Where She Lies

Chapter 14: Duped by Deupre

I glance at the digital clock that's resting below the TV, and I decide to slink away from the others. I have about three hours until I have to leave so that I make it to my classes on time, with some extra time to spare to snoop around Andi's dorm. I make my way into my room (not really mine, but you know) and sit down in the computer chair by the polished, wooden desk. It's not that I don't trust Quinn, okay, so maybe I don't entirely, but I kind of do. I just want to make sure that I have my facts straight, that's all. Yep. That's what I'll go with. I turn on the computer and the screen flashes to life. I open Firefox and type Listette Payton's name in the search bar. The corners of my mouth fall into a frown when no obituaries come up. That's odd. I try looking through some of the other links that came up, but nothing catches my eye. I log on to Facebook and search her name in hopes of finding some kind of helpful result. I look through all of the Listette Paytons, thankfully there aren't many, and end up finding one that seems like it could be her. Listette Payton, nineteen years old, used to be a cheerleader in high school...I continue to scroll and end up finding out that she has someone named Esmee tagged in her photos. This has to be her, but it doesn't look like she's dead, unless she's a ghost. I roll my eyes at my sarcasm and look at her recent activity, which happened to be two days ago. I log out of Facebook and close the computer lid. I spin around in the computer chair a few times while brooding. Okay, so unless Esmee is using Listette's account (which is highly unlikely), she's still alive. Plus there isn't an obituary for her. It's evident now that Quinn and Trevor both lied to me, and that Wyatt was quite possibly telling the truth. Maybe Trevor didn't lie to me, maybe he really thought she was dead, but Quinn, Quinn had to have known. A sudden thought occurs to me and I stand up and walk over to my bag. I start rooting through it until I find my jeans that I was wearing the day we went to Heather's house. I reach down into one of the pockets and pull out a wrinkled piece of paper. Bingo. In all honesty this could just be a grocery list, but oh well. I had a hunch and I'm going to go with it. I unfold the paper and notice that there's fancy lettering swirled all over it in black pen.

'Thank you for helping me.' - E.

E? Okay, things just keep getting weirder and weirder. And how did Heather help them? I'm so deep in thought that it scares me when my phone chimes from inside my pocket. I dig it out and answer it, meanwhile putting the note in the pocket where my phone used to be.

"Hello?"

"Kimberly, where are you? And why is our house a mess?" My mom's voice comes through the line.

"Oh, hey mom," Relief and panic both wash through me, "I'll explain that later. Can I come and pick you up?"

"Okay, I guess. As long as you can explain who's going to pay for the damages I'm fine," My mom chuckles, "Where's Anna?"

"Oh...Um," I pause and look for the right words, but can't seem to find any, "I'll explain that to you later as well."

"Fine." Vanessa sighs.

"Mom, there's something else I need to talk to you about too," I chew on my lower lip, "Dad called."

"What? What does that man want? After all, it was obvious he didn't want us when he up and left." She huffs.

"I don't know. He just called to say sorry and some other stuff like how I was. I hung up on him though." I sigh.

"Okay, we can talk about that later too. Geesh, so much to talk about. Just come and pick me up."

"I will," I smile, "Once I drop you off I'll have a little bit of time to explain things before I need to get to class."

I don't think I'll be explaining the situation with Anna until after I get back and after I interrogate Quinn. Yeah, I haven't forggoten about that. If anything I've added more to the list of things to interrogate him about.

"Okay. Safe driving sweetie, love you." She says.

"Love you too mom, I'll be there soon." I say and hang up.

I put my phone back into my pocket and walk out to the living room. I roll my eyes for about the hundreth time today when I notice Trevor sitting upside down on the couch eating popcorn. What really surprises me is that Quinn is right beside him doing the exact same thing.

"Idiots." I murmur.

"I heard that!" Trevor yells across the room and nearly chokes on popcorn in the process.

"Mouse ears," I chuckle and approach the front door, "I'm going to go pick up my mom and bring her here. She's waiting at my house. She just got back from vacation. Please don't do anything stupid while I'm gone. It would be a pity to come back and find you both dead."

"Nice to see that you care." Quinn laughs as I grab Trevor's car keys from the stand.

"Surprising, isn't it?" I smirk and walk out the door.

The drive back to my house is a quick one. I'm at my house faster than I expected, not that I was speeding or anything. I skip up the driveway and breathe in the familiar scent of roses that line the front porch. I knock on the door but don't get any response. Did she fall asleep that quickly? I guess she could if she had super sleeping powers or jet lag. Jet lag seems more reasonable. I open the front door without an issue which doesn't surprise me. She never leaves it locked. Besides, it wasn't locked to begin with ever since Trevor and Quinn basically took me with them by force.

"Mom," I call out and look around, "I'm here to pick you up."

Actually, now that I think about it, I didn't see her car in the driveway. The hairs on my neck stand up with suspicion and I turn around, ready to stand outside and call her, when I notice a note stabbed to the front door. I slowly approach it and pull the knife out of the door. Shame. I didn't want to have to pay for any more damages. I stare at the note and recognize it's familiar hand writing.

'You were warned, and you didn't listen. She's with me now. Do anything else to interfere and you'll regret it.'

I pull the note that I found from Heather's house out of my pocket and realize why I recognized the hand writing. I look back and forth between the two notes. What's going on here?