Please Understand

Chapter 14: Twisted Reality

Carefully, I unfolded the receipt as I curled up on the floor of my tree house. Why would Amelia buy a new shirt? Did she think she could erase the memory of that night? Did she think everything would go back to normal? I pulled the shirt up, and smelled the vanilla perfume one more time. Soon her smell would be gone, replaced by my nervous sweat, but she probably didn't even wear this shirt. She probably just sprayed it, sneaked into my room, and put it into my drawer.

How could she? When did she? I know she didn't come here Thursday night because I was here, and I'm sure I would've heard her come in. Friday night was the football game, and then we all came back here for the party, but Amelia was working. According to Carlie, she was up here, so there's no way Amelia could've been in my room without someone noticing.

I sat there with my head pounding, probably from inhaling her perfume too much, but I needed anything that could bring me closer to her. Maybe she left all of this for me to figure out. Maybe she was in trouble. She needed me to find her.

My mind was racing and I crawled to the small window of the tree house to look out at the road. Danny's little crappy car raced down the street, and I watched until it disappeared. He must have been going to the bar. Before I knew what I was doing, I was crawling to the hatch to get out of there, and I hurried down the ladder. Luckily, neither of my parents were home yet, so I ran through the bushes between our houses, and saw Amelia's ladder still leaning against the house next to her window. Nervously, I glanced over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching. I set up the ladder, listening to it creak, and I couldn't believe she used this almost every night to sneak out. I hardly trusted the stupid thing to climb up in broad daylight, how did she climb down in the dark?

I got up to her window, she had taken the screen off years ago, and luckily Danny hadn't locked it. My heart pounded in my chest as I pulled myself into her room. How did she have the courage to do this? I'm scared to death of falling. As soon as my feet were firmly planted on the tan carpet, I took in a deep breath. In and out. You're not going to get caught, Mason.

I hurried to her dresser, and rummaged through her shirt drawer. I politely skipped her underwear drawer as soon as I opened it. The shirt was no where to be found among her mostly black garments. When I got to her last drawer with her jeans in it, I noticed how they were tossed around, and messily folded. I moved them around and found an envelope tucked underneath a pair of red skinny jeans. Without even thinking, I grabbed it, opened it, and saw a few hundred dollar bills.

Amelia did sell drugs. Maybe she really was kidnapped, so she wasn't able to take this with her.

My heart sank as I thought about it. I guess I secretly hoped she ran away, so at least I knew she was alive, but she would've taken the money with her. If she was kidnapped, then who knows what happened to her. The money felt like it was burning my hand, so I stuffed it back into the drawer, and I slammed it closed. There was no sign of the shirt, so I crouched on the floor, and put my head in my hands. When I looked up, I saw her black hamper next to her desk, and I dreaded what I was about to do.

I crawled over to the hamper, and wildly threw clothes onto the floor. If the shirt wasn't in here, then where else could it be? Surely, Amelia wouldn't have burned it or thrown it away, right? She did want to erase the memory of that night, isn't that why she bought me a new one? I stood up, threw out the last pair of jeans, and smirked at the last shirt sitting at the bottom.

Avenged Sevenfold with a ripped sleeve, and when I picked it up, I saw dried blood that had dripped down. Involuntarily, I gasped and held the shirt as far away as I possibly could. I looked around at the mess I made, all for a shirt, and I cleaned up her room in the hopes that maybe I could find something else. Nothing. Nothing jumped out and declared itself as evidence, so I found my way to the window. I took one last glance around her room, hoping Danny wouldn't notice that I had snooped around.

I was right, going down the ladder was scarier than climbing up. I wanted to gag with the bloody shirt hanging off my shoulder, and I tried closing the window without falling down. My body trembled as I looked down with each step. The grass spun relentlessly underneath me. Everything I did reminded me of Amelia, plus it didn't help that the shirt smelled like alcohol and vanilla just like that night.

There was a lump in my throat, but ignored it as I ran towards my car. I didn't know what the point of my actions were, but I had to do something. The shirt was thrown onto the passenger seat, and I sped down my street. I needed to do this before I talked myself out of it. The police station was only three minutes away from my house, and I came screeching into a parking spot.

I was starting to regret my decision, but I grabbed the shirt, and hurried up the steps. What if they ask me if I found anything else in her room? What if I get into trouble for going in there? What if they talk to Danny about me snooping around? What if this really didn't help them find her?

When I ran inside, a woman got up from her desk with her eyes wide. "Mason? Honey? Is everything okay?" Mother asked as she approached me with her red heels clicking. "Mason? Please answer me."

"Mom...I...I need to talk to Detective Nix..." I stammered as my heart pounded in my chest and I clung to the shirt in my hand, like it could magically turn into Amelia.

She put her arm around me and led me over to her desk. "Sit down, and I'll go find him," she murmured as she pulled out her chair. "Everything is going to be alright." She fast walked away from me.

All the adrenaline was sucked out of me, and I sat there with a slack jaw and hollowed eyes. There was a picture of my parents, and me sitting on her desk along with her case files. She had a penguin paperweight that Amelia made for her in our sculpture class. She was always the most-

"Mason, do you want to speak out here or in my office?" Detective Nix asked. He stood in front of my mother's desk with a souvenir coffee mug in his hand.

I looked around, and shrugged my shoulders. "I...I found something in Amelia's room," I murmured as Mother came back with a water bottle that she handed to me.

"What did you find?" he asked in a small voice like he was consoling a child, or an injured animal. He had to coax this information out of me without scaring me away.

With shaking hands, I handed him my old shirt, and then I fumbled in my pocket for the receipt. "I thought that night was a dream. Amelia knew I was too tired to remember, but...I think she bought this...this shirt to cover up what happened," I rambled as I looked up at the detective. As I held the receipt towards him, he glanced over at my mother and then he set the coffee down.

He glanced at the paper, set it down, and then unfolded the shirt. Mother gasped, and covered her mouth with her hand. If I hadn't seen the blood, if I hadn't been there that night, then I might have been surprised too. "Mason, what are you trying to tell us? What happened to Amelia?" he asked with wide eyes.

I told them about the dream, how it was all my twisted reality, about the man who hurt her, about the blood on my shirt, and how she tried to cover it up. My head was spinning and I put my face in my hands to keep myself from crying.

"Mason, did she say who this man was?" he asked in his professional tone.

I shook my head, and looked up. "No. All she told me was Danny had some friends over. That's all I know," I murmured as I stared at the black and white penguin with the little red bow tie. "I should've asked her more questions." My voice was shaking, and maybe he was right to treat me like a child.

"You did the right thing," he reassured me with a smile. "I'm going to take this to forensics. Thank you, Mason." He grabbed his coffee and the receipt before walking away with his chest puffed up, like he unraveled the whole mystery.

Mother smiled at me and ran her fingers through my blonde hair. "You need a haircut," she laughed, but I could feel her shaking. "Come Mason, let's grab takeout for dinner. What sounds good? Pizza?" she asked as she tried to bring normalcy back into my life. She grabbed her red jacket off the back of her chair, and smiled at me.

"How can you pretend that everything is okay?" I asked as I stood up to follow her out. My stomach lurched, and I had to focus to prevent myself from vomiting.

Her short blonde hair barely moved as she walked, and all I could focus on was the clicking sound she always left behind. "Because I know you gave them a big clue, and we are going to find Amelia," she responded with a bright smile. She reached out to pat my shoulder. "Just let the detectives do their jobs."