A Murder, One Missing, Two Left // Val Dashing

13

You wake up to the sun in your eyes, groaning, begrudgingly pulling yourself out of bed. You check the clock, 8:00 PM. Sitting up to rub your eyes, you look to your nightstand and see your phone buzzing, the contact name reading "Julie."

You pick it up, unaware of what is about to happen, accepting the call to hear her frantic voice.

"Y/N? You awake?" She sounded out of breath.

"Yeah, I'm awake." Your voice is deeper than usual since you just woke up.

"Good! I need your help, please." You sit up more to the pure panic in her voice.

"Yeah, what do you need?" You stand, fumbling to put her on speaker while getting real clothes on.

"I went to explore the mall more, maybe get more evidence on your friend Aster." She paused, breathing heavily, as if catching her breath. "And I found something."

You almost trip putting on jeans as you listen. "What did you find?"

"A secret room, in the closet she was found in. It was like- part of the wall. It was freaky. I got pictures on my phone, its gonna die soon." A slam, almost like trying to open doors that wouldn't budge. "Y/N,  there were photos of other girls, with Aster. All next to clippings of those unexpected murders and kidnappings. The killer was there."

"What?!" You pause, processing.

"I saw him, he's been chasing me. I watched the sun rise. I'm locked in, you need to get here. Please-" She was running again, presumably to another exit or hiding spot.

"Julie, where are you?" You get serious for a moment, finally snapping out of shock.

"The mall. He's still in here, you gotta-" The line cut, her phone must've died.

"Julie?!" You look at the screen, call disconnected. Fuck. You needed to get over there.

Before you could barely finish thinking, your body moved. You aren't losing another friend this week. You sprint downstairs, past your mother who barely got a noise out and dashed out the door.

It felt like it had been miles. You had ran all the way to the mall, not even notifying anyone, phone still gripped in your hand. You practically slammed into the front doors, locked, key still in the door, probably from Julie. You turn it and open the doors. It was pretty dark, except for the natural light from the windows.

 You're frantically looking around for Julie, but all you see is her phone on the ground, cracked. No. This can't be happening again. Your breathing quickens as you grab it, sliding both your phone and hers in your jacket pocket, zipping it so you can't lose them.

'Where is Julie?!' You start to panic, calling out would only draw attention. But it's completely empty, completely dark. You think for a moment, where would a killer take her?

Wait. That's right, the hidden room behind the closet. Aster's crime scene. You hoped to all hell you were right, sprinting to the closet.

Facing your friend's crime scene might just save another.