Page 441

Taking a deep breath, I sat down and decided to add a few tabs before the time I had left forced me to face my thoughts.

I skimmed through the Blairville Daily's news reports, but there was nothing new except a lot of speculation about the police chief's murder, articles about The Eye, a list of the missing girls, a breaking news report about a fishing boat belonging to a fisherman reported missing, which had washed ashore without its crew, and old pictures from the winter ball, including a sidebar with pictures of Julie that had even made me stare.

She had her hand on her stomach, which – it should be noted – showed a slight bump, and stared with an iron gaze across the crowded ballroom at an old woman with a shocked expression.

And then there were the ones of her walking down the stairs or her yearbook photo, under which people speculated about who the father of her child might be and whether this would have become a potential scandal for the mayor if the great misfortune that had befallen the police chief had not occurred.

Julie had always been Grace's quiet friend, who had never exchanged a word with me or anyone else. I never would have expected her to wear a dress like that, let alone have a boyfriend.

Hopefully that was the case, hopefully he was someone who wouldn't leave her alone with the child, even though that shouldn't be a problem for a Blair. I was sure she had a loving family who would be there for her when she needed them.

i can’t breathe

Bea Miller

It throbbed quietly in my chest. Much too muffled, yet loud enough to remind me that I had had it all. A boyfriend, friends, a loving family. A picture-perfect family.

That's what the mayor had said to me when she had expressed her condolences at the funeral.

I still wondered why my picture-perfect family had never noticed that the thinnest, most fragile page of their picture book had slowly but surely come loose. All that had once been perfect in this family was now gone. All that remained was a crumpled, ink-stained page.

After clicking further, I landed on the Vanderwood website.

Request Withdrawal.

I stared at the button. My fingertips tingled and became wet.

One click and I would leave my old life behind.

Why was I still hesitating? I didn't know.

My ex-boyfriend had dumped me, my old friends hated me for the mistakes of my past, Mia no longer contacted me, and my family was six feet under.

But by now, I no longer felt any pain. Not during the day, not as long as I didn't disappear under Ezra's blanket – which was gradually losing his scent – or look at the pictures of us on my mirror.

A few days ago, Larissa had dragged me to the Registrar’s Office out of nowhere and persuaded me to start cheerleading practice again. I hadn't really had the strength to say no, had secretly slipped away when she hadn't been paying attention, because I didn't want to be an unnecessary burden to her.

It was the same with Bayla, who had tried countless times to talk to me. I didn't want to burden anyone anymore. Never again.

We Got Your Wife…

Carlos Rafael Rivera

A cold draft swept through the room and the window next to the desk flew open with a clatter. A few of the newspaper articles on the wall tore at the pins, came loose, and sailed to the floor.

Sighing, I jumped up to close the window and reattach the articles.

This pin wall had never been planned. But neither had finding the contradictory report in the police file on Ezra's case. And then these pictures...

I stared at the photos I had found in the Bardots' house when I had been looking for Mia.

At first, these pictures had disturbed me. Now I felt nothing at all.

A bite. Bloody, but far too small for a wild wolf, which the police said it came from.

I had compared them. All of them. Bites from every possible wild animal that existed in these forests of British Columbia. Bears, wolves...

It hadn't made sense, so I had gone to the library and searched for similar cases in Blairville and the surrounding area.