No One Will Know

8. What Happened?

Third Person, back in Addison's Hometown

Leslie didn't know how long she stood there with that note. How long she stood frozen in spot, her mind spinning. She can't be gone, Leslie thought, it's her birthday. She couldn't wrap her mind around how her friend could just leave and only leave this small trace of nothing behind.

She was running towards Addison's bedroom before she could stop herself.

Empty. Empty except for the mattress and empty clothes hangers.

There hadn't been much in there in the first place. A small bit of clothes, a mattress with a sheet, a blanket ,a teddy bear. That's all that was in there. But it was still something, some trace of her that made a difference, meant that she had lived there. And now that all of that was gone, Leslie didn't know what to think, what to do. She just needed to hear Addison's voice and know that she was alright. Maybe try and talk her out of her nonsense and get her to come home.

The call she placed to Addison's phone rang five times. "Hello?" It was a males voice, and at first Leslie thought she had the wrong number, but upon glancing at her screen, realized, no, she had called Addison's phone. But Addison didn't have a boyfriend, or really hang out with too many guys, so it didn't make any sense.

"Ummm...hey, who is this?" Leslie wasn't quite sure how to go about asking who was inhabiting her friends phone, but figured that might suffice. At least she hoped.

"My name is Marcus. I work at Centraline Gas Station. Who is this?" Leslie had never heard the name Marcus before, certainly not as someone Addison knew. Certainly not anyone Addison would have entrusted her phone to.

"Leslie is my name. And that's my friends phone you've got. Want to tell me how you got it?" Leslie was moving towards the front door, planning on going to the gas station and getting it from him.

"Umm...I uhh, found it on the ground." He said, sounding awkward and like he wasn't used to speaking on the phone. Who knows, maybe he wasn't.

"What?" Leslie was in her car now. Putting it into reverse and then drive, and then heading off towards the station, "How did you find it in the street? Where?" She really couldn't believe what he was saying.

"I don't know, it was just lying there..."

"You know what, "She said, sounding irriated, not at him, but the situation, "I'm heading down there. So you can show me yourself, alright?"

"Okay." He said, sounding like he was unsure of what she was doing and whether or not he should be afraid of her. But that alright, because she wasn't quite sure if she should be afraid of herself.

Ten minutes later and she was pulling into Centraline gas station and turning off the ignition. Before going inside, she surveyed the outside a bit. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. So why did she have such a bad feeling?

She walked in through the front, glass door, a bell chiming as she walked in. She saw the normal attributes of a gas station, candy, a soda machine, chips. What she didn't see was someone behind the counter or anywhere, really.

"Can I help you?" Leslie nearly jumped at the sound of a voice, the same male voice as on the phone, as she turned around toward it. "Oh, are you the girl I talked to on the phone about ten minutes ago? Your name was...uh..."

"Leslie." She said, reminding her of his name and nodding as he recalled it. "So where's the phone?"

He seemed a bit disappointed that that was the first thing she jumped to. But something inside her told her that there was no time to waste. The something was going on. And he must have seen the haste in her eyes, because he quickly pulled the phone from his pocket.

The first thing that caught her eye caught her breath. The screen was cracked. And knowing Addison, if she left it with anyone for a short while, it wouldn't be. Even for her, if she'd had to drop it then she would lie it down carefully, making sure not to damage it. This wasn't Addie. This clumsy, broken screen, it didn't make any sense. "Oh...where did you find it?"

"I'll take you. C'mon." He walked outside, towards the pumps. He stopped in front of one and knelt down.

"There's a shard that fell. I found it here." She looked down at the ground, and she saw the small piece of glass, and then, afoot or two away, she saw some drops that had stained the ground, and they looked red.

Blood? "Is that blood?"

A chill went down her spine, her chest felt compressed, making her feel as if it was hard to breathe. What had happened to Addison?!