A Ship Without Sails

Chapter 29

From inside her room, Shayna could hear her mother knocking on Daisy's door.

"Daisy? Honey, it's time for dinner," Mrs. Blackburn called. There was no response. She tried again, knocking harder and talking louder this time. "Daisy?"

Shayna watched her mother try the door. It was locked. Panic overtook Mrs. Blackburn as she struggled to open the door. Shayna grabbed a paper clip off of her desk and straightened it out.

"Here, use this," she said to her mother, handing her the wire. With shaking hands, Mrs. Blackburn unlocked the bedroom door and swung it open.

Daisy was in her bed on her stomach, the covers draw over her head. A sigh of relief came from Mrs. Blackburn and she closed the door quietly. "That scared me," she whispered. "She must be so tired to sleep through all that racket."

Shayna nodded and dropped the paper clip into the trash can. They went downstairs and joined Mr. Blackburn at the dinner table to eat.

Later, Shayna brought a plate of food up to Daisy's room. She knocked on the door and got no reply. She opened it a crack and looked in.

Daisy was in the same position as before. Shayna crept in and set the plate on her sister's desk, then shuffled over to the edge of the bed. "Daisy, I brought you dinner," she murmured. She got no response. She placed her hand on Daisy's shoulder and shook it. "Daisy, time to eat," she said. When her sister didn't say anything again, she lightly smacked Daisy's shoulder. Expecting a flurry of surprised curses, Shayna was confused when Daisy didn't move. A feeling of dread crashed into her.

She rolled her sister over onto her back. Daisy fell apart. Her body flew in different directions across the bed. Shayna was horrified, until she realized that it was a decoy. She had been trying to wake up a pile of pillows and clothes. A note lay under the biggest pillow.

You'll never catch me.

Shayna forgot what happened next. She screamed, sinking to the floor, her cast thumping on the hardwood. She parents rushed in and the police were called. Astrid and Julia arrived minutes after. Daisy was gone.

It was past midnight by the time the police had cleared out. Shayna's parents were huddled in the kitchen, exhausted by all of the interrogations and hustle of people. Shayna and Astrid met them, and Astrid made tea.

Four cups of tea later, the four of them were on the couch. and she didn't respond, so I tried to wake her up. She didn't."

"She was sleeping before dinner," Mrs. Blackburn said. Astrid shook her head.

"Do you know that for sure?" she asked. She examined her notes. "Because I think she left before dinnertime."

"Oh," Shayna said. She wasn't sure what else to say. "Do you know... why she left?"

Astrid slowly shook her head, as if she wasn't sure if she should show any emotion.

"How awful," Mrs. Blackburn whispered hoarsely. "How awful."

"It was her decision, for whatever reason," Mr. Blackburn said, more to himself than anyone.

"My team found the note," Astrid informed them. "It's been taken to the lab."

"Oh. What did it say?" Shayna asked. She hadn't read it all.

"I shouldn't tell you now," Astrid said. "It would certainly be bad for the family."

"But you'll have to tell us sooner or later, right?"

Astrid paused. She pressed her lips together and sighed. "I guess so," she said hesitantly. She stood and took Shayna by the arm and dragged her out to the doorway. "In the note, she admitted to killing Kerry," Astrid whispered.

Shayna felt like her world had collapsed. She crumpled to the floor and felt like crying, feeling it swell up in her chest, ready to explode. But she couldn't cry. Nothing came out. Everything was bottled up and refused to burst. She scrunched her face up and wished it wasn't real, even though deep down, she had known it.

She felt Astrid trying to pick her up, bring her back to reality, but Shayna felt heavy and like there were weights attached to her legs.

"It's okay to be sad," Astrid was telling her. Shayna didn't respond. "It's natural. Julia can come and talk, if you like. Would you like that?"

Shayna swallowed and licked her dry lips. "I'm not sad," she murmured. "I'm mad. It's not fair. She can't just disappear after she's done what she did."

"But she did, Shayna. It's going to break your and your parents' hearts, but she's a sociopath," Astrid said, her voice hardening.

Shayna let the words sink in. Her legs felt weak. She tried to stand again, but her cast weighed her down. Astrid offered Shayna her arm, but she refused. Blowing her black-coffee colored hair out of her face, Shayna stood up and hobbled to her parents. She put her arm around her mother and placed her hand on her father's shoulder. "We'll make it through this," she told them. She had been telling them the same thing for the past week, but this time, she wasn't quite sure.