“Oh please, the only thing he can assault is a burger and fries,” April said, face flushed red.
The women said their goodbyes and headed outside, leaving Gallagher to head back to the bar. April pulled out her phone to text Sean, but then spied him running across the street to the lawn, never taking his eyes off them as he moved.
“He really is a good lad,” Kayleigh said, nodding in Sean’s direction.
Taking Kayleigh’s arm in her, April waved across the street to her boyfriend. “He is that.”
They quickly filled Sean in on the details of the meal, laughing when he looked disappointed at not being called into action. They strolled across the lawn and were surprised to see a large group gathered by the bandstand. A young man played guitar and sang a melancholy tune, while the rest of the group held candles in the air and swayed together as though nudged by a gentle breeze.
“What’s going on here? Kayleigh asked.
“No idea,” April said, moving toward the crowd.
Someone at the back of the group saw them coming and broke away from the crowd.
“Hey, guys, are you here for the candlelight vigil?” he asked, holding out a sheet of paper.
“Um, no. We just ate dinner at Nico’s,” Kayleigh said.
“Nice. You are more than welcome to join us. I’m sure you heard about one of our townsfolk going missing. She is about your age. You might even know her.”
“Who?” April asked.
The young man handed over the paper, which showed a photo of a dark-haired girl smiling for the camera. “Jenna Carlson. She’s been missing for about a week now. Do you know her?”
The world began to spin, causing Kayleigh’s knees to buckle. Sean and the young man caught her before she fell, leading her to a bench by the bandstand.
“So, do you know her?”
“No, but I know someone that does.”
Chapter Ten
Day 7
Kayleigh shooed her helper away, assuring him that she was fine and that she had drunk too much at dinner. When he pressed her about knowing the missing girl, she waved him off and said that her name sounded familiar, but that was all. When he finally left and returned to the vigil, Kayleigh held the paper as close to her face as possible and tried to match the features of Jenna Carlson to those of the girl in the basement. Without something to compare it to, it was impossible. “Where’s my phone?”
“Here you go, Kaylz,” April said, handing it over.
Snatching it out of her friend’s hand, Kayleigh opened her browser and typed in the website address for the game. She screamed in frustration when the screen came up with the flashing cursor.
“Dammit. You shouldn’t have opened that site. God knows what it’ll do to your phone,” Sean grouched.
“You can fix it for me, right? It’s just one more day of this nonsense.”
Sean pulled the vape pen out of his pocket and took a hit before passing it to Kayleigh. “I can fix it. Take a honk on that. It should straighten you out.”
Pausing in mid-puff, Kayleigh choked out a cloud of vapor. She banged her fist against her chest, trying to get the coughing fit to pass. “The video feed isn’t up. That means that the next clue has been delivered.”
The trio sprinted in the direction of the car park, Kayleigh fumbling for her keys all the way. Realizing that she probably shouldn’t be driving, Kayleigh stayed within the speed limit while her friends urged her to go faster. The desire to hammer down on the gas pedal was strong but keeping her license and getting everyone home safe was more of a priority.
As soon as the headlights of the Kia Soul landed on the front door, they could all see the envelope propped up on the stoop. Bundling out of the car, April was first to the envelope, which she tucked under her arm as she pushed the key into the lock.
As the door swung open, Kayleigh snatched the envelope from under April’s arm and tore it open, refusing to try and deal with the red string. Turning on the overhead light in the kitchen, she placed the paper on the countertop and began to read.
Congratulations on making it to the final day.
Now, before I begin, I should let you know that this is all about the previous letter.
miss baRnes, i Hope you enjoyed my talking about vampires before
i do WondEr if those are your favorite horror creatures or if you have
aNother that you prefer more
To me, they are all Quite wonderful in their own Right
Have you ever Wondered how these mythS and leGends came to be
Quite the story i woulD imagine
but now we are at the enD of our story
Type in the 4-digit code to continue the game, and then wait for my instructions.
“It’s just like before,” April said excitedly. “The capital letters spell out the numbers.”
“Not that simple, Apes. Look at those letters. There is only one vowel I see. Unless they are using some foreign language, that’s not it.”
Unblinking, Sean stared at the page, his eyes barely moving as he scanned the words.
“Get me a pen and paper,” he said, snapping his fingers.
“Sir, yes sir, Captain Codebreaker,” Kayleigh said sarcastically. She slid the envelope in front of him and found a pen in the junk drawer. “Care to elaborate on what you see?”
“Sean scribbled the tip of the pen on the envelope until the ink finally dispensed. “Yes. I told you both that I did some studying of common codes. This one is, if I’m right, one of the more basic ones.”
“Spill it,” April said, moving in to cozy up to her man.
“Well, at the start of the message, all the capitalizations are as they should be. It’s the mention of the previous letter that is the clue. If you look at the alphabet and use the letters after the ones that are capitalized in the message, I think we might get the code.”
They watched as Sean went through the message and wrote down the corresponding letter for each, finally spelling out four distinct numbers. “Yup, I think that was it.” Breaking up the scribbled letters into four different groups, he then wrote 6-4-6-3 below them.
“Amazing,” Kayleigh said, applauding and shaking her head.
“How did you...?” April gasped.
“I told you, I’ve been studying.”
“You, sir, have the honors,” Kayleigh said, opening her laptop and sliding it across the counter.
With a massive grin on his face, Sean opened the website, typed in the final code, and punched the air as the video feed opened. The robed man stood in the middle of the floor, the sound of his slow handclap echoing around the basement.
“Congratulations on completing the final clue, or should I say, second to final clue. Master Falyn is of the belief that he was, perhaps, a shade too lenient before. There will be one more to come, which I will deliver to you here at nine a.m. sharp tomorrow morning. I suggest you try to get some rest. I shall be patiently awaiting your arrival. Until then, there is nothing here to see.” The robed man turned with a flourish, and the screen turned to black.
Kayleigh reached over and slammed the laptop closed. “One more clue? That’s bullshit.”
“I suppose it’s only fair. I mean, they did give us a freebie this week,” Sean said.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Always ours, Kayleigh. Always ours. Look, I think we could all use some sleep. Let’s call it a night and get back at it tomorrow.”