I AM WATCHING YOU

CHAPTER : 7

'Your friend'? The audacity! Anger started boiling inside me. Whoever it was, shouldn't have messed with me. I picked it up and threw it across the room. I was breathing heavily. I needed to get out of this place. I ran outside with my bag and sat inside the car.

"Took you long enough!" Madison smiled.

"I couldn't find some things." Little did she know.

We reached her house in 10 minutes. I started poking Adrian from the front seat.
"C'mon buddy! You need to wake up."

"Go away!" He groaned in his sleep.

"Hey, you wake up right now or I'm throwing water on you!" I warned.

His eyes shot open and he quickly got up and ran inside the house. He didn't even know whose house it was. Someone really need to teach him about the stranger danger.

I sighed and picked up the bags and went inside.

"Here" I looked up and saw Madison holding a glass of water. I dropped the bags on the floor and gulped the water as fast as I could. I didn't knew I was feeling thirsty until now.

"There's a guest room on the first floor. I'll help you put your bags there." She picked one bag while I picked the other. We tidied the room and I sat on the bed while Maddie went downstairs. Adrian came running.

"I'm tired, Soph" He looked exhausted. I felt bad for him. He was so young and had to go through this. Because of me.

"Take a shower and go to bed." I smiled at him.

He sat next to me and hugged me. "Mom will be okay, right?" He looked up at me and I could see the tears formed in his eyes.

"Yes she will. Now go" He jumped from the bed and ran into the bathroom. After ten minutes of taking a bath and wearing his night clothes, I tucked Adrian inside the blanket and switched off the lights.

"Goodnight Sophia" He yawned and closed his eyes.

"Goodnight little brother"

I closed the door and went to Madison's room.  She was sitting on the floor.

"Hey" She looked at me and smiled.

"Hi how are you feeling?"

"Honestly, I don't even know anymore." I managed to give her a bitter laugh.

"It's fine. Sit down" I sat down with her on the floor. It was comfy. We spent minutes in silence until she spoke.

"I have a bad feeling about your new friend."

I turned to look at her. Was she talking about Bella? Do they know each other?

"Who? Bella?"

"Yes, her."

"I think she's great." I said. Bella helped me a lot and I'm really grateful to have her as my friend.

"I don't"

"Why not?" I was genuinely curious. She's not the person who would judge people.

"Soph, don't be mad. But I think there's more to it. The journal."

I froze at what she said. Was she implying that-? No! That can't be.

"What are you talking about? How is that connected to Bella."

She sighed. "I think she's the one who is doing it."

"Do you even hear yourself, Maddie? She helped me. She would never do such a thing."

Maddie's face stiffened. "Oh yeah? Then explain, why she was the last person there before your mother was attacked. You said you left Bella and your mom and ran away. No one else was there, Sophia. No one."

I shook my head. "That doesn't mean it's her. It could've been anyone."

"Why are you defending her? Are you for real? Choosing your new buddy over your best friend." She scoffed.

I felt bad for her. She felt neglected.

"I'm sorry but we don't have enough evidence against her."

"Sure you do. She befriended you the day you got the creepy journal. She saved the journal from burning. She knew your address when you clearly hadn't told her. And this, your mother getting attacked. Everything points to her. And I don't think so you should be around her. She's danger."

As much as I wanted to deny it, everything she said made sense.

"But why would she help me?" I sounded desperate.

"To get your trust, duh!" I felt broken. All this time, it was my friend. But I couldn't jump on conclusions. I decided I'll talk to her about this and get her to tell me the truth.

I told Madison about the recent entry and she kept explaining how it pointed to Bella.

After a few hours, I went up to the guest room to get some sleep.

I had misjudged Bella. She was the one doing this the entire time. Maybe she was asked to do it. Maybe it wasn't her fault. But either way, I hated her now. I hated her guts for doing this. She ruined everything and pretended like she cared for me.

I opened my phone and sent a quick text.

'We need to talk!'

Her response came instantly.

'Is it about your mom? Is she fine?'

'I'll tell you in person.'

'Okay. Downtown cafe at 4?'

'Sure'

The amount of hate I had towards her right now, made me not wanting to go tomorrow. But I needed to know why she did this. Was my misery some kind of a joke to her? I felt betrayed.

I had almost fell asleep when the sound of my ringtone woke me up. It was an unknown number.

I picked up. " Hello?"

"Hello miss. Is this Sophia Miller?" The person spoke in a very formal tone.

"Yeah this is she."

"I'm calling to tell you about June Miller." My mom? Why was he calling? I wonder where my dad is at.

"What is it?"

"She couldn't make it. I'm so sorry. We tried everything we could-" He kept talking but I couldn't listen anymore. She couldn't make it? This has gotta be a joke.

"Hello? Miss? Are you there?" He asked. But i wasn't able to form any words. My throat felt dry. I did the only thing I could. I hung up.

She was dead. My mother, who has done nothing was dead. All because of me. All because of my stupid dream. All because of her. Bella. I felt enraged at the thought of her hurting my mother. How dare she! O didn't know what I'd do. All i knew was tomorrow's not going to end well for her.