Echoes

48 Hours Left - Morning

My hands were still shaking by the time my shift was over, my mind whirling as I raced home. I knew I recognized her, her unhinged smile still lingering in my mind. With this revelation I felt a sense of urgency to identify the other two, were they connected to each other, to us? I chewed my lip as I wove through the streets, trying to organize my thoughts on the way. It became even more important to get the files from Matt, I needed to know everything about them. I came up on my apartment building in record time, sailing up the steps and past my apartment door, straight to Matts instead. I don't bother knocking before pulling out the spare key and unlocking the door myself. I knew he would be asleep at this time of night. I march through the darkness of his apartment heading straight towards the master bedroom, I had been here enough that I could navigate the place with my eyes closed. I open his bedroom door and pause, the moon shining through the window illuminated just enough to see his outline sprawled on the bed. He was still wearing his clothes from earlier and I rolled my eyes at him, a small smirk on my lips. I hesitated longer, doubt taking root in my mind; did I really need to wake him up now? The watch on my wrist shone bright in the dark room and motivated me to move, I didn't have time to wait. Even if he didn't have the information I need immediately, I at least could get a plan in motion.

"Matt!" I say, climbing onto the bed to shake him awake. "Matt wake up!" I say a bit louder when he doesn't respond.

He startles awake, groggy, and confused "Wh-what?"

"Wake up!" I snap.

This gets an actual response out of him, and he spins towards me eyes still clouded with sleep, and grabs my shoulders. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" He demands, his voice tense.

The concern on his face sent guilt shooting through me, and my blossoming doubt grew, making me somewhat regret the decision to wake him up. I felt stupid asking about the other victims now, but I pushed through, choking out a small. "I-I need to ask you a question."

His entire body wilts, and he yanks me into a hug, falling backwards onto his bed and pulling me with him. "Are you serious?" He breathes. "You scared the shit out of me." I could hear his heart pounding as I lay awkwardly on his chest, his arms keeping me in place when I try to pull away. "This couldn't wait until a more human hour?" He asks, the panic fading from his voice.

"No this is really important." I tell him, trying to escape his grasp. "Can you get me the files on the other two victims?" I feel his grip loosen and I take the opportunity to sit up. He was staring at me in disappointment when I looked down at him.

"Are you serious right now." He asks and I nod. "You gotta stop with this, just leave it alone. I already broke the rules letting you see the cold case file." He goes to roll away from me, but I grab his arm keeping him in place.

"But that's why I need to see the others, there might be a connection between them." I explain in a rush, trying to get it out before I could change my mind.

"A connection? What kind of connection?" he raises an eyebrow at me.

I shake my head. "I want to confirm it before telling you more. If it turns out to be nothing, then it doesn't matter."

He sighs and stares at me in exasperation. "If you won't tell me then I am not going to help you, especially at almost four in the morning. If you really want the files, then you can tell me about this connection when I wake up."

He pulls his arm out of my grip and rolls onto his side, putting his back towards me. I grumble under my breath and lay down behind him, putting my back to his. I knew he would wake up in a few hours and I needed to get the files as soon as I could. I felt exhaustion pulling at me the second I laid down, but I pulled out my phone, trying to see if I could find any information about Sunshine Acres. My internet search pulled up dozens of articles, but none of them that went into detail about what happened there. Every article I flipped through was just one useless essay after another, cataloging why it shut down and the gleaming reputation it had for years beforehand. I groan and put my phone down, I wasn't going to find anything on the internet, I needed those files. I adjusted my position to get more comfortable and settled in to wait the three hours until Matt got up.