Few seconds passed but nothing happened. I watched the video impatiently and was about to move on to the next one, when I saw Maddy start to move further into the woods.
I watched curiously what she was doing. I thought she was just walking enjoying the scenery but she was looking at something in the lake and as I understood she was just following it.
Suddenly I remembered what Lyla told Maddy that day!
'Into the woods, into the woods near the lake. Follow the ducks, follow the ducks and you'll find.....'
Maddy stopped and took something out from her pocket. I took in a sharp breath. Was this what Lyla wanted me to see?
I chuckled to myself feeling stupid when I saw Maddy throwing some food in to the water. Those ducks that I saw earlier swam towards the place where she threw those foods and started to eat them without caring about the human who watched them.
Those ducks might have gotten used to Maddy or someone who looked like her. That could be the reason why they didn't fly away when Maddy reached them. But when she grabbed one from its neck, I was shocked and my mind went blank like I didn't have any choice but to watch what was happening.
Other ducks flew away quickly while the one in Maddy's hand tried to get out of it. She carried it near a huge rock and placed the duck on it, still holding it from its neck. The duck made loud noises and struggled violently like it sensed some kind of danger. But Maddy smiled, and goosebumps erupted on my skin seeing the maniac look on her face.
I covered my mouth and screamed inwardly when Maddy brought a knife near the duck. She raised her hand and brought it down stabbing the duck in its neck. The phone fell out of my hand and I jumped onto my feet. I watched Maddy stab the poor creature again and again until its body was covered in blood.
My whole body shivered, but I couldn't take my eyes away, not even for a second. I swallowed the knot in my throat painfully and wiped away tears trying to keep my emotions under control. I watched her throwing the body of that poor animal into the water and it sank quickly covering her crime from the world. She washed her hands and the knife murmuring a song to herself and she walked away like she was satisfied with her killing.
"Practise!" she said, "I need to practise" she mumbled again.
Video ended after that but I was too shocked to think clearly. This was the proof!
Maddy did kill Lyla and Nick the same way she killed that poor creature. I didn't need anymore evidence to convince me that she was the murderer behind those deaths. She had gone too far for me to save her by myself. I needed to hand her over to the police and get the help she needed from Dean.
But.... before I do that, I needed to bring her here. I needed to see her with my own eyes before I let them drag her away.
I needed to hug her one more time and kiss her one last time. I wanted to say I loved her so much, and I would be on her side no matter what. I wanted to say sorry for leaving her alone. And sorry for not chasing after her harder. I wanted to say sorry for not knowing her sufferings and wanted to say sorry for smiling when she was really in pain.
I just wanted to hug her and wish the world to end!
I dialled her number and wiped away my eyes. But it was no use since tears started to fall out again. My foolishness cost two lives and I didn't protect Maddy like I promised her to. I should've kept an eye on her. I should've given more attention towards her.
If I did that then, this wouldn't have happened. I could've stopped her from becoming someone like her sister.
"Hello!"
I snapped out of my train of thoughts. I didn't realise Maddy answered the call.
"Hello, Alex! Are you there?"
I wiped my face and nose and cleared my throat before speaking up, "Maddy!" I tried to keep my emotions under control but it was no use, my voice broke at the end.
"Alex! Are you crying? Are you okay?"
I sniffed, "yeah! I'm okay. Don't worry"
"Okay!" I could tell she didn't believe me.
"Where are you, Maddy?"
"Why?"
"I need to see you"
"Alex, we talked about this. You can't force me like this and I don't like it"
"Maddy, please!" I pleaded, "I need to see you. Just come and see me one last time" I begged.
"What's going on, Alex? I told you I don't want to see you again"
"Maddy!" I gripped the phone tightly, "you have to come. Don't you love me anymore?"
"No! I told you-"
"Don't lie to me, Maddy. I know you. You love me so much. You would do anything for me like I would do anything for you. I know how much you tried to protect me from your sister. You stood up against Megan because of me" I shouted.
"What do you mean?" her voice held curiosity, "what do you mean by standing up against me.. Megan because of you"
"Why? You said we didn't meet when we were young or didn't know each other. But... but I know it was a lie. I remembered some of our memories together, and... and I have your Valentine's day card you gave me"
She was silent and didn't say a word for a few seconds.
"Is that the card with a big red heart in the middle? And letters written in gold colour?"
I took the card out and checked the front page, "yes, that's the one. Do you remember now? Why did you lie, Maddy?"
"So.... did you tell Ma... me that I should not be afraid of Megan because you would protect me? Did you tell Ma... Urgh! me that I should say no to Megan if she asks something that I don't like to do?"
"Uh... I don't exactly remember that, but that was what you have written inside this card"
She was silent again, but then I heard a scream and something crashed. "Maddy ar-"
"So it was you who said that, not Collin?"
I was dumbfounded. Why did she ask me this? Did she not remember?
"Yeah! looks like it"
I heard her letting out shaky breaths, "where are you, Alex?" her voice held an unusual calmness and suddenly my surroundings went dead silent.
"I'm at your house" I said hesitatingly.
"Good!" she was silent again, "it'll take some time but I'm coming. We can go for a drive to talk about this. And Alex, don't tell anyone. I don't want anybody to disturb us" she said and then hung up.
I put the phone back in my pocket, surprised that she agreed to come. Maddy was coming and for now that was enough for me.
I cleaned the sand on the desk and put back the flowers in the vase. For some reason my mind told me to take Lyla's Memory card with me. So I switched it with mine and put it back inside the vase, keeping the other one inside my phone.
I got up to leave and decided to wait for Maddy in the front, but then I remembered Vera asking me to read Maddy's diaries.... to sort out something?
I sighed. I didn't have time for this and I knew what Vera was trying to warn me. I saw the video already and I knew what kind of thoughts Maddy had.
I walked towards the door to leave but my mind nagged again telling me that I have to read it. It annoyed me a lot and I grabbed her diary from the drawer. I sat down again turning the pages up to the date that we started dating. That was what Vera asked me to do and I read the entry written under that date.
I agreed to go out with Alex and today is our first day! I can't tell how happy I am. I always liked him and it hurt a lot to pretend that I never met him when we were young.
He doesn't have any memory of it. He doesn't remember the time we spent together and especially our silly confessions.
I'm sad that he doesn't remember those sweet memories and I'm the only one who remembers it. But I knew it happened for good. I don't want him to remember that day and spend the rest of his life blaming himself.
That all happened because of me, but it was them who paid for it.
I tried to ignore Alex and my feelings towards him. But it was hard because I love him. It took a lot of strength to accept his feelings. But today I promised myself that I would protect him, even if I have to pay for it with my own life.