As they walk through town on their way home, Collin’s words echo in Wally’s head. There are so many others who need you, just like I did. He wants to hate the kid for what he put Anna through, and for becoming yet another distraction in their search for her killer, but he can’t bring himself to. After all, he had been a lot like Collin once. He too had been picked on in school, and he knew exactly how it felt to be ostracized and socially isolated. Anna had been the one to reach out and pull him up when he had reached his lowest point, just as she had with Collin. She was the dazzling light that led him out of the darkness. But in an instant, without him even noticing, she had been snuffed out. He never even got to repay her.

Wally looks over at Allie as she walks briskly by his side. Her eyes are set forward in a look of fierce determination, in sharp contrast to his own feelings of dejection. In that moment, she reminds him of Anna even more than usual, and the sting of loss cuts that much deeper. Still, it is comforting to know that Allie really is on his side, though it baffles him that an alien creature would care so much about avenging Anna. He wonders if it stems from a sense of self preservation, a drive to eliminate any potential threats to her existence. However, that doesn’t explain her willingness to risk her life to save him, or the compassion she showed for Collin during his apology. Despite her monstrous physiology, her behavior is unmistakably human.

***

As we walked home, I mulled over my promise to Collin. Making videos that were just like Anna’s would be a challenge, but if I could pull it off, it could serve another crucial purpose—luring Anna’s killer to us. Instead of directly messaging one person like we had with Collin, we could broadcast to her entire audience that Anna was alive and well. And if the killer was among them, they would be desperate to know how their victim could have survived unscathed and unfazed.

I turned to Wally, about to share my idea with him, but noticed that he was lagging behind me by several feet. He was so sluggish, presumably from exhaustion, that I was beginning to outpace him despite my much smaller stride. Not wanting to drain him further, I decided to hold off until we reached my room.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the dorm. After holding the door open for Wally and closing it behind me, I took a seat on the bed. Wally all but collapsed into the desk chair, taking a moment to shut his eyes, breathe, and collect himself. Then, he spun the chair to face me, crossing his arms.

“So that was a complete bust,” he said with a deep sigh. “What should we do now?”

“Actually,” I replied, “I was thinking… this whole time, we’ve been the ones going after the killer. But what if we had them come to us?”

Wally cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we might have been wrong about Collin, but maybe we weren’t too far off. If Melissa’s disappearance really is related to Anna’s killer, then in all likelihood—“

“The killer watched Anna’s videos,” Wally finished for me. “But it’s not like that’s new information…”

I nodded, trying not to be annoyed by the interruption. “Right, but if that’s the case, they would definitely notice a new video on her channel.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

A look of understanding dawned on Wally face. “So you really meant it when you told Collin you’d keep making videos. And when the killer sees a new upload on Anna’s channel…”

“They’ll be shocked,” I said excitedly. “They’ll want to know how she could have possibly survived. Since they live in the area, they could easily come here to investigate. And when they do, we’ll be waiting for them.”

Admittedly, my plan made some key assumptions—that the killer would be intrigued enough to come investigate despite the risk of being caught, and that they would be obvious enough about it that we could spot them. But at this point, we didn’t have much else to go on, and I was so weary of following false leads that this more passive approach seemed very appealing.

Wally must have felt the same way because he agreed to the idea without any fuss. “It couldn’t hurt to try,” he said with a shrug.

“Great!” I said with a grin, springing off of the bed. “Can you film for me?”

“Wait, you mean right now?” Wally said incredulously. “We haven’t even had lunch yet! And we should at least plan out what you’re going say first.”

Still satiated from my meal in the forest the day before, getting lunch hadn’t even crossed my mind. All I could think about was the fact that the sooner we uploaded the video, the sooner we could catch Anna’s killer. Plus, I was eager to make good on my promise to Collin. But Wally did have a point—in my excitement, I failed to consider the preparation necessary for making the video. We would have to explain Anna’s absence over the past month, keeping in mind that the killer would be watching.

Should ‘Anna’ sweep the attempt on her life under the rug? Speaking about such a personal and traumatic event so soon after it occurred might seem strange, but pretending that nothing happened might alert the killer that something was off. While that could work in our favor by piquing their interest, it could just as easily make them raise their guard. In addition, viewers would certainly notice that Anna’s signature hairpin was missing, and we would have to make something up to explain its absence. Assuming the killer had taken the pin, they would immediately know our cover story was a lie. Which meant that, in a way, we would be indirectly acknowledging that the assault occurred.

Alternatively, ‘Anna’ could acknowledge that someone had tried to kill her and claim that she miraculously survived. That might help us lure in the killer, especially if they were concerned that she had seen their face. However, because I had already healed the strangulation marks on my neck and was completely free of physical injuries, it wouldn’t be very believable to the rest of Anna’s audience, and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin her reputation by getting her branded as a liar. To make matters worse, accusations of attempted murder might attract police attention, something I wanted to avoid at all costs.

After ordering a pizza, Wally and I ate while discussing our options. Ultimately, we decided it would be best not to mention the attack. Instead, I would cite vague “personal issues” as the reason for the month-long hiatus, making sure to cover my neck and act more subdued than Anna usually did in her videos. That way, the killer could infer that I was referring to the attack while all other viewers would remain oblivious. Once we had drafted a short script, Wally returned to his room for some much-needed rest.

Meanwhile, I began to grow anxious about convincing viewers that I was Anna. Given that much of what I knew about Anna’s mannerisms came from her vlogs, I was actually more prepared to mimic her online persona than her actual personality. Still, I spent the rest of the day rewatching Anna’s vlogs, paying close attention to her tone and inflection, as well as the words, phrases, gestures, and facial expressions she tended to use. Then, I practiced my lines, taking care to incorporate those elements as much as possible.

Despite all of that, I was worried her fans would notice every little mistake I made. Wally and Tucker had caught on almost immediately, and this time there would be hundreds of people watching me, picking apart my every word and every move. Since I didn’t have Anna’s hairpin, there would be an obvious visual difference from her other videos, and that might prime them to look for other deviations. I feared their scrutiny just as much as I feared letting them down. And if Anna’s killer figured out that I was an imposter, our plan might completely fall apart.