CHAPTER 14

The silence that filled the dinning room was loud. The tension thick enough to asphyxiate an asthma patient. The only noise from the family gathered around the lacquered table was the scrapping of utensils against ceramics. An awkward cough startled the other two present at the table.

"So...uhm...Max how has school been?" Max's dad asked, the abruptness of the question showed the discomfort of the silence. A little bit surprised that he had been asked a direct question, he answered "it has...ugh..been fine?". It came out more of a question than an answer.

"Look I know I haven't been a good parent-" his wife placed a hand over his hands and smiled to show her support. It had taken some deep conversations and therapy to bring him out of his creeping depression.

"-we haven't been good parents" the mother completed. She turned her wide smile towards Max. Max forced a smile at them. He knew that this half assed apology from his dad was a result of his mom's pressure. His dad wasn't really sorry but he appreciated the effort of him trying.

"It's fine dad. I know the death of Reina was alot to take in" his dad visibly stiffened at the mention of Reina , she was always the favourite. Albeit he was born first, Reina was the first to be formed, she was the only child the scan recognised, he was just a little extra. An extra they didn't need but tried hard to love, but now, the extra was all they had.

His dad forced a smile at him. Max dropped his head and returned to playing with his food. "Uhm Can Chris stay over? His on his way".

"Sure, you should have invited him for dinner though" the mom was quick to respond

"Next time" Max scratched his head.

The table fell back to uncomfortable silence. There were shuffling of chairs across the table like someone was trying to get comfortable, Max peeked from his eyelashes to see his dad's mouth forming as if he was about to speak, then the bell rang.

'saved by the bell' Max muttered under his breath as he stood up to answer the door. As he walked to the door, he heard his parents arguing under their breaths. He knew his mom would scold his dad for his lack of social abilities with his child.

"You're late" Max stood by the door staring down at his friend furiously rubbing his arms

"Come on, I'm sorry, I had to do some things at home" Chris apologized. He side stepped Max who still stood guard by the door smiling. Chris walked by the dining immediately halting the arguing voices.

"Good evening Mr. And Mrs. Thompson" Chris's smile was bright enough to outshine the suspending chandelier.

"Good evening Chris, how are your parents? It's been long since I heard from them"

"They are doing quite well, and how are you ?"

"I'm fine thanks for asking. Should I fix you a plate?"

"No, I'm good, I ate at home".

All through the brief pleasantries, Mr. Thompson sat, head bowed stuffing his face with food to avoid talking. Max rejoined them.

"Good night Mom" Max walked towards his mom and kissed her forehead "Dad" he gave a Curt nod to his dad even though he couldn't see. Max didn't wait to respond to his dad's grumble as a reply, he headed up to his room dragging Chris along.

As his door slammed shut, Max started spewing information;

"Okay so remember when you heard the officer say that Jack put the phone in my mail box?"

"Yes"

"And remember the time I showed you the phone and you told me not to go to the police?"

Chris sighed, "yes I do"

"Well I didn't find only the phone"

"What?" Chris slummed on the bed and looked up at Max

"But you said that's all you found?"

Max started fidgeting with the Hem of his sweatshirt

"I lied?" Max closed his eyes to avoid the expression of hurt that would evidently be on his best friend's face.

"To me?"

Beneath the bass, Max could hear the hurt in Chris's voice

"Chris I'm sorry, I just didn't know who to trust at that moment"

"Trust!? But you showed me the phone!" Chris stood up flaring.

Max brought his fingers in front of his lips to silence Chris. This calmed Chris a little as he swatted his hands from his lips, sat down and crossed his arms.

"I wanted to trust you but when you said I shouldn't go to the cops, I started suspecting your reasons"

"Still doesn't give you enough reason to lie to me" Chris grumbled through his fading anger.

"I know, I'm sorry", Max smiled as he knew he had won his best friend over again.

"So what else did you find". Max stood up and pulled his bedside drawer open, he brought out a folded paper. He unfolded it and the size grew twice. It was a map.

He placed the map on the bed in front of Chris. "This. It was inside the phone's package".

"A dotted map?" Chris stared at Max

"At first I thought it was a dotted map with irregular outlines but I decided to run a search on those dotted regions and guess what?"

"What?"

"This dotted regions are the spots which the bodies of our friends and my sister were found". Chris's eyes bulged, he looked at the map again and truly the spots were the same; the beach, the town's bell and the church.

Max watched Chris's fingers intensely as they hovered above the first spot closer to the bottom, he muttered 'Reina', he dragged his fingers to the next spot , he muttered 'Emily' and finally he dragged his hands to the last spot, and muttered 'Vivian'.

Then a wave of shock hit him,

"you said you got this with the phone?"

"Yes"

"How come Vivian's spot is marked when she was-", he felt sadness overwhelm him "-murdered yesterday?"

It had taken time for Chris to get used to the fact that his friends were dying slowly. His parents had dragged him off to therapy to avoid the nightmares.

"When I first saw the map, I didn't understand what the markings were till Vivian died. I came home that night still in shock and I looked at the map again. I realised that I had the location where Vivian was going to be killed and I was too dumb to realise" Max crashed on the bed as tears welled up in his eyes.

He hadn't cried since his sister's death but talking about it made him feel weak. Chris rubbed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, it's not your fault, either way, if it was marked then it was premeditated murder".

Max sniffled as he wiped the tears from his eyes. He sat up still feeling the storm of sadness brewing. He believed that bottling up feelings would make them go away, but so far he was deteriorating. He threw a sad smile at Chris who smiled back with pain in his eyes.

He glanced at the map again and all sadness became secondary as determination took over. Determination to save his friends. He stood up and carried a marker from his opened drawer.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't think this points are just the spots of death, it's a trail"

"A trail?" Chris stared at Max like he was losing his mind

"Yes, you traced you hands through the points and I saw a symbol I remember but didn't know where I'd seen it but now I do".

Max traced the points from the beginning; Emily's point to the end at Vivian, he joined the end to the beginning again. It formed a triangle.

"A triangle?" Chris asked still not getting the point

"Doesn't look familiar? Maybe because it's not complete yet". Max stood up and took a ruler from his drawer. He measured the sides of each line, they were equal. He took a compass, fixed a pencil and bisected the bottom lines creating a centre.

He took his marker and created a dot in the centre, he erased the arcs he had created. He glanced up at Chris who had his eyes wide open like saucers

"The symbol at each murder". Max slowly smiled and nodded. He looked down at the spot he had marked and he frowned. The dot was were another friend of his was.

"The police station".

***

"Young man I strongly suggest you co-operate with us since you have no other option", Office Hank sat on the seat facing Jack. Jack smirked, feeling the demon take over. "Well I think I do have other options" Jack's corkiness was evident.

"Enlighten me" Hank leaned against the table and stared at Jack.

"Well, I could just plainly walk out of here but you have a priest ready to sprinkle holy water". Officer Hank's eyes bulged as he glanced at the one way mirror.

"You know holy water doesn't work right?" Jack chuckled sinisterly.

Officer Hank brought out a crucifix the priest had given him. He brought it in front of Jack's face, Jack flinched.

"Well, this will", Hank raised a brow and smirked, regaining his composure after his initial shock.

Jack stared hard at the officer before speaking at the crucifix.

"Well isn't this delightful" Jack smiled, his smile reaching his ears. "Well, I think it's time you know" the raw whistle voice that came out from Jack startled the detective slightly.

He turned to his side and looked into the one way mirror feeling confident of the situation as the priest was in the next room. "Then let's begin shall we" Jack smiled a wicked smile.

"It all started twenty years ago..."