Secret's in the Pictures

Started with an Email

All that I know is that I woke up Friday morning with not a care in the world about my safety and by the end of Friday night I felt such gut-wrenching anxiety about my life being ended so young and abruptly. I guess I should start from the beginning to let you know my whole story.
Here's some things you should know about me, Jane Benton I'm a Senior at Portland Public Highschool. I have a girlfriend Samantha Berkley, and my best friend Tommy Kesller. All three of us have been friends since kindergarten. Tommy and I both grew up on Elm street. Samantha grew up on a different side of town. As most kids would say the wrong side of town. Not that that ever bothered me or Tommy.
It started out like any other day I woke up, did my usual before school routine and headed to school in my older Highlander. I'm not much of a car girl but that was my pride and joy. A beautiful dark green car that shimmers under a full moon. I drove my usual route noticing the streets lightly dusted with the presence of people. It was still dawn so many of the tourists weren't out on the streets quite yet. Just the locals getting what they need before it is sold out.
Portland Maine is a beautiful place to live don't get me wrong but I always dreamed of the Rocky Mountains, but I love the ocean. I know I had to come up with a compromise somehow, but they each hold a special place in my heart. I dreamed about the Rocky Mountains, living in a little secluded cabin. I want to start a garden to keep to myself. I also thought about learning to hunt but I was almost sure I wouldn't have been able to kill a living breathing animal.
I saw my school around the bend of the road and I felt excited. Spring Break had ended a week ago and I had been with my grandmother in Vermont all of spring break and I got back on the Thursday of the next week. So it's safe to say I missed my friends and my girlfriend very much. I loved the view,  the fog became more visible as light began to surface from the cloudy sky. The light surrounded the old building with newer additions making it look like a view straight from a horror film.
In school I wasn't popular but I wasn't just friends with Tommy and Sam, I have other friends just none as close to me as them. I grew up with a pretty normal life. My Mom and Dad are still married but they aren't very approving of my relationship. They aren't like super religious or anything, I've dated boys in the past and they are holding  on to the fact that it's just a phase. What they don't realize (even though I've told them a thousand times) I'm bisexual it's possible that I could date a boy again but after my first ever girlfriend Alyssa who I dated my Junior year, I realized I was more into girls than I was guys. That just ended up diminishing the strong relationship I had with my parents. Tommy's parents on the other hand are a completely different breed.
He has an Eric Foreman basement, we always hung out down there and we would just chill and smoke pot. Once his parents even joined us, it nearly made me piss myself when I heard them coming down the stairs. I was sure we were caught and they were gonna call my parents and I'd be grounded for the rest of my life under their roof.
I'm not much of a party girl but I tend to go to parties more often than I'd like, but that's mainly because Sam is a party animal, it's usually me dropping her off at her moms trailer and helping her brother get her into bed. She takes after her mom in more ways than one. Her mom is now an alcoholic who sleeps with anyone who was willing.
Tommy on the other hand was raised by the chillest parents and was one of the most high strung people I've ever met. He is hellbent on getting into an Ivy league school and having a successful career. He wants to be a big Wall Street guy who has all the money and can get any chick he wants. It's not like he was poor but he always said he liked my house better.
Our lives were never really interconnected but we were always together. We were called the Merry Band of Misfits by my favorite English teacher. When Sam and I first got together there were some bullies that made our lives hell for a little while but Sam got pissed off and basically threw her own pride parade and shamed them into silence with lots of intimidation.
I pull into the back parking lot and then pull into my usual spot. I saw Sam sitting on the picnic table that sat on the grassy area in front of the back parking lot. It was shaded by the tall dark trees that created the woods that went on for about 16 acres behind the school. Sam sat staring at her phone but as soon as she saw my car she looked up from her phone and gave me a warm smile.
I hopped out of my car after putting it in park and grabbing my bag from the passenger side. I walk up to her, tossing my bag on the table behind her. I smile and pull her closer to me.
"Hi, beautiful" I say as I lean in and place my lips on hers. Soft and deep, that's how I would describe our relationship. We were always very honest with each other. It took me a second to realize she wasn't really kissing me back. I pulled away concerned "what's wrong?" I ask looking at her hoping for her eyes to meet mine.
"Tommy hasn't been to school in two days and his parents have no clue where he is either" she responded quietly looking into my eyes softly. I texted him earlier that week and he had responded. I pulled out my phone and texted him
Hey, where are you? And a few seconds later he responded with I'm in class, I needed a couple days to myself and I told Sam that too btw. I looked up again and she was staring at my screen. Sam looked genuinely pissed off after reading that. I changed the subject and suggested we go meet up not wanting to get into an argument after two weeks of not seeing each other.
We got to class and there Tommy was sitting at his desk as usual. Tommy didn't talk to us or seem like himself. When I asked Sam about it she said she didn't know. She told me she spent the break with her aunt, who was much nicer than her mother but her husband was awful. Making cruel racial and homophobic jokes among other topics, but Sam was always good at blocking out the hate.
I wish I could say I remember much about the rest of that day. I remember none of us really talking at lunch, I kind of kept to myself because I couldn't get what was going on. Why were they acting so strange today and what happened while I was gone? Questions kept spinning around in my mind all day. I hugged Tommy before he got in his car and went home. Then Sam and I hopped into my car and I drove her home. The car ride was quiet minus the hum of the engine and the soft stereo in the background.
We got to her trailer park and I pulled into the gravel driveway, she smiled and leaned over to kiss me, I gave her a quick peck, I couldn't quite pay attention to her. I was very unfocused. After that I have no clue I don't remember driving home or how I got to my room. I just remember sitting at my desk and my thoughts are stopped when my brain processes the images spread across my laptop screen. Pictures of me from about two months ago until now. My stomach dropped and my heart began to beat so fast I was convinced my chest would explode. I scrolled through the pictures and at the bottom it said YOU ARE DEAD. I dropped my laptop and screamed.