I stare at the dancing flame in the lantern for a minute before nodding.

The silence is thick and still. No one says a word. That’s when two men came rushing in.

“Sir, we got him.”

“Got who?!” I feel my pulse quicken and my breath gets stuck in my lungs. Tears start to fill my eyes. “Who did they get?!” This time I’m screaming. I don’t wait for an answer I shove my grandpa to the ground and push past every man in the room. And I see him laying there.

I clap my hands over my mouth as tears fall down my face. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!” My hands shake as I get on the floor beside him. I turn back up towards the two men that brought him in. “What. Did. You. Do?!” I say through clenched teeth.

“We followed orders little girl. Best you stay out of it or you’ll look like lover boy over there.” He says it so plainly which only makes me angrier. It’s like he doesn’t even care.

I skip over his remarks until it clicks what he said. “What do you mean ‘lover boy’?”

“He wouldn’t shut up about you. Asking if you were alive, if you were safe. Blah blah blah. So I shut him up.” He chuckles

I turn back to look at a pale limp Grayson. I lay my head on his chest, listening for a heart beat. It sounds silent and my tears stain his shirt.

“Get a grip girl.” The man kicked me. And Grayson reached a shaky hand out to tug the back of his ankle so he’d fall. He landed on his butt and a small “oof” escaped his lips.

My eyes are focused on Grayson. “How are you- I couldn’t- I thought you were-“

“You were listening from the wrong side dummy,” He chuckles then groans.

“And you didn’t say anything?! I thought you were dead you idiot!” I grit my teeth and and slap his arm.

“I- yeah fair. Just wanted to see where you would go with this.” He smirks at me.

“What do you mean?” I raise my eyebrow and give him the ‘you wanna try me’ mom look.

“The whole ‘lover boy’ thing. Never heard you correct him.” He smiles covering his eyes with his arm draped over em.

I give him such a hard glare he can feel it through his closed eyes.

“Geez. Okay, I’m sorry okay?” He sits up and I hug him. Let’s ignore the fact we just met yesterday… that.. that doesn’t matter. When you have shared trauma it’s like.. a year.

He hugs me back tighter. “I though- I thought you were gone.” I whisper.

“I know you did. I’m sorry.” He tightens his grip on me and then kisses me in front of everyone. “I thought you were too.” I smile at him and then frown.

“Wait. What the heck is this place Jeremy?!” I shout to the other room I was just in. “Jeremy?” I look around and the room once filled with goons is empty. I stand up and walk into the room.

Jeremy’s throat has been slit and he’s lying on the ground gagging. There are 4 goons with stab wounds in their chests, stomachs and throats. I almost faint. The floor and walls are painted over with a shining, fresh, crimson red coat. “The-“ I swollow hard. “The killer’s in here!” I pat Grayson who’s now standing behind me and shout, “Go, NOW!” We turn to run but the door shuts. Someone stands in front of it.

“Now. You.” It’s the voice from before. From the corner.

“What did we do to you?” He says getting in between me and the person.

“Well she… she is a decendant of the Crawfords. And you. Well, you don’t deserve this. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong ti-“ Grayson pins the guy to the wall and I clasp my hands over my mouth. He punches and kicks, but the the guy gets Grayson’s arm with the blade. Still he doesn’t quit.

The guy falls to the floor. Just unconceous. Not dead. We run out the door and lock him in. This time Grayson carries me as we run out of the forest. Making sure I can’t fall behind. Once we get out I collapse to my knees everything hits me all at once.

I just almost died. WE just almost died. He fought that guy for me. He carried me. We just almost were gone. HE KISSED ME!! I manage to stand long enough to get to his car and drive us to the police station. Once we get there we run in.

“We caught him!” I shout at the first officer I see.

“Caught who?” He frowns.

“The killer. He killed Kaitlyn Crawford.” I say still shaking. He looks at Grayson who half smiles and lifts up a hand to wave.

“Is he okay?” He asks pointing to the blood dripping from his arm.

I whip back. Oh my gosh I forgot! “Umm.. he got stabbed..” never realized how awkward that line is til now.

“Uh huh. Do you have any proof?” The plainness in his voice makes him sound tired or bored. I don’t think he believes is.

My sarcastic tone I’ve been tryin to push down into the back of my throat leaks out. “Oh sorry sir, didn’t really think to stop and take selfies as everything was going down. My ba-“

Grayson grabs my arm and yanks me back next to him and then he whispers,“Micky. The recorder. You never turned it off when I was telling you the story.”

I pull it out of my pocket, say. “No further notes,” then I click it off. “Here you are. He’s locked in a room at a random building near the lighthouse. Be careful and I’d bring back up. There are goons out there. Oh and uh. If you have any missing persons reports I would check for the bodies out there.”

He nods and takes the recorder to the evidence room.

A paramedic walks out to tend to our wounds. His are much worse than mine. All I have is a few new bruises and a small gash on my forehead. He’s got a gash on his forehead bad enough it needs stitches. His arm has a hole in it that also needs stitches. But he also has bruises and scrapes from fighting back in the forest.

I smile and cry out of relief that this is all over now. After they patch him out and let him go he walks over and just holds me to help calm me down. I bury my face in his shoulder and just let the tears fall.

He rubs my back and says “Hey, we’re alright. We’re okay.” His voice has become a comfort zone for me. More soothing than slow running water from a stream or the sound of a nice rain.

TWO MONTHS LATER:

“GRAY NO!” I scream and he comes running into my room.

“Are you okay?! What’s wrong?!” His hair is messier than usual and his eyes look tired.

“I’m sorry.” I cry. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-“

“Hey no, hey. It’s okay. Nightmare?” He looks sad for me and a little scared.

I nod and tears fall down my face. He walks over to my bed and sits next to me. I lean over onto his chest and he plays with my hair and says, “It’s okay baby. It’s okay. I’m okay.” He pauses and its silent except for my inconsistent breaths and sniffles.

“Can you stay? Please?” I bury my face a little deeper.

“Of course.” He settles in a little more, getting comfy. Then he wraps his arms around me and my tears soon stop and I drift off to sleep.

And that’s about as far as this story goes for now. I still wonder sometimes about what my grandpa was doing out there and why all his goons were just killing people. But it’s all over now. Just wish I had the answers.

~NEW YORK TIMES~

Two people (Grayson Reed and Makayla Crawford) happened to go up to the old lighthouse in Fairsview, Massachusetts one day. Both taking a deeper dive into the cold case of 8 y/o girl, Kaitlyn Crawford. However this trip unexpectedly took a turn for the worse when they were both captured and nearly killed by the same man who did the murders 47 years ago. They came in banged up and brought a tape recording that was accidental. **The full recording of the events is now accessible on the official page.**

In it you can hear the whole thing happening start to finish and it’s very clear there was the man there who committed the murders all those years ago. However the man was no longer contained where the two pointed the police. As of today the lighthouse is being burned down. As well as all the houses that are falling apart around it. The forest will be inaccessible to the general public until the man is caught and brought to justice. -Chelsea Kates of The New York Times.

Click. “It’s been 2 hours of hiking and still no sign of the lighthouse. I’m going to give it 30

minutes and if I don’t find it, I think it’ll be time to call it a day. No further notes.”click…

THE END

(Or is it the beginning?)