As they finished their conversation over their coffee, Dominic and Jennifer were leaving as Melisa closed the shop for the night. Melisa told them ‘Whoever keeps sending these texts to you all is really sneaky’.

            Dominic replied, ‘It’s not our fault it’s happening.’

            ‘It’s like this person knows too much about our lives,’ added Jennifer. She further commented, ‘I wonder how they know all these secrets and shit.’

            ‘Maybe someone who has known you all a bit too long?’ Melisa asked the duo.

            As the three left the coffee shop, Jennifer and Dominic walked back home whereas Melisa drove away in her SUV. How could this have come about? is what ran through Dominic’s head as they walked away. As they walked around the corner, they bumped into Willa who looked perplexed.

            ‘What’s wrong?’ asked Dominic.

            ‘Mom’s just worried about you, so she sent me to find you.’ replied Willa, who just pulled her phone out.

            Jennifer asked Willa, ‘Do you ever stop looking at your phone?’

            Willa replied, ‘Yes, but I was looking back over the text message from the other night; and I found out something.’

            Dominic then asked her, ‘Which is?’

            ‘The text was sent over RCS, which means they know we’ve read the message.’ said Willa.

            ‘That’s someone who didn’t pay attention to what phone they used.’ remarked Jennifer, who was feeling snarky.

            The threesome then walked home to finally get some rest after a long day out. Dominic and Willa said their goodnights to Jennifer, who then walked down the rest of the block to home.

            The duo now home further discussed the text messages when Noemi sent Willa a text.

We need to talk immediately, it’s urgent about Em.

            Dominic rang Noemi’s phone and put it on speaker-phone. Noemi answered saying, ‘Em’s dad just called me saying that Em left the house via her bedroom deck on the night she went missing. She must’ve received some sort of message and wanted to meet who sent it to her.’

            ‘What the hell?’ said Dominic.

            ‘So her being missing is partially of her own choosing?’ asked Willa.

            ‘Yes and no. She did leave the house, however, her being missing has to do with later that night when we were all meeting in the barn.’

            ‘Holy shit. Hopefully they find her soon.’ said Willa.

            The threesome chatted over the phone for hours until a new text from ANONYMOUS came to Dominic’s cellphone.

Time to play Hide and Go Seek. You are the finders, and someone is the one hiding.

-Z

            ‘Shit, we’re in trouble now.’ said Noemi. ‘We need to get Jonah and find him quickly.’

            ‘Sure thing, see you soon.’ replied Dominic, who then hung up on the call.

            Dominic and Willa then went down to the barn and waited for Noemi to arrive. In the midst of waiting, Jonah arrived, telling them he received the exact same text. The threesome then began their search in the woods behind the barn while waiting for Noemi to show up.

            An hour had passed by the time Noemi had arrived, who mentioned that she tried to trace the number from the message, to no avail.

            ‘You tried one of those number tracing websites?’ asked Dominic.

            ‘I did, and the number came back as invalid.’ replied Noemi.

            Willa added, ‘We’re gonna be fucked if we have to find this Z person. They’re gonna kill us.’

            Jonah suggested to the group about splitting up girls and guys just to try and cover more ground, which the other three agreed to. Noemi and Willa went back into the woods, and Dominic and Jonah went to the park.

            ‘Babe, I need to tell you something.’ said Jonah.

            Dominic replied, ‘I think I know what this is about.’

            ‘You’re right.’ Jonah added. ‘When this shitshow started the other night, I thought about this.’

            ‘You did?’ asked Dominic.

            Jonah said, ‘Yes, I did.’ He then said, ‘The reason why I hurt you, is because...’

            Dominic asked, ‘Because of what, babe?’

            Replying to his boyfriend, Jonah said, ‘Because I have been secretly drinking to cope with my own demons.’

            Dominic further asked, ‘When did you start drinking?!? I have bruises all over my arms!’

            ‘It was a few months ago after my brother went to the psych ward. I couldn’t deal with my little bro being locked away for months on end.’ cried Jonah.

            The boyfriends sobbed and made amends before continuing on their search when both phones chimed.

            Jonah opened his cell phone as both read the next message.

You two are getting colder, the girls are getting warmer. Find the prize and you’ll be so happy you could die.

-Z

            ‘We gotta find the girls. They’re in danger!’ cried out Dominic.

            Jonah replied, ‘Let’s go get them.’

            The boyfriends ran through the park and the woods to get to the girls, who were still in the midst of searching. The boys cried out their names, to which Noemi texted Dominic saying, We’re like 10 feet away, you don’t have to scream.

            Jonah and Dominic finally reached the girls, where Jonah told them about the latest text. Jennifer and Anna met up with the group suddenly when they then mentioned their texts from Z. The group of six began their search through the woods when Dominic then mentioned, ‘I see something shiny over here.’

            ‘We’re coming, just give us a sec.’ replied Anna.

            As the group ran over to see the shiny glimmer of light, Dominic tripped over what seemed like a log. As he regained his footing, the group looked aghast at a new sight. Anna screamed and ran away as Dominic fully grasped what he was seeing. A bloodied, dead body with a crown around it’s neck, with a note attached.

            ‘Oh dear God, it’s Em!’ cried Jennifer.

            ‘Fuck!’ exclaimed Noemi.

            ‘Jonah, call the police.’ Willa then asked one of the boys.

            Dominic then moved in closer and grabbed the note which was an ominous statement.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Dead is the bitch who tries to wear it because they knew too much.

            ‘We’ve got to tell them the basics of what we know.’ said Dominic. ‘Anything else we say could be used against us and we don’t want that to happen to anyone.’

            Willa added, ‘He’s right. We need to keep quiet about the texts.’

            The group was huddled together in tears and shock standing over the dead body of their missing friend as the sirens of the police cars grew ever nearer to them.