Nothing had changed. Mom had kept everything almost exactly the way it used to be. Adele’s bed was still made the way she used to leave it, slightly messy.
Her books were still stacked on the desk. I stepped inside. That’s when I heard it.
A sharp creak beneath my foot. The house hadn’t been renovated in a long time, but the creak still came from one specific spot. I stepped back and pressed my foot down again.
Same sound.
I looked down and saw that one of the floorboards seemed loose. I knelt and lifted the board slightly, and saw a hidden space. My heart started beating faster.
Inside, wrapped in a piece of faded fabric, was a small notebook with a cheap metal lock. I pulled it out and grabbed a pair of scissors to pry the lock open. Inside was Adele’s handwriting.
I knew it instantly! It appeared to be a diary she’d kept. The first few pages were exactly what you’d expect from a teenage girl about her daily life: complaints about homework, little notes about friends, and arguments with Mom.
Then my hands started shaking when I reached the last pages. The tone shifted. The entries got shorter, tighter, and more careful.
She’d started writing about walking somewhere before school. The same place, repeatedly. A bus stop on the edge of town.
I frowned. Adele also wrote about someone she’d been meeting there. She never used the person’s name, just small hints.
“She listens.”
“She doesn’t rush me like everyone else.”
“She says I have options.”
I felt a chill crawl up my arms. Adele wasn’t just writing about casual conversations. She had been planning something.
Then I came across what she had written the night before she disappeared. “I packed a small bag, but I hid it. I don’t know if I’ll actually use it.
I keep thinking about what he said. I wish I hadn’t heard it.”
My chest tightened. My heart started pounding hard as I read what had happened on that fateful morning.
The handwriting was messier, as if she’d been in a hurry. “I’m going back there before school. I need to decide.
She said she could help me hide, just for a little while. I don’t think I can stay here if it’s true.”
I swallowed hard. The final line was underlined twice.
“If I don’t go today, I never will.”
I realized in that moment that I had no idea what was happening in my sister’s life. I didn’t even remember grabbing my jacket. One second, I was in Adele’s room; the next, I was out the door, keys in my hand, my mind racing.
I arrived at the bus stop. It was still there, but barely used. I stepped out of my car.
For a moment, I just stood there, trying to imagine her. Fourteen years old. Alone.
Standing right where I was. What were you thinking, Adele?
What were you about to do?
A small grocery store sat across the road. It looked old enough to have been there back then.
It was open 24 hours, so I walked inside. An older man stood behind the counter, flipping through a newspaper. He looked up as I approached.
“How can I help you?”
I hesitated for a second, then said, “I’m looking for information about someone who frequented this area. A long time ago.”
He raised an eyebrow.
