Dancing to the Answers

Chapter 9 || Two More Clues

Chloe and the girls stared at the silver envelopes in awe. Since Paige had been hit as part of her clue (assuming it was hers, why else would she be the one hit?) Gianna tried to make it up to us by giving us an extra clue.

It wasn't the idea way to say "I'm sorry for almost killing your friend", but no one was complaining. It was about time that things started to come together. So far all they had was a car accident and a black piece of paper.

Chloe hesitantly grabbed the envelope labeled Clue Three, looking to the girls for approval. When they all nodded impatiently, she commenced to opening the clue carefully.

Inside was a fancy paper the girls knew much too well by now. Pulling out the paper, she read the name of the group dance to the girls. "Where Have All the Children Gone."

Immediately, Chloe remembered the swing set that Kenzie and Vivianne had used in the dance, and she thought of the park that was in walking distance.

"Guys," she exclaimed, "the swing set we used in the dance.....let's go to the park!" The girls seemed to agree, so they grabbed their coats to endure the cool fall weather. Chloe led the group, pushing open the heavy glass doors, where they were all greeted by a cold gust of wind.

There was little to no conversation. The only sound that filled Chloe's ears was their boots crunching leaves beneath them. She and the others were relieved when the rusty green swing set came into view.

Chloe was quite confused as to where this one would be hidden. It had to be somewhere in view, fairly obvious, so the girls would be able to find it, but also somewhere secrete so any curious children wouldn't think to snatch it.

When they reached the swing set, the girls realized there was nothing that resembled a clue around or on it. "Let's split up," Nia suggested, and without a reply, the girls each headed towards a different part of the playground.

After several minutes, the girls because tired of searching and began to feel hopeless. "Anything?" Nia asked hopefully. Everyone shook their heads. It wasn't until the girls were about to give up that Chloe noticed a black garbage bag hanging from an oak tree adjacent to the park, and the girls followed her gaze. Excitedly, they dashed to the tree.

"Is anyone good at climbing trees?" Chloe giggled. The girls shrugged, clearly embarrassed to admit that they either had a strange hobby or were fairly uncoordinated. They looked at Chloe longingly, and she sighed. "Fine, I'll go," she replied, making her way to the tall tree. That resulted in a small fit of giggles from the girls.

Chloe stepped into the joined hands of Kenzie and Nia, getting a boost up to the first branch. She inched her way up the tree, making every foot placement carefully. After repeating this process several times, the bag was almost within fingertip's reach. Chloe stepped up to the next branch, where she was able to grasp hold of the bag.

She inched her way down slowly, where the girls cheered quietly below her. With about five feet separating her and the ground, she jumped, and her ankle instantly buckled beneath her. She grunted in pain, causing the girls to swarm around her. "I'm fine," she lied, not wanting the girls to pity her for her clumsiness.

Chloe slowly drew the plastic drawstrings to the garbage bag, nervous to reveal the contents. She pulled out a battered up baby doll with masking tape over its mouth, and dropped the object out of fright.

Kendall immediately snatched the doll off of the damp grass, and she studied it, soaking in every one of its features. Finally, she spoke up. "Let's head back and read the next clue.

--

The girls arrived back at the ALDC with the garbage bag, and Chloe watched as Nia took it into the den, to put with all the other clues they had stored in there. Gianna handed Chloe the next envelope, and she waited before Nia had returned to open it.

"Snapshot," she read, memories of the fun, sassy group number she adored filling her head.

This time, the girls were stumped. There was no place that seemed relevant to the number. The girls sat on the bench in the entryway for at least 20 minutes, thinking, but getting no where. After those 20 minutes, they decided to call it a night.

Chloe changed into comfortable clothes and snuggled up in her now familiar pink sleeping bag. She couldn't help but think about the clue, she was itching to know what it meant, and if it was her clue.

She remembered Brandon. The girls posed in polka dotted dresses while he snapped pictures of them here and there. Then it hit Chloe, and it hit her hard.

No, literally. Seeing the girls where stumped, someone had given them a hint. A camera was thrown at Chloe, and it landed directly on her chest. Could this be the help they needed?

Not wanting to wake anyone up, she fumbled with the buttons in the dark until the screen finally lit up.

The contents of the camera was only three pictures. A window, a baseball bat, and the same window, broken. It didn't take her long to put the pieces together.

After staring at the pictures for a while, Chloe realized she recognized the window. Rolling out of her sleeping bag, she tiptoed outside, not caring if her bare feet got wet from the dewy grass. She sprinted to the back of the building, where she found exactly what she was looking for.

A broken window.

Gulping, Chloe realized something. There was a reason someone had thrown the camera at her and tempted her to figure everything out.

It was Chloe's clue.

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authors note: OH MY GOSH I AM SO FRACKING MAD I WROTE UP UNTIL THE TREE CLIMBING PART IN THE CHAPTER AND IT DIDNT SAVE I had to write it all over again lol so sorry if it's pretty bad up until that part. thanks so much for all the feedback. have an awesome day! I'll try to update tomorrow can you get this to 170 reads? yay thank you!

-caidawg woop woop

(ps, I think I came up with the ending, and you guys are gonna hate me for it but yolo)

(pps, READ MY FIRST STORY! ITS ALMOST TO 600 READS OMG ILY)

(ppps, lol almost done this is like the longest author's note ever I should have called it chapter 9 || long authors note. no? okay bye.)