To My Dearest Enemy

Truth Hurts

December 23

"Hey, wake up." Jill whispered as she gently shook Alana awake. Alana groaned as she turned onto her side. She came over in the middle of the night and crashed without explaining why she was at Jill's house. Jill turned to Matt, who was standing in the doorway.

"Just give me your phone." Matt said.

"No! I don't know what you're gonna do with it!" Jill replied.

"I'm just gonna text JD, tell them to leave me alone. I got a text last night." Matt explained. Jill sighed and looked at Alana, who was asleep on the floor.

"You look like shit." Jill said as she looked up at Matt. His hair was greasy and disheveled and his khakis were dirty. His blue three quarter sleeve shirt also had a strange dark stain on the front.

"Fuck off." Matt mumbled.

"Did you sleep on the street last night?" Jill asked.

"Fuck no, I'm not an idiot. I passed out on the sidewalk." Matt said.

"Oh my god! Is your family looking for you?" Jill replied. Was Matt seriously that upset?

"No. I stopped by for breakfast, changed my shirt, and left." Matt replied. He changed his shirt into a dirty one? He never wore dirty clothes out of the house.

"Uhm, alright." Jill grabbed Alana's phone off of the nightstand and passed it to Matt.

"What's her password?" Matt asked as he turned the phone on.

"Zero four thirty." Jill stated. Alana's birthday. Matt typed in the password and then opened text messages. He frowned as he saw a few messages from JD, all from the past few weeks. The most recent one being from two weeks ago

Hey Lanzi,

That's a nice painting. Mind if I take it?

j. doe

Attached to that text was a picture of Alana's painting of the woods. A hand wearing a black glove was holding it. Alana had told her friends that she sold that piece for some extra cash. She lied, JD stole it. JD was also in their school.

Hey Lanzi,

Happy two month anniversary! I can't believe you stuck with Nolan this long, especially since Bells has been all alone.

J. DOE

Matt's heart skipped a beat. He loved Alana, but not the same way she liked him. She was like his little sister. He loved Stella and Hayden.

Hey Lanzi,

Thanksgiving was one of Hayden's favorite holidays. Remember her? She was your fake best friend. I know how jealous you were of her.

J. DOE

Alana was jealous of Hayden for Matt. 'Could that be why Hayden was gone? Was Alana trying to eliminate her competition? Then Stella disappeared, Alana could've been trying to get me all for herself. Was Jill next? Or Ethan, if he was gay for me?' Matt thought as he read the texts.

Hey Lanzi,

You can't sketch the pain away.

j. doe

What pain?

Hey Lanzi,

Sorry Matt lost his job, but he needed to pay. At least he was fired before you got closer to him. I know how much you two have drifted apart since Hayden went missing.

J. DOE

JD got Matt fired. He was angry. Jill snatched the phone out of Matt's hand and read the texts.

"Have you gotten any texts in the past month or so?" Jill asked. Matt shook his head. "Me neither." She looked at Alana. She couldn't think Alana had anything to do with Stella or Hayden missing, but she knew Matt could believe it. He wanted answers.

"Wake the fuck up." Matt snapped as he walked to Alana and shook her. She groaned. "We know you've gotten texts!" Alana sat right up at that statement.

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Ethan climbed out of the black Chevy Suburban with tinted windows that JD left at the abandoned apartment building for him. The GPS already had a destination set and it brought Ethan to an old farmhouse over an hour away. He walked down the gravel path towards the house. His heart was racing; he was about to meet JD. He couldn't believe it. He was meeting JD fifteen days earlier than planned. The building seemed to be well taken care of, there was a white fence around the small property. There were enormous pine trees around the red shingled house and an overhang on one side of the house. Was this JD's hideout? Ethan walked to the front door and tried to open it. Locked. He sighed and began to walk around the side of the house. Maybe there was a side door. He walked around the back and saw a door. His heart kept racing as he approached the door. He slowly turned the knob and opened the door. Great. He opened the door and slowly walked into the dark house. He felt a hand on his mouth and then the lights switched on. Standing in front of him with a black gloved hand over his mouth was a large person, a few inches taller than Ethan, wearing all black, including a black ski mask. Their eyes were the only part of their face that could be seen. Those eyes, those dark brown devil eyes. JD. They removed their hand from Ethan's mouth.

"Ethan Doe." The voice bellowed. A man.

"John Doe." Ethan's eyes widened.

"Would you like to see Stella?" The voice asked.

"Hell yeah." Ethan said. JD quickly grabbed Ethan's neck and slammed Ethan's head into the wood door, knocking him unconscious upon impact.

––––––

"I didn't want to tell you guys because you wouldn't be able to help! Matt, I knew if I told you that you'd accuse me of being the reason why they're gone, but I have an alibi for both nights if you still don't believe me!" Alana cried out.

"You never told us your alibi for the night Hayden disappeared." Jill said. She wasn't agreeing with Matt, but didn't know what to think.

"I was with Nolan at my house that night. I stayed here when Stella dropped me off last night, you know that." Alana sniffled. Now Matt felt bad for almost accusing Alana of Hayden and Stella disappearing.

"I'm sorry." Matt said. Alana couldn't blame him for being upset.

"There's something else I never told you guys before. About a month ago when Stella and I were hanging out, I overheard her dad talking when I went to the bathroom.

Alana froze as she heard muffled conversations in the next room. She quietly opened the bathroom door and walked out. She couldn't help herself but to be curious. She stood by the door where the conversation was coming from.

"I can't do anything to get her off the suspect list. I don't know why they haven't called her in for more questions, but I think they're building a case against her...they think he's her accomplice. I have no clue, I can't get any information because she's my daughter. It's crazy. She couldn't have done it, but him? He had no motive. I could see how they think Stella had a motive. I need to–" Alana slowly rushed to Stella's room as she heard Mr. Fraser getting close to the door.

"Stella was a suspect." Jill's jaw dropped.

"But who's he? Ethan, Wesley, or me?" Matt asked.

"I think it's you." Alana said as the doorbell ring. The three ignored the doorbell.

"Does that mean I'm the main suspect now?" Matt asked.

"Unless the cops think Stella staged her disappearance to visit her victim." Jill's eyes widened at the thought. The door opened and all three turned to see Lucille walk in.

"Jill. Cops are here with a search warrant." Lucille stated.