Diary of Kaitlyn Johnson

Sunday, 9 January 2005, Continued

Haji is an intriguing man, Dee.

He told me not to tell anyone any of the things he shared with us, and so I can’t tell you, Dee. I want to, please believe me, but I fear the price. Naida already lost us one piece of information for her accidental lie about who I was, and so I dare not risk losing anything more. I feel like he can see everything I’m writing as I write it.

But I will tell you this: He was speaking to me. Me, Dee. I knew it just as I knew he realized right away that Naida was wrong about my name being Carly. And at one moment—no more than a fraction of a second—as he stared at Naida, listening to her explain a vague version of what we need… I saw his mind turn to focus on me.

And clear as anything I have ever heard, his mind-voice reached out to me in the darkness.

You know it won’t be enough, it said. You know the end already. This is the truth.

81

Top Hat Camera Clip #4

Naida Camera Footage

Time Index Not Noted

Naida’s face appears, though the audio is distorted. “Ugh, finally.”

Kaitlyn’s voice from nearby. “I had to give it to him.”

“Don’t sweat it, sugar. You did the right thing.”

The camera swivels towards Kaitlyn’s head, then stops, facing Naida. Kaitlyn is wearing the top hat once more.

“Let’s try to go over everything he said,” Naida says, walking down what is now visibly the drive to Elmbridge High.

“Maybe we should wait until we’re inside. Safer.”

“No.” Naida’s voice is firm. “Now. I need to remember it now. I feel it slipping away like sand in an hourglass.”

“Why didn’t you tell me he was your brother?”

Naida shrugs. “It doesn’t matter. We barely know each other. He’s twelve years older than me—”

Naida breaks off as Kaitlyn’s hand shoots out to grab her arm. They turn to see blue lights flashing in the distance.

“Do you see that?”

“Police!”

“Shit—what do we—”

“Get behind the trees,” Naida says, pushing Kaitlyn away just as an officer walks through the side gate to the gardens.

Kaitlyn ducks behind a tree, and the camera goes dark, but the mic picks up the audio.

“Who’s there?” calls a male voice.

“My name’s Naida. What’s going on?”

“Are you a student here?”

“Aye.”

“It’s not even five in the morning. What are you doing skulking around?”

“I’m not skulking. My cousin just dropped me off.”

There is a pause and then footsteps. The voices begin to recede.

“Best to get to your room. The school is being searched, and everyone needs to be in their dorms.”

“Oh. What’s going on?”

“Just get to your room. Now.”

“Yes, Officer.”

Eventually the crunching of leaves and twigs underfoot fades and Kaitlyn exhales.

“Damn it,” she mutters. “Lansing… you bitch.”

She peeks from around the tree, and the road is empty and silent. She glances up the road where blue lights continue to flash, out across the field to the left, which is open and in plain view of the school, and then, finally, into the woodland on the right.

She sighs, then heads into the trees, which will eventually take her to the abandoned chapel. She will be there no less than twenty minutes before Ari Hait arrives. Together they will break into the oldest family crypt on the grounds and make love on the flat surface of the oldest stone tomb.

“I love you,” Kaitlyn will say as the battery on the camera is fading.

“Go to sleep,” will be Ari’s reply.

[END OF CLIP]

82 23 days until the incident

Naida Camera Footage

Monday, 10 January 2005, 8:12 AM

Basement

“Okay,” Scott says, thundering down the steps. “I found out something.”

Kaitlyn, Naida, and Brett sit on the sunken mattress, eating cookies from a white packet.

“What?” Naida asks, sitting straighter. “About the police?”

“Hey, are those cookies?”

Naida rolls her eyes and hands him the bag. “Here.”

“Cheers,” he says as he rummages inside. “Points for simple carbs.”

“What news?” Kaitlyn asks, after watching him scoff down three of them whole. “Scott!”

“Oh, yeah. So, apparently, it’s something to do with Juliet.”

Kaitlyn blinks. “Oh. God, we thought it was me!”

“Oh, it is. Heard two coppers talking in the kitchen this morning. Talking about how that Lansing woman found something in some tapes. Something about Juliet.”

“What?”

“Shh! Didn’t you hear me? The cops are everywhere. Gebus, Mary, and Joseph.”

“Hang on,” Brett cuts in. “What does Kaitlyn have to do with Juliet, though?”

Scott shrugs. “My guess is they think you knocked her off.”

Kaitlyn stares at him.

“You know,” he adds, swiping at his neck, “did her in.”

“Yes, thank you,” Naida drawls. “Gorro, they’ll do anything, won’t they? Absolutely anything to get you back.”

“Well,” Scott says, reasonably, “we already knew they wanted to talk to her about Juliet anyway. Breaking out of Claydon was probably not the best thing to do to prove innocence. They’re saying Carly might have been the last one to see her.”

“Yeah, for like two seconds, and she was passed out at the time, if you don’t remember!” Brett says hotly.

“Yeah, all right, calm down, Panicky Annikey. I’m just saying.”

“This is stupid,” Naida says, getting to her feet. “We just have to hide Kaitlyn even more carefully. I want us to keep an eye on this stairway. Make sure it stays secret.” She turns to Kaitlyn. “And I want you to start sleeping at night, and keeping hidden and alert during the day, all right?”

Kaitlyn doesn’t reply, and Naida takes that for affirmation. She nods and then heads towards the stairs. “In the meantime, we have to keep going to class like nothing’s wrong. So let’s get moving, before the kitchen staff get in.”

“As the lady commands,” Scott says, taking out a handful of cookies before handing the bag back to Kaitlyn. “Right you are, love.”

Brett smiles down at Kaitlyn after he gets up.

“Try to rest,” he says. He nods, awkwardly, and then follows Scott out of the room.

83

From: AriHait558

To: RealxChick

Date: 10 January 2005

Subject: Status Update

How are you doing? I’m in the library—study hour. Every little thing is boring as hell without you.

Sincerely,

Rule Breaker

From: RealxChick

To: AriHait558

Date: 10 January 2005

Subject: Re: Status Update

Tired of waiting. Want to get moving. Scared about what “get moving” really means. Why are you emailing instead of studying? Don’t you know I feel bad enough about all of you helping me without you failing on top of it?

Deeply Concerned,

Ghost Girl

From: AriHait558

To: RealxChick

Date: 10 January 2005

Subject: Re: Re: Status Update