Alice Cortez, a sixteen year old who died due to her best friend Elijah Song, murdering her. That’s what will forever be remembered in this town Westmore.
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“Alexandra, c’mon wake up.” Max said, shaking her awake. Alex blinked, and looked at Max. She sat up, her headache gone, but her fear was still there. The sun blinded her. No. The windows were open, had someone come into her room, trying to kill her? No how was that possible. She stood up, a hollow pit made up what was once her stomach. Her heart had a hole too, her mind had a cave, and her soul was a void of nothing but silence. She looked at Max, he looked at her concerned.
“You’re going to be late.” He said, looking out the window. She panicked.
“Close the window.” She said, walking to her dresser. He raised a brow but closed them. She made sure that he closed them. She looked at him, so he could leave. He left, and she got dressed. Alex sighed, and got ready. She grabbed her navy blue backpack off the floor, and placed a strap over her shoulder. She jogged to the kitchen, and grabbed a peach. Closing the door behind her, and stumbling across Andrew.
“Oh, you’re awake. Morning. Guess we’re both gonna be late, huh?” He said, his breath visible due to the cold. She nodded, and started to walk to school. They passed the cemetery. Subconsciously, Alex walked faster when she passed by the entrance. Stopping at the stop sign, so she could wait for Andrew. He picked up the pace, and they arrived at school. Everything looked darker, grayer. Lifeless. Just like her heart. Just like this case. And just like herself, in a few days. What if something happened at the memorial on Friday? No. Stop thinking about that. School was another hellhole. Everything around her was twirling, she felt as if she was in a panic room of her own. With her own demons haunting her, her own doing. Always hyperaware. Elijah’s laugh, his voice, his eyes. Always there, and Alice’s eyes, staring at her from the black poster. Lifeless.
She entered the classroom, Isabel was sitting at her desk. She looked up once Alex entered, and smiled at her. Alex smiled weakly, and went to her desk. She sighed, and looked at her.
“Morning Isa. Sleep well?” She said softly, Isabel smiled. Too cheerful for a Monday morning.
“Very much so. I have a girlfriend now, can you believe that?” She said, and Alex nodded slowly. Her knee started to jump up and down. Not a good sign. Class started, she got out her notebook, and made herself write. Her hands shake with every move of her pencil. Every letter, and word came out wobbly. Another bad sign. Shit, not now. She gripped her wrist as she wrote.
“Fuck you.” She said in her mind, cursing her hand out. As class ended she slammed her things inside her backpack.
“Andrew..” She said, as she approached him. He smiled, and closed his locker.
“Yeah?” He said softly, holding his book in hand. She sighed.
“I need your help. I’m heading to the Cortezes’ house after school. I need you there please.” Alex said, hoping he would say yes. He sighed, and shook his head.
“They won’t talk if I’m there. They hate my family, and me. I’ll stay outside, OK?” He said, with a small smile. Alex nodded, and went to her next class. The rest of the day went by slowly, why was it going so slow? No one knew. No one will ever know. No one needs to know.
Finally it finished, she was out of that fucking hellhole. But she would go somewhere, where a soul once lived. Where a happy family once lived. But now it’s just two mourning parents, and one dead teenager who haunts a town. Killed by her best friend.
But that wasn’t true. It never was, and never will. Alex walked out, the cold air hitting her like a knife. She waited for Andrew, he walked out, and for some reason she felt warmer. But it didn’t matter. He smiled, a warm smile. She smiled back, they went their way down West High street, and stopped in front of a two story red brick house. Lifeless, depressing. A house with one lost soul.
“I’ll wait here, you go ahead. Good luck Harper.” Andrew said, as Alex stepped to the front door, she took in a deep breath. Her eyes lingered on the door, when they finally reached the doorbell. She sighed, and pressed it. A loud jingle filled the air. The door opened slowly. Revealing a woman who looked an awful lot like Alice. Or maybe Alice like her? Who knows.
“Hello?” Said the woman, she looked at Alex confused. Alex didn’t even try to look at her.
“Uhm yes, I’m Alexandra Thomas.. Are you Mrs. Cortez?” She said, her eyes drifting to the inside of the house. The woman nodded slowly, as if she was trying to figure out who Alex was.
“Yes.. Yes I am, is there something you need?” She asked softly, a faint accent in her voice. Was it Puerto Rican? Who knows.
“I need to speak to you about something. It’s very important, I’d rather not talk about it out here in the open.” She couldn’t talk about it in the open incase there were prying eyes and ears. She nodded and let Alex inside. As she went inside there was this weird feeling like she was carrying weight on her shoulders, more than what she felt earlier. Was it because the stupid memorial was in two days? No. The weight on her shoulders was more than what she already had, she can’t carry more, it’ll just break her more. It’ll break her into the tiniest of pieces, more than what she already was, was it even possible? The house smelled of old cedar wood, and vanilla. Way better than what she expected, her eyes roamed the empty hallway landing on a family picture, Alices’ eyes staring back at her. But in Alex’s eyes they were dead, lifeless, something almost a memory. Someone almost forgotten… Alice stared back at her, a memory in this town. Another picture of Alice beside Elijah, most likely from homecoming. Her eyes shining brightly, along with her silver dress, and Elijah’s arm around her. Their smiles fill a little of the gap inside Alex’s heart, and soul. She almost felt full again, but that feeling disappeared when she saw something else, a picture taken the night before everything happened.. A night she clearly remembered. Probably a picture of her parents' anniversary. But she looked so happy. She didn’t look broken, or sad. Nothing like what Alex looked right now. But maybe, soon she would find out that Alice wasn’t that happy, or that cheerful. Maybe behind that happy mask was a broken teenage girl, just like her.
“Is everything alright dear?” Alice’s mother said, breaking the silence. Alex turned around and put on that fake smile.
“Yes everything is alright.. Uh where can I sit?” She asked, Alice’s mother gestured for the living room. Alex went to the living room, more pictures. Memories of a girl who got killed. And a boy who killed. But that wasn’t right. The Christmas tree was already up, but for Alex it looked gray. Lifeless, no joy there. No joy anywhere. Her feet slowly led her to the couch, where she sat down without even noticing. Alice’s mother sat down on the seat opposite from Alex.
“So what is so important that you need to come to my home?” She said Alex looked up, her leg bounced up, and down. Her palms began to sweat, this wasn’t right. She took a deep breath in, and spoke.
“It’s about eight years ago. Your daughter was allegedly killed by her best friend. I’m researching it, and I needed to speak to you. Do you perhaps know if Alice acted up around this time? Like she would have a short temper, or would she argue with Elijah, or something that would lead to her death?” Even saying his name, and what supposedly happened made her heart drop, and break all over again. Her mother shook her head.
“Not that I remember, no. Though she did have a minor argument with him a week before. She was arguing with him on the phone, about something. A secret? I don’t remember, but I think her phone still works. Her phone was weird. It would record every call. So yeah, I need to see if we still have the charger for it. Or if you want to, you can go to her room, it’s upstairs to the right, at the end of the hallway.” Alex immediately stood up, and headed for the stairs. She skipped up the stairs and to Alice’s room. Even the door looked lifeless. As she opened the door, her hand trembled as she reached the doorknob.
“Here I go.” She opened the door slowly, and peeked her head slightly. The room itself was lifeless, and gray. She stepped inside, and looked around. Everything was normal, the desk on one side, the bed on the other. Posters on the wall, pictures. And a picture of them. Alice, and Elijah. The same photo downstairs, only difference was that in this one, they were looking at each other. Their were full of affection. Wait but, no one ever mentioned them being together or liking each other. Unless they were dating in secret.
“Shit shit shit.” Alex cursed under her breath, and took out her phone, and took a picture of it. She started to search through the desk drawers, she reached a pile of notes. Elijah’s hand writing!
“Fuck.. Oh my gosh!.. Shit.” She said to herself, as she read the first note.
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Meet me by the park today.. And bring what you said you would bring. Love you.
-E.S.
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You did great today, by the way…Wanna go to homecoming with me? I already have our theme planned out. Love you to bits.
-E.S.
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We need to keep this a secret… Our parents don’t like us being together, but who cares. Also the park at 9 I better see you there. Love you, sweetheart.
-E.S.
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This wasn’t happening, Elijah and Alice were actually dating. In secret, and now she knew. She had to tell Andrew. She took the notes in her hand and stuffed them into her pocket. She was about to close the drawer, when her eyes reached a small journal that had the initials ‘A.C’ on it.
Before she knew it her hand had already picked it up, and she was sitting on Alice’s bed. She began to read. The pages were mostly about school, and Elijah. A sketch of him was on one of the pages. As she flipped through the pages, she realized how much Alice loved Elijah. Some pages were filled with his handwriting. These words weren’t from a killer, just a boyfriend. Nothing about these pages proved him a killer. Just a guy who loved, or maybe adored his girlfriend.
“I need to keep this with me. And- wait what is that?” Alex said, as her eyes drifted to a small container under the desk. She crouched down and reached for it. Small rappers were crumpled. And white powder rested at the bottom. As she reached for a rapper, her eyes widened. Fentanyl packets. And a small knife too. She took a picture of it.
“Everything alright up there?” Called Alice’s mother, Alex hurried and hid the container in the closet. And put the diary, and notes into her bag. She looked around one more time, trying to find something else. The yearbook, yes that’s it. She grabbed it, and tripped on a small box. She also picked it up, and ran out the room.
“Yes, I’m alright. I’m totally fine.” She said, and closed the door, but before she could her eyes landed on a phone. And a charger most likely for the phone, she took that, and stuffed it in her pocket. She closed the door, and went down stairs. Her eyes locked with Alice’s mom. She smiled nervously, and walked past her.
“That’s all I needed, thank you. Have a nice night ma’am.” Alex waved, and walked out the front door. She took a deep breath as she walked out, Andrew paced back and forth on the sidewalk, and looked up as Alex walked out.
“How’d it go? Did the one and only Harper save the day?” He said, ruffling her hair. She groaned, but a slight smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She shook her head.
“Nope, but I stole.. Or maybe I borrowed some things, y'know?” She said, and started walking down the sidewalk. Andrew chuckled, and walked behind her. His eyes scanned her, slowly ranking over her. But he shook off the feeling.
“Andrew.. I know you’re staring at me.. I know I’m pretty but calm down.” She said jokingly. Andrew chuckled nervously.
“I’m not staring at you. Why would I be staring at..you.” He said, looking away. Alex rolled her eyes, and stopped in her tracks. She looked at Andrew, who was now standing right in front of her. His dark eyes met with her green eyes. The soft glow of the sunset, the night breeze. Tension filled the air. Good tension. Perfect tension. Andrew stepped closer.
“Alex, how would you react if I did something no best friend does to their best friend?” He asked, placing a hand on her waist. Her breath hitched, and she blinked. Swallow, blink.
“I don’t know. Depends on what you will do.” She said, her hand subconsciously going behind his neck. He smiled softly.
“Well, can I kiss you?” He whispered. Before she could even speak, the gap between them closed, as he pressed his lips against hers. It was tender, and sweet. But the undertone of the kiss was more than what they’d expect. They stood there, as their lips moved against each other slowly. Before he finally pulled away. He smiled at Alex, as she opened her eyes slowly. She blinked a couple of times. The air around them seemed to feel brighter, Alex could see a bit of light now, but she was still seeing gray.
“I love you.. More than you know, Harper.” He said softly, she smiled warmly at him.
“I love you too.” She replied. And that was what they both needed to hear after so long. But there was still a gap in Alex’s heart, one that not even Andrew would be able to fill. And the thing is, she’ll love him more than he’ll ever know. And he’ll love her, more than he’ll ever show. Andrew took her hand in his, and intertwined their fingers as they started walking along the sidewalk. But something didn’t feel right, at least not to Alex. Prying eyes, they were on her. Someone was watching her from the shadows. Maybe from the trees? The bushes? Or someone was following her. To kill her. To have her blood. Prying eyes waiting for the perfect time to hunt. Andrew smiled, as they arrived at his house.
“Well I gotta go so… See you tomorrow, or I’ll text you tonight. Love you.” He said, as he walked to the door, and waved. Alex started walking down the sidewalk to her house, the October air feeling heavier than usual, she knew where she was going. Home. But her feet said otherwise, without knowing Alex arrived at the cemetery, how did she end up here? She basically walked three streets. This wasn’t good, none of this was good. She walked through the gate, and into the dark place where dead souls play. The devil’s playground. Or at least that’s what her mom called it. A faint glow came from the very far end of the cemetery, Alex narrowed her eyes, and started walking towards it. That sensation on her shoulders came back, as if she was holding the weight of the whole world on them. She got closer to the light, tripping four times on nothing but air.
As soon as she arrived, her eyes landed on an abandoned warehouse. A warehouse in the middle of a cemetery was weird.. Weirder than Westmore itself, weirder than this whole case. Alex’s fingers reached up as they grazed across the rusted metal, the air got colder. She stepped inside nearly screaming when a roach crawled over her shoe and to the other side of the grass, basically giving her the ick. She shook off the feeling and wandered deeper inside, machines and tools left on the floor, and faint murmurs.
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“You really think it’s safe out here?” A faint male voice said from somewhere above.
“Calm down, we’ll be fine…” A soft female voice said. Was it the angel and devil on her shoulder? Wait, that's stupid. Was it a sign from her grandpa, and grandma? Wait, that's even dumber, she looked around, and remembered what her dad had taught her when she was little. She grabbed a stick, and placed a bit of dirt on it, with dry grass. She took a deep breath in, and grazed the stick along the metal, after three times it finally caught fire. Yes, light. She turned around, and almost fell to the ground when she saw people behind her.
“Alexandra?” Said the male voice. Alex tilted her head, and narrowed her eyes. He stepped closer, and her heart nearly shattered. Elijah stood in front of her. The Elijah Song, the same warm eyes, same smile. Everything was the same. He smiled.
“Elijah… Is that you?” She asked, he smiled again. And stepped into the faint light. The same teenager who allegedly killed and died nearly nine years ago was here, in front of her. The same guy she had missed dearly, the one she was trying to prove guilty was here. Somehow, some way the world got brighter like it used to be. It was normal now, happy, bright, peaceful. No more gray for her. But something still felt off.
“What the hell are you doing here? How are you here? Since when-” Her mind started to flood with questions, questions he might be able to answer right here, right now. Questions that she might have never been able to have an answer to.
“Look, Alex… It’s a long, really long story. But you’re being watched and-” Suddenly Alice came behind him.
“And you’re not safe here, you have to hurry before they catch you. Please go.” She said firmly, but Alex wouldn’t budge not until they explained it.
“Who’s they? And well duh I know someone was chasing me, I received notes and shit. But well, I’m not leaving until I have answers.” She couldn’t leave. This was her only chance to find out what actually happened.She was not leaving until she had answers, never again was she letting them go. She wasn’t going to let Elijah go, she wasn’t about to let Alice go either.
“Fine, but make your questions quick. Hurry.” Elijah said, while he sat down on a crate, and Alice just stood beside him.
“My only question is how the hell are y’all alive I thought you two died…” She sniffed, Elijah sighed, and leaned forward resting his elbows on his thighs.
“Look long story short. Me and Alice never actually died, we just… Faked it. After the police found us, they left us there. Those graves in the cemetery are empty. They don’t have bodies, we’re alive. We just needed time away from Westmore, from everybody.” He paused, taking in air for a second. “Me and Alice were in a tough situation between secrets, and truths. We didn’t know what to do and- And well we faked that we were dead.” He started to fidget with his hands. For eight years they had faked that they were dead, gone, vanished. And they’re alive, actually alive. Maybe it was all just a fever dream, maybe this was a test. A test that her mind was putting up.
“I gave you those notes to try and scare you off.. That person you saw that night at the cemetery was me, actually me. Just pretending to be different. But please.. They’ll find us, find you.. Find me. They can’t find me.” Alice said, while pacing around. What was she talking about?
“Wait, what do you mean… Who the hell are they?” Alex asked again. Alice stopped, and looked at Elijah, and back at Alex.
“Your family. Has… Dark secrets, Alex. Extremely dark secrets. They’ve been lying beneath you all this time.” Elijah chimed in, and took in a deep breath. “Remember when my mom mentioned one time when you were like, six. When she mentioned the ‘Diallo’ family? And your mom got really worked up. Well you’re part of the Diallo family. But your last name is your dad’s last name, because the Diallos’ never wanted you. And then, well Alice had an affair with one of the family members and they find out. That was before we got together. And now they’re after you, and Alice.” He said, looking between Alex, and Alice. Alex blinked, processing what she had just heard. She couldn't believe it, all of this has something to do with her own family. It had been right in front of her since the beginning. This was too much information for her. She can’t take this not now.
“Elijah you’re scaring her..” Alice whispered to Elijah. He sighed. Alex stood up, and started pacing around. She still couldn’t believe it, she was done for. Everything she knew so far was pointless. Alice, and Elijah were alive… Now she needed to find out the secrets, and lies of her family. And she needed Alice, and Elijah for that.
“Alex-” Elijah tried to talk, but she cut him off.
“I need to find them. Where can I find them?” She asked, the worry in her eyes, mixed with anger and confusion was noticeable.
“They’re in Belgium, and there’s no way in hell you can find them…” He said, standing up. Alex looked up. Belgium? She can’t go to Belgium, Elijah was right there’s no way in hell she can find them. But she wasn’t giving up, not yet. There’s still more clues, more gray areas in her story… The story of these two supposed dead teenagers, and of a family that are liars. An idea popped into Alex’s head, a smile crept onto her face.
“Trust me, you do not want to go there… You’ll get killed nonetheless.” Elijah said, his tone was increasing.
“Fine… Just know, I’ll get to the bottom of this. One way or another I always do..”
Everything fell silent, now all that was left was for her to uncover one more truth, just one more for all of this to end. She’ll do it, one way or another she always does…
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