Sweetest Confusion

Chapter Forty-Seven: 24 Hours

"Hello Maddi..." A sinister voice trickled through the speaker. I shivered involuntarily because of the chills it gave me. I smiled at Drew and walked out the room.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." The voice said. It was electronic I could tell, masking the identity of the caller.

"What do you want?" I tried again.

"I want you to be mine, in every way possible." The voice said.

"Why?" I asked.

"I have a surprise for you." The voice ignored my question. "I'm quite excited to see your reaction, you see I've thought hard to find the perfect present when I realised it was at my front door all this time. For now happy holidays." The person behind the voice cut the phone.

I stood in shock before quickly stuffing my cell in my pocket. Bee and Drew had just finished their desserts and were placing their bowls in the basin.

"Who was that?" Drew asked.

"Oh it was just Taylor." I said casually. "Hey I think I should go and get Casey. I feel as though he is feeling a little neglected." They nodded and I went to put my shoes on. As soon as I opened the door Casey bounded towards me. He seemed agitated and frightened.

"What happened Case?" I asked, bending down to stroke his ears. He barked and nudged his head toward the stairs. I got up and followed him to my room. He began barking loudly and was very excited. Nothing seemed out of place. He went over to my desk and beside the chair was a sliver of fabric that looked like it had been torn from a pair of cargo pants. I looked on my desk and the picture of Daniel and I as kids was gone.

I had placed it face down after the incident, but I didn't have the heart to get rid of it. I calmly walked to my balcony and saw that the curtains were slightly disturbed and the railing had scuff marks on it, that wasn't made by me. Someone had broken into my house and I had a feeling I knew who it was.

"Case it's okay. They only took the frame I hope. Don't worry." I calmed him down. I gave him a few dog biscuits and allowed him to sit on my lap. I slipped out my cell and called the person I desperately needed.

"Hey Maddi what's up?" JJ said cheerily.

"Do you have pictures of when you were kids?" I asked her.

"Yeah why?" She asked.

"Well it's part of a Christmas present." I told her, but didn't explain any more because I wanted it to be a surprise for all of them.

"Sure, do you want me to send them over?"

"Yeah that would be great thanks." We said bye and I waited for her to drop them so I had time to kill. I fed Casey and then sat on my swivel chair just spinning around.

I got a bit dizzy after awhile so I picked up my old guitar that had been collecting dust and strummed a few chords. Soon enough I was engrossed in the music that I began to play louder and belted out lyrics to my favourite songs. The sound of the doorbell stopped me from playing another song.

I swung the door open and JJ stood there with a large chest of what I assumed were photos.

"I couldn't choose how many to give you or which ones. So I brought them all." She smiled at me sheepishly. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine. I'll just have to go through all of them and see which ones fit." I sighed. It was going to be a long night if I were to finish this for Christmas eve tomorrow.

"I could help if I knew what I was looking for." JJ hinted.

"No it's okay. I'll be fine." I smiled knowingly at her.