The Haunted Orphanage

Chapter 99

Dan's POV

I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to do. I mean, no one had ever assumed I was dead before. "Umm, I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Officer Liguori pulled away from me and I immediately saw the tear stains covering his face. "You...You aren't dead, Dan!" He smiled brightly and hugged me again.

I tensed up. "No? Why would you have thought I was dead?" I closed my eyes before mumbling, "I've only been gone for a week."

Officer Liguori ripped himself away from me. "I'm sorry, what?"

I opened my eyes and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I've only been gone for a week. Mark, Jack, Felix, Cry, Phil, and I went to an orphanage to foster three kids for a video series and we got locked in by some crazy person we called the voice. We just escaped, though. One week later."

Officer Liguori's smile morphed into a frown. "Dan, your bodies were missing for a week. Then, Cozbi Myers found all six of your bodies scattered around Los Angeles. Dead. They ran DNA tests to confirm that it was you guys, and they all came out positive. Then, they ran an autopsy on all of you and found out that you all died in different ways."

I stayed silent for a moment before asking, "How were you told all of us died?"

He shrugged. "I don't really remember since I didn't want to know, but Mark was stabbed multiple times by someone who still hasn't been found. Felix was shot and wasn't found in time to save him. Cry and Phil I don't remember, but I think the news said something about them drowning."

Officer Liguori hesitated, so I insisted, "What about me and Jack?"

"Uh, before I get to that, you know who I am, right?"

I raised an eyebrow. I still refused to believe we had been gone for more than a week, so this person being PJ was out of the question. I shook my head.

He frowned even more. "Dan, it's me, PJ. You don't remember me?"

I tensed up again and clenched my teeth together until they started aching. I stared at him and had to force the tears I felt welling up to go away.

"That's impossible," I finally replied. "You look at least fifty, and there's no way I was gone for over a week." I tried to think of some way to prove that it hadn't been very long since I was standing in LA last.

"You're right in the fact that you don't look a day older than when I saw you last, but I'm fifty-one. Dan, it's been twenty-five years since I've seen you."

I felt I wave of emotions rush through me, but before I was willing to break down, I still needed some answers. "How was it announced that Jack and I died?"

PJ gulped. "Uh, it was reported that you had...that you had killed yourself. I couldn't bring myself to listen to the details, but apparently, they found your body in Mark's house. It was never announced how Jack died. We were all just supposed to believe that he did."

I stayed quiet for a second before trying to change the subject, "Who did you say found the bodies?"

"Cozbi Myers? Right now, we're supposed to only refer to her as the Overlord. About a month or so after your bodies were discovered by her, she assassinated the American president. Mark's funeral was being held first, so there were a lot of people visiting America for it. Everyone who came was forced to stay. Airlines out of and into the country were completely shut down."

"Holy shit," I muttered. There was no doubt in my mind that Cozbi Myers was the voice. Even the people working for her in the orphanage had referred to her as Mrs. Myers.