The Cannibal Bride *WattyAwards2024

5)Suspicions

"Pity Party" by Melanie Martinez

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"Let me see if I have this right," said Cory over the phone. "Your sister Cassi ran off with some guy you don't like, but you think there's more to the story?"

After quickly retreating to Cassi's bedroom and closing the door for privacy, Alyssa wasted no time in calling Cory as soon as she settled back at her family's house. Their conversation lasted twenty intense minutes, during which Alyssa recounted every detail of her experience at the Stern mansion. The disbelief and frustration from her parents were palpable; they argued vehemently with Alyssa throughout the entire ride home, their voices reaching near-screaming levels. It was a rare sight for Alyssa, whose liberal parents rarely raised their voices.
Alyssa was so incensed and desperate to find Cassi that she might have been stunned into silence under different circumstances. Only when she angrily declared her intention to involve the police did her parents finally take her seriously. Henry texted Cassi's phone, asking for something personal that only the real Cassi would know, threatening to involve the authorities otherwise.

In response, Cassi sent a text detailing the incident when Alyssa had stolen a box of frogs from their high school biology lab to spare them from dissection. Alyssa had intended to release them outdoors but Madison unwittingly opened the box, resulting in eighteen frogs bouncing around the house. Alyssa had spent the entire night chasing the slippery creatures.
Considering she would have been in massive trouble for theft and was already developing a reputation as a troublemaker, the story never left the family. Unfortunately, this story was proof that Cassi was the one on the other end of the phone. Alyssa wanted to be happy it was her sister was the one talking to them, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong.

After Cassi sent that text along with a brief message saying she wasn't ready to talk in person because she felt embarrassed, Alyssa's parents didn't question anything further. In their minds, their youngest daughter left home to be with her boyfriend. It was neat and tidy. But in Alyssa's mind, her parents were utter fools if they could believe this farce. None of it felt right.

"My parents are idiots," Alyssa groaned quietly, flopping herself on Cassi's bed. There was no worry her parents would overhear. They left ten minutes earlier to pick up some calming herbal tea for Madison. "They really think Cass ran off with that moron," she snapped.
"Now, where does the dude you lost your V-card to fit in?" Cory asked over the receiver with an attached yawn.

Alyssa watched the wall of photos Cassi had on her vanity. All of them with family or friends, showing a bubble Cassi always beaming at the camera. Running away from everything she ever knew was utterly uncharacteristic.
"What the hell are the odds that the man I once slept with at random is also related to the sheriff who tried arresting me on more than one occasion?"

"Really bad odds?" Cory guessed with another yawn. "I mean, you grew up in that place, Ally. It's not that big of a town. How did you never know the sheriff had a son?"
"He has kids, two of them. But I've never seen Ian before."
"Well, maybe the sheriff and the Tom guy has a brother or sister, and the Ian guy is related to them?"
Alyssa groaned as her head swam with too many unanswered questions. "Wouldn't I have known who he was at some point? I mean, I lived here in Falls Creek for eighteen years..." she trailed off, realizing they were getting off topic. "That's not the point. Do you still know that guy Sebastian from the Dallas crime lab?"
Alyssa could recall on more than one occasion talking to a man Cory was friends with from the police department. He had graduated with a degree in biochemistry and had taken a job at a local department instead of pursuing the NASA program. She thought that Sebastian had been dating a family member of Cory's, but she couldn't remember.