The Girl Who Cried Vampire

Chapter 6 - Missing

"What do you mean you don't think it's important?!" Celeste cried.

I pulled the blankets off my face and looked at her, "I think you're making a big deal about absolutely nothing. My brother is a goodie two shoes. There is no way he's in a gang. Trust me, I would know."

"What if it is something though? They were talking about YOU Jane!"

"I'm done talking about this. Now go to sleep." I said, pulling the comforter over my head again. Celeste continued to pace up and down the room.

"I guess you can do what you want, but I'm going to look into this." she said.

"Of course." I said sarcastically.

I heard Celeste get into her bed across the room and the lights went out.

***

 When I woke up, Celeste was already gone. She was probably still mad at me about last night, but why would I care?

I mean seriously, a gang? Celeste thinks my brother is apart of some sort of group that does bad things. Not since he was 8! And fun to hang out with might I add.

Ugh, why am I thinking about this again? Chill Jane. You've got an entire day off. As long as you don't kill yourself, you have a complete free range of possibilities. But what should you do first?

I got up out of bed and got dressed, brushing my teeth and curling my hair. I popped a piece of coconut flavoured gum into my mouth (I hated mint) and grabbed my purse before heading out the door.

Downstairs, it was between classes and all the other students who were usually chatting with their friends, shoving a nerd into a locker, or being shoved by a jock into a locker, weren't doing any of that. I was surprised to see almost every single one of them with a newspaper in their hands.

I crossed my arms over my chest and studied the students that passed by me. They looked worried and amazed, all reading their own copy of the outdated form of news.

I snatched one out of a boy's hands. He looked pissed, but when he looked up at me, he smiled stupidly and left without a word. I focused my attention to the front story and my eyes widened at the headline.

Boy Found Missing From Boarding School

14 Year old Adam Clearwater was reported missing from South California Academy on October 6th at 3:57am. His roommate, Manny Lee, reports that Adam went outside for some fresh air at about 10pm. Manny informed a teacher when Adam didn't return.

We asked Manny if Adam had said anything that might give us clues towards finding him. "[He was] raving about leaving or something. Even tried packing his bags. He seemed skittish, like he was running from something. Maybe he has some kind of anxiety about SCA, I don't know. He might've ran away."✭

Below the article was a school picture of the chubby redhead boy that I saw on my first day. My jaw dropped as I realized he went missing that night.

"So you're one of them?" a voice suddenly asked from right beside me. I blinked and looked into Aaron's disapproving eyes.

"I'm one of what?" I asked blandly.

"One of those people that actually enjoy reading about other people's misfortunes. One of those people that enjoy the gossip. I can see by your expression." he snapped.

I glared at him, "Of course not. I talked to him before. Right before he left actually. He was running from something. He said this school was crazy and told me to run while I still could. I bet that was what he was doing."

Aaron's intense glare softened into confusion, "Who knew you had a heart and half a brain in there?"

I laughed, giving him a playful shove, "I'm not heartless, and a do know some stuff. I would be smart if I ever-" I slapped my hand over my mouth before I could finish that sentence. I almost told him my most humiliating secret.

"If you ever what?" Aaron asked, leaning in closer to me.

"N-nothing. It's nothing." I said quickly.

Aaron didn't press it, which I was thankful for. Suddenly the bell rang and everyone hurried to class.

"I'll see you around." Aaron said as he started to head to his next class.

"Wait, Aaron?" I called after him. He looked at me over his shoulder.

"Thanks. For everything."

I think I actually saw him smile as he turned back around and turned at the end of the hallway.

I sighed and folded the newspaper up, stuffing it in my purse and heading to the last place I would expect myself to go.

The library.

***

I walked through the big arched doorway and sat down at one of the tables. The library was massive, with high ceilings and private tables far away from each other. The bookcases almost reached the ceiling and I wondered how they got to the books at the top until one of those ladder-on-wheels things rolled past.

"Excuse me, can I sit here?" a girl asked.

I turned around and smiled, "Hello, Celeste."

Celeste put the pile of books that was blocking her vision on the table in front of the chair across from me.

"Jane? What are you doing here?"

"Just thought I'd swing by. What have you got there?"

"Just some research." She said quickly.

"You don't still think that Chad and Bianca are the leaders of a gang do you?"

"No."

I sighed in relief, but it was short lived.

"It's something much more than that."

"What? How?" I asked.

"Well, this book is a scrapbook that the school made. They saved one copy of the newspaper every week and then add the collection from the year into the book so people in the future can see our current events. Last year was their last year of doing it." Celeste explained, opening a thick softcover book. "Anyway, check this out. Last year, 5 people from SCA went missing. The year before, 13 people. And the year before that, 12. The year before that, 15. Before that, 17. People go missing at this place all the time. Where do you think they went?"

"Maybe they all joined a commune." I said sarcastically.

"You don't see it!  Last year, the disappearances went down drastically. I think someone in our grade has something to do with that!"

"What?! Why?!"

"Well, last night Chad and Dean said something about you being able to get Aaron Mandler to do anything. And they also talked about him like he is something dangerous. Aaron started school here last year."

"So, you think Aaron is somehow saving people from going missing."

"Precisely."

"Celeste, you are a nutcase. Seriously, I have no idea why I'm talking to you." I said as I got up

"Wait! Jane!" Celeste called behind me.

I just shook my head in response, tossing the newspaper clipping in the trashcan and exiting the library silently.