Elliot stared at his phone, waiting for a response from Harper. His hand shook as he typed out his latest text to her, and pressed send, the message joining about 8 messages that had gone unanswered. He looked at the clock and sighed. It's already 12:30 AM, there's no way Harper would be gone this long for an errand or a prank… His phone suddenly beeped with a message alert. He pounced on it as fast as he could, but to his dismay, it was only from Imogen.
Imogen: I haven't heard from her
Imogen: haven't seen her around Downtown. Did she reply to you yet?
Elliot groaned in disappointment. Nevertheless, he typed out a reply.
Elliot: not yet
He looked up and saw three mugs on the table. Two other people were sitting there, one mug each in front of them. His grandfather motioned for him to sit down, which he refused to until Robbie spoke.
"It's hot chocolate." He said as calmly as he could, trying not to show his worry to keep his boyfriend as calm as possible. Despite this, he added: "Harper's not the type to go down that easily." He moved the chair for Elliot, and the worried brother sat down.
"Your boyfriend's right. Your sister isn't one to be underestimated." His grandfather said. "She's proven that firsthand two months ago." He nudged the hot drink towards his grandson, who slowly moved to take it. "She'll be fine."
Elliot didn't think that his grandfather fully believed his own words, but he decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and drank his cocoa carefully.
Meanwhile, while Imogen had no luck searching downtown, Tom hadn't had any luck himself looking in the wooded area of Pine Springs. He shone his flashlight around the area yet again, worry and fear gripping at him. There was no way Harper would just up and vanish like this. There was no way his girlfriend would do that. She wouldn't leave them high and dry. Especially Elliot. If there was one thing their time together taught him about her, it was that her brother, despite being half-siblings, was very important to her. In fact, he and Elliot had struck up a friendship of their own already because of her. She was their common ground. He opened his phone and typed out a text to her.
Tom: where are you?
Tom: Why aren't you answering your phone?
Tom: Everyone's getting worried
Tom: Hope you're getting these
Tom: When you see these please respond
He tucked his phone back in his pocket, and suddenly saw a rustle in the bushes. He stopped in his tracks for a brief second before rushing towards it, hoping it was Harper. To his disappointment, it was only a raccoon. He watched it scamper away before rubbing his eyes and sighing.
Harper, where are you?
A sigh came out of the mouth of the new police chief of Pine Springs as he checked his phone again to find one new text, with the same content as the previous ones: their friend still hadn't been found. He was currently in the residential area of the town, hoping to find someone who had even seen where Harper had gone. So far, he had no luck. It was like she vanished into thin air. But in the short time he knew her, she had never been one to just up and go.
The entire thing had definitely put a bad taste in Parker Shaw's mouth.
He raised his radio and spoke into it. "Any sign of her?"
The radio crackled with static before a voice on the other end replied. "No one's seen her. You sure she didn't skip town? I mean, it's a possibility, what with the trauma and all-"
"Save it." Parker said, agitated. He caught himself and took a deep breath. "Sorry, sorry. It's just that… If she was traumatized and that was her reason to leave, wouldn't she have left earlier than now? Wouldn't she have left already?" He voiced out loud. "Update me if you find anything."
"Yes chief."
With that affirmation, Parker put down his radio and sighed again, checking his watch. It was 1:30 in the morning, and they had been searching since 9:00 that evening.
We're not giving up on you, Harper. So don't give up on us.
He returned to searching.
Meanwhile, Danni was down by the docks with her trusty camera, looking for any sign of Harper. She figured that since it was her last day in town for a while, she would go somewhere to reminisce on everything that had happened. Harper didn't seem like the kind of person to go reflecting about paranormal troubles at 1:45 in the morning, but Danni figured hey, you never know.
She fought back a yawn, refusing to admit she was tired. She didn't want to believe this was turning into a wild goose chase, but they would have found their friend by now.
Stop it, Asturias. She should be nearby. She reasoned with herself. It's not like she just decided "hey, I'll just go and leave without saying goodbye, leaving my friends, boyfriend, grandfather, and especially my brother who I worried so much over two months ago when he was kidnapped by my vengeful ghost grandma behind." She wouldn't, even if this town's done a number on her psyche-
Suddenly, she stopped. Was it her, or did she see movement just now?
She rushed towards the movement, camera at the ready in case it wasn't Harper. She hoped it was though. That way everyone would know she was fine.
No such luck.
Instead, she witnessed a tall robed figure running away from the docks, wet with water. Without thinking, she snapped a photo of her target, which only inspired them to run faster.
Danni gave chase, her glare focused on the person in front of her. He ran through the marina, diving in and out of view, never looking back all the while. Suddenly, just when Danni thought she had her suspect cornered, the robed figure knocked some barrels over, blocking her path and escaping as they fell.
Damn it! Danni angrily chided herself as she recovered from the sudden surprise. As if remembering, she took her new photo in hand, and went to a more lit area to wait for it to develop. As it came into view, she squinted at the person.
Was it just her, or was the figure wearing a blue robe? And didn't that symbol look familiar?
She had a bad feeling about this.
She quickly shot a text to the group chat, telling them to get to the docks ASAP, as in "this-is-extremely-urgent, get-your-asses-over-here-NOW." In the meantime, she retraced their steps, looking at the ground. The closer she got to the water, the more visible the footsteps leading away from it were. Taking photos, she followed them to the water, where she found a boat that, judging by the water inside it, was recently used.
Before she could get into the boat to look inside it further, the red and blue siren lights appeared, and along with them the other three members of their Scooby Doo gang.
Arthur groaned. He finally managed to convince Elliot to at least take a nap, and even then, it took Robbie saying he would stay with him in order to convince him. The old man made a mental note to thank him properly later. He took a look at the clock, which now read 2:15 AM. If this had been two months ago, he would have grounded Harper for life by now, if her grandmother hadn't gotten to her first. Now, he was more frightened. After all, Josie- Josephine, was gone. His granddaughter banished her herself. He didn't know whether he preferred having one clear theory to not having any ideas as to where his grandkid was at all.
He sat down yet again at the dining table, tired but refusing to sleep until he had news about Harper. In the meantime, he thought about the past two months.
He hadn't expected to become the legal guardian of his grandkids, especially after the murder of his daughter and her husband. He hadn't expected his granddaughter to go around Pine Springs, snooping around and poking her nose where it was extremely dangerous. He didn't expect her, his employee, and a ground of other people to form a gang all working towards uncovering the truth of the town. He didn't expect to be found out, controlled, and jailed. And there was no way he had ever expected that Josephine would meet Harper the way she did, and what happened afterwards was included in that entire last chunk.
Just as he stood up to grab blankets for Elliot and Robbie, the phone rang, waking the two boys. Arthur made it to the phone first.
"Arthur here."
Elliot and Robbie watched him, the latter holding onto his boyfriend protectively. They watched the old man's face fall into shock before he dropped the phone.
"So you saw a guy in the cult's robes running away from the water? Didn't Josephine kill the entire cult except for Arthur?"
Parker was asking Danni questions as the two of them, along with Imogen and Tom, rode in a boat together while the rest of Pine Springs' police force followed them in separate boats. Imogen was looking out, while Tom was calling out Harper's name over and over. Tom's voice was sounding scratchy already, which told Imogen that he had been out the whole time looking for Harper, just like the rest of them. She looked out, hoping to spot something, anything…
And that's when she saw it.
Her jaw dropped as she pointed to a coffin barely floating on the surface of the water. It looked like it had some of its seams burst, allowing water to get in, which would explain how come part of it was underwater. But that wasn't what bothered her. It was the fact that there was a coffin in the water in the first place. As far as everything she knew went, none of the victims were buried in the lake. Their bodies were all brought ashore and were given proper funerals.
She couldn't gather the ability to say anything, but Tom had noticed her pointing, so he did the talking.
"Guys! Look!"
The next few minutes went by quickly for the group. They were the closest to it, and they had the police chief on their boat, so while Parker and Tom swam out to the coffin to get it, Imogen flashed a light to guide them back. Danni held her breath unconsciously, hoping that this was just an overlooked coffin, that the theory forming in her head wasn't true, that Parker and Tom bringing the coffin aboard wasn't signaling the end of the search despite her mentally begging it to be over earlier…
With the help of a crowbar Parker had brought on board, "just in case", he had said, he pried the lid off.
Parker blinked multiple times, trying to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Imogen was beginning to hyperventilate. Danni began to wish more than ever in her life that she was wrong. And Tom, having helped Parker move the lid off, was the last person to see inside the coffin, and was now numbly staring at the body inside.
Harper's eyes were shut, her mouth slightly open and her head tilted back. Her wrists were bound behind her back, and there seemed to be blood at the bottom of the coffin. Her hair stuck to her forehead, and what was worse, she wasn't breathing or moving at all.
Silence reigned within the group on the boat for what seemed like forever, though it was only a minute. That silence of shock, horror, and heartbreak was broken first by Imogen's agonized scream. Then came Danni's sobs, followed by Parker shakily speaking on his radio to the rest of the force. Finally, Tom silently and numbly fell on his knees, unable to take his eyes off his dead girlfriend.
Harper… no… you can't be…
His grandfather suddenly dropping the phone with an expression of horror and shock on his face did not mean anything good.
It didn't help that he was deliberately not looking at them at all. Within seconds, Elliot saw his grandfather fall to the floor, looking clearly like he was holding back tears.
While he went to help his grandfather, Robbie rushed to the phone, where he heard the voice of Parker Shaw. Robbie quickly asked what had happened, what did he say that got his Elliot and Harper's grandfather so shaken up. The moment he finished his question, Parker could be heard trying to breathe over the receiver.
After a long minute of this, Robbie was beginning to panic himself. "I'm so sorry to sound like this officer, but what the hell happened?! What did you tell Elliot and Harper's grandfather?!" His now raised and worried voice was sharpened, and Parker finally got the strength to repeat the words. Immediately, Robbie's eyes went wide with disbelief. It couldn't be true. There was no way. And yet, it was too late for practical jokes. And no one would joke about a friend's death to their elderly grandparent. At least, he didn't think Parker would.
"What is it?!" Elliot asked, getting terrified. "What happened?!"
"… I'm so sorry, Elliot… I'm so sorry… You have no idea, I am so sorry-"
"Robbie you're scaring me!" Elliot practically screamed. Both people around him were suddenly acting weird, to say the absolute least. "Who's on the phone, what did they say?!"
"… Elliot, I-"
"I can take it, Robbie, just give me the phone!"
As Elliot switched places with Robbie and spoke into the phone, he heard Parker take a sharp, deep breath, as though he would be the hardest person to explain to. At last, Parker told Elliot the news. And the words Elliot never wanted to hear finally came out of Parker's mouth.
"We- The four of us… I'm so sorry, Elliot… Harper's not coming home. She- She can't… She drowned. It was most likely murder."
Unlike his grandfather, Elliot managed to keep hold of the phone as everything just froze and muted around him. He felt like he was having a nightmare that felt all too real, his vision hazy as though he was in a dream. He wanted to scream to Parker over the phone that he must be joking, that he could cut the prank out and put his sister on the line, but hearing Imogen and Danni crying over the phone made it all horrifically real. He could hear absolutely nothing from Tom, which only cemented the news.
He shakily thanked Parker and hung up, then felt his body go on autopilot as his grandfather managed to move to him and hug him tightly, accompanied by Robbie, all three with tears streaming down their faces. Elliot couldn't feel anything though. It was too much. He couldn't bear to repeat the thought to himself, but he somehow did.
Harper's dead, and she's never coming home.
Phew, that took a while to write! So I fell in love with the "It Lives" series of Pixelberry's "Choices" app, which I never would have expected in my entire life! So I'm still hung up on "It Lives Beneath", and I wanted to write a story about how everyone would react to Harper's death. I assumed a Nerve score of around 40-50, something of a "happy medium." This wasn't my actual score in my game, but the idea of having Arthur and Parker in the mix was too good to resist.
Anyway, thank you very much for reading! If I can improve in any way, please let me know with a review, and if you liked the story, I'd love to know! I have other stories on my profile, as well as original fiction on my Fictionpress of the same username. Thank you so much once again for reading this story, and I hope you enjoyed!