Chapter 1 Red Note

"Mom, I'm home!" I yelled as I throw my bag

down by the shoe rack and kick off my beat

up sneakers. Making my way to the kitchen, I

am greeted with the smell of Pozole and

beans. "Oh, hi honey, how was your day?" My

mother questions, her voice laced with the

thickest Boston accent. "Alright.

Cookin' dinner already?" "Yeah, Me and your

father are going on a date night with our business partners Smiths, I made you guys lasagna! It's in the fridge" She grinned. "Thanks

mama." I say and she plants a kiss on my

forehead.

With a smile I make my way upstairs into my

bedroom. Expecting nothing more than the

familiar lavender walls littered with posters

and paintings, and the comforting sound of

the a/c being on on I was caught off guard

because my radio was blaring and I usually

turn it off when I leave for the day. When I

walked into the room I sense someone has been

here. Someone unfamiliar. A few things are

misplaced and my bed is disheveled. My

brother might have done it. Thinking I took

something of his. As I turn to shut off the

radio I realize their is a messily crumbled up

piece of paper on my bed so I make my way

over there. I don't usually crumble up paper

but rather put it in a binder or neatly arranged

on my desk, so the piece of paper was easily

spotted by my keen sense of misplacement.

Picking it up I unravel it carefully, the cracks

and pops of the paper moving fill the now

silent room. Once it is fully unraveled

it reads:

"Hello Carla,

This letter is in regards to your

belovedfriend Max. Max is fine, he is

alive. He is doing quite well actually. I

know you have been worried sick

since you were a child, I've been

watching you. Ive been waiting for

this moment. If you want your friend to

stay alive you will come and pick him up.

He is a pain in the ass to be honest

with you, and you are the only person

who hasn't given up hope that he is not dead. I'll explain more over the phone.

Your first assignment is to go to the local gas station on the corner of Main Street and buy a prepaid phone and put minutes on it.Here is the number you will need to call to reach

me...Good luck

-Anon

524-578-1535"

My stomach jumped to my throat. Making me

feel as if I was about to fall from the worlds

steepest cliff side. The butterflies in my

stomach from the thought of being home

alone have just been shot. And their corpse

are coming up my throat right now. I run to

the bathroom directly across the hall and

spew it all out. Shaking and out of breath I

slump down the wall onto the floor by the

bathtub. I hear my heartbeat in my skull and

the world gets dizzy. Just as I was about to

take a deep breath I hear a knock at the

bathroom door. "Hurry up I need to piss!"

Rob. "Shut up a second." I say and stand up.

"Are you puking your guts out cause you look

fat?" My brother says. "Fuck off!" I yell back. I

look at myself in the mirror. I look as bad as I

thought. My skin a paler than usual and my

hands are shaking. With a shake of my head I

brush my teeth really quick and flush the toilet.

Heading back to my room I close the door

and pick the note of off the floor. Reading it

over and over again trying to see if anything

about where Max is would be hidden between

the ink and the yellow paper. Just a I was

about to put my shoes on to head to the gas

station my phone rings. "Carla, hey what you

doing?" It was my best friend Justin. "Not

now. Meet me at the Gas station on the corner

of Main Street I have something I need to

show you." I tremble and hang up the phone.

Slipping my shoes back on, Robert heads

down stairs. "Where do you think your

going?" He says. "Rob, you are a year and

four months older than me I don't have to tell

you where I am going." I huff. "Fine, don't

die." he lets it go, but he doesn't know how

easily it is for me to do just that.

Knowing that this person...the person who

left the note for now we will call Anon is

watching me put me in a paranoia state of

mind the whole drive to the gas station. Once

I got there, paranoia turned to nervousness.

What if Justin thinks I'm crazy and I wrote

the note so people would believe me that Max

is still alive? What if he thinks this and tells

everyone, the whole school, all my friends at

work and so on.. I need to stop with these

thoughts. They will not help the situation.

With a deep cleansing breath I take my key

out of the ignition and open my car door.

Justin is sitting on the parking thingies

looking through his phone. "Hey," He says as

he beams with excitement. "What did you

need to tell me?" I don't know whether its

him or the fact that I feel like I am constantly

being watched now, but it seemed as he was

yelling. "Shh.Get in the car." I say and walk

to the drive side of my mom's 1996 Honda.

I then tell him about the note that I found on

my bed when I got home from work today,

and then I tell him about the feeling I got

when I walked in my room and how it was

unfamiliar. He got just about as shook as I

did. "Okay, this is some NCIS shit right here

we should call the cops." Justin says. "I know

we should but he kinda says in the letter that

if we do that he'll make sure Max is well..I'm

guessing dead." Just talking about Max again

is breaking open wounds I have not yet

healed. Justin knew Max just about as long as

I have so I'm glad he was the person I turned

to.

"Well I guess you should call the number

then." He suggests. I take out my phone and

dial the first three numbers, then the second

and then the last four. Each ring that passes

my heart jumps further and further up my

throat. Finally someone answers. The voice is

almost not human. It sounds so deep its so

hard to understand what they say. "Ah, you

must be Carla I see you calling." Chills run

down my spine. "What do you want." I

tremble even though the statement was

meant to come out very stern and affirmative

it came out as a squeak. "You. I want Clara."

The voice says. Its laced with sadness almost,

but I know enough from law and order SVU

than to fall for that emotional trap. "Where is

Max?" I inquire. "You'll know soon enough.

Ill call you tomorrow some time. Keep this

phone near." With that, the phone call ended

and all I heard were dial tones.

Justin is looking at me with straight panic on

his face as I start to cry my eyes out. "Who is

this person?" I ask myself as I think back on

who it could be I come up dry. "Who do you

think?" Justin inquires "I don't know, no one

really wants to hurt me that I know of and

that's now. What sicko would want to hurt an

eight-year-old at that?" I tell him. "Well, you

know what we have to do. We have to go find

him." Justin has always been strong of will

and heart but weak of bravery. Meaning he is

all fine until he is actually in the situation and

about to fucking die and that is when he

bounces. My friend Mary on the other hand

just doesn't give a fuck and will put her life on

the line when it comes down to it. She has

also known Max as long asI have and would

be the perfect person to go find him with me.

"Justin, I know what you are getting at and no

you are not gonna come with me." He throws

his arms up and lets out a wine. "Clara I am

awesome with an AK47 and I wanna find

Max." He argues. "First off, we won't need a

gun. Secondly, I think you should stay here

and make sure that no one notices me and

Mary are gone. Please." His face shows he is

not too thrilled with the turn of events but he

knows its for the best. "Okay. Fine but how

am I supposed to keep your parents from

realizing your gone?" Great question. This

week is their anniversary so maybe I can get

them to go on a last minute vacation or

something that way Justin will only have to

worry about Rob. Or I can say I am going to

Huston to visit my birth mother and he

wouldn't have to worry about them at

all..Maybe."Ill figure out something for my

parents all you have to do is worry about

Megan's family and Rob."

"Roberto? You know I hate that child of a

man. He is such a douche." Justin interjects.

After a couple more minutes convincing

Justin that its a good, helpful and super-hero-

isc thing to do he finally agrees. I then buy a rap of snickers and head home.

When I get home my father's car is in the

driveway meaning my Mom and him are

home from date night. I walk in and take my

shoes off, put the key on the hook and go hug

my papa. "Whats this for my dear?" He ask

"Nothing, I just miss you." I say and hug him

tighter. I haven't really seen my father a lot

lately since he's been working at the talent

agency. He is always either in Singapore, Las

Angeles or Calabasas. "Ah, I've missed you

too then." Releasing my father from my grip I

go to the living room and wait for Mama and

Papa to gather in for their evening ritual of

Beverly Hills House Wives. "Hey, Mom,

Papa what do you think about taking a little

vacation next week just to celebrate 20

years?" I say. I usually pipe up with ways they

can celebrate milestones like this so it isn't

out of ordinary. "That is a wonderful idea! I

was thinking about that, what about you

Wendy?" My papa says to my mother. "I

think its a wonderful idea too! We have to

have some fun after all, I've been wanting to get away for a while and Rob and Clara are old enough now we can leave for that long..." My mother is already off buying plane tickets with my father to the Ozarks Missouri.

Now Justin just has to worry about Robert. The

thing about Rob is he hates me. I'm adopted

and Robert's mom who I call Mama. Robert doesn't like this very much which is probably the biggest reason I call her Mama to be honest with

you. So it didn't surprise me when he came

waltzing down the stairs almost tripping over

his pants their so baggy. "Why are you

sending mom and pop off?" I'm so sick of that

fake gangster voice. You're not black. That's

cultural appropriation. Thats what I want to

tell him but I doubt his two brain-cells know

what any of those words mean. "They need

some alone time. It's their twentieth anniversary.

Be a doll and don't ruin it for them." I say as I

stand up. "Shut up stupid." He argues back. I

just roll my eyes and go to my room.

Sometimes when fighting with Rob, instead of

saying anything back the most hurtful thing

you can do is absolute nothing.

When I get to my room I go over the note a

few more times. Examining the handwriting

and what strokes are up, and what strokes are

down. I get my shoe box of cards out that

people have given me over the years and

comnare the handwriting. Nothing. This is

not like any writing I've ever seen. The letters

are rounded and connected but not as elegant

as cursive. More rushed then cursive. The fact

that they have Max isn't the weirdest thing to

have to come to terms with. Since I already

had that gut feeling he was alive I knew

somebody had to have taken him. Who was

the question and over these next few days I

hope to unravel that mystery.