“What was that, Lena? Were they bullying you? Do you need to go to the principal and talk to them? I’ll back you up, I swear.”
“No, Mabel,” I reply, “I don’t need to go to the office. Everything’s fine, they were just inviting me to go hang out with them."
“And?” she inquired.
“I turned them down. I don’t need a repeat of last night. I’m the coward of the school now. Everywhere I go, someone’s talking about it even if they don’t know who I am. I feel so embarrassed. It’d be best if I just kept my head down until it all blows over. So from here till the day I die, sounds about right. I’ll be keeping my head down until after graduation.”
“Don’t say that” she nudged. “I’m sure this will all blow over in no time. In any case, be careful walking home.”
“Why do you say that?” I ask, skeptically.
“You haven’t heard. There have been several kidnappings in the past few months. So far, three have been taken without so much as a clue as to what happened to them or their last known location.” Our steady pace had come to a screeching halt as my heart began to pound again. Each beat threatening to make my heart jump from its boney cage.
“Is there any connection?” I ask as Mabel hands me her phone.
“Only that each person was a female in their early twenties and each was kidnapped on the thirteen of the month.” The article she showed me turned my blood to ice. The picture on screen matched the three women I found locked in the