Chapter 5: The Truth Revealed

(Chamberlain, Maine; early December)

Ever since the notebook and letter, which Carrie had left behind inside her school locker before she had suddenly disappeared from Chamberlain, were taken in for examination by the officers of the Chamberlain Police Department, every single page in it had been thoroughly looked over, again and again in order to find out the truth about what had happened to Carrie in the lead-up to the time she disappeared. The police officers, as well as the investigators who had been assigned to the case, were completely and utterly horrified, right down to their cores, to read and re-read the truth of why Carrie had suddenly vanished from the town of Chamberlain, in particular to hear the information of what her private life had been like in her house under Margaret's iron thumb and religious, abusive domination, and not to mention all the horrible and countless acts of bullying that she had suffered from people at school and elsewhere in town.

The charge sheet of abuse and other questionable activities against Margaret for all the countless acts of abuse and child neglect that she had inflicted upon Carrie within the walls of that old house over the years continued to pile up the more the copybook was read by the investigators - over and over and over again, page by page - until a few days afterwards, the authorities were ready to start their next move in the case.

(December 3rd; mid-morning)

On the freezing cold and wintery morning of Saturday December 3rd, there were a number of news reporters - anywhere from a dozen to two dozen of them - gathered together just outside of the White residence along Carlin Street, just as there'd been ever since the news broke of Carrie's disappearance, and waiting for Margaret White to step out the front door so they could get a quote or something from her. But so far, she'd kept very quiet about what had happened, which everyone throughout the town of Chamberlain had thought was a very strange thing to do, especially considering the fact that a teenage girl, and her own daughter nonetheless, had just gone missing. But Margaret, not seeming to care about that at all, would always declare her religious views of the press and how they'd be going to hell for annoying her.

However, there were those residents within Chamberlain, particularly many of the officers and officials within the Chamberlain Police Department, as well as a few town officials and quite a few of the other residents of the town, who were all starting to become very suspicious of Margaret's behaviour in recent weeks since Carrie had suddenly gone missing, and quite a few of them started to think that maybe...just maybe, she had something to do with Carrie's disappearance, as well as the fact that she probably knew a lot more about what had taken place than many of them had first thought.

At about 9:30am, Chris Hargensen, Sue Snell, Tina Blake and all the other girls in the group known as the Mortimer Snerds, were walking along the path and getting nearer and nearer to the White Residence; they were all very eager to see what the commotion was like outside the house on this very cold morning. To guard against the often-bitter early December cold, which could be quite brutal at times in the state of Maine, all the girls were well-wrapped up in very warm clothes to guard against the bitter winter cold, including some of the latest fur hats with ear flaps on them, thick warm coats and new winter boots which were lined with fur on the inside, neck-warmers, gloves and scarfs. They paused quite close by, on the same side of the street, to see somewhere between a dozen and two dozen media people sitting or standing outside the front of the White bungalow, hoping that Margaret would emerge from inside the building. Standing out on the road running by the houses were two satellite vans, with their crews standing by to broadcast any new developments in the story to the world.

There was nothing as of yet to report, as nothing of major importance had happened so far. But as there was no wind about on this very cold morning, a thin column of dark grey smoke could be clearly seen rising out from the chimney on one side of the house, indicating there was life from the sole occupant inside the old building. Over on the other side of the street, the girls could see a clearly marked police car with two officers inside in the front, having obviously been told to keep a close eye on what was going on outside the White Residence. The two officers were sipping mugs of hot coffee and munching on donuts from a box of twelve donuts they had in the front of the vehicle. One of the officers reached for the radio mic and responded to a message, and a few moments later, replaced the mic on its holder.

Suddenly, about 20 or 30 seconds later, the girls heard the sounds of police sirens in the distance…and they were getting closer and closer to them all the time, as the sirens were getting louder. Sure enough, some seconds later, as the girls turned round to see what was going on, a convoy of between half a dozen and a dozen police cars and a few other vehicles, including three large white police vans and a large, very smart black luxury Mercedes, soon came roaring round the corner from behind the Mortimer Snerds and went right by them towards the White Residence, much to the surprise of all the Mortimer Snerds, the residents on the street, and all the media people present, before they stopped in front of the house.

Chris and a few other of the girls in the group, all very surprised by this unexpected event, quickly pulled out their cell phones, including some of the latest examples, from the inside pockets of their new winter coats and began to record what was happening before them.

"This seems to be a lot of police officers for getting the press away from the front of that house." Chris said, as she began to record the scenes with her iPhone.

"Chris…I just have a feeling that all of this isn't for getting rid of the press at Margaret White's request." Sue said, anxiously. Some of the other girls, including Chris and Tina, glanced over at Sue for a few moments before they turned their attention back to what was going on before them.

As the sirens and lights on the police vehicles were turned off, and the sounds of the sirens quickly faded away, the doors opened up and a number of police officers, including some who were armed, and all dressed in their warm regulation winter clothes, stepped out from the police cars while other officers, including one very burly officer with a substantial hand-held battering ram in his hands, and all dressed in their riot-control gear, stepped out from the white police vans and took up positions around the White bungalow, much to the shock and consternation of everyone in the neighbourhood who was watching. Some of the officers had "US Marshalls" showing on the backs of their uniforms.

And stepping out from the driver's side of the luxury black Mercedes was a tall, grim-faced man; he was middle-aged, probably in his mid-40's, was clean-shaven with a slow receding hairline, and he was dressed in a very smart business suit which was made of navy-blue material, a crisp white shirt, a bright red tie and black leather shoes, which had been polished to a very high shine. Over his business suit was a heavy, but very smart-looking, grey overcoat that went down to his knees, with black leather gloves on his hands. Strangely, despite the bitter winter cold, he wasn't wearing a warm hat.

"Hang on a second…who's that man?" said Chris, quietly.

"That's...that's the D.A., the District Attorney, for the state of Maine, Chris." said Tina, in a low surprised tone as she and the other girls looked towards the scene before them. For the girls, things before them had suddenly got a lot more serious; if the D.A. was here, then it must be for an extremely important reason, and thus fully justifying Sue's comment about the police not being here just to get rid of the press from in front of the White Residence.

Chris, Sue and the other girls in the group, as well as a number of passers-by and a few people who lived along Carlin Street, watched from a distance in quiet astonishment as did the members of the media outside the house, as the D.A. and several officers, including the one with the hand-held battering ram, grimly made their way through the path the media people made as they stood aside, and then up the steps to the porch and up to the front door. A number of other officers, their guns drawn from their holsters, quickly went round to the back of the house to take up positions there just in case Margaret tried to escape from the back.

The D.A. first knocked on the front door before he reached down and tried the handle on the front door, and found the front door was firmly locked up. He rattled the door handle back and forth a few times, before knocking on the door again a few times to get the attention of the sole occupant inside.

"Margaret White…" the D.A. said in a voice that everyone could hear while knocking on the door, "…we've got a warrant for your arrest. Open up." And that bit of information caused every girl in the Mortimer Snerds to gasp a bit and look at each other in stunned disbelief. A warrant for Margaret White's arrest? Hang on a second…it couldn't be.

Margaret didn't seem to hear them from somewhere inside the old building. She was upstairs praying before a large plaster crucifix that was mounted on the wall, and was praying for everyone who had gathered outside to go away, as well as for Carrie to return to the house.

"Margaret!" the D.A. called impatiently, knocking on the door again a few times before trying the door handle once more. He sighed an annoyed sigh and shook his head while muttering something, and then he turned to face the burly officer with the battering ram as he stood aside a few steps and clicked his fingers. "Open the door."

"With pleasure, sir!" said the officer as he stepped forward, and raising the battering ram in his arms to the right position, he swung it back as far as it would go, and then he smashed it into the door with all the force that he could muster.

One…nothing happened...

Two…the door started to give way a little...

Three…bang!

With a loud splintering of timber, the old lock finally gave way and the wooden door, heavily deformed by the blows, swung inwards and, as the officer with the battering ram quickly stood aside shouting "Go! Go! Go!", between half a dozen and a dozen police officers, armed with their handguns, tasers, and batons, as well as wearing body armour, steel helmets, special protective gloves, and protective face shields as a precautionary measure, quickly moved into the house.

Chris, Tina, Sue and all the other girls watched from where they were standing in a stunned, awed silence as for a minute or so, as did the photographers and media people, and anyone else who was on the street, including some of the neighbours, unsure of what they'd see in the next few seconds.

Then Margaret White, wearing her usual black, witch-like attire and with two of the grim-faced, tall and burly officers firmly restraining her on both sides as she tried to struggle free from them while yelling out religious sayings and cursing them for what they were doing to her, was brought out from the house through the ruined front door, with a few of the other officers following closely behind, their guns now holstered. She was then brought down the porch steps to a point halfway between the steps to the porch and the street, before being stood before the equally grim-faced D.A. as all the news photographers and other media people, who were either standing off to the sides of behind the D.A., started snapping pictures and recording images for the newspapers and the evening news.

"Margaret White?" the D.A. asked, and Margaret paused from her religious-dominated ranting long enough to look at him directly in the face and nod. "You're under arrest for numerous instances of child neglect, endangerment and abuse, domestic violence, and physical assault on your daughter, Carrie, over the years." the D.A. said, as the girls of the Mortimer Snerds and any other people who were standing close by and overheard him say that unexpected revelation all gasped in shock and looked at each other in horror.

"You have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to be represented during questioning and in court by an attorney, but if you cannot afford an attorney, then one will be provided for you." and as the D.A. finished giving her the Miranda Rights, Margaret was securely handcuffed by one of the other officers as the two burly officers restraining her held her wrists close together for that to be done. And then, with her struggling quite a bit while screaming out yet more religious quotes of mercy on their souls - clearly she didn't understood a word about anything that had been said to her about having the right to remain silent - Margaret was brought down by the two officers, who were still firmly restraining her, for a short way along the sidewalk over to one of the police vans that was waiting on the kerbside.

Once at the van, which had the rear doors opened, she was placed inside the back, as photographers crowded round and recorded video images and took as many photos as they could in a bright sea of near-blinding white flashes, before the inner gate was closed up and then the outer door was shut, sealing Margaret off from further view from the press and anyone else who was watching, before she was then driven away from the house and off to the police station in the centre of the older part of Chamberlain for processing, and then for further questioning about what she knew.

As the media people then turned back to the officers to ask for a comment about what was going to happen next just after the police van left the scene, one of the more senior police officers, with a megaphone in his hand, stood on the front porch of the White Residence and waved his hands about so as to quieten them all down so he could speak to them more clearly. When the press had quietened down somewhat, he raised the megaphone to his mouth.

"Ladies and gentlemen! There's nothing more for you all to see here! Please go on home or carry on with what you were all doing beforehand. A statement about this will be issued to the press in a proper setting in due course. Thank you very much." the officer said, as he lowered the megaphone. In the meantime, his colleagues, including some of the other police officers who were wearing the helmets and body armour, and the US Marshalls, ushered the media back from the front garden and back onto the sidewalk.

"Can't you give us any more information that we could use? Surely there's more to give right now." one female reporter said.

"Yeah, surely we could be told now." said one of the male reporters.

"No, you two. You heard what the inspector just said to you all. Now, move along please." one of the officers said, as he helped to usher the press off the front garden of the White Residence.

After the media were completely ushered off the property, other officers then quickly set up the familiar yellow police tape and barriers round the White Residence to keep any other curious people away, as the investigators who were assigned into looking into the case of Carrie's disappearance were due to arrive very soon to have a thorough look through the house.

Chris, Sue, Tina and all the other girls in the Mortimer Snerds, who were all still standing relatively close by to the scene, were all completely stunned, not only by what they'd just seen take place, but to hear the facts that Carrie had been badly abused by her own mother. This was something they'd never expected to see or expected to happen and gave all of them a major indication that this maybe one of the reasons Carrie had suddenly disappeared from Chamberlain.

As the crowd of other onlookers who watched Margaret White's arrest dispersed and went back to what they were doing beforehand, including things like housework and work in their front or back yards, and some of the media people loaded up their things into their vehicles and prepared to head away as the officer had said, the group of girls stood in some shock and discussed with each other what they'd seen as they too turned round and walked away from the scene.

(Two days later; Monday December 5th: 12:30pm)

All the students and staff were assembled together in the school auditorium for some announcement, which many of the students and teachers thought would be the latest information about Carrie's disappearance. As they all waited while wondered what was going on, they could see Principal Morton on the stage at one end of the auditorium, as well as two police officers who were in quiet conversation with each other. A screen had been setup over the stage, so everyone could see what was going to be shown, as well as a projector was connected to a laptop on one side of the stage.

There was a real mix of emotions amongst them all; by this point, all of them had heard the news about Margaret White's arrest, having seen pictures of it in the papers, as well as video of it actually happening in the news of T.V. over the weekend, as well as the fact that Chris Hargensen had posted her video of the arrest, which she recorded on her phone, onto the internet sometime on Saturday. Some of those in the school who had felt Carrie would be found relatively quickly were somewhat surprised to discover that, even all this time later - and they were now into early December - Carrie still hadn't been found yet, a fact that started to really worry many of them. A lot of people knew that she had to have disappeared for some reason, and the arrest of her mother, Margaret, a few days before was a possible clue to that.

"What do you think we'll hear?" Sue Snell asked, as she looked at Heather.

"No idea yet, but I'm guessing that in the next few minutes…we'll find out." said Heather, with more than a hint of anxiousness in her voice. Sue then looked at her boyfriend, top school athlete and baseball player Tommy Ross, who was sitting beside her and also looking a little bit nervous too.

Sue then looked at the other girls in the Mortimer Snerds, and many of them all looked just as anxious or as nervous as she and Tommy were feeling, particularly deep inside, where Sue could feel her stomach churning a bit.

Although, unlike everyone else who was gathering within the room and sitting down on the seats, Chris had a rather annoyed looked on her face, which didn't surprise Sue one little bit, considering her personality. It was quite obvious that Chris would rather be anywhere else than in here.

Then everyone, students and teachers alike, all quietened down as Principal Morton appeared on the stage and stepped up to the lectern in the middle of the stage and up to the microphone sitting on the lectern.

"Okay everyone, I guess I don't need to tell you the reason of why we're all in here right now…it's about Carrie." Principal Morton said with a heavy sigh, as nearly everyone nodded their heads or murmured in agreement.

"The two police officers seated here beside me have information to give you with regard to how she disappeared. Before she vanished, Carrie left a large notepad, as well as a letter, in her locker with all the information about why she left town, and the officers here will give you more information about that." Principal Morton said, as he then turned to nod at the officers and, as Principal Morton then stood aside and sat down on his own seat very close to the lectern, the female officer stood up from her chair and went up to the lectern and the microphone, clearing her throat.

"Well then, ladies…gentlemen…I have here in my hand the letter Carrie White left in her locker just before she disappeared, and I am going to read it out to you. And it makes for quite sombre reading…" the female officer said, and she brought up the letter and, clearing her throat, read it out loud to the audience.

To Whom it may concern,

I really don't know what I should say in this letter, except to say that this'll probably be the very last that you'll ever hear from me. Things have just been getting really hard for me recently, and it seems to be getting worse for me all the time. Everyone in this town seems to be against me for no reason, and every day I'm being harassed and bullied by almost everybody in school and no one in higher authority seems interested in helping me.

At home, things aren't that much better either to be honest. Momma always seems to be against me too; she always finds fault with even the slightest things not worth fussing over or even beyond my control, and she often slaps me for committing non-existent sins and locks me in the closet under the stairs for hours at a time. I feel like I'm not in control of any aspect of my life, and momma always seems to control me and forcing me to do things I don't want to do.

I feel like I'm in danger and I feel it's time for me to leave Chamberlain and move on into the world and to make my own way in life. Contained within the brown envelope is the information as to why I'm leaving, and it has within it almost every single incident of bullying at school or by other people outside of school, with the names of all those involved mentioned, as well as many of the worst incidents I can remember where momma abused or hurt me at home.

I'm tired of being made the school's outcast and scapegoat for things that other people have done. I'm also tired of being made fun of by people both at school and on the streets for things that are beyond my control and I'm tired of being afraid all the time. Now I think it's time for someone else to take over that role.

I don't know where I plan to go to start my new life, but all I do know is it'll be a very long way away from Chamberlain in a place where no one knows me or minds who I am. I really don't expect that I'll ever return home again, or if I do it won't be for a very long time to come.

I wish everybody in Chamberlain and all my fellow classmates in Ewen High School all the very best for the future and I hope that you'll manage well without me.

Goodbye forever.

Carrie White.

When the officer finished reading it, there was just a stunned silence from everyone with many jaws having dropped and eyes opened wide in slight shock. All the students and staff glanced at each other anxiously, and wondered what could have happened to Carrie in her private life. Both Sue and Tommy looked at each other, just stunned to hear words like that.

"Oh…my goodness…" Tommy said quietly. He was just speechless, like everyone else. The silent, appalled look on Sue's face said it all too, and she slowly brought her right hand up and covered her mouth in stunned shock.

"As mentioned from this letter, Carrie left behind a large notepad, with 400 pages in it, detailing everything that happened to her in them. We've scanned each page in that notepad that Carrie wrote in, which eventually totalled exactly 398 pages of information, as well as this letter, and then put both of them up together in single document in a PDF form on the website, the address of which you can all see up there on the screen above me…" the officer said, indicating to the website address with the link to the PDF being shown on the screen above thanks to the projector.

Many of those who brought their school bags with them into the hall, as well as quite a few of the teachers who were present, wrote down the link of the website page on the backs of copybooks so they could have a look at it later on.

"One more thing with regard to this…" the female officer said after a moment, as she sighed heavily while everyone looked anxiously at her, "…I'd strongly recommend that you all have plenty of tissues with you when you read this document. What's in it will break your heart." she said, as everyone before her looked anxiously at each other.

Then the female officer stepped aside and sat back down, as the male officer, who had been sitting on his own chair and waiting for his turn, now stood up and, after taking in a deep breath, went over to stand behind the microphone.

"Well everyone...I'm not gonna waste any time here, so I'll come straight to the point; another piece of news that I'm sure that you've all heard by now, from having seen it all in the news, both on the radio and on the TV, is that Carrie's mother, Margaret, was arrested at her home along Carlin Street only a few days ago." he said. And he was correct; everybody in Chamberlain was by now fully aware of Margaret's arrest, having heard about it on the news and seeing photographs of it, including those of Margaret's mugshots, on the evening news on the TV, as well as on the front cover of the local newspapers, such as the Chamberlain Daily Bugle. Among the headlines that the papers had shown above Margaret's mugshots were Abusive Mother Nabbed by Police and Missing Girl's Mother In Custody.

The news had caused some considerable shock throughout everyone throughout the length and breath of town when it became known that Margaret had been arrested for severely abusing Carrie within the house they lived in. Neighbours who had been living very near to the White residence on Carlin Street for a long time were appalled to hear the news that Margaret had been abusing her own daughter right under their noses, and they hadn't put all the facts together much earlier.

One anonymous woman who lived near one end of Carlin Street was quoted to have said to one of the reporters looking into the story of Carrie's disappearance, "We knew that Margaret had strong and weird religious beliefs, but we didn't know that she was such a fanatical, unpredictable and abusive psychopath. We knew she preached religion every day and had these weird, unorthodox views about the world, but we'd no idea that she was abusing her own daughter in that place or that she was mentally insane." At the same time, other people living along Carlin Street told the police that they felt something had been going on within the White Residence for all this time, but didn't know what was going on, or didn't investigate the matters further, despite many of them having their suspicions things weren't all they expected them to be.

Many of them now regretted for having not reporting all this, and any other previous incidents that had occurred, to the police much earlier on, because if they had done so, then maybe things for Carrie could have turned out very differently.

"And I've got some more news about Margaret to give you all. Within the last hour, she was formally charged with numerous acts of child abuse and physical assault she inflicted on her daughter over the years, and not to mention other things as well." the officer said, and everyone in the room gasped in total shock or horror, even Chris Hargensen and most of the Mortimer Snerds, including Tina, Donna, Heather, Sue and the two identical Watson Twins, Nikki and Lizzy.

"Oh, my goodness…" Sue said in quiet horror, as the realisation of why Carrie had left town suddenly hit her and everyone else like a ton of bricks going 100mph.

"And not only that…" the officer said, as everyone quietened down, "…Margaret not only confessed to badly abusing Carrie many times over these last years, but...and much to the surprise of us all in the Chamberlain Police Department...she also confessed to assaulting her late husband Ralph White on more than a few other occasions as well in the past whenever he disagreed with her views about things." the male officer said. That unexpected statement brought more gasps from everyone; this was news they hadn't expected to hear.

"There's worst news than that to come..." the officer said, as everyone then quietened themselves down and looked up towards him, "...during questioning earlier on this morning...and much to our own personal horror...Margaret confessed to us...that very shortly after she gave birth to Carrie in that house on the morning of September 21st 1995...she took out a pair of scissors from one of bedside dressers...and...she...almost murdered her new-born daughter with it." said the officer. And upon hearing this utterly horrific information, virtually all the students and teachers before him gasped in horror and then discussed this bit of information.

"Oh, my god, there was a madwoman living amongst us all." Rita Desjardin said quietly, as she brought her left hand up to her mouth in shock. Now it hit her that Margaret White didn't just have a questionable personality, but she was in fact completely and utterly insane. Sue glanced over to her gym teacher, and then turned to look up at the other girls in the Mortimer Snerds; they all appeared just as appalled by the news of what Margaret had done to Carrie.

"However, before the case goes to court…or excuse me, IF it goes to court, Margaret's going to be undergoing a really extensive series of psychiatric and mental tests very soon, to determine whether or not she's fit enough to stand trial for what she did. There's something really seriously mentally wrong with her, and we think that her religious fanaticism and her erratic, highly unstable mental behaviour towards Carrie…not to mention all the child neglect, endangerment and abuse, and the countless acts of domestic violence over the years, could easily be one of the main reasons why Carrie suddenly disappeared from town the way she did. And to be quite honest with you all...after reading through much of the notebook that Carrie left behind…I really don't blame her in the slightest for doing something like that. I'm quite sure that I probably would've done the very same thing as well if I'd been in her situation." said the officer.

It was true; all the doctors who were over at the secure place where Margaret was being currently being securely held for the extensive medical examinations before she could stand trial were able to confirm to the investigators in the case that Margaret's mental illness and mental instability were amongst some of the most serious that they'd ever seen in their many long years of service. In fact, it was possibly even THE worst case of mental illness that they'd ever seen. Among her mental illnesses they discovered were severe undiagnosed schizophrenia, bipolar and a narcissistic personality disorder, which helped to explain her odd behaviour, constant mood swings and religious ramblings.

There was a low murmur among everyone, staff and students alike, before the officer cleared his throat again to get their attention. This time he was looking at them with a much more serious look.

"And not to mention all the countless acts of unnecessary bullying by most of the students sitting here before me here in this school who over time also played a major part in driving Carrie away by what they did to her." the officer said, his voice now sounding much sterner than before. And quite a few of the students, including some of those who knew what they'd done, turned their heads away a little as their cheeks turned red a little. Others lowered their heads, or held their heads in their hands in shame for what they did.

"Did any of you people EVER stop to think that someone like Carrie White has feelings? Did ANY of you ever STOP to think?" the officer asked, as he glared all around the room at the teachers and students before him. For one long moment, there was no answer to that question, either from the students or staff, particularly the students, as many of them all thought about what they'd done. So the officer took in another deep breath, and continued with what he was going to say next.

"That's just…utterly disgusting what you all did to bully and harass someone who never did anything bad to you to start with and who was very vulnerable, considering the rather difficult circumstances in which she was put in. People like you who bully vulnerable people like Carrie are just…just the lowest of the low! Just disgraceful! You should all be ashamed of yourselves! In fact, ladies and gentlemen…that book Carrie left behind contains enough information about numerous incidents of bullying that she was forced to endure over the years…and some of those incidents are serious enough that we could possibly press some quite serious charges on Carrie's behalf against quite a few of the students in this room. I won't name any names…for now…but you all know who you are." the officer said, as stern as ever, his voice being carried into clearly into the ears of everyone.

Most of the girls in the Mortimer Snerds, barring Chris, Tina and one or two others, as well as almost all of the other students in the whole auditorium, lowered their heads in shame for their actions. Sue took a glance over towards where Chris was sitting; she still had on her face a seemingly annoyed look that, as usual, didn't seem to care. If Chris was in anyway worried about being charged with acts of unnecessary bullying, she was certainly very good at not showing it.

"And it's not only the students…some of the teachers in the school, who should know better, were just as bad in their actions. Bullying a student themselves when they should've helped them!" the male officer said, his voice now raised a bit and taken to all corners of the room. Some of the teachers, among them Mr Ullman, the English teacher, hung their heads in shame as well.

The officer took a moment or so to calm down from his near-outburst and took in a few deep, calming breaths before he spoke again.

"We've…launched an investigation in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies in the country to try and find out what happened to Carrie and where she may have disappeared to. When we find her…or excuse me, IF we find her…I think ALL of you owe her an apology for your actions." he said, and many of those in the hall all murmured in a quiet agreement with that.

"From what we understand...based upon the evidence we have so far...what Carrie did by suddenly disappearing the way she did, we're able to determine that it wasn't just a spur of the moment type of thing, it's highly likely this whole thing was months in the planning. And we're able to determine that Carrie's passport, birth certificate, and social security card weren't in the house where she lived, so it's highly likely that she took those with her when she ran away. There's no doubt, that by leaving behind that notebook with all the information in it in her locker, as well as that letter, Carrie wanted us all to know what happened to her and how bad things were getting for her." said the officer. Everyone seated before him all quietly murmured amongst each other when they heard this.

"Very clever of her." Tommy whispered to Sue, who simply nodded at her boyfriend.

The officer standing at the lectern was quiet for a few more moments before he cleared his throat and spoke again.

"For...for Carrie to runaway from home the way that she did...after having been badly bullied in school and in public, as well as having been under the control of and being badly abused by such a mentally unstable woman like Margaret...well...it...it takes a great deal of courage for someone to do something as dramatic as that. And I'm really very impressed, to be honest, that she managed to get all that she needed together, write down everything in her notebook, and then quietly runaway from Chamberlain without drawing any suspicion from anyone...lest of all her own mother." the officer said.

And that drew quite a few more comments from all those before him, as nearly each and every person quietly spoke with the person beside them about what they had just been told.

"You have to admit...that was a very brave thing she did...despite what we did to her." Heather said.

"I think anyone who does something like that does deserve the highest levels of respect." Nicki said.

"I agree...she had a real sense of nerve to do that." said Lizzy.

"I don't know how scared I'd be if I had to do something like that, but...I think it shows that Carrie is in fact a very brave person." Tommy Ross said to Sue.

"Yes...I think so too. Maybe Carrie isn't the person we thought she was...after all." Sue said. But then there came the sounds of coughing to get everyone's attention, as the officer had more information to give them.

"While we were making our initial investigations about Carrie's disappearance, we also managed to uncover some information about her father, Ralph White, and some of the rumours that ran through town about him, particularly the main ones being him taking a bible and a .38 calibre revolver to his place of work. There's NO evidence of any kind at all of him having ever owned a revolver or a firearm of any calibre in his life, or that he ever carried a bible with him to work. But we DID find some information that one of the leading foremen at Ralph's place of work back then did carry such a firearm in his office on the site. And, from what we understand, it may have a contributing factor to that serious accident that apparently took Ralph's life and that of quite a few of his work colleagues not long too before Carrie was born." the male officer said.

"Where do you suppose Carrie may have gone to? Have you found any evidence about that?" one of the teachers asked.

"Well, we're not exactly sure of that. However though…we did recently question a bus driver who said that on the very day Carrie disappeared he mentioned that one of the passengers who boarded his bus looked very similar to Carrie White. That bus left the bus station in Chamberlain early in the morning of November 19th, just as dawn was breaking, and headed on a non-stop run all the way down to Portland, Maine." the officer said. Everyone in the hall looked at each other and murmured to each other.

"Portland, Maine? That's only about 80 miles or so due south of here." Sue whispered to Tommy, as her boyfriend rubbed his chin in thought. Then everyone quietened down as the officer asked for silence.

"So, do you think there's a strong chance that she could be somewhere within the Portland area?" Principal Morton asked.

"There's…a strong possibility of that. But then again…between November 19th and now, she could've gone almost anywhere." the officer said.

A quick moment later, the projector showed on the screen a new slide, this one showing a map of the entire New England area, consisting of the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, "However, ladies and gentlemen, it's the best plan if we concentrate our search within the New England area. All the police departments within the area will be alerted, and every piece of information, however unimportant it is, will be sent in to the Chamberlain Police Department. We feel there's a very strong possibility of her being somewhere within New England. It's…very unlikely that she'll be anywhere else, though we will have to keep in mind the strong possibility that she could've easily left the state and gone to restart her life somewhere else within the country." the officer said. At that moment, the very idea that Carrie could have gone abroad to ANOTHER COUNTRY to escape her life of bullying and abuse never occurred to him, or to anyone else for that matter.

"How long do you suppose it may take?" someone asked, though they all knew in their heart of hearts that the question was a rhetorical one.

"We don't know exactly about that, but until we find any evidence that says otherwise…Carrie White is officially listed as a missing person." the officer said.

(That evening: 6:25pm)

Sue and Tommy sat together at one of the booths upstairs at the Kelly Fruit Company, slowly sipping their drinks while deep in thought of what might have happened to Carrie since she disappeared. The Kelly Fruit was fairly quiet now, as most of the other teens who would usually frequent the place at this time of the day were all at home on this freezing cold winter evening. Both Tommy and Sue lived very near to it, as their homes were less than five minutes' walk away, so they could both enjoy each other's company while the place was still quiet.

The only other people who were around in the diner on this freezing cold evening were three people behind the counter serving out drinks, those working away in the kitchen at the back and half a dozen other teens sitting together at another booth at the other end of the floor.

"Hey, are you feeling all right, Sue?" Tommy asked with some concern after a while, noticing the gloomy and depressed look on his girlfriend's face. Sue slowly looked at him and sighed heavily.

"It's just…the thought of what happened to Carrie, and everything that she's gone through all these years…both from almost all of us over at school and within her own house under the iron fist of that complete madwoman. How could anyone have endured it?" Sue said, as she sighed again, this time a sad sigh.

At lunch break earlier that day, after they'd finished up in the gym hall – where they played a game of water volleyball in the school's swimming pool - Sue went and had a look at the website link and read through some of the notebook Carrie had left behind. After only five or six pages, she had tears running down her face when she realised just how bad Carrie had been treated by nearly everyone for most of her life. That female officer was certainly right about needing to have plenty of tissues at hand if anyone was going to read the story Carrie had left behind.

And it wasn't only Sue who had been shocked and saddened to read everything about what Carrie had gone through in her private life; a lot of the other students who read the PDF file, including a few of those who bullied Carrie or had made fun of her for no reason, including many of the other girls in the Mortimer Snerds, were all utterly horrified to at last hear the truth about Carrie's life and just how badly she'd been abused in her private life…by her OWN mother - just a real life horror story. She'd had a very bad private life to say the least, and the bullying she'd been subjected to over the years, whether in school or out of it, had only made a bad situation even worse. It was quite obvious that Carrie had intended for what she had written in her notebook to be found, so that everyone could find out what had happened to her.

That day, nearly every single one of the students who read through some of the PDF version of the notebook Carrie left behind, and quite a few of the teachers, felt horrible for what they'd done to her. They just hoped that it wasn't too late to apologize to her…if she could be found and brought home, that is.

But at the very same time, many of them started asking the inevitable questions; if she was being abused by her mother over the years, why did Carrie not say anything to anyone about what was going on inside that house? If anyone did see anything that was going on or had heard anything going on inside that old house, why did they not go and intervene and report Margaret to the police or to the child protection services? Why wasn't anything done to have helped Carrie out of that situation if someone had suspected anything? These were questions that would come to haunt many of the people throughout the town of Chamberlain in the coming weeks and months to come.

"Are you…hoping to apologize to Carrie face to face for everything that's happened if she ever comes back home, or if we ever see her again?" Tommy asked, as he reached forward to comfort his girlfriend. After a moment, Sue looked at him through sad eyes.

"I hope so, Tommy…I really do hope to." Sue said, as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I was just…so shocked to hear what had happened to her, and to finally understand what she went through. No wonder she ran away, with everything her mother and almost everyone else at school did to her. I just can't believe she was being abused in private all this time and no one noticed anything about it until after she left. How on earth could anyone have endured all of that without telling someone about it earlier on?" Sue said, with genuine sorrow and guilt.

Tommy was silent for a long moment; even though he had never bullied Carrie or did anything bad to her, being one of the very few people in Ewen High School who hadn't done so – a very honourable thing indeed - he felt a tinge of sadness come over him as well.

"Where do you suppose she may have gone?" Tommy asked, as he comforted his girlfriend, even though he knew the question was rhetorical as Carrie could be anywhere.

"I don't know to be honest, but wherever she's gone…I hope she's doing okay and making new friends." said Sue with a heavy sigh, as she looked outside the window where she could see the very first snow of this year's winter season beginning to come down at last.

Then, the thoughts and worries of both Sue and Tommy were interrupted as the waitress arrived at the table from the kitchen with their dinner.

(Meanwhile; at Rita Desjardin's house)

As Rita was enjoying her dinner in the living room after a long day of school, she had her laptop on the table beside her dinner plate and, as she was eating, she was reading through the PDF version of Carrie's notebook, and she too was horrified and deeply touched to know exactly what her favourite student had gone through. She had always had her suspicions of what Margaret was like, as well as having suspicions of what might be going on with Carrie behind closed doors in that old house, but it wasn't until she began to read through the PDF file of Carrie's notebook that she realised just how bad it was.

Taking a pause from reading the PDF as she reached a part that was just a bit too difficult to read, Rita stood up and walked over to the window of the living room where the curtains were drawn. Pulling one of the curtains aside a little, she looked outside at the dark night sky high above in silence for a few long moments, as she thought about what Carrie had gone through, as well as the thoughts of where she might have gone.

"I hope you're all right, Carrie. And wherever you may have gone...I hope that we'll all get to see you again." Rita said quietly, as she looked up at the dark winter night sky. After a few more moments, she turned away from the window, closed the curtain, and then went back to finish her dinner, and to read some more of Carrie's notebook.

And that's it for this chapter, everyone! As we've all seen, Carrie's abusive and mentally unstable mother, Margaret, was arrested by the authorities for what she did to Carrie over all those years in that old house, and now everyone in Ewen High School, teachers and students alike, are all now aware of why Carrie ran away from home in the first place. And it's quite clear that almost all of them now deeply regret for what they did to Carrie for all those years, and no doubt hope that it's not too late to apologise to her for what happened.