James was in perfect view of Ethan and Cassedee. He was crouched down in the corner, the flashlight and mirror in hand. This was going to be the best prank ever.
Ethan glanced over in his direction and made eye contact. This was his signal to move. He raised the mirror and held the flashlight to it. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. She was going to be so scared.
Part of him felt guilty for doing it, but Ethan thought it would be a funny way of introducing her to their group. He remembers what Ethan had said, think of it as an initiation. Sort of like an induction into an award ceremony.
This was a pretty twisted way of introducing someone to their friend group, Ethan.
Yeah but...
James sat in silence, trying to muffle the chuckles that would soon turn into full blown laughs from the two of them.
He watched as Cassedee screamed and Ethan on cue, backed away into the corner--imitating what James had heard come from the camera when Nole had disappeared.
He waited a few moments before exiting his hiding spot.
Then, the light stopped and James held up the flashlight and mirror.
"Cassedee! It's okay, it's just a prank."
Cassedee's screams muffled now as she realized what was going on. Her expression was a mix of confusion and shock. Her eyes started to narrow as she grasped what had just happened.
"I can't believe you two--how stupid are you guys--you--you."
She could barely finish her sentence as a fit of laughing came directly from Ethan.
"Man, you should've seen your face. Especially when I started talking all weird and stuff."
Caseedee looked furious. Her eyes were cold now and she clenched her fists at her sides.
"I really hope you two learn your lesson sooner or later. You guys seriously could've done something to me. Something could've happened." She said the last words coolly.
Ethan rolled his eyes and began walking towards her.
"Oh, you're just being dramatic. You're the new person in town. We wanted to scare you, especially with all the things that had been happening. And the rumor that has been going around. The one we told you about. Anyways, nothing happened and we didn't press the button on the camera or speak to it or anything. We're fine."
James considered this. What if they weren't fine, what if they accidentally brought themselves back to 1956. What if they were trapped in the same world as Nole. What if they never found him.
What if this was all just a waste of time.
James felt guilty all of a sudden. Why did he listen to Ethan. Why did he think this was a good idea. Cassedee was right--something could have happened to them. This camera seemed too sensitive and too powerful to mess around, even if they weren't doing it to the camera directly.
Cassedee slumped down in the desk chair, which squeaked with her movement.
She folded her hands with each other, placing them on the surface of the desk.
"I am going to be mad at you guys for a while, I hope you know that. That was not funny." she said with a stern tone. "It really wasn't and I'm being serious. We shouldn't be messing around like that, especially with that weird camera and everything."
Ethan shrugged. "Well, whatever happens, happens I guess."
Cassedee shot him a look.
"Seriously. We could disappear, too. We don't know how this thing works and I don't want to get stuck somewhere. Or evaporate into thin air like the rest of them." She glanced at the case files that now lay on top of the tables in front of her.
Ethan hopped on the edge of the table and opened Emily's file, this time reading out loud the police reports.
"Found no trace of a body, interesting. Victim's children were there to witness their mothers disappearance. Victim's mother was there also. Each of them describe some sort of white light." He raised an eyebrow and continued to read.
"Victim lifted up into the air and vanished with what was described as a whooshing sound. Victim's husband was found DOA at their home when police arrived."
Ethan paused.
"What does DOA mean?" he asked.
James cleared his throat, "it means dead on arrival." he said quietly.
"Oh..." there was another pause.
Ethan got serious all of a sudden.
"It says that the husband was found deceased inside the home from a gun shot to the abdomen. But no gun was found...there were shell casings near the body."
He continued to read.
"No blood evidence, either. The dude didn't even bleed out. It was almost as if he were shot somewhere else then brought back to the house but police couldn't locate a primary crime scene."
"It goes on to say that foul play might have been the cause but this was never determined."
James started pacing. And thinking.
"Hang on, it looks like the husband was a wife beater. There's medical records. There was suspicion of mistreatment of the kids and his wife..."
James shot Ethan a look.
"Dude, I wouldn't open those if I were you. That's private stuff. None of your business, ya know."
"Yeah but we already broke into the police station and are looking at classified files. We already are prying into people's personal lives here. It's kind of too late."
"I guess, but still. We shouldn't be looking. Those are medical records. Way different then crime scene reports."
"I guess...still prying though."
James had a point.
Cassedee got up and walked over to where the rest of the case files were on the tables.
She opened the lids and began to flip through each file.
"Guys..." she said prolonged.
"But it doesn't make sense. If Emily were to run away from her crazy husband, why would she try to kill him? Nothing in these reports indicates that."
"Okay, Mr. Investigator." James said.
"GUYS." Cassedee said it more firmly now.
They both turned around and looked at her each with a blank stare.
"All of these reports say the same thing. That each person that disappeared had been caught in some sort of trouble. They had been suspected of a crime then they vanished. Poof. Gone. Right into thin air. Just like Emily."
She began opening drawers, one after the other finally stumbling on something she had been looking for.
She grabbed the nearest pen and began scribbling notes down.
"Okay, so we know all of these people disappeared for some reason, right? Well what if that reason was to protect them in some weird twisted way?"
James pulled out a chair and sat down across from Cassedee, sliding one of the files near him.
He took out the folder and looked through it.
"Their ages are the same, they disappeared around the same time. Each report details of the same white light exploding then a loud bang. This is not a coincidence."
James peered into the cases again, this time pulling out something they all knew too well.
"Hey, look what was in here...Cass, Ethan...it's the same--"
He pulled out a camera, exactly like the one Nole had. Exactly like the one in Emily's case file.
James couldn't speak.
His mouth was moving but his speech was slowed.
He had accidentally pressed the button.
The same button that had made Nole vanish.
Everything went quiet, it was dark then a whooshing sound and the room suddenly filled with bright white light.
They had all disappeared.