Missing

Chapter 26

After taking a shower and washing my face five times, I feel ready to leave the house. I still need to call Amanda. Going into my sister's room has been on the rough side lately. The only times I'll go in is if the window is open and I need to close it because it's cold. I don't need - or want - to go ruffling through her stuff. She isn't the person that tells the world everything and I believe that some secrets should remain secrets.

Her room is the same as it was the day we left for the dance. Party dresses lie all over her unmade bed. There are necklaces and makeup brushes scattered across her floor. I can see the jeans and sweater - the outfit she wore to school that day - in a small pile along with old socks and gym shorts. Her laundry is still in her basket and this room hasn't been vacuumed for two weeks. It's as if she is here and she's going to flip out on me for intruding but I would rather face the wrath of Riley than to never see her again.

Amanda said Riley has her number but that doesn't narrow it down to much. I don't think Riley is one to keep a phone book. I start by picking up her loose makeup brushes and jewlery and placing them on her dresser. Next I head for her bed. I throw all the dresses and sheets off the bed then I start to shake each indvidual item of clothing. Nothing. Her pillows are my next target. I shake the pillow case off the pillow then toss them back on the bed once they reveal nothing.

Riley's room is a maze even when it's clean. I won't be able to find anything. Amanda will just have to walk to school. It's not like I'm ditching her; she brought this on her herself by telling me to find a ten digit number in a 14 by 12 foot room.

Just as I'm walking out, something catches my eye. A peice of the wooden floor plank underneath Riley's bed isn't in place. It's lifting up ever so slightly. Though the floor isn't what I notice. Something shiny is under there.

I walk over to see what it is. Slowly, I lift up the wooden plank and set it aside. Before me are notebooks. placed dangerously between wooden beams and water pipes, covered in a thin layer of insulation. Stacks of them. They are placed dangerously between wooden beams and water pipes, covered in a thin layer of insulation. One notebook is wedged in a little less than the others - and is the one that was holding up the plank and drawing my attention - has a shiny cover with bumper stickers veiling almost the entire cover. It must have caught the light just as I was walking out.

I pick up the first book and open it to a random page. It looks as if it is a diary but the content is very different. It says:

I know your weak spot 14. You are so predictable. You're not just a game to me, you're my amusment. I'm so done with 3 and 18 and 21. You're my new game, and I have the advantage.

I stare at Riley's journal entry in shock. It sounds as if she is possessed by a blood sucking demon. The next page has more threats and number references. I dig out the rest of her books and skim through those.

"What else are you hiding Riley?" I whisper to myself.

Finally I found a page that seems the tiniest bit useful.

19. You're great and everything but don't play a game with no rules. It's risky. I should know.

A slip of paper is stuffed in that page. It has ten numbers on it. I'm guessing it's a phone number.

"Who's 19?" I wonder aloud. There's no time to waste so I pull out my phone and punch in the ten digits.

"Hello?" The person answers.

"Amanda?" I breathe. I was hoping to hear that voice.

"Emily." She says. It's hard to tell how she's feeling through the phone but I think I can hear her teeth chattering.

"19?" I ask, hoping Amanda knows about this.

"Yeah." She says sadly, "How much
of it did you read?" Her voice is now urgent, as if there is something in these journals that I shouldn't read.

"Not too much. I only just saw your...um...number." I don't know how to respond.

"Oh. Good." She sighs in relief, "I'm on my way to your house." She says then adds, "Is that okay?"

"Oh. Yeah yeah. Um. Just one question, how do you know about this?" I ask.

"I saw her writing in it one day then shoving it through the floor boards. I went into her room and when she left, I peeked. I could only figure out one person though." She admits.

"Was that you?" I ask.

"Let's keep it at that." Her answer is sketchy.

"Is there anything bad in there?" I pry.

"Are you kidding me? Have you read them? Actually, don't. Read them, I mean." She mutters.

Suddenly, my chest seems to close up and I'm short on breath. I can't breathe. Riley's journal is still in my hand. I drop it immediately. It hits the floor with a soft 'flop.' Air is refilling my lungs. There is something in that journal so horrible that Amanda knows about. My sister knows. It's so bad they can't even tell me.

"I have to go. Meet you here." I say hurriedly then end the call before Amanda can respond.