Text To Kill

𝟚- ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝔸 𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝔻𝕒𝕪 𝔽𝕠𝕣 𝕀𝕔𝕖-ℂ𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞

Making her way to school the next morning, Maya's head was buzzing with what had happened the night previous.

Elise had answered her call almost immediately, her terror-stricken voice loud against her ear.

"It came from an unknown number and said something about shadows and whispers, it was weird. Some sort of poem thing, I thought it was someone from school messing with me, but it sounded kinda like a threat, and I can't think of anyone that would want to send me something like that."

Maya's mind went to the crime books she spent most of her free time reading and how nothing could be taken lightly. Everything was evidence.

"What exactly did it say," Maya, fishing for information, asked the terrified girl.

"In the shadows of the past, secrets lie. Beware the whispers that never die."

Mysterious. And most likely some kid trying to scare Elise out of her mind. But the point still stood that no one Maya could think of would want to harm Elise. She was quiet in class, only speaking when she needed to, so it wasn't like she could have made anyone angry. The only reason she had Maya's number was because of the science project they did together a few months before, where Elise let down a few of her walls, still not many though.

"Try not to worry about it for now," Maya offered, "I'll get my friend to figure out who sent the text and get back to you, okay?"

A small sigh of relief came from the other side of the phone, "Okay, thanks, Maya"

"Your welcome, bye."

"Bye."

Maya hadn't spoken to Elise since, instead, standing by her word, she had called Liam, asking him if there was anything he could do to help.

Liam had picked up on the fourth ring, his voice slightly groggy. "Maya? Everything okay?"

"Sorry, I know it's late. But I need your help. It's about Elise. She got this text. It was... off. Like someone was threatening her."

A pause. She could hear rustling on the other end, the sound of him sitting up, grabbing something.

"Can you send it to me?" he asked. The calm in his voice had a sharp edge now, focused, alert.

Maya sent him the forwarded message that Elise had messaged her before just after the call.

Another pause, longer this time.

"Okay, yeah, this isn't just some random spam," he said finally. "The number it came from isn't contactable. Whoever sent it knows what they're doing. They left traces, but only just."

"Can you trace it?"

"Maybe. Not easily. And not without digging into some places I probably shouldn't." A low chuckle. "But I've done worse."

"Liam, I'm serious. If someone's targeting her-"

"Then we need to know who and why," he finished. "Give me a few hours. I'll let you know what I find in school."

Now, as she stepped onto the school grounds, Maya noticed the looming building in front of her, blocking the sun from her view. Someone in there could have been the one to send the text. What sort of sick person would do something like that?

She would just have to wait until she found Liam and got the answers she so desperately wanted.

Ignoring the sense of dread that filled her stomach, her footsteps advanced towards the school entrance.

Liam greeted her at the entrance with a concerned look adorning his face.

"Did you find anything?"

He nodded his head apologetically. "The only thing I could get was that the text was sent from somewhere inside Maplewood."

"Well, I'm sure we can use that... somehow." At this point, Maya was grappling hopelessly.

"Maybe."

The first bell jolted them from their spots, Maya heading off to English, Liam toward Geography.

When Maya stepped into the classroom, it was nearly deserted. Only the teacher, Mr Wright, and two students sat scattered among the rows, their quiet presence swallowed by the hum of fluorescent lights. She hesitated at the doorway for a moment, then slipped into a seat near the window, the early sun casting pale rectangles across her desk.

She glanced over and saw that both of the students sitting to her side were not-so-discreetly typing away on their phones, reveling in how unbothered their teacher was about devices. 

One by one, students filled up the desks, until Mr Wright deemed it time to begin the lesson.

"Alright, so as you all know, the essay is due in two days and no one has any excuses for not having it done. Today, we're doing spoken language, which you've begun in your third year-"

His voice faded out as Maya's eyes lost focus on him, instead gazing out of the slightly filthy glass, fogging up with her breath. Latecomers sprinted from the gates towards the entrance to get signed in by the front office. A normal day.

But something felt off. Maya didn't know if it was just the seemingly empty threat coming from the text that loomed over her shoulder or if something awful was actually going to happen.

The rest of the class was filled with her thoughtful eyes and Mr Wright's droning voice, muffled by the weight of her musing.

As was the rest of the day, passing in the blink of an eye, which was not unusual for Maya. In fact, she preferred it that way. Less time for the boring, repetitive events of the day to break into her headspace.

By the time the last bell tolled, Maya had already deemed the text as a prank, and tried to pry it away from plaguing her mind. She would advise Elise to do the same when she saw her.

"You okay?"

Maya jumped as Liam's voice broke through her train of thoughts, startling her.

"Wha- yeah, I'm fine."

"Hm, no you're not, but you know what'll make you feel better? Ice cream. Ice cream always makes things better."

He got a disapproving glance from Maya.

"It's freezing outside."

Liam grinned at her. "And?"

***********************

The cafe in which they entered was desolate, housing a couple of people encased in scarves, nursing a cup of steaming coffee.

"Hi, we'll have two ice creams, please." Liam said, propping his arms on the counter.

The woman serving them obviously shared Maya's concerns and apprehensively began scooping the ice cream. They paid and went to sit at a booth by the window.

Maya told her best friend about how she had come to the conclusion the text meant nothing and he agreed, knowing how anxious this made her and wanting it to stop affecting her.

Deeming the situation solved, Maya pulled out her phone and messaged Elise, informing her of her opinion. Elise reluctantly agreed.

"Now that the drama's all sorted out, let's go home and relax," Liam offered, a smile on his face. "That was more than enough worrying for one day."

Maya nodded, but something still felt off...

-------------------------------------

More of a filler chapter, but I wanted to leave it for a chapter or two before the actual proper good stuff happens, for ~suspense~. Jk, I got writers block halfway through and this is what I came up with, not my best chapter, but I hope to improve.

P.S. While I was writing this I was listening to Guns for Hands by Twenty one Pilots, and I suggest you do the same.