
“Huh?” The mention of my name jerked me back to reality, though I was now even more shocked. How in the world did he know who I was?
“I didn’t mean to… alarm you. My name is Aaron McReynolds, and I’m a friend of your parents’.”
He was still smiling at me, and I knew he was doing his best to try and set me at ease. My fingernails were beginning to etch half-moons in the wood of the door. How did he know my parents? I looked past him, curious as to whether or not that girl was here, too, or maybe the roof people. A very expensive looking motorcycle sat at the curb, but that was it. No other nefarious people seemed to linger in the shadows.
Returning my attention to the man in front of me, I suddenly found courage I hadn’t previously possessed. I cleared my throat loudly. “My parents are here. I can get them.”
“Great,” he said with a nod that showed relief—either that I would comply or that I hadn’t passed out right in front of him.
“One moment please.” He raised his eyebrows, and I thought I heard a chuckle as I closed the door in his face and locked it. He might be able to get through my sister’s window, but he wasn’t coming in here without my parents’ permission.
All thoughts of cautiously approaching my mom and dad had gone away the second I’d realized who was standing on my doorstep. I ran into the kitchen, practically screaming, hoping that Aaron McReynolds, if that was his real name, couldn’t hear the panic in my voice. “Mom! Dad! Some creepy dude’s at the door. He says he knows you!”
My dad was sitting at the table in the kitchen, reading the newspaper and sipping coffee, while my mom was at the stove, likely basting the turkey. When I came in, they both turned to look at me like they were sure I’d lost my mind.
“Calm down, Cassidy,” my mom said, a questioning lilt in her voice.
“Really, Cass, it’s too early in the morning to be so jumpy.” My dad took another drink before putting his coffee down and standing.
“Did he tell you his name?” My mom was following my father to the door now.
I backed up. “Yeah. Aaron.”
“Oh, of course,” my mom muttered, and then, even though I was walking backward and trying not to run into anything as we crossed through the dining room, I saw an exchange of glances that told me they really did know this guy.
“Well, Cassidy, you could’ve let him in,” my mom scolded once we’d reached the foyer and she realized he was still outside.
“You locked the door?” My father looked both embarrassed and confused.
“I… don’t know him.” I didn’t mention that I was afraid he was here to arrest Cadence at first, or that I knew he had been in her bedroom the night before, but as my mom opened the door revealing a patiently waiting, still mysterious, yet dreamy, stranger, I began to feel a little silly.
“Aaron! It’s so nice to see you!” my mother exclaimed, gesturing widely with her arm for him to come in. She hugged him, and he kissed her on the cheek before my father proclaimed a similar greeting and they did that half-hug, half-handshake thing guys do when they’re bros. I stood with my forehead crinkled, staring.
“I guess you’ve met Cassidy?” my mom asked.
“I have,” Aaron replied, smiling at me in a way that said my teenage antics amused him. I wasn’t sure what to make of him, so I said nothing, only narrowed my eyes slightly.
“Aaron used to work with your grandpar…grandma,” my dad said, catching himself and making a course correction. Was he going to say grandparents? As in both my grandma and grandpa? That was impossible.
My expression revealed my confusion. “I’m a little older than I look,” he said with a shrug, and both of my parents chuckled like they were in on a joke I wasn’t privy to. I nodded, but as far as I knew, my grandmother had been retired since before I was born and my grandfather had died years before that. Which means he either started working when he was, like, ten, or he was a lot, lot older than he looked.
“I’m sorry to come by and interrupt your holiday like this,” he said, mostly talking to my parents, though I got the impression he was apologizing to me, too.
“Oh, no. It’s not your fault.” My mother let out a sigh that told me all of the joy she’d conjured up to greet this person she allegedly knew through her mother-in-law had been swept away as they all remembered why he was here. Of course, I still didn’t know.
I opened my mouth, ready to ask where Cadence was, thinking he might know, but before I could get anything out, my dad said, “Cass, why don’t you head upstairs for a bit. We need to talk about a few things in private.”
Normally, I would have immediately complied. But everything was just so weird…. Instead, I said, “But Dad, you guys haven’t even told me how Drew is. And is Cadence okay?”
The color seemed to drain out of my mom’s face. She looked at my dad, and he seemed just as lost. My questions lingered in the air as I began to think of all of the horrible things that might’ve happened to my sister and her friend. The only person who seemed to think I deserved answers wasn’t even related to me (as far as I knew. Things were getting so weird!). “Cassidy, your sister is fine. I just came to talk to your parents about that. She’s with your grandma.”This raised a million other questions. Why didn’t Grandma Janette just call? Why would he need to be the one to tell them anything about their own kid? But I nodded. At least Cadence was okay, and someone was answering my questions.“Honey,” my mom said, unfreezing and turning to face me, “Drew… passed away.”Even though I’d been bracing for bad news about Drew all mor
That all came out in one long, drawn out breath, and I knew if I was actually going to answer her before she started talking again, I’d have to act quickly. “You may know more than I do,” I admitted. “My parents won’t tell me much.” I didn’t tell her about the strange man downstairs. Not yet, anyway. “Do you know what happened to Drew?”“I know what everyone is saying. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but every single one of her friends that was with he swears it’s the truth. Except for maybe your sis because she’s not here. She’s not there, right?”“No, she’s at my grandma’s.” That much I did believe, though I wasn’t sure why.“Well, I guess Drew told her parents she was going to spend the night at her friend Sidney Cox’s house last night, but instead they all went out somewhere.” I was positive I knew what Lucy wo
I was a little relieved to hear that my dad was talking to Aaron outside when I came down the stairs with my mother. There was just something about the intensity of his eyes that made me uncomfortable. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their voices seemed lighter than they had a few minutes ago when the stranger had first arrived.My mom led me into the living room, and I followed as if I’d never been to this particular part of our home before, each step feeling a bit like a death sentence. Dr. Sanderson unfolded himself from my mother’s recliner as we approached, and I had a hard time taking in how someone so large could occupy the same space as my dainty mother.“Cassidy, honey, this is Dr. Sanderson.”He extended his large hand to me, and I let it envelop mine. There was something hauntingly familiar about his green eyes. It was like I’d seen them before, frequently, and while I was certain I would remember meeting
Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, even though it was so odd to me that my sister wasn’t there. I really wished she could’ve been, but I understood that Cadence needed to rest. I wanted to know more about her new job, but I also realized there was no reason to ask about it. Everything was just fine.After I helped my mom clear the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher, I decided to head upstairs. I doubted Lucy or Em would have called since I’d already talked to one and the other would be busy trying to avoid her family. Emma really hated crowds of any kind, even if they were related to her, and I was pretty sure the meal this year was supposed to be at her house. I did think maybe Milo or Wes would’ve called, though. They both lived just down the street from Jack Cook, and it was possible they might’ve seen him. They might want to know what was going on, and I’d be happy to explain to them that it was an accident and nothing to worry
A knock at the door interrupted what would’ve been a pretty good buck-toothed rabbit face my dad was constructing on a short stack. “I’ll get it,” my mom said, pulling herself away from blueberry eyes. I could tell by the way she looked at my dad that she was reluctant to see who had come calling. They exchanged nervous glances.Something twisted inside of me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Have you ever had something really terrible going on in your life, and for a few moments you lose track of it, like it’s not consciously on your mind, but then it starts to creep in, and before it even registers in your brain, your stomach starts to hurt, like a sharp knife has been plummeted in from the side, a sneak attack? It was like that. I looked at my dad and he offered a small smile before he, too, pushed back his chair. “Go ahead and eat, Cass. We’ll be back in a few minutes.”I nodded, and he exited the dinin
My parents seemed to buy my routine. My mom looked at my dad and gave him that reassuring smile she makes when she’s certain her children are the most precious creatures in the world. My dad did his complimentary, “I concur,” smile.I took another, much smaller, bite of my pancakes and chewed it slowly. After trying to eat nearly a quarter of them in one bite, they were less appealing than they had been when my dad and I had initially made them.My mom cleared her throat the way she does when something important needs to be said, but she is not sure if she should say it or if my dad should. They were looking at each other making small shrugging motions. Finally, my mom said, “Cassidy, you should probably know that your sister has decided not to go back to school right now.”My fork clattered out of my hand onto my plate. “What?” I asked. I had heard some unusual things recently, I guess—maybe they weren’t tha
I’m not sure what they were talking about when I came back into the room, but their voices got all hushed. I did hear a few words, which didn’t make sense to me. I hurried upstairs to make sure it was okay with Luce if I came over for a while, wondering who Aaron had said probably went “back to Europe.”Upstairs, I sent Lucy a text. “Can I come over in a few?”She answered almost immediately. “Sure! Just about to text. And Em, too.”“Cool. My dad’s driving me, so, maybe ten minutes?”“Whenever. My mom’s shopping and my dad’s at the golf course.”For some reason, I was glad her parents wouldn’t be there. It seemed like there was something important I needed to tell her, though I didn’t know what it was. “What about Daniel?”“Are you kidding? It’s not even 10:00 yet. He’ll be asleep for another hour or two.”
“Hi, Lucy,” I said with a friendly smile. She narrowed one eye at me. “What’s up?”“Cassidy Elizabeth Findley, get in here.” She stepped out of the way and I entered into a foyer with floors made of marble and a grand staircase with ornate moldings cascaded from the second story behind my diminutive friend.Emma came bounding in from the adjoining living room, straightening her glasses. Her short brown hair was a little frizzy, and I thought about asking her if she remembered to use her conditioning spray this morning. Lucy and I have been trying to get her to understand different products we use, not because we care so much what she looks like but because we feel it is our duty as her friend to explain the purposes behind the things that we do that Emma doesn’t get or doesn’t care about. I pushed the thoughts aside and said, “Hi, Em.”Without looking at my face, she said, “Hi.”