Eighteen Letters To Juan Karlos •COMPLETED•

The Thirteenth Letter

"So you got them at the hotel?" Darren asked. After Juan Karlos had told him, the other boy had stared at him for a few moments with an unreadable expression on his face, before shrugging and taking the laptop from his hands, skimming through pages on Google.

"Well, yeah. Underneath the door."

Darren frowned. "It can't have been a fan, then. They don't allow fans to be on the same floor as us."

"So, not Addie?" JK said, pulling his knees up to his chest and trying not to read too much into that. And the fact that she'd stopped writing a long time ago. She'll be fine. She will be.

"No," Darren scratched the back of his neck, crossing his legs. His continuous skipping online paused for a moment as he thought. He blinked, once, twice. "And if it wasn't a fan, then it was either a guest with a room on the same floor as us or one of the people working there."

"Why would someone book a room on the same floor as us just to deliver some letters?"

"They wouldn't." Darren said. "Hotels don't release our floor number to the public"

"So it was someone who worked there? Who? Can we find them?" JK asked, sitting up a little in excitement. If he could find them, then he could find her.

Darren shrugged, and sighed. "I don't suppose you remember exactly which hotel it was that you got them in?" He asked, chewing on his bottom lip. Juan Karlos slumped in his chair.

"No." He muttered.

Sighing again, Darren settled further back into the sofa, scrolling again. "Alright," he said, waving a hand at Juan Karlos. "I'll try and have a look. Go read another letter, see if she gives you any more clues as to where she is."

JK slid off the sofa slowly. "You sure?" He asked cautiously. Darren hadn't even read the letters, yet he was just as committed to finding her as JK was.

"Those letters make you happy. And if finding her is what it takes to keep you happy, then I'll do it." He said.

Juan Karlos didn't know what to say, so he nodded and quickly shut the door behind him, grabbing the bundle of letters and pulling himself up onto the bunk. Of course Addie made him happy. It's just that there's this sinking feeling in his stomach that he can't get rid of, and it's awful and he can almost feel her slipping away.

He just needs reassurances that's all, he just needs to know that she's safe and well and okay.

He ripped open the thirteenth letter, trying to ignore the thunder in his chest.

Dear Juan Karlos,

This letter took longer to write, mostly because my new therapist (Susan, who always gives me Spearmint flavored Mentors, which is nice) had asked about the letters and if they were helping much. I said yes, they were helping and she'd asked if I could show her one. So I did.

And then she took it, and threw it into the trash bin.