The Spring Break Suffocator

midnight mocha

I woke up to my phone ringing. I groaned and rolled over to see 20 messages from Justin and 10 missed calls from my parents. I sat up and called my mom.

"Hey sweetie! We made it to Rome! It's so beautiful here! How are things at home?"

"Everything's good so far! I slept so good last night. Justin came over for a couple of hours yesterday and we ate dinner and watched tv. I miss you guys already!"

"We miss you too sweetheart! Well, we've got to go. We're heading to the dock. We're getting a boat ride through Venice! I'll text you when we get back to the hotel. Oh and Anna says hello! We love you!"

"Love you guys too, mom. Have fun! Bye!"

I hung up the phone and checked the messages from Justin.

JUSTIN: have you heard yet?
JUSTIN: I assume you're still sleeping you lazy lump
JUSTIN: Dale and his family died last night.
JUSTIN: the police say they don't suspect foul play but there's no way they all just died
JUSTIN: ok you need to wake up now or I'm dragging you out of the bed
ME: jeez can you calm down you psycho? What happened?
JUSTIN: I'm not entirely sure yet, but from what I've heard from Jake, it's not pretty.
ME: meet me in 20 at our spot?
JUSTIN: I'll be there

I got up and threw on some clothes and my shoes. I went downstairs and made me some jelly toast before grabbing my keys and walking out the door.

I got in my car and drove to Midnight Mocha Cafè, mine and Justin's go-to debriefing spot. I parked in a parking spot right by our window and got out of my car. I saw Justin's unmistakable red car in the spot next to mine. I got out and entered the café.

"Good morning Gia! You want your usual?" Kayla, the barista greeted me.

"Good morning Kayla! Yes please. Thank you!" I greeted as I headed straight to our table.

Justin was already there with his pineapple lemonade and everything seasoned bagel. Justin doesn't drink coffee. Or any caffeine, really. He says 'caffeine is a drug, which makes you a drug addict. I'm not a drug addict, so I don't drink caffeine.' He's a pain in my butt.

Me on the other hand, I'll be chilling with my mocha Frappuccino and my chocolate croissant.

The waitress places my order in front of me and I thank her. She smiles at me and leaves to tend to other customers.

"So, what was so important about Dale that you had to rudely wake me up and drag me here." I said, taking a bite out of my croissant.

"First of all, I didn't drag you anywhere. You were the one that told me to come here," Justin said. "Second of all, Dale and his family were killed last night."

"What happened?"

"I over heard mom tell Dana that someone broke into the hardware store last night and tied everyone up. They put Dale in front of his wife and daughters and strangled him to death. They said the girls watched as the man killed their dad and husband. Then, the man went to Jacquline and slit her throat. While she was dying, he stabbed and killed the 2 daughters."

"Who would do something like that? Everyone loves Dale!"

"That's not the worst part." Justin said, leaning in closer to me.

"You mean there's something worse than brutally murdering an innocent family?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Believe it or not, yes," Justin said. "The killer wrote in Dale's blood 'let the games begin, Oakview'."

I sat there staring at him. What games? This isn't a game. Someone killed an innocent family and they're now making this a game. "What does that even mean?" I asked.

"You're guess is as good as mine. Whatever it means, it's definitely escalated from last year's spring break."

I sighed at the memory. Last year, a group of seniors went around town and vandalized the town. The library, the grocery store, the police station, even the school. No one knew who it was at the time, but they never touched Mr. Summers' Store. When the police caught the boys, they had to pay a fine of $500 and had to do 6 months of community service to clean up all the buildings they vandalized. It definitely doesn't compare to this, though.

"Whoever did this, I have a feeling this is just the beginning." Justin said as he finished his lemonade.