books
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In an expensive neighborhood of the city, two officers and a detective approached the door of a townhouse. The detective knocked. A man answered the door. “Yes,” he said. “Are you Bernard Hopkins,” the detective asked. “He has the day off. Has something happened?” “You’re Charles Roberts?” “I am.” “I’m Detective Gareth Wilson. We have…
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“Mind if I smoke,” Scott asked, taking out his pack. “It’s gonna be a long story and it’ll take a while for police and a coroner to get here.” No one minded, as they were all outside. He sat down, the teens around him, and lit up a cigarette. Connor began recording before asking if…
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The teens waited inside the cabin for Janet. Merc went to the basement with Lydia to look around Scott’s room again, but they quickly returned to the others. “We can’t get into Scott’s room,” Lydia said. “The door’s jammed.” “Something probably fell over on the other side,” Merc assumed. “It’s fine,” Maddie said. “We have…
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The teens had been talking through most of lunch. Even Maddie seemed a little livelier than usual. Janet was the only one who didn’t talk much, even opting to eat in her room upstairs, saying she wanted to think on her own. Almost an hour later, she returned downstairs. The teens said that they were…
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They met the boys at the front steps of the hospital. They explained that they combed every part of the sewers that they could get into but did not find a key. As the six of them made their way to Dr. Johnson’s office, the power’s return was self-evident. “And that thing you did find,”…
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The next day, Sunday, the group met for breakfast, not really knowing what to do next, besides heading for the playground to look for a tree stump with a 24-year-old present that might not even be there anymore. They seemed closer to the truth, yet further away at the same time. Given Steve Moss’s notes,…
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The next morning, Merc and Lydia returned from the next town to get food for that day. After breakfast, the six of them left to explore the town hospital. The windows were boarded up and the front doors were chained when they arrived, but the lock holding them was cut open, and not cleanly. It…
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Lydia, Merc, and Madeline waited at the inn entrance for Janet, who had the key. Lydia said they couldn’t get into Bernard’s place. The key Merc had, despite being found in Bernard’s locker, went to something else that belonged to him. “His house key is who knows where,” Merc sighed. Inside, Janet and the twins…
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The key was exactly as Dorothy left it. Janet entered first, followed by Connor, camera on, and Caylix. The living room contained a desk which was naturally searched immediately. Caylix found a bedroom key and Janet found a framed picture of Dorothy with a four or five-year-old Trisha and a journal, which she read through.…
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Everyone decided it was a nice enough afternoon to eat in the patio area of the courtyard. During the meal, Connor took his camera to get close-up shots of the abandoned blue Honda nearby, saying he needed some b-roll. The inside didn’t look spectacular. It needed some serious deep-cleaning and a bit of trash lay…
A. Renee Art 