Joel drifted in and out of an uneasy sleep, plagued by vague dreams of a figure following him. The figure was distorted and faceless, not even needing to speak to assert his dominance and instill a sense of entrapment in Joel. The worst thing about these dreams was that when Joel woke up, he couldn't tell himself they were only dreams. X was a threat that haunted him whether he was conscious or not.
He woke up earlier than he would have liked on Saturday morning, deciding sleeping was a lost cause if he couldn't do it peacefully. He opened his curtains and saw something that pleased him when the room was bathed in sunlight: the rolling pin hadn't fallen from its position on top of the door. No one had entered or exited the room since he had walked in the night before. He picked up his phone and was surprised to see he had several text messages.
Mum 6:58
Left for work. Have a good day
Joel sighed. He usually spent the weekends alone, but perhaps he wouldn't have that problem today, as he saw Lauren had texted him too.
Lauren 7:20
Hey Joel, it's lauren. Just checking in to see if everythings ok
Lauren 7:41
Dude I know we only met yesterday but I'm kinda worried
Lauren 8:03
Joel?
Joel 8:15
Everything's fine. Made it back in 1 piece
Joel 8:16
And thanks for the... weapon. Didn't need it thank god
Lauren 8:21
Great. I need it back though, I got a dough rolling marathon coming up :P
Lauren 8:22
Do you still want to come over today?
Joel 8:25
Sure, I'm on my way now. If that's ok
Lauren 8:27
Fine by me :)
Joel was feeling almost calm at that point until the rolling pin fell from the door. He grabbed a lamp as fright echoed through him, until he heard an indignant hissing sound and a fluffy white cat snaked around the door.
"Shit - Delphi..." he muttered to himself. He sat down on the bed, placing the lamp back on the shelf he had taken it from. Delphi leapt up on to the bed and curled up in his lap. He gave himself a moment to just enjoy the tranquility, to enjoy being alive, knowing that it might not last long. He could have stayed there for a long time if he hadn't had Lauren waiting for him at her house. After a few minutes, he took Delphi out of the room and got ready to meet Lauren, putting his laptop and flash drive in his bag.
***
Lauren answered the door almost as soon as Joel knocked on it and invited him inside. He was taken aback by how normal she looked; he'd assumed that wealthy families would be more judgemental of others, but Joel could tell that this stereotype didn't apply to Lauren just from the way she dressed. She didn't wear designer clothes, or anything that looked expensive at all - just a simple stripy t-shirt and leggings. Perhaps upbringing didn't have as much of an effect on people's attitudes as he'd thought it did.
They went to Lauren's bedroom, just like the last time he'd been there, but the atmosphere had completely changed; this time it was more tense, as they were both aware that Joel's life was in danger. Joel didn't mind; he was simply grateful that Lauren was taking the situation seriously.
"So," she began, closing the door behind them. "Tell me everything."
***
It didn't take him long to fill her in on the details of what had happened, since he first saw X through his window to the moment he'd left his house that morning. She listened intently to every word he said, and if she had any doubts about his story, she withheld them and concealed them extremely well.
"So what do we do?" She clearly wanted to be involved in whatever Joel's plan was. He didn't want to tell her it was too dangerous, or that he could do it on his own, because he didn't believe he could, and he valued his own life over his pride.
"I don't know. I was thinking we could do some research," he proposed, pulling the laptop out of his bag. "Connect some dots. I know the chances of actually finding something are - pretty crappy to say the least, but it's the only idea I've got."
They spent the next couple of hours poring over news articles, police statements and conspiracy sites. Lauren's presence made it easy; with her, the information he was digesting could have been something he was reading out of curiosity, because he didn't feel any fear. He only felt content.
They processed, brainstormed and moved on to a new source, and repeated the cycle. After all of their efforts, Joel came to a simple conclusion:
"This is impossible!" He stamped his foot in frustration. "I'm starting to understand why X hasn't been caught yet. It can't be done. It's like.. like a Rubik's Cube or something."
Lauren's eyes widened. "You've never completed a Rubik's Cube?" Joel let out a sigh of exasperation and leaned back against the wall. "I guess that's not the point -"
"No, that is the point. I'm gonna be dead before I ever figure out how to solve a Rubik's Cube -"
"Don't joke about that," Lauren interrupted him. "We - we can figure something out. There must be a way..."
Lauren knew that there wasn't always a way. She understood that there was a chance she'd never see Joel again if she left him alone, and real life didn't always have a 'happily ever after'. However, she believed that there was always a choice. She could leave Joel alone and they could go their separate ways, or she could try to help him. Either option could result in Joel's death, and there might not have been a way for her to save him. But she still had that choice. She'd had the choice to pull him away from the road the day before, preventing him from being hit by the car. She'd had the choice to invite him back to her house, preventing Joel from being cornered by X when he went home alone. She'd had the choice to give him the means to defend himself, preventing him from being completely vulnerable to an attack on his way home. So she made one last choice, one last attempt to help Joel. It was all she could offer at that moment, but she could have just as easily chosen to offer him nothing.
"Joel," she said tentatively, "I think you should go to the police."
"What?" He was incredulous and a tad hysterical. "Why? We don't have any proof! Why would they believe me?"
"What's the worst that could happen?"
YOU ARE READING
X Marks the Spot
Mystery / Thriller"Realistically, the world is so much better at eradicating the good in the world than the evil. We live on a blighted star, which is full of so much beauty - but for every single good thing out there, there is a thousand bad things infinitely more p...
