Forgotten (original version)

Chapter 4

I stare at her in silence. Why? Why did this have to happen? I ran into my room and slammed the door as hard as I possibly could. A picture falls off of my wall of me and Dani laughing together. I rip all of my clothes out of my closet and throw them down while punching the wall. I let out a scream that shreds my throat. I shove my dresser into the wall, causing the jewelry to fall off, and the perfume to shatter. I grab the nearest necklace I can find and stretch it until the beads break apart and go flying across my room.

Harry comes into my room before I can break anything else and wraps me up in a hug.

"Why does my life have to be so hard?" I say in between sobs. His only response is a tighter hug.

"It's not fair." He whispers. "But you are single handedly the strongest person I know. You can get through anything."

"I am so freaking sick of being strong. I just want to be real."

"I know."

I didn't sleep at all that night. My mind kept going back to the fact that my dad is dead, and my best friend is missing.

"Oh no." I said at breakfast the next morning.

"Hmm?" Mom asked.

A tear fell down my face, "The last time I saw Dani I was blaming her for telling my teacher about Dad."

"That was me." Harry said from behind me. I whipped around and saw him staring at his feet.

"Why would you tell him?! I never in my life would've assumed it was you! How dare you?!" I ran outside and into Dani's house. I found her parents crying on the couch. They motioned for me to go up to her room so I did just that. I need to know what's going on.

I step into her room and my breath catches. Her desk was flipped upside down, and her clothes and school supplies were all over her floor. Her stuffed animal, Paula, was shredded to bits. She loved that little Elephant. I picked up her journal that I found under her tipped desk and read it.

I feel really bad for Luci. I know she doesn't mean what she said to me, but it still hurts like heck. Her dad died today. She is devastated. I'm not gonna take any of it personally. I just wish

It ended there.

"WHAT?!" I scream. Why the heck did it just end there? I want to know what happened to her! I flipped the pages to make sure none of them were ripped out, but of course I found nothing.

I whipped the journal across the room and ran my hands through my hair. I walk to pick it up. Apparently I like to throw things when I'm mad.

I read her journal entries from the past few days and found nothing. No hint that she was being stalked, or even that people were looking at her weird or talking to her more than normal. Absolutely nothing.

I flip to the last page and tear back the paper of the cover. I learned it from a movie. There's a letter written by someone other than Dani. I don't recognize the handwriting. All it said was:

When the full moon rises.

I made a note on my phone with that message. It might not be much, but we are getting Dani back. No matter what it takes.

"Hey, Harry?" He spun around with tears in his eyes. My heart aches, and my stomach churns.

"I'm so sorry." I whisper. "I never should've gotten so mad at you. There's just so much going on and—" Harry tackle hugs me and his body shakes with sobs.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry." He told her. "I knew you didn't want anyone to know, and I told him anyway. It's a very personal thing. I would know."

"Hey, it's ok. I overreacted. Now pull yourself together." I tease while playfully ruffling his hair. I'm rewarded with a smile and I can't help but laugh.

"I went to Dani's house." I declared. Harry's smile disappeared. "I went to Dani's house," I repeated, "and she clearly put up a fight." My voice cracks but I keep going, "I found a journal full of entries from the past year. She never finished the one from Friday when she went missing." I was proud of my voice for not shaking. "And when I flipped to the last page I pulled the paper back on the back cover and found this." I showed him my phone, and the message.

"Wait, when's the full moon?" Harry wondered. I smiled at him.

"I knew you would be helpful." I pull up Safari and look up when the next full moon is.

"It's the 17th . . ." I mutter. "That doesn't give us much time to figure this out."

"How do you know that's what it means? It could mean that when the full moon rises something good will happen."

I stare at him in disbelief, "Yea right." I say. "There's no way that's true. We're figuring this thing out before the 17th. No matter what happens."

"Ok." Harry said carefully, "Where do we start?"

"That's a great question. Why don't we ask for the security footage on the streets near her house? They had to have picked up something."

"You're right. I'll call the city. In the meantime, why don't you get some sleep. It's been a rough couple of days." Now that I think about it, my head is spinning and I feel a dull ache under my skin. But it was only 11:00 AM. Sleeping seems like such a waste of time.

"No. I'll take notes while you're on the call." He agrees after much persuasion, and just like that, we are solving the case of the missing girl named Dani. We're solving the case of my best friend.