Love & Carnage✗Noah Foster [2]

Chapter Thirty-Seven// First Clue

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"Holy haunted mansion, Batman."

--Noah Foster

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I woke up with a pounding headache. I opened my eyes and saw that I was still in the woods. I laid on my side, leaves in my face. I sat up a little, seeing that it was still daylight out. I groaned as I felt something sticky on my face, where I touched with my hand. I looked down at my hand. Blood. Blood everywhere. Even in the dirt. Noah.

I remembered immediately. Noah was stabbed. I looked around. But... he was taken for sure. I sucked my teeth in as I felt a sudden pain on my cheek. I touched it, and pulled my hand back in front of my face. Fresh blood. I sighed. I stood up uneasily, feeling around my body for my phone. "Are you serious?!" I screamed. I began to stumble the way Noah and I had come. Where was he? What would the killer want with Noah? He hadn't done anything. But... Riley, Will, Jake, Rachel and everyone else hadn't done anything either. Oh, God. He was going to kill Noah. I began to run now, even though my head pounded. I got back the lake, seeing that Noah's car was... gone. But mine was still there. Where was he?! I hated not knowing. I needed to find Noah. I felt around my body again. And groaned. Bastard took my phone AND my keys. I looked around the quiet lake. How was I going to get out of here? I watched my car, thinking. I began to walk towards it, and that's when I got the idea. I rushed to the car. I went to open the car, but it wouldn't open. Makes sense. He wants me to be trapped here. So that I can't find Noah. I fanned myself and a little piece of paper fell from my clothing. I frowned and leaned down to grab it. I opened the little note.

Time for a little treasure hunt. If you follow my rules, maybe you can save Noah's life. First clue. Find Emma and Audrey.

Clock's ticking.

I screamed loudly. This wasn't happening. Wait a minute. That meant that Noah was... still alive. That I could save him. I pulled my green sweater off, leaving me in my white tank-top. A piece of paper fell from the sweater onto the gravel. I wrapped the sweater around my right hand. I pulled my fist back and punched the window. I drew back, wincing. It hadn't worked. "Wow, it usually works in the movies." I mumbled. I pulled my arm back and hit the window my hardest. I tried at it about a million times. I was going to save Noah. Even if it was the last thing I did. Finally, I raised my foot and kicked the window. The glass shattered loudly. Yes it got in the car, but that was besides the point. "Gotta thank my mom for these flats." I whispered to myself. I reached my hand into the car window and unlocked the car. I pulled open the car door, and began to move the glass out of the car quickly. I then placed my sweater over the seat in case of more glass, and got into the car. I closed the door behind me. "Okay. Let's do this." I pulled the plastic cover on the steering column off. I had watched my dad do this about three times. I thought I was good. He used to say, "never ever do this, Ari." When I was ten. I mean, it was always his own car. Because he always seemed to lose his keys. And it felt like a good day to disobey my dad. I got to work quickly.

It was about five minutes later that I connected the ignition wire to the the battery wire. And the car came to life. I smiled, and reved the engine. I remembered the last thing my dad would always do. My dad would pull the steering wheel hard from side to side. Break the steering lock. Unless I wanted to drive off a cliff... I turned the car around, nudging a picnic table by accident. "Oops." I muttered. "I'm coming for you, Noah. Don't worry."

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Finding Audrey and Emma wasn't hard. They should've been at the school. I didn't want to piss the killer off and make him retaliate. 'Cause I wouldn't be the one he'd hurt. Noah was.

"Woah, woah, woah!" I cried as I pulled the car to a halt. Yeah, my mom was totally going to kill me. I parked unevenly, but I didn't care. I unconnected the battery and ignition wires and I jumped out of the car, grabbing my sweater. My head hurt so bad, and the drive back here was kind of blurry.

But I wasn't the one who's life was in danger. That was Noah. I ran through the parking lot, looking around. Cars were still here, so I was pretty sure school was still in session. That's the thing though. I had no idea what time it was. I kept running towards the school. I went for the back of the school. I couldn't walk in the front, looking like this. It would draw attention. I kept running, until I heard a loud honk, scaring the shit out of me. I whipped around and saw Emma's car. Inside were Audrey and Emma. I felt relief wash over me. "Oh, thank God!" I ran towards the car, getting into the back seat. "Hey, guys."

They both turned in their seats, appalled at my attire. "'Hey?'" Audrey yelled. "What happened to you--Where have you been?"

My mouth dropped as I saw Audrey's phone, as it was turned on. "Oh, my God! You found Noah!" I grabbed the phone and stared at it.

Noah was coughing violently in the video. It was live. Which meant that Noah was still alive. But... suffering. He looked to be in a box-type thing. Trapped. "Yeah, not exactly." Emma said. "What happened to you?!" Emma asked me. "I went after Noah, because he went to find Zoe. Turns out, it was a trap. The killer met us there. He stabbed Noah, knocked me out. I took a small dirt nap in my own blood, mixed in with Noah's. When I woke up, Noah was gone." I explained. "The killer left me a note, telling me to find you guys. I hotwired my car because he took my keys! AND my phone!" I yelled. "Oh, here!" Audrey took her phone back and reached into her bag. "I found this in my locker." She told me, pulling my phone out. "That asshole." I grabbed my phone and slid it into my skirt pocket. "We have to go to Sheriff Acosta. He can keep it under wraps." Emma said quickly. "No. No, absolutely not. We do that. Noah dies." I told her. "We can't risk it! You don't get it! This is how he works." Audrey screamed at her. "I tried to play him before and he retaliated. He killed a hotel clerk just to prove a point." I shivered at her words, remembering Eddie's dead body beneath me. "He will one hundred percent kill Noah if we cross him." I whispered. Emma laid her head onto the steering wheel. "The only chance we have is to play his fucked up game." I told them. "Well, then... where do we start?" Emma asked. My phone vibrated in my pocket. Audrey and Emma turned to me, and I pulled my phone out. I had a text.

UNKNOWN:

Noah thought he had all the answers. Better find where he went wrong.

I read the text aloud. "Where he went wrong? How do we figure that out?" Emma whispered. "'Thought he had all the answers'." Audrey said. "Maybe he was getting too close. How are we supposed to know what he's thinking?!" A thought hit me immediately. "Guys, guys! His murder board! His thoughts." I reminded them. Emma and Audrey looked at each other, and then Emma pulled on the console, starting the car. "Let's go."