Commando Joe

Chapter 18

It's the end of the school day and it felt like it would never end. Maybe it's because I'm excited to go talk to Anne's mum. I don't feel excited though, have butterfly's in my stomach. I walk out of the school gates and get out my phone and read the notes I had wrote on what to ask Anne's mother. Question one: "what was your relationship like with your daughter?" I look at the question and again. Is it too rude? I go of notes and onto google maps and use it to find my way to her house. She lives on the edge of town near the large Tesco's, which is a twenty-minute walk from school.

Once I get to the street I scan each house to find the correct house number, number 34. After a while of walking up the street I notice the house, it's not as big as Shelly's house but still looks expensive and modern. I walk up the drive and knock on the door. I wait a few seconds and then the door opens and a skinny, pale women opens the door. Her hair is blonde and short and only just touches her shoulders. She looks no older than 25 and is tall for such a skinny woman. "hello, are you the girl who phoned me last night?" she asks in the same stern tone as last night. "ah, yes...I am". I look awkwardly at her and back at the floor. I am not used to talking to so many people. "please come in" she guides me inside and into her living room.

The room is cozy and has grey furniture and white walls and many fake plants. I'm guided to an armchair and the Woman sits down on the sofa. She clears her throat and begins the conversation. "so, you said on the phone you were here to talk about my precious daughter". "yes, I hope you don't mind me asking questions about the... passing of Anne." "I don't mind as long as they are not stupid" I give her a weak smile and start talking. "have you ever heard of an app called commando joe?" The lady looks at her hands then at a picture of what must be her daughter, which is sat on the mantel piece. "yes, my daughter had the app and had an obsession over it. I didn't know exactly what its purpose was but she got excited over it a lot." "what If I was to tell you that the app could have connections to your daughter's death."

The lady's face went pale then she looked at me dead in the eye. "how?" whispering her words so quietly she's almost inaudible. I pull out the list of all the deaths and put it on the coffee table. "this is a list of all the deaths in our area." I pause as she picks it up to read it. "as you can see I have highlighted all of the deaths that are suicides committed by 11-16 year olds. Including your daughter six people in the last two months have committed suicide and out of the six two of them have died in the same way and have the app commando joe. "who?" the lady exclaims. "Your daughter and Shelly Abbertson. She sits back in her seat looking a little annoyed about my discovery as I guess it doesn't sound as promising as I thought it might.

"okay, okay I know it doesn't sound the most reliable source but Shelly was a happy girl who was never upset but then started doing stupid things and then killed herself in front of a school video camera...I've heard our daughter did the same. I look back up at the women who just stares at me for a while before opening her mouth to whisper yes. "I believe the app told her to do it because it sends you messages telling you to do 'activities' to get more Instagram followers. As you go along they get harder and harder so you can gain for followers. The last one is to kill yourself in front of the camera I think. I know it's the last one as I looked into my friend, Shelly's phone and went onto the app and all it said was well done you have completed all the tasks.

Silence engulfs the room and the women sits still for a while trying to process everything I have said. She even opens her mouth but all that comes out is air. She closes her eyes and relaxes her shoulders. She clears her throat and starts talking. " I believe it...I believe your theory". She looks back at me and picks up the list again and looks through the list before passing it back to me. "I'm sorry I want help you anymore, but If you ever need someone to talk to about your theory I'm hear to listen.

She escorts me out of her house and gave me a small wave as I walked down the drive. I walk to the end of the street and call Maddison. She picks up. "hello Jessica what have you done now?" "nothing I just want picking up". "can't you just walk" she moans. "no, I'm at the big Tesco's". "why there's a co-op by us?" "can you just pick me up?" there's a long pause. "fine I'll be ten minutes" "Ten minutes! It takes less than five to get here" "Jessica I can just not bother to pick up at all if you like". "fine I'll wait". I put the phone down and roll my eyes.