Truth Or Fall

Chapter 18

   Penny's death was the only beginning. The suspicions and the paranoia that began to build up were only an introduction to what was going to come next. It all happened after their meeting with Officer Caddel.

The first one was Zach. He was walking home with Lindy when his phone emitted a familiar sound. He ignored it, waiting to get home but when the noise rang again and Lindy glanced at him, he took it out.

What popped up was anything but what he expected. When Lindy understood that her step-brother was not following her anymore, she turned around to face a pale-faced Zach.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Come look at this," he replied.

As she peeked over his shoulder, a gasp escaped her lips. She saw that the number who had texted him was unknown but that was nothing compared to their message. It was not even a message - it was a photo of the two of them.

"How could this have happened?" she asked, looking around. "There is nobody here."

"The photo must have been taken by someone!" he said.

Just as they were about to head back home, Lindy's phone rang.

"Oh my God!" she almost dropped her phone.

A photo of Zach and Lindy, staring at their phones - taken only moments before, appeared.

"Who is here?" Zach yelled.

"Why would someone do this?" Lindy panicked.

They silently turned around, trying to hear any sign of movement but nothing could be heard. It was as if the world had gone to sleep and they were the only ones awake or rather living in a nightmare.

"Could any of the others have followed us?" Lindy asked.

"Naomi and Esteban? No way, they live on the other side of the city, it would not make sense for them to be out so late trying to scare us," Zach assured.

"Who else then?"

"I don't know. We'll just wait and if we receive anything else, we'll just report it to Officer Caddel. Don't worry."

"Someone was there, Zach! How can you be so calm?"

"I'm not, I just can't let panic get to me."

"Let's just go home."

~

< Meet at the park in ten. > Lindy texted.

She had spent the entire night wondering who could have followed Zach and her the previous evening without coming to an answer. The only solution was to ask the others, she knew it was risky and if one of them was the culprit, they could easily lie but she knew that she could not keep it to herself.

As she got ready, she heard her phone ring a couple of times - probably the replies of the others. She grabbed it and hurried outside, Zach was out with friends but she knew that he would make it.

As she reached the familiar space, her heart began to race. Had she been thoughtless in inviting everyone for a meeting? Doubt and questions started filling her head when a hand rested on her shoulder, making her jump.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," the person apologized.

When she met the blue eyes she missed so much, her breathing slowed down but the butterflies in her stomach remained. She felt her cheeks flush and she ran a hand through her hair, trying to hide the redness of her face.

"You're first," she remarked.

"Yeah, I came as soon as I saw your text," he smiled. "So, what did you want to meet?"

"I think it would be best for everyone to be here."

"Of course."

She rested her head against his shoulder, waiting for the others. She never thoughts that she would be able to date someone, especially during university and it probably would not go so well if her mother knew about it. She sighed at the though of how her mother would react because despite her new openness, she was still her mother and grades were always top priority.

"Hey guys!" a voice called.

Naomi waved at them, taking a seat on the grass in one of the stretching positions Lindy could only dream of doing. No matter how many times she had tried dancing, it had always been an epic failure - her feet were simply not coordinated and saying that she had two left feet was an understatement.

"Hi!" Lindy replied.

"It's a good thing you texted because I also wanted to talk to you," Naomi said.

"Two birds with one stone then," Korbyn added.

"Or maybe three?" another voice said.

They all turned around and faced Esteban with his usual grin. In his hand was his phone and despite his confidence, Lindy could see some uneasiness filling his eyes. Where they all here for the same reason?

"We're there!" two boys followed by a girl appeared.

Zach, Dallas and Raven. They were all there and ready to begin. As if expecting her to begin, Lindy felt the gaze of everyone on her. She cleared her throat before glancing at Zach who nodded encouragingly.

"I'll get straight to the point. Yesterday evening, when Zach and I went home, we got a text. It was a photo. Of us," Lindy explained. "It's really creepy. You know the type of photos taken from behind suggesting that it was taken by someone without your consent? We checked the street but there was no one. We were alone yet there is a photo suggesting otherwise."

She looked around the group, looking for any kind of reaction. Dallas, Esteban and Naomi nodded, as if they already knew everything she had just said while Raven frowned, as if expecting more details.

"What kind of photo was it?" Raven carefully asked.

Everyone stared at her as if she was crazy. After all, the quality and kind of photo was the last of their concern but Lindy scrolled through her phone, finding the image and showed it to the group.

"That was definitely taken by a phone, you can see it by the size of the photo and it's a little blurry so as you said, it was taken late in the evening. Did anybody else receive anything?" Raven noticed.

"I did," Naomi answered.

Without waiting for Raven's obvious response, she grabbed her phone and showed a similar photo, taken at night with Naomi walking in a dimly lit street.

"The quality is similar so it must be the same person who took it. When did you both receive the photo?" Raven wondered.

"10:23 pm," Zach said.

"10:17 pm," Naomi answered.

"Would six minutes be enough time for the person to run from where you were to where Lindy and Zach were?"

"I think so," Lindy said.

"What about you both?" Naomi asked, looking at Dallas and Esteban.

"I didn't receive anything but Zach told me everything," Esteban replied.

"Same," Dallas answered.

"What do we do?" Lindy wondered.

"I don't know. It's probably nothing to worry about for now," Korbyn suggested. "If you get more photos, then you should definitely report it."

"You think?"

"It could be anyone and it could be just a silly photo someone sent to scare us. I don't think it means anything," Naomi said.

"Let's just keep each other updated, okay?" Lindy insisted.

"Of course," they all nodded.

It could be any of them.

❁ ≖≖✿❁ ≖≖✿❁ ≖≖✿❁ ≖≖ ❁

Author's Note:

Thoughts on the chapter?

Who do you think took the photos?