losing sleep » h.s.

twenty eight

I stood alone in the pile of mess that were papers and notes scattered over my bedroom floor. It was Sunday morning, and for the first time in a very long time, I was not spending it hungover. Since waking up, I had frantically gone through all my notes and investigating related to the notebook without any luck. Things felt like it had hit a wall. All the clues were a dead end. And if I was totally honest with myself, researching alone did not feel same. 

I met my mother in the kitchen as she was making breakfast for us. She flashed me a gently smile as I sat down by the kitchen counter. "Hi honey, how was the movies last night?"

Before I got to answer, my brother Nolan spoke up before me. "Don't you dare spoil the movie or I'll kill you."

Both me and my mother rolled our eyes to his response along with a little chuckle. "It was very fun, I didn't expect to like the film that much and we went to the Burger Shack after the movie as well."

"We as in?" My mother asked, brows furrowed in curiosity.

"Me, Liam from work and his girlfriend plus Eric."

"Eric?" She raised her brows at me. Of course she would get excited at the mention of a guy's name. 

"Eric as in Ada's brother actually," I felt my lips pull into a little smile. 

"Really? How is he, I haven't seen him since Thanksgiving last year. I didn't think you two would be hanging out together."

"He is doing quite well. He just started college this fall. He is actually a friend of Liam's  who tried to set us up," I laughed. "But obviously that didn't work out."

All of us finished breakfast over chit chat. Once we had cleaned up, my mother has asked me if I wanted to go to market in town, but I declined as I had other plans today. Frankly, I was very surprised myself by my decision. I was going to go up to Hellcliff. Alone.

It was weird packing for my little trip up to the forest, and it felt like preparing for a murder scene, because a girl alone in the forest, let alone an abandoned asylum, was not a smart move. I knew that, but since the research seemed to lead to no way, I thought going back to original spot would lead me to finding more clues. Once I was out on the road, the memories flooded back to the time when I first sat in Harry's car and we were on our way to Hellcliff for the dare.

I parked my car in front of the building where I had spent a week of my life with Harry for the dare that started it all. 

I hoisted myself out of the car, clinging to my bag with all my notes in it and exhaled a deep breath. The wind causes my hair to fly slightly as I zip up my jacket. The last time I was here, it was late summer. I remembered how me and Harry could walk around in t-shirts and take a swim in the lake. A whole month later, it feels like winter is already creeping up.

My feet took me straight to the room where I found the notebook and when I entered the abandoned room, my eyes shoot straight to the wall where the original brick that landed on my foot. I chuckled to myself, reliving the painful, yet funny moment. 

I removed the loose brick that was halfway sticking out and take a look inside the dark hole in the wall. It was too dark. I turn on my flashlight on my phone and take another look and feel slightly disappointed when there's nothing there but dust. 

I don't know what I was expecting. A little note with all the answers? Something that could tie her to getting closer her identity. I sat down on the floor with my back up against the wall and dug through my bag and pull out my book and notes with all the research done so far. I found that one page where Harry has written down V.M. which was scribbled on the exterior of the notebook, we assumed it was her initials. V.M. Vera Martin?