RP Chapter 13
Kacey jerked awake as the first encoded message flashed in her brain. Her eyes flew open to stare up at the smooth, newly painted ceiling. She replayed the code in her mind. To everyone else it was gibberish.
TJBNH, R WNNM HXD CX VNNC VN JC CQN XUM YUJHPAXDWM FN DBNM CX JUFJHB PX CX, R QJEN CX PREN HXD VXAN CQRWPB KNOXAN FN LJW BXUEN CQRB. CQRB RB PXRWP CX PNC VNBBH JWM R QXYN HXD MXW'C MX CQRB JUXWN, R JV YXBRCREN XO OXDA YNXYUN CX CADBC, LDWWRWPQJV, MJERB, BQJFW JWM THUN. R WNNM HXD CX VNNC VN XW CQN CFNWCRNCQ JC VRMWRPQC YUNJBN YUNJBN KN LJANODU. CQRB VJW RB ENAH MJWPNAXDB.
She slowly rolled out of the bed, trying not to wake Kyle up. She glanced over her shoulder as he rolled toward her, but his eyes were still closed, his breathing still deep and smooth. She let out a little breath as she crept out of the room and down the hall.
As she made her way to the kitchen, a sensation pricked the back of her neck. She glanced around the dimly lit space, sure now she got the creepy feeling after the attack. She crushed it away as her feet hit the cool linoleum. She opened a couple of drawers before she found a notebook and pen.
Kacey glanced at the hallway right before she began to scribble the coded message from Donovan. As she got done she took a moment to analyze the message.
Tjbnh, r wnnm hxd cx vnnc vn jc cqn xum yujhpaxdwm fn dbnm cx jufjhb px cx, r qjen cx pren hxd vxan cqrwpb knoxan fn ljw bxuen cqrb. Cqrb rb pxrwp cx pnc vnbbh jwm r qxyn hxd mxw'c mx cqrb juxwn, r jv yxbrcren xo oxda ynxyun cx cadbc, ldwwrwpqjv, mjerb, bqjfw jwm thun. r wnnm hxd cx vnnc vn xw cqn cfnwcrncq jc vrmwrpqc yunjbn yunjbn kn ljanodu. cqrb vjw rb enah mjwpnaxdb.
She wanted to make sure she really recognized the pattern before she went to work on it. It seemed to be right.
Below the jumbled wording she began to unjumble it, her bottom lip between her teeth.
Kacey let out a breath as she finished the last word.
She scanned her eyes over the message. Kacey, I need you to meet me at the old playground we used to always go to, I have to give you more things before we can solve this. This is going to get messy, and I hope you don't do this alone, I am positive of four people to trust, Cunningham, Davis, Shawn and Kyle. I need you to meet me on the twentieth at midnight please please be careful. This man is very dangerous.
Her heart leaped as she looked at the time, today was the nineteenth but it was eleven fifteen. She had forty-five minutes to get ready and leave to meet Donovan. She hurried to the bathroom, yanked on her jeans, and grabbed her phone and wallet. She had to hurry but wasn’t sure about taking the truck. She began to call for a cab as she yanked on her shoes.
The cab service told her they’d be there in five minutes. She glanced at Kyle before she left, part of her wanted to take him with her, the other part of her worried about what would happen to Donovan if she did. Kyle, Davis, and Shawn were too mixed up with feelings to let them know what was going on.
She slipped out silently and rushed to the elevator, her heart pounded loudly in her ears. This was the right thing to do, it had to be the right thing.
As she exited the eerie parking garage she saw the cab already. She rushed over and jumped in. She rattled off to the man where to take her and they were off.
She let out a shaky sigh as she ran her trembling fingers through her hair. Kyle was going to be so angry about this, but she didn’t have a choice. She pulled her phone from her back pocket and changed the sound to vibrate.
Ten minutes later, her heart squeezed in her chest as the nerves overtook her, ten minutes until she was either making a huge mistake or would be talking to her best friend again. She glanced out at the dark playground. She trembled, the place gave her instant creeps. Why would Donny want to meet here of all places? She slid to the door as the driver parked.
“Twenty-five dollars and thirty-eight cents.” The man demanded.
She pulled thirty out of her wallet and handed it to him. She almost asked if he’d stay but knew she couldn’t risk someone seeing Donovan. As soon as she shut the door of the cab the driver took off. She threw a glance over her shoulder, well, so much for asking the driver to stay.
She turned back to the playground, the place seemed so creepy. Three of the four lights that surrounded the playground were out and the fourth one kept flickering. What had she been thinking?
\~~~
Kyle jerked awake, he glanced around the room, something triggered his gut instinct. Nothing seemed wrong, he reached over for Kacey, fear slithered through him. He threw the covers off and began to yank on his shirt and gym shorts. “Kacey?” he hollered. Damn if this was how she felt when he let her wake up alone he would never do it again.
His bedroom door was open farther than when they had gone to bed. He flew out the door. “Kacey ?” He saw the tablet on the counter beneath the softly lit kitchen lights. “Kacey, what did you do?” he rushed over to the counter and began to read the code that made absolutely no sense, then he saw the encoded scrip. Playground, August twentieth, midnight. That was today, his gaze flew to the red digital clock on the stove, ten after. Shit. He grabbed his gun, wallet, and her truck keys rushing out of the apartment.
He was going to pull her across his knee and beat her ‘til she was red for this. He grabbed his keys as he rushed out the door.
She shouldn’t have gone alone. He finally got to the truck and jumped in. He tore out of the garage and made his way to the playground, if memory served him right it had become very run-down since they had been younger. It wasn’t safe for Kacey to go by herself and if Donovan was unable to show up, the thought sent a shiver through him and pressed down on the accelerator.
If he found Donovan there with her, first he’d pound him for pulling Kacey away from him and dragging her somewhere dangerous, then hug him for being alive.