Disclaimer: Harper's Island isn't mine. If it was, Maggie would be the killer.
Kylie ran off towards the house. Jimmy and I chased after her. She ran inside and slammed the front door shut.
"Ky?" I said cautiously while opening the door.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.
"We couldn't handle it," I said.
"Don't you mean I couldn't handle it? That I was too young to know the truth?" she spat.
"No!" I said, "We've wanted to tell you for years. We just didn't know how."
"I don't believe you," Kylie said before storming off to my old room.
"This was a bad idea," I said, "What were we thinking?"
"She had to find out some way," Jimmy said, "It's better for us to tell her that some kids at school."
"But she hasn't even gotten to the worst part yet," I whined.
"Go talk to her," Jimmy suggested, "If I know Kylie, she'll want to talk."
"She'd rather talk to you," I said.
"You're not letting me do anything for you, remember?" he asked.
"Fine," I muttered, trudging to the room.
Kylie was lying on her side with her back to the door as I came into the room. I sat on the foot of the bed, trying to think of something to say.
"I never thought it was out of the ordinary, having a dead grandma," Kylie said, "Lots of people have dead grandparents. But not like this," she paused. "How can someone do that? How could he take someone's life? It's… it's horrible."
She rolled over to look at me. "I don't have it as bad as you must've though. She was your mom, and you spent your life with her and stuff. I know I couldn't live without you," she said.
She sat up and hugged me before asking, "What did you do afterwards? I couldn't live this close to the tree my mom was hanging from."
"I left, but not because I wanted to. Your grandpa sent me away," I said.
"You wanted to stay here?" Kylie said, obviously astonished.
"My friends were here, my dad was here, and your dad was here," I explained.
"Dad didn't go with you?" she asked.
"No," I said, "And I didn't-"
"Abby!" Jimmy yelled from the other room.
"Stay here," I told Kylie, fearing the worst.
I ran to Jimmy, expecting to see a Wakefield.
"What?" I asked quickly, looking around the room.
"Sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to scare you. Look out the window."
I did as he said and saw a group of people standing outside.
"This is the Mills' house," someone in the midst of the group said, "The Mills family was a central point in the Wakefields' killing sprees."
The group of people, apparently on a tour, started taking pictures of the house. I walked out the front door. It slammed against the house when I pushed it, making the tour guide jump and look at me. We recognized each other instantly.
"Jimmy?" I said, "Jimmy, get out here."
"Take in the history of the house for a minute," the tour guide said.
Jimmy came outside, and the tour guide asked quietly, "Abby? Is it really you?"
"Madison?"
--
I sat in front of the computer, reading an email that I had just gotten.
"Leave us alone," it read, "We've had enough pain in our lives and don't need you to ruin the progress we've made."
I started crying softly. All I had done was send an email to Shea and Madison Allen to try and see how they were doing.
"Don't cry, Abby," Jimmy said from behind me, "Keep reading. It's not good, but it gets better."
"It is inhumane to pretend to be a deceased person and contact the loved ones of said person, and under these circumstances, it is unforgivable."
"They don't think it's us," I said flatly, "They don't believe we're alive."
--
"I knew you were alive," Madison said, "I knew it when they showed you two on the news. Mom wouldn't believe it. She said that they made it up to make the world seem like a better place than it is. She didn't believe the letters or emails or anything from you guys. She thought it was people pretending to be you for a prank."
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"My husband and I got married here and never decided to leave," she said.
"You got married here?" Jimmy asked.
"Yeah," she said, "Why not?"
"I can think of a few reasons," he muttered.
"Congratulations," I said, "And now you're a tour guide?"
"Yep! 'The History of Harper's Island' is what we named it. Speaking of which, I need to get back to them," she said, "but I'd love to catch up. How about we meet for breakfast at Pepper's?"
Jimmy was quiet, remembering the breakfasts with my dad.
Noting the silence, Madison said, "Or not. We could think of something else."
"No, Pepper's is fine," I answered.
"Great! How's nine? I'll bring Henry," she gushed.
"He- Henry?" I stuttered.
"My husband," she smiled.
"Oh," I sighed, "Nine's good."
"I can't wait! See you then!" she said before going back to her tour group.
"She got married to a guy named Henry on this island?" Jimmy asked.
"Apparently," I answered.
"I've always thought she was creepy," he said.
"You've got that right," I agreed.
A/N: Yay, Madison! She was so creepy as a kid... I wanted to transfer that into her adulthood as well.