The Harvest Festival

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Intrigued, Mallory bent over for a better look at the picture. Her heart stopped when she saw the girl. It an instant, it was clear why everyone had gaped and pointed at her all morning. Except for the blonde hair, the girl in the photo could have been her.

"She looks just like me," she uttered in disbelief. She felt dizzy.

"Freaky, isn't it?" Nina pulled out a chair. “Maybe you should sit. You don’t look so good."

Mallory lowered herself into the chair without taking her eyes off the picture.

"Who is she?" she asked.

"It's Tiffany Thornton – or was Tiffany Thornton. She disappeared last year."

"Disappeared?” She focused more intently on the photo. “What happened?"

"No one knows, really. It happened at prom last year." Nina took a seat in the chair next to her. Mallory turned to give Nina her full attention. “She was the most popular girl in school. It’s still hard to believe something like that happened."

She paused, her eyes drifting as if recalling the memory. Mallory grabbed her by the arm.

"Go on! What happened at prom?"

Nina yanked her arm away with a startled look.

"Sorry," Mallory apologized.

"It's okay," Nina said, rubbing her arm. "They had just announced the prom queen. It was Tiffany, of course. Everyone knew it would be. The prom king was Sean Bolan. Again, no surprise there. He's like the hottest guy at school. Well, everyone says he is, but I disagree. Anyway, they were sharing a dance after the whole crowning ceremony. That's when something went wrong."

A door clicked shut from somewhere behind them. They both turned to look but couldn't see past the rows of bookshelves from where they were sitting.

"Did you hear that?" Nina asked.

"Yes, but who cares? Finish the story!"

"It's weird," she said, looking around. "No one ever comes down here at lunch."

“It’s a library. People use it.”

Nina lowered her voice and continued. "I didn't see what happened next, but everyone says that Tiffany was upset about something. She stormed out of the room with Sean chasing after her. I was standing by the door and saw her leave. She was crying and had mascara running down her face. I didn’t think much about it at the time. No one did. Tiffany was always a little on the dramatic side.”

Nina paused to scan the rows of books behind them.

“Where did they go?” Mallory asked impatiently.

"Well, that's where things get strange. Sean and Tiffany never came back after they left. That was the last time any of us saw Tiffany, which means Sean Bolan was the last person to ever see her."

            "Whoa," Mallory exhaled. "So you think this Sean guy did something to her?" Mallory’s skin crawled as she imagined the horrific ways the prom queen that looked just like her could have disappeared.

"That's what everyone is asking. The Bolan's are one of the oldest and richest families in Fallen Oaks. The newspaper never ran a story. The police act like they don't suspect Sean of anything.”

“The police didn’t do anything?”

“They might as well hand over the whole town to the Bolans," Nina said, clearly disgusted.

"But what about Tiffany's parents? They must have flipped out and done something."

Nina shook her head. "Not a word from her parents. Two weeks after Tiffany disappeared, they packed up and left town. They never even sold their house. It just sits there empty. Crazy, huh?"

"I don't believe this," Mallory exclaimed. "A girl goes missing and the police do nothing? Her parents just move away? What the hell is wrong with you people?"

There was a noise from behind one of the shelves.

"Hello?" Mallory called out. Nina's jaw dropped and she threw her hand over Mallory's mouth. "Someone is listening to us," she mumbled through Nina's fingers.

Mallory pulled Nina’s hand away and stood. She wasn’t about to let someone sneak up on them after hearing a story like that. She crept around the nearest shelf of books. At the far end of the row she could see a shoulder sticking out into the aisle. Someone was hiding back there. She motioned for Nina to join her. Reluctantly, Nina moved to her side and peered around the corner. She jerked her head back like a startled feline.

"Someone is over there," Nina mouthed to her.

Mallory grabbed a book from the shelf and launched it down the aisle. The book twirled through the air and thwacked against the shelf at the other end. They watched as the intruder scrambled from his hiding spot. He ran down the aisle and turned at the first opening. A few seconds later they heard the door open and then click shut.

Mallory was speechless. She recognized his face from earlier. It was the same guy that nearly ran her over in the hallway.

"Did you see that?" Nina asked.

"Yeah, I saw that,” Mallory said. “It's the guy that plowed into me this morning.”

"What?"

"He practically knocked me down in the hallway and then gave me a really weird look. He's actually kind of hot. Too bad he's such a creep."

"Sean Bolan?"

"That was Sean Bolan?” Mallory covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh my God.”