Episode 5: Found You

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This couldn't be happening.

"We just saw her yesterday afternoon," I said. "She dropped me off at my house last night. That was just a few hours ago. It's not possible that she's gone. She's probably just late for school."

My entire body was shaking.

Peyton was the first real friend I'd ever made, and even though I'd only known her a few days, I was already growing close to her. She couldn't be gone.

This whole thing had to be some kind of misunderstanding.

"It's true," Brandy said. "Her mom called me early this morning asking if Peyton had decided to sleep over at our place. She's done that a few times when her parents were out of town, but I haven't seen Peyton since I left her house yesterday afternoon."

"Me, either," Olive said. "She texted mom about the cupcake at like nine or so last night. That was apparently the last time anyone heard from her."

"Lenny, you were probably the last person to see her before she disappeared," Brandy said. "Did she say anything about where she was going after she dropped you off?"

It felt like someone had just dropped a massive weight on my chest.

"No. She just said she was going home," I said. "Maybe she just went to visit someone else? Does she have a boyfriend?"

I realized we'd never talked about any of them having a boyfriend. I hadn't seen any guys hanging around any of them, though. At least not so far.

"Not anymore," Brandy said. "She'd been dating Maddox Penn for two years, but they broke up over the summer."

"Maybe she went to his house," I said. There had to be a logical explanation.

"There's more to it than that," Brandy said, wiping her face with a tissue. "Believe me, I want this not to be real more than you do. I've known Peyton my whole life, Lenny. She's my best friend. But they know she's been taken. She's not just visiting a friend or something. I can't say anything else, because the police told me not to talk about it, but they're going to want to question you, too, Lenny. They might already be talking to your uncle."

My mouth went dry, and I had to sit down on the picnic table's bench for a second.

They police knew for sure Peyton had been taken?

My mind had already put it all together, but I just didn't want to believe it. The four other missing girls, and now this. It couldn't be a coincidence.

Whoever took those other girls had Peyton, too.

But why?

After the confrontation with Kai, I had seriously considered taking a step back from figuring out what happened to those girls. Besides, I knew my uncle Martin wouldn't want me messing in this stuff. This was potentially Council business, and if not, it was human business.

I shouldn't get involved.

But now, the only friend I'd ever made was gone.

I had to find her.

I closed my eyes and let my head fall into my hands.

Find her? How the heck was I going to do that? I knew nothing about this town or most of the people in it. I didn't know anything about the other girls who had gone missing or why the police knew for sure Peyton was gone, too.

I didn't have the first clue about where to start.

Except, I did have one clue.

A chill went through me, and I looked up slowly.

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