A day had passed since we found out about Mason’s disappearance. We were planning on meeting up to talk about any leads we had. I realized that I really needed to start investigating everyone quickly. I had already chosen Fernando so I approached him after class and said:

“Can we talk?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“I meant in private.”
“Alright sure, do you want to go to an empty classroom?”

“I’d just prefer if no one could interrupt. What about my house or your house?”

“Alright, let’s do it at my house. You haven’t been there yet, have you?”

“No.”

“Alright great, let’s go after school.”

“Don’t we have a meeting with the rest of the squad?”

“We can skip one, can’t we? Seems like it’s urgent.”

I nodded.

Class started again and I went through my normal routine. It came to be the end of the day and I waited outside for Fernando. He came out and sat next to me on the steps.

“You ready to go, bro?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I said, standing up.

I followed Fernando to his house. As we walked nothing was said. There was just silence. I finally broke the silence with:

“So, how are you doing? Regarding the Mason situation, of course.”

“Well, I’m not sure, bro. I’m just really worried for him and I’m hoping he’s alive and doing okay. I didn’t know him as well as you did, but I do know he was part of our squad which makes him a good and valuable person.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you.”

“What can I say, he was very important to all of us.”

We arrived at Fernando’s house. It wasn’t large or small. It was kind of like mine. I entered the house. Inside, there was the living room. There was a medium sized flat screen TV with two couches next to each other. On the left of the TV there were closets, probably holding electronics. There was a small hallway. On the right side of the hallway, there were two bed rooms. To the left of the hallway there was a kitchen and a bathroom. The hallway ended with stairs leading upstairs.

“Welcome to my home, bro!” Fernando said.

“Which room is your room?” I asked.

“This one over here!” he said, motioning towards one of the bedrooms on the right side.

We entered his room. There was a queen size bed with nightstands on both sides of the bed. There were posters on the walls that I knew were from a rapper named Convolk. There was a PC in the corner and a table in the middle of the room.

I sat down at the table.

“Can I offer you a drink?” Fernando asked.

“No, thank you,” I said.

“Alright then, so tell me why you wanted to talk to me,” Fernando said, sitting down.

“This is about Mason.”
“I figured so.”

“I know you walked him home. That’s the time he went missing. I want you to tell me what happened.”

“You think I might have had something to do with it?” Fernando said, shocked.

“I can’t trust anyone and frankly, you’re the one that’s the most suspicious. You walked Mason home and he disappeared!”

“You do have a good argument there.”
“So, what’s your story?”

Fernando sighed. “Alright, I’ll tell you.”

And tell me he did. He informed me that Mason had stomped outside and Fernando followed.

“Wait up, bro!” Fernando called.

“I don’t need you to walk me home, Fernando!”

“In times like these it’s important to have friends!” Fernando yelled.

“I don’t need friends!”

Fernando jogged to catch up with Mason. “You won’t stop hanging out with us will you?” Fernando asked, pleading.

“If I were going to hang out with them again, why would I have stomped off?” Mason said.

“That’s true.”

They got to the halfway point and Mason stopped to sit down. “Go away, Fernando,” he said.

“I can’t leave you! I’m your friend!”

“I don’t want friends. Friends stab you in the back,”

“Well, think about this. Do you think that Christopher would have taken Jett’s side if he wasn’t confident that you were wrong?”

“I don’t know anymore!”

“Listen bro, you got to toughen up. Things like this happen. I say let’s go back and find who framed Jett.”

“So you’re on their side?”

“Oh shit,” Fernando muttered.

“I don’t want to talk to you anymore, leave me alone.”

Fernando took a step closer. “I’m going to hug you,” he said.

“If you get near me you’re going to get hit,” Mason warned.

Fernando didn’t listen and got too close. Mason, who was facing the opposite way, turned around and punched him in the nose. Fernando fell back and sat down hard. 

“Dude, what the hell!” he said as he grabbed his nose.

“I told you to stay back!”

Fernando, blinded by fury, approached Mason and pushed him off the bench. He then got on top of him and punched him back. Fernando stood over him, breathing heavily. 

“Shit,” he said seriously. “Did I hurt you, man?”

Mason’s voice was quiet, and his head was down, but Fernando could tell he was furious. “Just go.”

“No, bro, I don’t want to leave you alone. Can you forgive me?”

“I said go, Fernando. I’m not going to stay calm for long. We’ll talk about all of this tomorrow. Just. Go.”

Fernando got up from the ground and started walking away, feeling horrible.  As he walked away he bumped into someone on the path coming towards him. He turned  to see a man wearing a purple cloak.

“Watch where you’re going, kid,” the man in the cloak said.

“Yeah, sorry,” Fernando said, annoyed.

Fernando sat on his chair staring at the floor. Tears started making their way down his face and onto the floor.

“You must hate me, don’t you? If I hadn’t left him, maybe he wouldn’t have been kidnapped! Maybe that guy I met was the one who took him!”

“I don’t hate you. I probably would have done the same thing, don’t feel bad about it. Thanks to you we now know that the men in the cloaks probably took him.”

“But if I hadn’t left him, maybe he would be here now!”

“I think Mason wouldn’t judge you. What happens, happens. Plus, I’m pretty sure he wanted to destroy this cult or whatever it is and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Fernando wiped his eyes.

“Thank you for making me feel better,” he said.

“No problem.” I started getting up from the chair I sat in but stopped.

“One more thing. I’m not going to tell any of the squad about this. This is between me and you. We don’t need all of us turning against each other. Don’t worry, you’re secret's safe with me.”

“Thank you bro, I really appreciate it.”

I got up and walked out of his house. I gently tucked the pepper spray I was holding into my Jeans pocket. That was scary, I thought to myself. I started heading over to my house. I decided that I was going to investigate Jett in the next couple of days.

…………………………………

I arrived at my house and saw a cop car parked out front. I realized they probably came to interview me. I opened my front door and walked in.

“Welcome back, Christopher,” my mother said.

Everyone in my family was sitting at the table along with a police officer. He had white hair, blue eyes, wrinkles and a short white beard. He wore a blue cap with a badge on it, a blue shirt and dark blue pants.

I took a place at the table next to my sister,

“Hello Christopher, my name is Officer Earl. I came here just to ask you some questions about the disappearance of your friend Mason.”

The officer took out a notebook and a pen. “I would like to start as soon as possible, if you don’t mind,” he said.

“Sure, ask me anything,” I said.

“Well, first of all, where were you Sunday, January 21st?”

“I was with my friends. We were at Giampaolo’s house hanging out.”

“What kind of stuff did you do there?”

“Well, we really like to read so we were doing that, reading.”

“Did any of the people in your friend group act suspiciously at all during this day?”

“I don’t think so,”

“I was told there was a big fight?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you describe what happened?”

“Mason was bringing a very rare Batman figurine and when he opened his bag it was gone. He had a feeling Jett stole it because he was the only one that knew he owned the figurine. Mason found it in Jett’s bag. He picked it up and stormed out of the house.”

“And did you believe Mason, that Jett took his figurine?”

“No, I didn’t think Jett took it.”

“Why is that? Apparently you were Mason’s best friend. Shouldn’t you have taken his side?”

“I got a feeling that Jett was framed.”

“A feeling?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay then.”

I relaxed a little, this was easy.

“Did someone walk Mason home?”

I took my previous statement back. That was the point that my heart started beating fast. I knew I couldn’t tell him about Fernando. It would make Fernando look like the prime suspect. I knew he was innocent. I believed in my friend. I told him I would keep it a secret, and that’s what I did.

“I’m not really sure,” I said quietly.

The officer raised an eyebrow. “How are you not sure, weren’t you there?”

“Well...yes.”

“Then you should know, shouldn’t you?”

“Well no… I wasn’t paying attention.”

“You sure?”

“What do you mean?”

“It sounds to me like you’re lying.”

I started sweating. I was about to open my mouth and reply when my mother saved me.

“Officer, if he says he doesn’t know, he doesn’t know. You don’t need to keep pressuring him for an answer.”

I was so grateful for my mom at that point. I couldn’t have wished for a better one.

“Well, I guess I should take my leave,” the officer said, getting up.

“Wait!” I said.

“Yes?”

“I might have a lead for you.”

The officer sat back down, interested.

“Mason and I had been noticing men in purple cloaks appearing around us and watching us. They’re a cult called “The Path”. We think that maybe they had something to do with his disappearance. So can you-”

“I’m going to stop you right there. We’ve heard rumors about this cult but they have not been sighted once by police for the past 50 or so years. We all believe it’s fake and have no reason to believe otherwise. And this conversation is becoming a waste of valuable time.”

“But-”

“No buts. Thank you for your time, Luna family.”

With that, the officer left the house. I picked up my phone with a sigh and looked for Fernando’s number. I texted him.

Hey bro, the police interviewed me but I didn’t tell them anything about you. If they interview you, don’t tell them about our secret okay?

I put my phone down. It looked like the police weren’t going to be of any help. I would just have to solve this case on my own. I needed to investigate and question my next target. Jett.