{One Week Later}
I stared out the window of my room with so many thoughts coursing through my mind, my school work completely forgotten. My dad.... what did he do? I had so many questions with no answers what so ever. And it was tearing me apart. Since that night in the kitchen with Alec, a lot had happened. Connor blew up on our mom at dinner one night, something he'd been wanting to do since he found out about the affair. He screamed and screamed about how she ever could do that to dad. But.... what if dad isn't as innocent as we think? He's always gone and he never really talks about anything he does. Sure, he's a detective. And can't really talk about his cases except for the public information. But besides that, he's always secretive. Even with his own kids.

Ding.... Ding.....
My phone buzzed against the wood of my desk as I finally snapped out of my daydream, noting it was a missing child alert. Another little boy had gone missing. They always range from little to teenager. That's why I was deathly afraid Conner could be taken at any point. And the boys are never found. My best friend was never found. This person doesn't just take boys. But girls also. Whoever it was, I would love to kill them myself.

"Hey honey. You doing okay?" I jumped a little from the sudden presence of my mom standing in my door way. She seemed rattled by something. But trying to remain calm around me. I wasn't buying it.

"Yeah. Just writing." A bold face lie. But who cares at this point? My school work was the last thing on my mind.  Alec was the majority of my thoughts. Since our heated kiss a week ago, our dynamic had changed. We hang out even more, mostly alone because Mindy was terrified of being caught. We even took a late night drive in my car one night and parked out my the water close to the house, admiring the beautiful shine of the moon against the slight current. We always snuck back into the house, making sure no one heard us by sneaking in through my window. I never wanted to believe I was the pawn in his game I was so certain of. I hope I wasn't at least.

"I just wanted to see if you knew where all our silverware had gone? It's just up and disappeared from the drawer and I can't find them anywhere. Things keep happening around the house. It's weird." She was convinced it was paranormal. It was kind of funny actually. She felt like she was losing her mind on a daily basis.

"That's odd. But no, I haven't seen anything. It's strange. Pictures keep disappearing from the frames also. Maybe the ghost likes us." I slowly turned back toward my desk as if to check my phone from my words , only because I had to hide the smile threatening to break on my face.

"Mainly you honey. All your pictures are gone now. Anything with you in it, has vanished." When had Alec snuck them away? I only knew about the one. Not all. I eyed my mom once I turned around, surprised myself. What was Alec up to really? I had to figure this out. Even if it was on my own. This vendetta with my dad was driving me insane.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{Later That Night}
My fingers grazed over the missing pictures up in the attic of me, my parents and Conner's faces completely cut out. My heart rate was through the roof from the sight of it when I discovered them just causally hanging near the door where Mindy and him hide.

"I'm not going to hurt them if that's what you're thinking. Not your mom or Conner at least." I could feel Alec's presence before he ever spoke, slowly turning towards him with slight discomfort in my eyes. I knew he wasn't evil. He was far from it. He's actually sweet. But he has issues. Issues caused by his past. Which I fully understand to an extent. I don't know what exactly he went through. He won't talk about it. Not yet at least. I just wanted to break his walls down.

"You never touch Conner. Okay? He's my little brother and he's my world. Him and I have been a team practically our entire lives. I can't lose him. Or my mom....." Even my dad weighed heavy on my mind. It's hard to think your parents could possibly be a monster the entire time and you never saw it because they wore a different mask around you. It was frightening.

"I know Sal..... I wouldn't do that to you. Because i would never hurt you. I.... I'll be honest. I wasn't expecting to like you. But I saw you the first night we broke in when you got home and everything just flooded back. You were so nice to me. Even now you are. And.... I'm not used to that." My eyes lingered on his in the slight darkness of the attic, his words rattled me even more and the mystery deepening. I simply wrapped my arms around his neck, him almost towering over me as I leaned my forehead against his in thought.

"It's because I like you Alec. I care about you. My heart.... it's just telling me that there's something about you. I can't stop thinking about you. Every single day is riddled with your face in my mind." He sighed deeply into the night air, his arms slowly wrapping around my waist to hold me closer to him, our lips mere inches apart.

"Back then..... something happened to me. Something I'll never forget. But before it all, you were there. Your family was there. But you I remember most. We were little. But our moms were friends. And your mom would bring you over all the time. I'd entertain you as best as I could. And you'd just laugh at everything i'd do. We grew up some, then.... things happened. I was gone for a bit from my mom. But what I remembered to get me through it, was you and your smiling face. You practically saved me Sally. You kept me going. I didn't give up." My eyes widened from his sudden outpouring of memories, memories that started to flood my mind that was locked away for so long. Alec..... oh my gosh. He was my friend. The friend that disappeared. We were so young. But I remember missing him. Wondering where he was. Trauma causes you to place memories far away from your mind. So many years passed and it just was locked away. I remember my mom telling me now..... that he had vanished. And we didn't see each other again. How did it not click before now?

"Oh my gosh..... Alec. I'm so sorry....." I just kissed him, not caring about anything or anyone else that could possibly see. I still had so many questions. And what part did my dad have in this? I wanted to know everything. And I would. Soon enough.