On The Verge

Chapter 15- A Victorious Phone Call

——————Maddie——————

⠀⠀We parted ways soon after, each of us returning to our respectful homes.

⠀⠀"Where have you been?" My mom took a break from peeling potatoes to ask kindly. The clock read 5pm, well after the time I would normally be home from school. In all that had happened, I had not noticed the time go by.

⠀⠀"Well, uh, after school the girls and I just walked around." I said quickly. It wasn't excacly a lie, but it wasn't quite the truth.

⠀⠀"That's nice." My mom replied casually as she continued peeling potatoes.

⠀⠀I took the chance to escape to my room. I ran down the hall, my footstep nearly silent. My bedroom door creaked open just to be slammed shut behind me. My room was eerily quiet, something in the atmosphere made my breath quicken in apprehension. My eyes scanned my room and finally landed on the mirror of my vanity table as my heart jumped to my throat.

⠀⠀Written in red lipstick was 1 sentence; 4 words; 16 letters that forced the colour from my face.

S⃞h⃞e⃞ w⃞i⃞l⃞l⃞ b⃞e⃞ a⃞v⃞e⃞n⃞g⃞e⃞d⃞.⃞

⠀⠀I quickly ignored the sense of terrorized panic that consumed me and devoted my attention to wiping the fearful message off, in fear of my mother or Kenzie seeing it, only after capturing a photo of the message on my phone. I grabbed a makeup wipe, pressed it to the cherry red lipstick and began to move the wipe up and down, scrubbing the mirror till it shone like diamonds and my arm ached in fatigue.

⠀⠀I was quick to open the iMessage group on my phone with Nia, Chloe, Kendall and I. Adding the photo as an attachment, I quickly typed the series of events leading to the discovery of the message.

⠀⠀Not allowing myself a break, I opened google on my laptop and began a search of the Sanitarium. Many links appeared on the screen and it was not long until their phone number was typed into my phone. Without hesitation, I hit the green 'call' button.

⠀⠀"Hello, you've reached the Pittsburg Sanitarium how may I help you?" A perky voice answered.

⠀⠀"Hello, I am a friend of Liza's. Can I organize a visitation date?" I asked, making my voice slightly higher than usual while assuring that it still sounded normal. The silence was heavy at the other end of the line.

⠀⠀"I'm sorry to inform you that Liza has run away from the Sanitarium." The lady answered finally, worry eminent in her voice. A victorious smile spread across my face.

⠀⠀"Thank you." I muttered and hung up. Liza was no longer in the Sanitarium; she had escaped.

⠀⠀Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the person blackmailing us.

(A/N: okay I'm really sorry that this is an exceptionally short chapter, but it works well this way for point of view changes.)