I’m so sick to my stomach right now I don’t even know how to type this, or where to start.
Okay, after we got the second note yesterday, s**t hit the fan.
Carrie immediately called Kyle’s school and told the principal about both notes and how the second one threatened Kyle’s friends. She immediately sent out an email to the school listserv with the details, letting parents know the school was probably the safest place to be but they were welcome to pick up their kids if they wanted to. All of the classes are pretty small, so each teacher was also instructed to call their students’ parents personally. We got the email about fifteen minutes later and decided to leave Kyle at school, at least for now. Our security system was installed yesterday, but the school still feels safer at this point.
It also gives Kyle some kind of normalcy. I talked to him yesterday about what was happening and he seems to grasp how serious it is. The first thing he said was I’m sorry and started crying, like this was somehow his fault.
I know just how you feel, buddy.
Kyle feels guilty for giving us the note and we feel guilty for somehow setting off this psychopath. I guess that’s what this person wanted, though. Well, he succeeded. Pretty f****d up.
I called my boss and was given yesterday and today off work. I tested out the security system and made sure all the windows and doors were secure. I also called as many neighbors as possible to let them know what was going on. It’s weird having to tell your across-the-street neighbor, who’s nearing 90, there may be a serial killer/p*******e on the loose and to keep her doors and windows locked. She couldn’t hear me very well, but I hope she got the picture. Same deal with the woman a couple doors down who has two kids in middle school herself. I saw her as she was out walking her dog and when I told her, she freaked out right there on the spot and pulled out her cell phone and just started dialing her husband.
Then I get the call from Detective Carr. They’d gotten the search warrant and executed it on 3 Orange Circle. Remember, this house is one street over, less than a quarter mile from our house. If I had stood on my roof I could have possibly watched them go in.
I let out a large sigh of relief when he said no one was living there. It was good to know this person wasn’t hunkered down in our neighborhood watching us.
The detective did find some evidence, although he refused to tell me what it was. He said it could compromise the case. This leads me to believe that the house was used for something. Maybe he took his victims there? There was a basement, too, with a thin concrete floor which looked newer than it should, he said. He believes if the suspect did use the house, Suzanne Kerrington might be buried in the basement. They’re gonna dig it up, starting tomorrow or the next day.
Oh, also, Detective Carr found Suzanne’s missing persons file. There’s not much there, but the detective that worked the case still lives here. He’s retired, but he’s alive. Detective Carr wants to find out if there’s anything he saw or heard back in ’95 that could help—something he may not have included in the file, because he didn’t think it was important. Right now, it’s the only lead they have.
Okay. I’ve been putting this off, but I have to tell everything. My hands are shaking as I type this.
I woke up this morning and went to get the paper immediately, hoping there’d be an article addressing this psychopath. At least then I could rest a little easier knowing most people in town would be prepared.
Instead, I read this:
Police on the hunt for child’s kidnapper
Oh God. Everything suddenly became real. I think somewhere deep down I hoped this person was just some deranged individual who wouldn’t really act out his threats, but when I read the headline that all came crashing down. I skimmed through until I found the boy’s name. He wasn’t a close friend of Kyle’s, but I’d heard his name before. His parents pulled him out of school yesterday after the email went out! Jesus, how terrible they must feel. I hurt so badly for them right now, and I don’t even want to talk about Carrie. Even though it’s not our son that was taken, this is our worst nightmare. No one deserves this.
Of course, there was another note, sent to the paper this time, so the entire town could read it. (Since then, I’ve heard the police chief is furious at them for printing what basically amounts to a piece of evidence. The editor of our paper would never miss a chance like this, but it may cost him his job).
They’d redacted the names, but I knew they were ours. And so would everyone else. In a small town like this, everyone knows.
XXXX and XXXXX,
Greetings,
I see you (you don’t see me)
and now all the others do too.
The masks on your faces
are broken in places
and the darkness is now shining through.
What darkness, you say?
(Oh XXXXX, you know).
The past is a fickle old hag.
She sneaks up in silence
and dishes out violence,
wipes the knife on her sleeve like a brag.
You couldn’t just follow instructions?
You pushed me to do this you know.
And now it’s your fault
as I open the vault
and let all of your dark secrets go.
But first (ha ha ha!)
I’ve got a new toy.
And new things always make me grin.
I’ll wind him up tight
when today turns to night
and that’s when the fun will begin.
Unless
(yes, unless, like the Onceler once said)
you’d rather me not have my fun.
I’d consider returning
young Andrew, who’s yearning
to break free from his chains and to run.
But first, it’s TRUTH time!
(XXXXX, ten years ago?)
And I think you know just where I’m going.
Remember your a*s,
pressed right up to the glass,
and the man in the car you were blowing?
I just sat there, shocked. I called Carrie immediately, shaking, and asked her what in God’s name he could be talking about. Had she ever cheated on me? She denied everything, of course. She’s at work today, but I’m going to have a talk with her when she gets home. I wonder if there’s something she isn’t telling me, or if this lunatic is just making s**t it up to hurt us.
Either way, I’m hoping Detective Carr can get in touch with that old detective today. He may be Andrew’s only hope