After Blade leaves I throw the note into the Garbage. Then I check and double check all the locks in the house. Doors, windows, everything.  Then I turn on my location. In case something goes wrong the police need a starting point to look.   I’m scared. But I won't admit that. This changes nothing. All it does is show me that this person is guilty. Rachels murderer and this stalker of mine is  the same person. Why else would they go to such extremes? 

“Rachel may have let this person win but I won't. I say to myself.   

.“Shh someone’ll hear you”. I hiss at Blade. 

“Silver, you have me dressed like a freaking Redwood drag queen. No ones gonna see me”. 

It’s true. Blade and I wanted to scope out the school for any more clues. But of course they would let anyone on campus. So I had Blade wear my sports uniform. It’s pretty baggy on me but it's tighter on him. The shirt really hugs him. I’m proper worried someone will see his abs and we’ll be exposed. 

“Well we wouldn’t have to be so careful if your abs weren’t visible like the shining sun. Really what 15 year old is ripped like that”? I shoot back

“Oh you noticed huh”. Blade says smugly. 

“Here it is”. I say pointing to the booth that Rachel was in that night. 

“Huh. Looks pretty normal”. Blade comments crawling underneath the table. 

Blade's face suddenly looks confused. “Silver did the file mention any drawing”. He asks. 

I committed that info to memory so I was certain of my answer. “No” i say

“Then maybe you should look at this.” He says. 

I crawl under the table. The first thing that catches my eye is the faint remains of a red handprint. My blood runs cold at the mere sight of it. But what I find next is even more disturbing. Drawn in faint black marker is a drawing, or a symbol. I can tell that it means something because my breath stops without even knowing what it is. 

It’s two connected R’s one upside down with a line in between them. 

“We’re guessing the R stands for Rachel”. I say.

“It could stand for Revenge”. Blade suggests

“Or both. One of each”. I say making note of our theories. 

“But why the opposite and upside down?”. Blade questions. 

“Maybe there’s some sort of meaning”. I suggest 

“Yeah but what”. Blade asks 

I have no idea. 

At home I kick off my shoes and walk inside. I go into the kitchen and almost scream when I see what's in front of me. Redwood sells these adorable bears that wear the uniform. It's so cute. They even have names. Lily the Redwood bear. Anyways there’s one here. Only this is a little less adorable.  Next to it there’s a mirror. In thick marker the words Before  and the decapitated bear has a note that says After. I move closer and see a name tag on Lily. And as  suspected  the tag says Roxanne Myers. 

I have a million things to do right now. Homework. My job which I'll be late for. Dani asked me to come over later. But I just can’t bring myself to get out of bed. I’ve been lying here since I woke up. The windows are down and the lights are off. I’m just depressingly stirring in the dark. I feel numb. My phones been buzzing with texts that I can't be bothered to check.  

The doorbell rings and my heart skips a beat. Now I'm terrified of a doorbell. I ignore it. Bets has a key and anyone else can come back later. 

A few minutes pass that feel like hours. In this time I cried numb tears, slept even though i’m not tired and stared blankly into space. 

Suddenly a noise outside my window comes. I open my curtain squinting in the light. To see Blade. Hanging off a tree with his arms balanced on the window sill. 

I open the window and Blade jumps inside. “What are you doing?”. I ask 

I turn to see Blade's face. It's not normal fun Blade or even vulnerable real Blade. This person looks like he'll yell and cry at me. 

“I could ask you the same question”. He shouts. “What the hell is going on? Why haven’t you responded to any of my texts or calls? I’ve been ringing for an hour.”

He sees my tear stained face and instantly softens up. “Are you ok”. He asks. 

I sniff. “Um i think there's something you should see ''. I say 

Blade and I walk down to the Kitchen Before i let him go in, I say. “Blade, before you see this I want you to know this changes nothing ok. Absolutely nothing”. 

Blade nods and I let him go in. When he sees everything. He gets mad. Not at me. But mad. 

“Holy God. I can’t believe there’s another death threat. In your house this time. What is this person playing at?” He stomps around kicking the floor and saying strings of curse words. 

“Um There’s one more thing”. I say with my head down low. 

“What”. He says as if he’s seconds away from cracking. 

“Here” I say back in my room. I show him the note that was pinned to my board.  As Blade studies the note his face goes from confused to angry, to sad in the timespace of two seconds. 

“When did you get this”. Blade asks not looking at me. 

“Um about a week ago, it was pinned on my board”. I say. 

Blade's eyes light up. “Is this why you wanted to watch a movie instead of working on the case”? He asks 

I nod. I sit on the bed because I fear I'll crash down crying if I don't. 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” He asks sympathetically, sitting by me. 

“Because I thought you’d make me stop. And I didn't want to. And I was scared. And confused. And I'm having a proper full on emotional crisis. Tears start to flow down my face. 

Blades lip trembles. “Roxanne, I'm not your dad, or a police officer. I’m your friend. I care about you and I wouldn’t make you stop if you don’t want to. My God you must have been terrified".

A moment of silence passes as I crash into Blade sobbing. Blade seems surprised but then he wraps his arms around me. 

“It’s ok, you're ok. Don’t worry I'm not going anywhere just breathe”. Blade whispers comforting me. 

And true to his word he doesn’t.