The first thing Alicia did was check the bathroom. No Chase. Then, she checked downstairs to see if Chase went down early for breakfast. No Chase. Even while she went through these procedures, though, somehow in her heart she knew the truth. Chase's behavior last night, everything that had happened recently...she simply knew.

Chase had run away.

She called up Caitlin to ask if Chase came to see her, then Lindsey. When they had nothing to report, the three of them met up in the park. With the mystery of the Satanists solved, Sunnycrest was slowly returning to normal, and people were beginning to venture out of their homes again. This meant the park was not completely deserted, although it was still slow for a Saturday, and easy enough for the trio to find a secluded spot where they could talk without being overheard.

“She didn't say anything to you? No sign she was planning to leave?” asked Lindsey, as they walked down a path, hands in their coat pockets.

“Nothing,” said Alicia. “Well, I mean, she was acting weird...but she's been acting weird all week. I cheered her up a bit and we had a normal night together. We did each other's nails...”

The sentence trailed off as she held up her right hand to forlornly look at her nails. Chase had meticulously painted them pink with alternating details of tiny slices of bacon and sunny-side-up eggs.

“Cute,” said Lindsey.

“Did you tell your parents?” asked Caitlin.

“No,” admitted Alicia, a note of helplessness in her voice. “I don't know who I should tell...or what to do...I want to call the police, file a missing persons report, but...”

“But they'd ask some questions that would be hard for us to answer,” finished Lindsey. Alicia looked at her and nodded grimly.

“You can tell my mom, she knows all about Chase now,” said Caitlin. “I just hope that...what my mom told her last night didn't have something to do with it.”

“No,” said Alicia. “Like I said, she's been weird ever since that night at the cabin. No, even longer than that. Since Rebecca died. It's like a part of Chase just...disappeared.”

Lindsey kicked an old aluminum beer can. The sound was heavier than they expected, and not quite hollow, suggesting some mud or snowmelt had frozen inside. “Cheerleading just meant so much to her. She'd do anything for the squad. Whenever trouble was afoot all she'd say was “not hurt cheer” this and “protect cheer” that. When one of us died, it must have...maybe she felt she'd failed somehow. It's probably more than that. But that might be part of it.”

“Yeah, maybe so...” said Caitlin. They passed by a pair of little kids on a playground carousel. One crouched on top of the round wooden base and held onto one of the metal bars while the other spun him around as fast as he could. The carousel rider's shouts broke the cheerleaders' silence. “Poor Chase.”

“Where do you think she would have gone?” asked Alicia. “Back to the woods?”

Caitlin shrugged. “Maybe. She might feel that's where she belongs. If she went back there, though, we wouldn't stand a chance of finding her.”

“It could also be that she's just...drifting somewhere else. She's becoming more used to living with people, in modern civilization, after all,” said Lindsey. “Maybe the wilderness doesn't have the same appeal to her it once did. Especially since her family is gone.”

“Is there anyone else she may have said something to?” asked Caitlin. “Maybe Torey?”

“Maybe,” said Alicia. “I doubt it though. We should ask, but there was a lot she was keeping from him. I can't imagine she'd tell him anything she wouldn't tell us.”

“Unless they eloped!” said Lindsey.

Caitlin laughed, then realized Lindsey was being serious. “They didn't elope,” she said incredulously.

“Why not? I mean, what makes you so sure?” Lindsey asked.

“The thing with Torey is he'll want to help look for her,” said Alicia. “We might be limited in what we can do for Chase if we have to search in such a way that Torey won't find out the truth about her.”

“That's a good point,” said Lindsey. She looked at Caitlin. “I guess before we do anything else we should let your mom in on this. She's the only other person we can turn to. Besides, she's looked for missing people before. She might have some idea of what we can do.”

Alicia nodded in agreement. “Is she off work yet?”

“I have no idea. She should be. She got called away for something right after you guys left last night, and that was like...ten hours ago. But she's also been working overtime a lot lately with all that's going on,” said Caitlin. She took her phone out of her coat pocket. “I'll call her.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

.....

The Night Before...

Alicia decided to put off the rest of her homework. Something told her Chase needed her this night. They stayed up late, talking and doing each other's nails (Chase was still learning, but she was getting good enough that Alicia could present her work with only minor touch-ups) with Parks and Rec streaming on Alicia's laptop as background noise.

Eventually, around one in the morning, they decided to call it a night. Chase got off Alicia's bed and crawled into her sleeping bag, folding the top snugly over onto herself. She pulled Douglas the Gargoyle close to her, and in the darkened room, she and Alicia said their goodnights.

When Alicia awoke the next morning, she was curled up in the fetal position under her blankets. She was freezing! The room was still dark, but the days were getting shorter. It wasn't unusual, at this time of year, for Alicia to start getting ready for school before sunrise. She looked at her alarm clock, and saw it was only five in the morning. The cold must have woken her.

She sat up. The first thing she saw was the open window. A frigid breeze roused the curtains the same way it had roused Alicia. They moved slowly, as if suffering from morning aches.

Did Chase open the window again? Alicia rose from bed and shivered in her pajamas as she slid her feet into her slippers. She quickly crossed to the window and closed it.

When she turned back to her warm bed, her eyes crossed Chase's spot on the floor. She let out a gasp.

The top flap of the sleeping bag was folded over on itself, wide open. Chase was not inside.

“Sorry to bring you in here on your night off,” said the male cop, as Lara walked into the station. “But you did say to call you as soon as the hospital released her into police custody.”

He held out a cup of coffee to her. It kind of reminded Lara of a nurse handing a doctor his scalpel. For police work, coffee tended to be one of the most vital tools in one's belt. Right now, though, Lara was wide awake. Buzzing with energy. She took the coffee anyway.

“I'm glad you did,” said Lara. The desks there were mostly empty, as they usually were at this hour. Lara walked briskly past them, then entered the hallway beyond, heading directly for the holding cells. “She hasn't given a statement yet?”

“No. She hasn't spoken with anyone,” the cop replied. They stopped outside one of the cells. The door was closed and locked. The keys lingered in the cop's hand. Lara looked at them, then at him. He returned her gaze uncertainly.

“Are you sure you don't want me in there with you?” he asked.

Lara smiled coolly. “I think a gentle touch will be best for this one, Mitch. Go on, open it up.”

Mitch did so. The lock clicked, and keys jingled as he opened the door for her. Lara stepped inside.

She was sitting at the table inside, hands cuffed on top of it. She looked down sullenly at the metal rings. Next to her was a black cassette recorder.

Denver Hightower.

“Thank you,” Lara told the male cop. He wavered a moment, not sure if he should really leave them alone together. Then, he left, closing the door behind him.

Lara stepped forward. “Hello, Denver.”

She knew beneath her hospital gown, Denver was likely still in heavy bandages. She'd been a mess when they found her. Lara could barely believe she was still alive.

It'd make things easier if she wasn't. Easier on Lara, Chase, and Caitlin, but also easier on Denver. Her life was going to be hell from here on out. The doctors commented she must have had a tremendous will to live. If she was smarter, she might have known better.

“Hi,” said Denver quietly.

“How are you feeling?”

“Sore.”

“I bet. Can I get you anything? Water?”

“No thanks,” said Denver. “I'll wait until I get home.”

Lara sat down across from the tall girl. “Denver, I'm sorry, but you won't be going home.”

Denver looked up at her. “I won't?” She paused when Lara didn't reply, looked at her handcuffs, and blinked. “I'm under arrest, huh?”

“Yes, that you are,” Lara confirmed. “You're going to be put on trial for those ritual murders, and there's a lot of evidence against you. The guilty verdict, it's a foregone conclusion at this point. The judge, the jury, are gonna crucify you.”

“Oh,” said Denver. She continued to stare at her hands. “I guess I got caught. London said we'd be in trouble if we got caught. So here I am.”

Lara pursed her lips. “Denver, you're going to be facing at least one life sentence. Maybe even the death penalty.”

“Oh, no.”

“But I don't want that for you, Denver,” said Lara. “I want to help you.”

“You do?”

“It's obvious those girls used you. I can tell you're not responsible for all this. They took advantage of your disability. You couldn't resist them. Let me tell you what I can do for you, Denver,” said Lara persuasively. “I can make a good case for your murder charges to be reduced to manslaughter, due to your mental state. Much less time. I can get you some good experts to vouch for you. A good defense attorney. Instead of prison, you might even go to a mental health facility. Low security. You'd get the help you need. And if you show improvement, you might even walk. How's that sound?”

Denver frowned. “I'm not crazy.” Her expression softened. “But...but it sounds better...than prison...I guess...”

Lara smiled. “I think so. I think it would be good for you. But I need you to do something for me.”

“What's that?”

Lara nodded at the recorder. Denver turned her head to look at it, with a blank expression. “I want you to confess,” Lara told her. “Tell your story. But I want you to leave out everything about Caitlin Boyd and Chase Campbell.”

Denver stared at the recorder for a moment, then looked down at her hands again. She closed her fists. “I get why you'd wanna protect Caitlin. You're her mom, right? But that other one...she's bad. She killed them all...wasn't the first time she killed, either, I guarantee you that...She's a lot more dangerous than I am, so why her?”

“Those are my terms,” was Lara's simple reply. “And don't mention Caitlin and Chase in court, don't mention them to the press...in fact, don't mention them to anyone. Your story is that they weren't there. And as far as any living person on Earth is concerned, that's the truth. Alright?”

Denver thought this over in silence. She thought about Chase, Caitlin...the things she'd done. She slowly nodded.

Lara stared for a second, then nodded in return. She reached forward and pressed the 'record' button. “Why don't you start at the beginning?”