The Intruder: The Hidden Mystery

Chapter 10

More footsteps approach. Zoe and I hesitated in shock. Zoe gave me a worried look, like there's something wrong with me or I'm hearing things.
"I have to go back down there." I told Zoe quietly before I reached for the handle. "I don't know, Leah. It could just be Cindy trying to scare us or something." Zoe tried making a point. But out of curiosity I wanted to go down. An inch later, I slipped and fell down the ladder. I landed on my left arm, where my brace is located.
"Owwww!" I screamed in pain as I held my arm. Zoe called my name to see if I'm okay.
"Leah! Are you okay?" She called out as I tried to sit up. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just fell." I stood up and started wandering around. For a second I hesitated as I found another newspaper on the floor. I picked it up and read the first words I saw, 'Prisoner Arrested For Middle/ Elementary School Shootings.' Dang. There really was a lot of crime and shootings in this area.
After I read the newspaper headline, I heard footsteps behind me and quickly turned my head. Behind me I bump into Cindy as our shoulders bump each other. She had a look on her face as if she saw a ghost.
"Cindy? Where's Zoe?" I asked her as she rubbed her arms with both of her hands. She pointed behind me where I felt a cold hand on shoulder. There was Zoe. She had her cell phone in her hand while making eye contact. "Zoe! You have gotta stop doing that!" Zoe giggled and gave me a soft hug. She looked down at my feet, then at my hand, where I still had the newspapers in my hand. Zoe stared at my neck and saw my silver locket my mother gave me.
"Leah? Where'd you get this?" She picked it up off my neck and studied it. "M-my mother gave this to me, before she passed away. It's the only thing I have left of her." I explain, without tears this time. Cindy gave me a gaze of confusion. I forgot about Cindy for a minute. I didn't tell her about that either. "Your mother passed away?" Cindy crossed her arms. I nodded and Cindy froze.
"Yes, she did. I don't want to talk about it." I told both Cindy and Zoe.
"Why? How did that happen? Did that intruder shoot her or what?" Cindy rolled her eyes and I got angry. I wanted to punch that pale face of hers, but I was too hesitant to do so. "Shut up! I told you I don't want to talk about it! And at least you have a mom!" I shouted at her. My whole body was shaking, I was so mad. But I didn't want to start a fight. Cindy was speechless. Her eyes got watery and she was shaking as well. Before I took another step towards Cindy, Zoe blocked both of us with her hands.
"You two have gotta stop arguing. We're going to get anywhere until you both get along. So calm down." Zoe looked at Zoe, and back at me. We both took a deep breath to calm down. "Are we good?" Zoe stared at Cindy and I until we agreed. I nodded, so did Cindy. "Good. Now let's get moving." Zoe guided us out of the classroom, until I heard more footsteps. I still couldn't tell if Zoe or Cindy heard what I was hearing. If I asked them, they would think I'm hearing things. If he did hear, wouldn't they have said anything?