The following morning, after each person in the group was questioned by police and let go; Em’s parents were notified of her death, which was ruled undetermined. One person not questioned was Anna, who had run off when they had discovered the body. Dominic was still distraught from the note left on Em’s dead and bloodied body.

‘Whoever this is truly now has us fucked. Em knowing too much?’ said Dominic. He further remarked, ‘I am so confused knowing what’s right and wrong given the situation Z has put us in.’

The remaining quintet of Dominic, Jennifer, Jonah, Noemi, and Willa met up as per usual at the coffee shop, where Melisa consoled each of them over what had happened the previous night.

‘Whoever this Z person is must’ve stabbed the hell out of her.’ said a distraught Noemi.

As distraught as everyone was, they were all determined to finish whatever now deadly game that Z had pulled them into.

‘Jonah confessed to me last night as to why he’s done what he’s done with hurting me.’ said Dominic. ‘He’d been drinking to deal with the pain of seeing his brother in a psych ward.’

Willa then said, ‘Damn, Jonah. If I had known that earlier, I would’ve been a lot more honest with you about things. Hell, my mom is probably keeping things from me.’

Jonah then asked, ‘Have you asked your mom about any secrets she has?’

Willa replied, ‘I have, but she keeps turning me away when I do ask her.’

‘That means something must’ve happened to her that must’ve been traumatic.’ remarked Jennifer.

The fivesome then finished their coffees and went to investigate the notes and texts some more. As the group went to Dominic’s old house, Officer Macy Hale was still patrolling the crime scene.

‘You five should’t be here, this is still an active scene.’ said Macy.

‘Someone’s officially stalking us with more notes and texts. It’s been getting frightening.’ replied Willa.

Macy asked, ‘More texts? Let me see them.’

The group then showed Macy the text messages that they had been receiving since the day of the deaths of Dominic and Noemi’s families. Macy then began asking many questions regarding the note they found on Em’s body. They all denied seeing her before the day she disappeared. Oddly enough, Macy told the group that she had not seen the now-deceased teen in the days leading up to her disappearance.

All of a sudden, Jonah’s long-time friend Max Tulum showed up to the scene asking about what had happened the night before with all the sirens around town.

‘Max, Em Wyckstrom was found dead last night by these five people. It appears that she was stabbed to death.’ said Macy.

‘Damnit. I thought she’d be able to come home and actually get to finish the semester properly.’ replied Max. ‘But I understand the pain her family is going through right now.

Macy asked, ‘How so?’ To which Max replied, ‘My father went missing when I was like 5 years old, and he was found dead just a few weeks later. It was horrible, and I cried almost every night for a week straight.’

Jonah remarked to Max, ‘I can’t believe that it took you this long to come out of your apartment just to show up to a shitshow of the past 12 hours.’

‘I was completely curious, as it’s been kinda chaos in the main drag of town where her family spends most of their time nowadays.’ replied Max.

The group decided, with Macy’s hesitant but direct approach, to go back to the barn to discuss more of the past week with Max, who had been oblivious to the fact that Dominic and Jonah had been dating for the past few years. Jennifer made the group some food from the microwave that had been left in the barn from when Willa’s cousin had lived with them almost 5 years earlier.

Just as quickly as the group met up with Max, they disbanded for the day to regroup the following morning at the coffee shop. Dominic, Jonah, Max, and Willa went back inside the house to talk with Felicity, who was currently sat upon the sofa in the living room.

‘Mom, we need to ask you something.’ said Willa.

Felicity replied, ‘What is it that you’re asking me?’ Dominic then asked her, ‘Have you ever seen a dead body before?’ To which Felicity further replied, ‘As a matter of fact, I have seen one.’

‘When did you see it?’ asked Max. Despite being sleepy, Felicity said, ‘It was nearly 20 years ago, not that long after Willa’s father and I had gotten married.’ Max further asked her, ‘Do you remember whose body it was?’ Felicity took a sip of her tea as she prepared to answer. ‘If I remember correctly, Max, I believe it was your father’s body. I was beside myself for days afterwards because of the shock of seeing it.’

The foursome looked with awe and shock at Felicity as she shared this news with them, especially Max, who was heartbroken to hear of this.

‘I told my friends how vain they were in regards to lying about knowing your father, Max.’ said Felicity. She further said, ‘Your father was a very nice man from what I can remember.’

Max, now in tears, gave Felicity a hug and then dismissed himself back to the barn as Willa stared at her mother with a disconcerting look.