The Spring Break Suffocator

cameras

After we finished eating, we watched tv for a little while.

All of a sudden, Justin jumped up.

"What?! Is it a spider?! Kill it!!" I scream jumping on the couch.

"No no it's not a spider. I just thought of something." Justin says as he starts to pace.

I sigh and sit back down on the couch, cross-legged.

"I just remembered that the Diaz's house has secret cameras. I wonder if they caught anything."

"How did you know they had a camera if it's a secret?" I asked.

"Me and Olivia had a thing going on a few months back and she told me about it so I could sneak in without her parents knowing."

"Ew that's gross. You could've just said she told you. I didn't need the extra details."

"Too bad. Anyways, their house is right across from the hardware store. I wonder if they caught anything."

I jump up and run upstairs to my room. I grab my laptop and rush back downstairs, where Justin is eating a bag of chips.

I sit down next to him.

"All I need to do is figure out how to get into the cameras. Give me a second." I said as I started typing.

A few years ago, me and Anna created a program that can hack into any camera within 50 miles of the laptops location. All I need is the Diaz's address and I'll be in. The program also has a firewall on it so if someone, like the cops, try to see how it's being hacked, they can't trace me. I haven't had much use for the program, unless I was sick and wanted to people watch from home.

I googled the Diaz's address and typed it into the program. After a few seconds, the live feed pulled up. I rewind it to last night at 5:45 and start watching, looking for anything that seems off about the store across the street.

"Hey look at this." I said, turning the screen so Justin could also see.

At 6:00pm, a man dressed in all black walks into the store. The door wasn't even locked. There is no audio, but every now and then you can see a figure running through the window, which has to be one of the victims. At 8:36, we can see Kiara Summers open the front door of the store. She had a blindfold on and her mouth was taped shut. She starts to feel around and tries to run out the front door. The killer grabbed her waist before dragging her back in and closing the door. At 10:56, the killer strolls out of the front door. He doesn't appear to be in a hurry. He walks across the street to the Diaz's house and hold up a note.

I froze when I read the contents of the note. It said "I knew you were smarter than the cops" the killer put the note in his pocket and casually walked down the street, like he was on his way to work.

I paused the feed and sat back.

"Someone has a lot of faith in you Gia." Justin said. His bag of chips was left open, sitting on the coffee table, long forgotten. I sighed.

"'I knew you were smarter than the cops'. There's no way he's talking about me, right?"

"I'm sure he was addressing anyone who found the footage. I mean, what are the odds that he knows you would be the one to find it first. It's unpredictable."

"I don't know. If the killer is a local, then it could be anyone." I said as I opened up the timeline. I typed in the times the footage showed us.

"Do you think I should send this to your mom?" I ask, saving and closing the document. I closed my laptop and yawned.

"I'm sure tomorrow the Diaz's will break out of their shock and realize they can help. Like I said, stay out of it Gia. I'm only helping you because I know you'd do it with or without me and I want to be here to make sure you don't get yourself killed along with the Summers'." Justin said, standing up and grabbing his dirty dishes and chip bag.

I follow him into the kitchen and he starts to rinse the dishes off before placing them in the dishwasher. I put the leftover lasagna into a tupperware container and place it in the fridge.

"You're right, on both points. I won't inject myself in the investigation, unless I have 100% proof that what I have is correct."

Justin sighs as he closes the dishwasher and starts it. He turns to me, who's wiping off the counter. "And please promise me that if you get another email, you'll tell me."

"Ok I promise."

He smiles. "If it's anything worse than the first one, we need to show my mom. Maybe they can track the IP address."

I shook my head. "They can't. I've tried. The signal is bouncing off at least 15 different towers. I spent hours trying to narrow it down but this guy is good."

"Well still. You need to tell my mom. With you being home alone, you can't eliminate the possibility that you're on this guys kill list too."

"I know. I'll be careful. You go ahead and go home. I'll finish up here and get ready for bed." I said, throwing the rag in the laundry basket. He hugged me and I hugged him back.

"Please be careful. I can't lose you." He said into my hair.

"I will be. I pinky promise." I said, breaking away and holding my right pinky up. He hooked his pinky around mine and smiled.

"Alright I better head home before my mom does. She'll kill me when she sees I haven't cleaned my room yet."

I laughed. "Goodnight Justin."

"Goodnight!" He said as he closed the door behind him. I made sure to lock both locks on the door and checked that the kitchen door was locked as well. I checked all the windows, and after I made sure there was no way anyone could get in, I retreated to my bedroom.

I closed and locked my bedroom door. I closed all my curtains and changed into my pajamas. I checked my messages from mom, and after reading about her and my family's escapades through Venice, I typed a quick response that everything was ok and plugged my phone in.

I rolled over and closed my eyes. Right before I drifted off, a ping from my laptop notified me that I had an email. I groaned and got up to open my laptop. I sat at my desk and signed in. I'm supposed to be receiving an email from the Dean of Admissions about my dorms and other admission information.

I click on the email and gasp.

From: unknown
To: gianna_wren@hotmail.com
Re: i'm back

good evening, gianna. I hope you enjoyed the footage i left behind for you. i knew that you were smarter than the rest of the idiots in this town. i believed in you and i was right. i cant wait to see your reaction to the next surprise i have in store. if i were you, i wouldn't tell anyone about these emails. we wouldn't want justin to be a casualty in this straightforward game, would we? check your front door. there's a better surprise for you, my dear.
until next time, goodnight.

I froze. Did I really want to check my front door? The home alone teenager in me says no, but the investigator in me says yes. I slowly get up from my desk and head downstairs. I grab a knife from the kitchen and head for the door.

I check the peephole. Nothing.

I look out the surrounding windows. Nothing.

I slowly open the door, waiting for some monster to jump out of the bushes and murder me. When I didn't see anything, I open the door further, knife on standby.

I looked around and didn't see anything. Then I looked down. There was a box with a red bow wrapped around it. I held my breath.

I looked around one more time before picking up the box and quickly closing the door behind me, locking it.

I set the box on the coffee table. What could possibly be in here?

I untie the bow and hesitated before taking the lid off altogether. What I saw was unpredictable, even for this town.