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Samantha hid in her room for days. She didn't have any reason to come out. School was obviously closed for several weeks. After her friends told her that Caitlin was killed because she wasn't who they were looking for, Samantha cried. But when she found out that she was the one that they were after Samantha locked herself in her bedroom, coming out only to go to the bathroom.
"Sam?" Her mother lightly tapped on her door. "Samantha honey, I have your lunch." She opened the door, and found Samantha lying on the bed, face to the wall, scrunched up in the fetal position.
"I'm not hungry. Just leave it on my desk." Samantha answered.
Karen Daily took the tray and walked over to Samantha's desk. She would have done as Samantha had asked, but her desk was already covered with trays from the previous days, all untouched. "Honey, you have to eat something. You haven't eaten in days."
"I'm not hungry."
"That's it. I've had enough of this. You are getting out of bed. You are going to eat some of this soup, and then you're going to take a shower." Karen ordered.
Samantha didn't say anything. Instead, she just rolled over and hit the playback on her answering machine. Karen stood in shock as she listened to three messages.
"Samantha, you are a f*ck*ing b*tch. You can't even stand up for yourself. Seven people died! Don't ever show your face at school again, or I will make sure that you will be added to the dead."
"Rot in h*ll whore!"
"Sam. They were looking for you. And now I'm going to find you. You are going to die!"
Karen had had enough. She could tell that there were more messages like that. But she couldn't listen to any more. She couldn't have Samantha listen to any more. She quickly rushed over and hit the delete all key. With a final bleep, the messages became no more. "You can't listen to them Sammy." Karen said, taking her quaking daughter into her arms. Tears cascaded down from Samantha's eyes. Karen attempted to wipe them away. "It's not your fault."
"Yes it is!" Samantha protested. "Caitlin would still be alive if it weren't for me. If I hadn't been so scared, she wouldn't have been singled out."
"You can't blame yourself. Everyone was scared honey."
"No. Mr. Stevens was brave. Caitlin was brave, and she had a gun shoved into her brains. Why can't I be brave like them?"
"Honey. Some people are born to be brave. And some people get brave when they are faced with the unimaginable. And others become brave after the fact."
"And I'm none of the three."
"I bet you are one of those people that are brave after the unimaginable."
"What good does that do me?" Samantha swallowed a lump in her throat. "What if they come after me again?" She whispered quietly.
"Do you really think that the new neighbors across the street just happen to work at a cable company, and bring the truck home every night? Those are cops, watching you to make sure that they don't come back."
For the first time that day, Samantha got off her bed, walked to the window, and looked at the truck across the street. "Are they watching now?"
"They don't take their eyes off the house."
Sam didn't say another word. Feeling only slightly, she retreated back to her bed, and curled up. Karen left, knowing that some things take time.
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