Chapter 7
It was the lead story splashed all over the local newspaper and some Internet sites:
Young Woman Found Dead in Parking Lot
Adam awoke Wednesday morning feeling more tired than usual, and if he could have one wish, it would be to sleep in for another hour, but with another school day upon him, he knew it would never come true. It wasn’t until he rolled out of bed that he noticed the soreness in his right upper arm. He figured he must have slept on it wrong. He forgot about it and began to get ready for school. A strange feeling came over him…a feeling that he’d left the house sometime in the night. He couldn’t remember any specifics, but it seemed very real. He’d had that feeling before, but it was never this strong. As he dressed, he continued wondering if anything did happen. Still unsure, he started making his bed. On his pillow were a couple of small blood spots. Nothing unusual for him since he suffered from acne, and he knew pimples tended to burst overnight at times. He dismissed it, finished getting dressed, and headed to the kitchen to satisfy his rumbling stomach.
After he finished eating, he headed into the living room to wait for Kyle and Vance. When he sat down, he had another strange feeling. Something was missing. He switched on the television then sat forward, checking the couch and the floor. Something was different. He stood up and happened to look out the window.
His backpack came to mind.
He must have left it upstairs, so he ran upstairs taking two steps at a time. He found his backpack sitting by the door. It was easy to miss because it was so flat and not the usual place he put it. But his backpack is never that flat. He picked it up and it was empty. He stopped breathing. His backpack had never been empty since his mother bought it. He exhaled and his mind wandered through a myriad of questions. Why is it empty? Where is my stuff? When did this happen? Who did this? He stopped at the last question. Most likely his father couldn’t even tell him what color the backpack was. His mother dreaded looking inside of it. Only he was left.
The house was absolutely silent, and he felt the pulsing of his heart in his ears. He had to find his stuff before Kyle and Vance got to his house. He started with the closet. It was the same old stuff on the shelves and floor. He slammed it shut, and checked under the bed. He pushed his shoes all around and found nothing. Nothing was on the dresser or nightstand. He spun in a circle. His stuff had to be in this room. He remembered having it yesterday when he came home from school. He started searching in places where he knew it couldn’t be. Nothing was in his nightstand drawer. He reopened the closet and checked through his dirty laundry. The smell almost overwhelmed him but nothing was there. He stepped over to his dresser and checked the top drawer. Nothing. He opened the second drawer and gasped. Everything was there, spread out on his shirts. How in the hell did my stuff get in here? A cold feeling flowed over him as he realized that he may have done something yesterday after school, but he couldn’t remember what it was.
As he stowed his stuff into his backpack, he retraced the events of yesterday. He remembered coming home. He watched some television in his room, then his mother called him down for dinner. He remembered eating dinner with them…but he didn’t remember finishing it. He didn’t remember anything else until he woke up this morning. Oh no! Not again! He jumped when he heard someone knocking on the front door. It had to be Kyle and Vance. He ran downstairs, opened the door, and greeted his friends. Before leaving the house, he made a quick check for his keys, then out the door he went, locking it behind him.