Dying to Breathe

p r o l o g u e : impeccable timing

Impeccable timing 

It all started with a note

A crinkled up, hidden in plain sight, abandoned slip of paper that sat atop dusty school yearbooks that had been collected over the years. It was folded neatly in half with bubble letters that read 'read me'.

As far as notes go, it was cryptic and left an endless number of possibilities, but Penelope had expected as much from her sister. The thought to turn it over to the authorities briefly crossed her mind, however, the note spoke to her like a whisper—Millie's hushed voice telling her to share the secret with no one.

So, she read it over again. And again. And again. She read it until the words were burned onto the insides of her eyelids, becoming a constant nag to finish whatever it was that Millie had started. She read it until she could recite the words purely from memory:

'I wonder if you can catch up to me, L. You're the only one who can figure me out. So, I'm leaving the rest of our story up to you, ok? We're not dead yet, so don't disappoint me.'

She stared day after day at the letter until the words swirled in her head into alphabet soup and they lost all meaning. And just as she began to grow weary and restless of her sister's cold case in the back files of the police station, her cellphone rang.

"Is this Penelope Jones?" The voice on the other end of the line spoke.

"This is her," Penelope responded—her mind adrift on thoughts of Millie's worrisome, troublesome scheming.

"Wonderful! We've been trying to touch base with the number you gave us, however, there's been no response since our last conversation. We contacted your school, and they gave us this number instead," The voice explained, exhaling with relief. "We just wanted to reach out again to make sure you were still planning on joining us this fall?"

Penelope blinked back to reality with confusion, unsure of what the stranger was speaking about.

"Oh, I apologize, this is Charleston-Abbot Academy calling. We still have your room on hold. Classes start on the nineth, but you're welcome to join us whenever you're available, Miss Jones."

Penelope's heart jumped against her ribs, remembering the last time she had heard about the Academy—the memory of Millie's excitement clear in her head. A sickening hope speared her chest as she scrambled to respond appropriately, "Yes. Yes, I'll be there." She laughed breathlessly as the call ended after a few more details were exchanged.

As always—Penelope thought—Millie's timing was impeccable. Millie had a way with life that Penelope was always envious of. She could take control of any situation like she had some special master key that gave her access to anything she ever wanted. That was why, even after the police gave their thoughts on what happened, Penelope always felt a tug of surety that her sister was still out there—that, no matter what had happened to her, it was all in Millie's control.

Holding the note firmly in her hands, her sister's plan become bit by bit more evident. She released the breath she wasn't aware she had been holding, feeling the oxygen fill her lungs finally.

Her sister was okay.

Millie was alive and she was leading Penelope right to her. All she had to do was follow the trail.