Silence by Rebekah Shimer (summer books TXT) 📕

I thought about why he would have marks on his neck, beings how he didn’t have any cats or pets to scratch him. I looked out of the window and saw Lake Titan in the distance. It was obviously a windy day outside, what with the water as choppy as it was. I looked at the tops of the houses and saw one that I had recognized as the top of Bruce’s house. In that moment, it was almost as if my mind was figuring out a tangible puzzle. I could almost feel the pieces being put together and I finally saw the final picture.

Bruce had killed Delilah, Emily, and Logan. I didn’t get why he would’ve killed Emily, beings how they were dating, but I decided to let that fact go. I needed to talk to Audrey sometime before Bruce got to her. I knew that he was just lying about Audrey and him. She would’ve never have done that with him. She wouldn’t have. The feeling in my gut reminded me that she would have never done that. The bell rang and I tried to walk calmly out of class. I walked by Audrey’s locker and sighed out of relief when I saw that she was there. I walked up to her and leaned against one of the lockers next to hers.

She smiled when she saw me and said, “Hey you.”

I tried to smile, but I knew that she saw that I was freaking out.

She asked me, “What’s wrong?”

“I need you to go to your house right after school. No going anywhere else and when you get there, lock your door and don’t let anyone else in. I’m going to go to my house right after school and get some things that I’ll need to stay over okay? I’ll sleep on the couch just please lock your door when you get home. Right away. Don’t let anyone in.”

I could see that I had scared her, but she asked me, “Why?”

“I’ll tell you when you get there okay? I don’t want you freaking out the rest of the day. Just please promise me. Lock all of your doors and close all of your windows. Make it so no one can get in from anywhere okay?”

She nodded and the warning bell rang.

I said, “I’ll see you after school okay?”

She nodded and walked down the hallway to her next class. I let a deep breath out and slowly walked to my next class as well. At least she was going to be safe. She knew to listen to me when I was really freaked out. I didn’t have any doubt that she was going to do what I told her, but I just had to make my trip to my house a flying one. The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of worry and anxiety, but I made it out to my car without having a mental breakdown. Thankfully, my car was parked near the exit, so I didn’t have to beat the large crowd out of the small opening to get onto the road. I sped out of the parking lot and drove the way over to my house in record time.

I didn’t even bother to shut my car off as I sprinted into my house and up the stairs to my room. I opened the door and ran over to my closet. I pulled out a small night bag and started to fill it with random things that I would’ve needed, which included just a pair of jeans, a few shirts, and some shorts. I shut the bag and ran downstairs. I ran back out to my car and peeled out of the driveway. When I got to Audrey’s house, her car was already in the driveway. I pulled up to her house and shut my car off. I ran up to her front steps and knocked on the door.

It was quiet for a few seconds before I yelled, “Audrey! Audrey it’s me. Edwyn!”

The door swung open and Audrey pulled me inside quickly. She shut the door behind me and looked at me as I set my bag down in the foyer.

She told me, “You better tell me what’s going on or so help me-“

I interrupted her, “I know who the killer is.”

She was quiet for a moment, “Who?”

“Bruce. Him and me had a fight today and he practically told me that he had killed them.”

“Why would he tell you that?”

“Well he didn’t I actually just wanted to talk to him about the way he was looking at you, but after that the conversation wandered and I put the pieces together.”

“Looking at me? How was Bruce looking at me?”

“Did you not notice?”

She shook her head, so I explained, “You were walking in the hallway and Bruce was looking at you funny. I didn’t like it, so I took him outside and tried to talk to him about it.”

She asked me, “Are you completely sure about this Edwyn? This is a huge accusation and could get you in a lot of trouble if you’re wrong.”

“I know I’m not wrong. I have a gut feeling about this one Audrey. Please. Trust me.”

She crossed her arms and thought about it for a minute, “Whatever you say, I’m going to believe. I know that it’s serious when you really think that it’s true, so I believe you on this one.”

I nodded my head and said, “Good. Did you do everything I told you to do? All the windows and doors are locked?”

She nodded and said, “I double checked all of them.”

I nodded again and we both walked into the living room. I set my bag down by the end of the couch and she turned the TV on. I sat down next to her, but halfway through the movie that we were watching, she leaned her head down on my shoulder and scooted a little closer to me. She gently grabbed my hand and started to lightly trace where the lines were on my hand. After a few minutes of this, she grabbed a pillow and put it on my lap. She laid her head down on the pillow and I started to faintly rub her back. She smiled when I did that, which led me to believe that she liked having her back rubbed. When the movie was over and the credits rolled onto the screen, she didn’t make any move to change the channel.

I looked down at her and realized that she had fallen asleep. She faintly smiled when she slept, which made me not want to move her at all and risk waking her up, but I knew that she would be mad if I fell asleep with her in my lap. I picked her up in my arms and carefully rested her against my chest. She snuggled down deeper in my arms and I smiled as I carried her to her room. As I set her down on her bed, she woke up slightly.

She asked me sleepily, “Is the movie over?”

I nodded and said, “Yeah. It’s okay though. I was about to fall asleep myself. Goodnight Audrey.”

“Goodnight Edwyn.”

I brought the covers up to her chin and kissed her forehead. She smiled as I tucked her in and almost giggled when I wouldn’t stop kissing her forehead. I smiled down at her and walked out of her room. I noticed that she had set out some sheets for me on one of the tables that was near the couch, so I figured that they were for me. I put the sheets on the couch and grabbed a blanket from one of the other couches. I put my bag on the couch and looked through it to see what I had actually grabbed. I finally found a pair of shorts and a shirt that would somewhat match and grabbed them out of my bag. I walked into the bathroom and changed into the ‘pajamas’ that I had brought. I walked back out into the living room and threw my day clothes on the floor by my bag.

I laid down on the couch and concluded that it was definitely the most luxurious couch that I had ever slept on. Audrey’s family had always been one of the wealthier families in this town, but she didn’t flaunt it like everyone else that had money. I liked that about her. She didn’t depend on her money in life. She was independent, which made me like her in the first place. I sighed heavily, but I knew that I wouldn’t really be getting any sleep. I wouldn’t want to miss the signs of anything happening to Audrey while I was asleep. What if Bruce came during the night while I was asleep and took Audrey from me without me even realizing it? I wouldn’t even be able to live with myself if I knew that I could’ve prevented something from happening to Audrey while she was in my care.

I sighed heavily again and got ready for a long night.

Audrey

This day had just gotten worse and worse from lunch since most of the classes that I had assigned either homework or we had tests. It was just getting to be a hard day for me. I saw Edwyn walking down the hallway towards me, which made my smile.

I said to him when he made it over to me, “Hey you.”

He smiled, but I could tell that something had gone horribly wrong for him.

I asked him, “What’s wrong?”

“I need you to go to your house right after school. No going anywhere else and when you get there, lock your door and don’t let anyone else in. I’m going to go to my house right after school and get some things that I’ll need to stay over okay? I’ll sleep on the couch just please lock your door when you get home. Right away. Don’t let anyone in.”

What was wrong with him? I knew that something had happened to make him freak out that bad, but I couldn’t really think of anything that had him spooked.

I asked him shakily, “Why?”

“I’ll tell you when you get there okay? I don’t want you freaking out the rest of the day. Just please promise me. Lock all of your doors and close all of your windows. Make it so no one can get in from anywhere okay?”

I nodded as the bell rang for the next class. I really didn’t want to leave, but I knew that my next teacher wouldn’t forgive me if I was late.

He asked me gently, “I’ll see you after school okay?”

I nodded and he walked off to his next class. I walked to my class hurriedly, knowing that my teacher wasn’t going to accept tardiness. The rest of the school day, I was plagued with the thought of what had made Edwyn so jumpy and freaked out. Maybe something had happened in his family, but why would he make me lock all of my doors and windows if it was something with his family? After the final bell rang for school, I hurried out to my car and looked for Edwyn. I saw the back of his car speed out of the parking lot, but I knew