She puts a hand on his arm. “I told you, sugar. She is the way she is.”
TAUNTON ADVERTISER
Tuesday, 2 November 2004 MISSING GIRL LAST SEEN AT HALLOWEEN PARTY
Elmbridge High School student Juliet McClarin, 16, has vanished after attending a Halloween party at a local friend’s house last night, two miles from the school. McClarin, last seen at approximately 9:00 PM, is 5 foot 3 and weighs approximately 120 pounds. She has sandy blond hair and was wearing a Red Riding Hood costume at the time of her disappearance. There is speculation that Juliet tried to walk back to her dorm room alone after leaving the party. Taunton police officials are requesting the public’s assistance in locating Juliet. Any information should be made available to the Taunton Police Department and will be kept confidential.
29 93 days until the incident
Diary of Kaitlyn Johnson
Monday, 1 November 2004, 2:00 am
Attic
Nothing from Carly in the Message Book. Don’t know how to take it.
I’ve decided that what happened at Naida’s party was probably because of the alcohol. Serves me right for drinking like that when I know Carly’s on meds. I wanted that release—that feeling of flight. It’s the nearest I can get to actually jumping off that roof, Dee. Scary thought.
Does it make me a joke? Because, honestly, I feel like one.
Later
I wish I could stay here, but I have to get Carly back to the dorm before sunup. It was so amazing to have Ari at the party with me. It was actually fun. Well, before the psycho Ouija board thing.
Just thinking about him makes me smile.
5:47 am
Dee… is it you?
If it’s you, please stop smiling at me.
30 93 days until the incident
Naida Camera Footage
Monday, 1 November 2004, 6:00 AM
Kaitlyn’s Dorm Room
A door, closed. A hand knocks.
“What?” comes a tight voice.
“Can I come in?”
Naida doesn’t wait for a response. She opens the door, steps inside, and closes it behind her.
“Get that thing out of my face,” Kaitlyn says right away, looking at the camera.
“What happened at my house? Why did you… pass out? I mean, like that. Was it even a transition? I’ve never seen it like that before.”
“Is that why you’re here? To interrogate me?”
Naida puts the camera on a shelf to her left, facing the room. “Kaitlyn—just stop. Stop it, okay? Do you know that I was scared out of my mind?”
Kaitlyn laughs derisively. “What is this?”
“I know you need this”—she gestures vaguely—“this bravado mask you insist on wearing. I get it. You have to protect yourself: fine. But I want to be your friend. And I’m asking you what went down with that board. What happened outside? I want to help you.”
Kaitlyn puts down the book she’s been writing in—her journal?—and gets to her feet. As she speaks, she steps closer and closer, until she is standing inches from Naida, her posture aggressive. “You want answers? How about you provide a solution? How about you tell Carly to stop taking those damn antipsychotic meds. How about you do that for me, huh? Then maybe I can have a drink without—” She stops herself.
“Kaitie—”
“Don’t call me that. You have no right.”
Naida exhales. “Kaitlyn. You’ve made me into an enemy. I have no idea why. But something did happen at my party. That pointer found you, and there was… something. You weren’t playing with a Ouija board, don’t you see?”
“I don’t care.”
“Of course you do. That board is a board of the Spirits—great spirits. By using that board, you drew their attention. I’ve tried to tell you before that you’re special. Every person has a living body and a soul. The soul is hugely powerful. It’s an amazing energy source, and it connects us to whatever comes after this life. You and Carly are two souls. That’s two in one body. Do you see the kind of power you wield? Do you see how potentially catastrophic that is? Two souls connected to what comes after in a single form? Can you see how attractive that is to malevolent forces? You and Carly are in there together, so you have to stay under the radar—”
Kaitlyn rolls her eyes and makes a guttural sound of irritation or boredom. “Twin souls, blah blah. Yeah, I’ve heard it before, Naida. What’s the point?”
“Playing with the Olen is dangerous,” Naida snaps. “You never know who’s listening. It’s like talking on a tapped phone line.”
“I guess that makes you a real genius, having that thing in your cousin’s house on Halloween. I bet you planned this.”
“You’ve really got no idea how dangerous that board was, do you? You just be glad I burned that pointer.”
“Nice going, Sherlock. Now get out of my room. And take that bloody thing with you!”
Naida turns, reaches for the camera, and the screen goes black.
[END OF CLIP]
31
Diary of Kaitlyn Johnson
Monday, 1 November 2004, 8:43 pm
Attic
Naida. Queen of the dramatic. Melodramatic.
I need a drink. Want to fly. Want to jump.
Away, away, up, up, away!
Later, Dorm
It’s official. Juliet McClarin is missing. No one has seen her since the party. She and her little friend Maggie were meant to come back to the dorms together in Maggie’s dad’s car, but Juliet left right before the Ouija board… thing.
They think she tried to walk the two miles back to school alone. At night. She could have fallen into a ditch or been eaten by foxes.
That’s really stupid if you ask me. Unless you are me.
From: AriHait558
To: RealxChick
Date: 1 November 2004
Subject: Tell Me
Tell me the truth about you.
Ari
32 36 days until the incident
Criminal Investigation Department, Portishead Headquarters
Avon and Somerset Constabulary, Portishead, Bristol
Tuesday, 28 December 2004, 15h40
AUDIO INTERVIEW #1: Detective Chief Inspector Floyd Homes (FH) and Scott Fromley (SF)
(FH): This is Detective Chief Inspector Floyd Homes, Avon and Somerset CID, interviewing Mr. Scott Fromley on the twenty-eighth of December 2004. You are a student at Elmbridge High in Taunton?
(SF): Yes.
(FH): In what year?
(SF): 2004.
(FH): What academic year, son.
(SF): Oh, uh, I’ve been here since seventh grade. I’m in my last year.
