Behind Closed Doors

Chapter 10: "Where have you been?"

It's June, and I'm at the library. Me and Will are going nowhere and while he holds my hand and stuff, he won't ask me out, which is really pissing me off.

We don't know where the guy's body is, but we're friends with their family.

I'm at the town's tiny library to get some homework done because all Mom and Collin will talk about is the guy that killed the Jefferson's and I need a few hours of sanity.

I'm trying to find a good book to read now, because I already finished my homework. I'm walking home because Mom is at work. Collin is home though. Mom gets off of work at six, and it's five thirty. The library closes at six thirty.

I don't want to read Harry Potter...not The Hunger Games...definitely not Twilight...no Divergent...

I sigh and walk to the older books.

Maybe there's something cool here.

I look through the shelves and spot a giant old hardcover book that just looks outdated and dusty. I frown and wipe the dust off of the back.

Solved and unsolved mysteries of Wallford, Maryland.

I feel my heart speed up slightly and I pull the book out, sitting down at a nearby table.

What did Julian say the killer's name was? Andrew? No, it's not Andrew. Ashton? No, it's not that either.

I sigh and think hard.

Aaron? No it's not that...but I know it started with an A...

I bite my lip.

Alan! It was Alan!

I go to the table on contents and flip through them, thinking hard.

Alan Jones.

I flip to page three hundred and seven. There's a sketch of him in black and white.

I grin and start to read.

Alan Jones was the murderer of the Jefferson's family. He cursed them, and they can only be brought back on Halloween. After this, he told the whole town about it, and then he ran for the woods. He was chased, according to Alissa Coleman, and she heard two men screaming in the woods. When the screaming stopped, the uncle and brother of the Jefferson's, David Jefferson, left the woods unharmed and alone. It is thought that David Jefferson killed Alan Jones, but when he was questioned, he denied killing him. The local authorities searched the woods for miles, but did not find Jones' body anywhere. To this day in 1948, nobody knows what happened to Alan Jones.

I gulp and flip to the table of contents again, to the Jefferson's page.

It tells me everything I already know, but there is a sketch of the family in the page and they all look...the same, minus the bloody clothes and the hazy ghostly look to them.

Wait a minute...

I frown, and I flip to the contents again, gasping slightly when I see: David Jefferson-page 998-1002.

I flip to 998 and start to read.

David Jefferson is thought to have murdered Alan Jones in the woods. A week after his brother, sister-in-law, niece, and two nephews were cursed by Alan Jones, David Jefferson committed suicide. His body was found directly after his questioning about Alan Jones. It is thought by most people that Jefferson committed suicide because he killed Alan Jones.

My hands are sweating so badly. I stand up and go to the counter. I rent the book and put it in my backpack, and then I hurry down the street, passing my own street, and passing the high school, walking right into the cemetery.

We never looked to see if there were any clues here. I walk around and gasp in horror when I see Julian Jefferson on a headstone. Next to him is Cole Jefferson and then Sara Jefferson and then Mary Jefferson and then Ethan Jefferson.

Then, past that is David Jefferson.

I sit down at his grave and read his headstone. Beloved son, brother, and uncle.

I sigh heavily and continue to walk around.

"Can I help you?" a lady asks, one that works here. She's creepy.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you know if there is an Alan Jones here?" I ask.

Her eyes widen, and then she shakes her head. "No, he's been missing for over a century."

I sigh. "Okay, thank you."

I walk away before she can question me further, and continue walking around the cemetery.

I don't know how much time passes, but the sun disappears behind the ocean and I realize I'm in a cemetery, alone, in the dark.

I really wish that David Jefferson was a ghost. Then we could get some fucking answers!

I sigh, my shoulders slumping as I walk out of the cemetery and down the street. I turn right on Apple Drive and walk down the road for five minutes and then cut across the grass and walk into my house. Will, Kara, Dakota, Blake, Tyler, Vince, Collin, Mom, and the Jefferson's are all in the living room, looking worried.

"Do you know what time it is?" Mom snaps. I look at the clock and shrug.

"Sorry." I say.

"Where have you been?" she puts her hands on her hips and Mrs. Jefferson joins her. She's like a second mother, and it's kind of funny. Mom and her are the best of friends and I know Mom can't wait till she's human again.

"The library-"

"No, I looked there and you weren't there." She cuts me off.

"-And then the cemetery." I cast her an annoyed glance.

"The cemetery?" she asks.

"I just..." I shrug. "We didn't check there..."

"He's missing." Julian reminds me.

"Did you know that directly after your uncle's questioning, he committed suicide? People think its cause he killed Jones. Oh, and some girl saw your uncle follow Jones into the woods. She heard screaming and then it got silent, and your uncle left the woods without a scratch."

Mom looks confused. "How do you know that?" she asks when she sees the confused faces of the Jefferson's.

In answer, I pull out the book and hand it to her.

"Who was the girl?" Julian asks.

"Alissa Coleman." I reply.

"She lived right by the woods. I bet she saw them enter from there."

"Let's go look!" Mom says.