The sounds of daily life pull me from sleep. I sit up and yawn loudly before stumbling out of bed to check the clock. It's 9:30. I slept in really late. I can hear my phone buzzing from underneath a pile of laundry that I still have yet to put away. I flop down onto my white-carpeted floor and pull my phone out. Tess is calling me. I hit the accept call button and put the phone on speaker. Tess's voice instantly explodes from the other end of the phone.
"OmghiI'msogladyoupickedupcuzI'vebeencallingyouforlikethepasthourandyouhaven'tbeenpickingupandIhavesomethingreallyreallyimportanttotellyou!"
"Good morning to you to" I groan.
"You just woke up?" Tess asks.
"Yeah, got a problem with that." I say.
"Not really, but come over here now. Like, right now. Jessie and Andrea are already here."
"Why?"
"Just come."
"Fine." I sigh, hanging up and tossing my phone back onto the floor. I stand up and walk to my closet, opening the door and staring at all the shirts hanging up. I grab one blindly and pull out a pair of blue jeans. I shower, dress, and stumble down the stairs. I grab a granola bar from the kitchen and shove my feet into my sneakers while running out the door.
Outside, there's still morning dew on the grass, and the air is chilly. I shiver and zip my thin, white sweatshirt up to my neck. I unlock my car, and climb in, putting Taylor Swift music on.
When I pull up at Tess's house, the door bursts open and Tess, Jessie, and Andrea come dashing out. Tess runs up to my car, opens the door, and starts to climb in.
"Wait, what's going on?" I ask.
"We're going to the lake house, now. That's what's going on." Tess says excitedly. Jessie and Andrea clamber into the car too.
"I thought you had something 'really really important' to tell me." I say.
"I do." is Tess's answer.
"Then what is it?" I demand.
"Cassie isn't dead." Tess says. I almost drive through a red light.
"What? How? Like, I know I said I thought she was alive. But you have like, legit proof?" I ask.
"Yeah, she has proof alright." Jessie says.
"Where?"
"On here." Tess says, tapping her camera.
"You got Cassie on video?"
"Yeah." I spin around for a second to look at Andrea.
"Ha!" I say, "I knew I was right. I knew Cassie was still alive!"
"It's not Cassie. Just someone who looks like Cassie." Andrea says stubbornly. Tess points her camera at me.
"Do you believe Cassie is still alive?" she asks. I hesitate for a moment before answering.
"Yes."
The car pulls up in front of Cassie's lake house, Tess immediately jumps out of the car and sprints towards the lake house.
"Not again." I sigh, before getting out and running after her. Tess is already standing on the porch when Jessie, Andrea, and I catch up with her.
"The door is locked." Tess pouts, pointing at the door.
"What do you mean 'it's locked'" I ask.
"I mean, the door is locked. We can't open it. It's locked."
"But it was unlocked last time." Jessie protests.
"Let's go around back." I say. They all agree and we dash around the house to the back door. Jessie tries the handle. It's locked too.
"Why are they both locked? They were unlocked last time." Tess whines.
"Maybe someone happened to unlock the door yesterday day." Jessie says. Tess's face lights up as she gets and idea.
"I bet it was Cassie! Cassie unlocked the door for us because she wanted us to get the camera! And she opened the door to the attic too!" Tess shouts wildly.
"Cassie. Is. Still. Dead." Andrea insists.
"Why, Andrea? Why do so badly want Cassie to be dead? She was one of your best friends." Jessie exclaims.
"Maybe Cassie wasn't as great as you all thought she was." Andrea says, shrugging.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Jessie demands. Andrea shrugs again.
"It just means she had secrets too." she says.
"But Cassie told us everything!" I protest.
"No, she didn't." Andrea says quietly, wrapping her arms around her waist and looking at the ground.
"What, then?" Jessie crosses her arms and cocks her hip, "what could you possibly know about Cassie that we don't?" she asks, exasperated. Andrea looks up at us from under her curtain of dark curls, her voice is quiet in her reply.
"Cassie tried to kill Bellamy Grace."
YOU ARE READING
Missing in time // {UNDER EDITING BEFORE CONTINUATION}//
Science Fiction"We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us." Two years ago, Cassandra Low disappeared. Presumed dead, it's a shock to her friends to find her again, 30 years in the past. The old video camera in the attic of Cassie's lake house had...
