Secret Secrets

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I didn't see Della until I got back to our dorm late that night. She was curled up on her bed, but I could tell she was still wide awake. "Della? Are you okay?" She shot out of bed at a lightning fast speed. I staggered back, a bit frightened. "Della-what the hell?" She had pinned herself against the wall, and she was breathing heavily. I didn't know what to do this behavior was so...random. "Say something!" I demanded.

"Don't talk to me-I'm tired and I just want to go to sleep." She huffed.

I put my hands up. "Alright, I'll leave you alone. See you in the morning, then." I silently changed into my pajamas as Della returned to her fetal position on the bed. I was still a little weirded out by the event as I crawled under my covers. Something was definitely not right.

I woke up in the middle of the night. Della was talking to someone on the phone. I continued to breathe heavily to give the illusion that I was still fast asleep, but I was really listening in...

"...that's why he's here." Della finished a sentence that I had unfortunately not heard the beginning to. She paused to listen to the person on the other end. "Well, he made a pretty big mistake, knowing him he's pretty beat up about it." The other person spoke, she was quiet. "I know! I am supposed to be hiding here, yet somehow he finds me! Did you tip him off?" Pause. "Good. I knew I could trust you. Listen, I've got to get going, just remember the plan: kill Gabriel Foxglove."

What did Gabriel do? My throat suddenly felt tight, and I felt like I was paralyzed, like I couldn't move. Della Marshal wasn't who she was saying she was. And I had to figure out who she was. Soon.

Monday night was calm-I didn't have any homework and Della was busy studying for some A.P Calculus class test. I took advantage of this night to do some searching. The library seemed like a fit place. It was an enormous building that's design reminded my faintly of the white house. The inside was stuffy but warm, like most libraries, but it had an impressive three levels. Each wall was jam-packed with books. Books about anything you could imagine. I smiled as I seated myself at one of the library computers on the main floor and quickly typed in "Della Marshal" in the student search bar. The only thing that came up was her current information, useless. There was nothing in those files that I didn't know. So instead, I took to Google. "Della Marshal-Switzdale, Vermont." I typed in.

Google's response shocked me. "Did you mean Della Sanders Switzdale, Vermont?" Curious, I clicked on the glowing blue link. It led me to a page with different search results. The first link read: "Local Teen Della Sanders Missing. Police Have No Leads." It dated back to 2005. I clicked it.

"Local Teen Della Sanders Missing. Police Have No Leads."

Oct. 3, 2005- After being missing for 24 hours, Della Lee Sanders is now being filed under a missing persons report. Her parents, Henry and Taylor Sanders, said they last saw their sixteen year old daughter when they stepped out for dinner and  left her to babysit their younger daughter Elizabeth "Eliza", who is ten. When they returned home they found Eliza asleep in her bed, safe, but Della was no where to be found.

"We called all of her friend's parents, asking them if they knew anything." Henry explained. "But all of them said they had no idea where she was."

Upon asking Eliza when she last saw her sister, she said: "She told me to go to bed at my bedtime so I did. That's the last time I saw her."

When police asked Taylor Sanders if she thought her daughter may have run away, Taylor responded with: "No! Never! Della was extremely happy and loved it here, she had no reason to leave."

The police currently have no leads, but would like locals to keep a look out for Della Sanders, pictured below.

The picture beneath the alarming article was Della, alright. But her hair was shorter and a little but lighter. Still, I could tell it was her. I looked away from the photo and read the article one more time. The Sanders. Eliza's family. They moved to Cleveland in 2006, so it all fit perfectly. Della was Eliza's sister. So why had she never been mentioned? And what happened to Della? Who kidnapped her or why did she go missing? Because I knew exactly where she was now...studying in our room.

My head was buzzing as I went back to the main page. I found another article and opened it as quickly as I could.

"A Year Has Passed, But Alas, No Della Sanders."

Oct. 3, 2006- Last year on this date, Della Lee Sanders, a local teenager, was filed as a missing person and the police had no leads. Unfortunately, not much has changed.

When Della dissapeared that night while babysitting little sister Elizabeth "Eliza", she sure didn't leave behind and clues. No signs of struggle, no suicide note, nothing. Leaving the police scratching their heads.

In Julyearlier this year, a candlelight vigil was held in Della's honor. Not long after that, police made the decision to stop searching for Della. "There is no evidence to help us with this case." The chief of police Mark Lucas has said. "Della had no enemies, no strange behaviors, she didn't even have a journal we could look through for clues. There is very little chance we will find her."

For now, the case is cold, and the Sanders family seems to be giving up just as the police did. "We are moving to Ohio." Henry Sanders, father of Della, stated. "We need to get out of here-get away from all of this and get our thoughts together."

All of the locals say the Sanders family will be missed, that they are good people, and that they don't deserve to loose a daughter in such a terrible way.

Those were the only two articles available on Della's case. I couldn't believe all of this had been hidden from me. Della disappeared, yet here she is. And her little sister, my best friend, is dead. My life was becoming more and more complicated each passing second.