The following morning, as she woke up, the words from the latest message reverberated throughout Willa’s mind. As she fully woke up and sat up, she saw a hoodied figure outside her window on the deck putting their finger up to lips, visually telling her to stay quiet or else something bad would happen.

            She went outside to the deck and asked the figure who they were. The stranger lifted up their hood, and behold in front of her, was Carston. ‘Dude, you’re the enemy?!?’ she exclaimed softly. ‘Not exactly, but I am working with Z. You can’t tell anyone that I am, or else they’ll come after me too,’ he replied. ‘Why not?’ asked Willa. Carston replied, ‘Z’s like a secret computer whiz, and knows literally everything about everyone in this town. They hacked almost everyone.’ Willa replied, ‘Holy shit. No wonder why Max and Jennifer are getting texts too.’ ‘Exactly that,’ replied Carston, now wondering if Z would finally catch up with him too.

            ‘I have to go, or else Z will be wondering what I’m up to. I’ll catch you later,’ said Carston, who then bolted down the stairs and into the woods behind the house. Willa stood there awestruck and in tears, now knowing that one of her friends was working with the person tormenting her and the rest of the group. Then, standing outside her bedroom doorway was Dominic, who was confused by the oddness of Willa standing outside in her pajamas. He walked in to her room and out onto the deck and asked her, ‘What’s going on out her, Willa? Couldn’t sleep?’ She replied, ‘No, I slept soundly. However, I saw a hoodied figure on the deck and went to talk to them. They didn’t say a thing to me before running off.’ ‘Are you shitting me?’ asked Dominic. She shook her head, before going back inside to change into her clothes for class that day. Dominic followed her back inside, and went back to his room.

            As he went back to his room, Jonah was wide awake, albeit still completely nude as the blinds were drawn closed in the bedroom. ‘Babe, Felicity can’t see you like that! It’s inappropriate,’ said Dominic, in a now harsh tone. ‘Fine, but only if I can only do it around you,’ replied Jonah, who pulled his underwear on before putting on his clothes. ‘Willa saw a hoodied figure outside on the deck this morning. She asked who they were, to no reply,’ Dominic told Jonah of the events that had transpired just minutes earlier. ‘Holy shit, Wilzy got to see Z?!?’ exclaimed Jonah. Willa walked into the room and said, ‘Not exactly. But, I did see who is working with them.’ Jonah asked, ‘Then who was it?’ Willa told them, ‘I couldn’t recognize the face, but they didn’t say anything.’

            The trio now facing the reality of the situation, rushed next door to the barn where Noemi and Max were now waiting for them before going to the coffee shop. ‘We saw Willa on the deck with a hooded figure. Who was it?’ Willa was reluctant to tell the truth, but eventually did, ‘It was Carston. He’s working with Z.’ ‘Fucking hell,’ exclaimed Noemi. Willa explained futher, ‘He said that Z’s pretty much hacked everyone in town, which is why Max and Jen keep receiving texts too. In short, we’re screwed if we don’t find out who Z is.’

            ‘I bet you that Carston was blackmailed into telling us that he’s working with Z,’ said Max. ‘By the way he was telling me, I could tell in his body language that he was being honest with me,’ replied Willa. She then said, ‘He told me not to tell, but I just can’t go around lying to you guys about shit like this.’ The others looked at her with worried looks, like they had been deer looking at car headlights. The group now knew about Carston and what he’d been doing. Noemi then said, ‘I thought he was on vacation.’ Dominic replied, ‘Apparently not, Noemi. Now, let’s head to the coffee shop before Willa, Jonah, and I are late for class.’

            The group of five then went to the coffee shop where Jennifer was waiting for them, all dressed in her regular clothes and not her work clothes. When they walked in the door, Max asked her, ‘Day off?’ She replied, ‘Yep, but I’d thought I’d still come in and make stuff for you guys. Come and sit.’ Once they sat down, Willa then told Jennifer what she had told the other four. Jennifer was flabbergasted, and then said, ‘I can’t believe it. I thought I trusted him, and now he’s working with Z.’

            As the group of six sat together, Carston was secretly leaving a note on the windshield of Jonah’s car, quickly running off before he could be seen. Willa noticed his shadow pass through the windows, but returned to the conversation with the others before she was fully sidetracked. ‘We should get moving, or else we’ll be late,’ said Jonah. Willa and Dominic agreed, and the three left the other three friends behind in the coffee shop. Stepping outside, Jonah noticed the note on his car, at first thinking it was a parking ticket. He then realized what it was and motioned through the window to Jennifer for the others to come outside. It was another photo, but this time of Felicity at the quarry lake, tied up. The picture shook Willa to her core. There was no note left on the backside of the photograph. ‘Wilzy, are you okay?’ asked Max. ‘Z has my mom at the quarry lake where the other parents killed your dad. Could Z be planning on finally tying up the loose ends by killing her?!?’ Willa was now terrified of the result. She immediately called her professors telling them she had a family emergency and couldn’t come to class for the day.

            The six friends then met up with Troy and Felix on their way to the quarry lake. By the time they had gotten to the lake, Felicity was still there tied up on the shore. Willa ran over to her mother, and rolled her over. She was still breathing, but heavily beaten up. Troy then called 911 and asked for an ambulance to the quarry lake. ‘Who did this to you Mom?’ asked Willa. Felicity answered, it was a hoodied figure, but I couldn’t see a face. But they were on the short side, and very strong.’ The friends and family all looked at each other as the ambulance arrived at the scene to take Felicity to the hospital. Willa rode in the ambulance with her mother as the others followed behind to the hospital in their cars. When they had gotten to the emergency room, they had taken Felicity immediately for CT scans and x-rays. The group waited with bated breath in the waiting room as the hours passed. Dominic and Jonah left to go to class after about 15 minutes, whereas the others stayed with Willa all morning and afternoon.

             After 4 hours, the doctor came out to the waiting room and pulled Willa over and told her the news. ‘Miss Kerby, your mother has a couple of broken ribs on her right side and a bruise on the left side of her face. She will need to stay here a couple of days before we can send her home.’ Willa thanked the doctor before asking if she could see her. The doctor told her that she would be able to see her mother once she was in a room upstairs. Willa then relayed the information to the others who were still seated in the waiting room, and Noemi further relayed the information to Dominic and Jonah through text message.

            As the hour passed from that moment, the group waited still to see Felicity in her hospital room. Once the hour was up, the doctor came back to the waiting room to retrieve the group and have them follow along up to Felicity’s hospital room. They finally arrived at Felicity’s room, and began to be relieved that she was going to be okay. No more murders of parents around the town of Fairlake was the thought running through Noemi’s head as the group talked with Felicity more about what had happened. Felicity then said, ‘I remember sitting at the dining room table drinking coffee, then the next thing I know, I was being knocked unconscious and woke up at the quarry lake. Whoever this was, they were very strong for having to drag me around town to the lake.’ Willa was mesmerized by what her mother was saying. Jennifer then asked, ‘Felicity, what do you remember after you arrived at the lake?’ Felicity replied, ‘I remember the hooded figure not saying anything, but then they started beating the crap out of me. They even beat my face with the metal butt of a knife. I thought that it was going to be the end of my life, but luckily they stopped and then took a photograph of me before fleeing.’

“...A photograph of me before fleeing...” reverberated through Noemi’s mind and then she realized and exclaimed, ‘The photo that Jonah found on his windshield! That’s the photo that was taken of you!’ The group was stunned by the words that came out of Noemi’s mouth. At that moment, Felicity was relieved that the photo was seen by her daughter’s friends. She then asked the group if her and Willa could be alone for the rest of the day, to which the others agreed. Jennifer told Willa, ‘Call me when you’re ready to leave.’ Willa nodded her head, and then sat on the sofa next to the hospital bed talking with her mother.

            As they returned to the barn from the hospital, the group found Dominic and Jonah sleeping on the sofas, both exhausted from the day on campus. The others woke them up and caught them up on what had happened while at the hospital. Dominic and Jonah were relieved to find out that Felicity was okay and that nothing even more serious happened.

The group, while relieved about the situation with Felicity, were now still reeling from the fact that Carston was working with Z. As the group prepared to order Chinese takeout for dinner, a loud guitar strum sound came from Jonah’s phone. He took out his phone, and it was a text from Willa saying, ‘Tell Jen that I’m ready to be picked up. Couldn’t reach her phone, thinking it must be dead from being used all day long.’ Jonah relayed the message to Jennifer, who then left the barn to go pick up her girlfriend from the hospital. As she was leaving the barn, Veronica showed up covered in blood and passed out in the doorway.

            Now seeing one of their closest friends covered in blood, the group once again split off with Jennifer, Max, and Dominic heading to the hospital, and Noemi, Felix, Troy, and Jonah staying behind to wait for the food to arrive. As Jennifer rushed over to the hospital, Veronica woke up in the back seat of the car with Dominic holding pressure to her abdomen. ‘What are you doing Dom!? Get your hands off of me!’ she exclaimed. He replied, ‘Vee, you’re bleeding badly. I can’t keep the pressure off until we get to the emergency room.’

            The foursome finally arrived to the hospital to get help for Veronica’s wound, as well as to pick up Willa from visiting with Felicity. They waited around for Willa to come downstairs, and then when she did, they explained what happened at the barn and what transpired on the way over to the hospital. Jennifer left the nurses’ station her phone number if anything happened to Veronica. The group then left the hospital and returned to the barn to eat dinner with the rest of the group, who were still waiting for their return.