My Saturday alarm buzzes me awake at 10:00 am as usual. I look at my desk and see a sticky note on my laptop cover:

Your father and I went grocery shopping. Be back around 1:00.

- Love, mom

I guess I'm alone for the next 3 hours. I look at my phone and see 3 missed calls from Amber.

"Shit."

I put my hearing aids in and redial her number, pacing around my room. "Relax, I'm not dead."

"How would I know? What else could you have been doing?"

"I had a fever yesterday."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's cool. Hey, I've been meaning to ask, when you looked at Brendon's Instagram, did you see anything weird or suspicious?"

"No. Why?"

"No reason I just... was curious."

"What, do you think he has a secret?"

"Something like that."

"Alright, what's your theory?"

"Think about it, what would be the reason someone could change locations so many times?"

"Money?"

"So he moved to upstate New York?"

"It's not as expensive as the city."

"Exactly, as far as I'm concerned, Florida's the closest thing to a city Brendon's ever lived."

"Have you been stalking him or something? Why are you thinking about this?"

I bite my lip. "I don't think Brendon's who he's all turned out to be."

"What do you mean?"

"If you did something so terrifying that it could land you in prison, what would you do?"

"I don't know. Runaway?"

"Bingo."

"Are you saying Brendon's a criminal?"

"For now, no. I don't have proof."

"But you think he's running away from the law?"

"Yes." I walk over to my window, looking toward Brendon's house.

"I mean, it's a pretty logical assumption..."

I see Brendon close the door behind him and lock it, then walk to his car.

"Wait, Amber." I cut her off as I see him get inside.

"Ruby... what are you about to do?"

"Something crazy."

I hang up the phone and throw it on the bed, putting on a sweatshirt and some shoes, leaving my pajama bottoms on. I see him drive away, and I grab my backpack, rushing out the door.

I run to his backyard, thinking about investigating the shed first, but it sends chills down my spine.

"I don't think I wanna know what's in there yet."

My eyes shift to an open second-story window. I pick up a nearby ladder and position it under the window. Steadily, I ascend it, shaking under my weight. When I reach the window, I climb inside and the ladder falls with a sound crash.

"Guess I'm not getting out that way."

I look around the room. There's a twin bed, two nightstands, and a closet. It must be his bedroom. Instincly, I dive down under the bed, inserting my arm and digging around for... anything really. I feel something, small and thick. I pull it out. It's a red, untitled notebook. My fingers slip the band off and open it. There are pages and pages of people with descriptions and their pictures. I stop at one I recognize.

Frank Iero:

Age: 23

Day of Death: June 13, 2013

"Frank."

I flip through some more pages.

Michael Way:

Age: 23

Day of Death: June 13, 2013

Next page.

Gerard Way:

Age: 25

Day of Death: N/A

"You were right. Brendon was pissed you survived."

Next page.

Sarah Orzechowski:

Age: 25

Day of Death: January 15, 2019

Next. His parents.

"Gerard was right. Brendon started the fire."

I close the book and put it in my backpack. I walk downstairs to the back room, looking through the wooden drawers until I find Sarah's pendant. I take it out, examining it between my fingers as if just seeing it for the first time. My thumb traces over the engraving.

"I'll get justice for you. I promise."

Putting it in my backpack, I walk toward the front door, accidentally knocking the remote over and turning on the television in the process. I'm frozen as I look at the screen. Apparently, Brendon was watching a Jeffrey Dahmer documentary on Netflix.

"Jesus."

At that moment, I hear Brendon's car pulling into the driveway. I go into a quiet panic mode.

"Shit! Fuck!" I run upstairs to his room and flip my switches to 4.

I hear the door open. He sets his keys on a nearby dresser.

"Did I forget to turn this off?" He says. I forgot about the tv.

I hear him about to go into the kitchen, but his footsteps stop abruptly. Like, he's noticed something. The sound of drawers opening and closing makes my heartbeat increase rapidly. He's noticed the pendant's gone. Fuck.

"I have to get out of here."

Slowly, I make my way toward the window, keeping my steps as light as possible, until, a floorboard creaks under me. I stop. So does Brendon. I hear him walk and stand right under where I'm frozen in place. I breathe shallow breaths and my fingers start shaking uncontrollably. I've never been more afraid in my life.

He walks away, toward the kitchen. I exhale a sigh of relief and continue toward the window. At that moment, it creaks again, louder this time. I'm frozen again, so is he. He knows someone is here. It's now or never. I swing one leg over as he runs up the stairs. The drop is intimidating. Nonetheless, it's better than being dead. The door opens, and I jump, landing hard on my shoulder. I groan as Brendon emerges above, looking down at me with a hard scowl. It scares me so much that I force myself up, picking up momentum to run out of the backyard.

When I reach the sidewalk, I hear the front door open. I know Brendon's right behind me, but I keep running toward my house, pushing through the pain. I take my key out of my pocket, and fiddle with it.

"Come on, come on!"

Brendon's close to my porch by the time I open the door. I shut and lock it.

"Rebecca!" He yells, pounding on the door. "Rebecca!"

I run to my room, breathing heavily as I throw myself onto the bed. At that moment, my phone vibrates with my text alert noise. It's Amber.

"What did you do?"

"I'll show you on Monday." I look out my window to see Brendon walking toward his house, slamming the door shut.

"Did you find proof?"

"Oh, yeah. You're gonna want to see this."