Snippet #1869618

Cassidy did her best to give Alex an encouraging smile. What good was her comfort to him? He was hurting as much as she was. It surprised her that he was even remotely interested in letting her get as close as she was.

She supposed everyone reacted to grief differently. He was leaning on her, she on him. She hoped that, after all was said and done, after the grief had dissipated to remembering the good times, then they'd still be able to get this close...maybe closer.

She squeezed his hand, ignoring the fact that he was looking to the others as the others watched the pair. She ignored the fact that he was putting on his false smile, the illusion of peaceful acceptance, and knew that he was merely doing it for the sake of the others. She'd seen the real Alex, and he'd seen the real Cassidy. Felt nice, knowing that she didn't have to pretend with him.

She was about to open her mouth to say something when her pocket vibrated with a text message. Alex's pocket vibrated at the same time hers did.

Furrowing her brow in confusion, she reached into her pocket to retrieve her cell phone, flipping it open and hitting the icon that opened the message for her to read. Unknown number.

Her eyes widened.

There, in glaring white letters, were the words 'I'M STILL HERE!!!'.

"The hell?" she whispered, releasing Alex's hand and looking back at the sender. An unknown number. It probably didn't matter at all. But that didn't mean it didn't send a chill down her spine as she read it.

Little did she know that everyone who knew Sarah Kaplan was receiving a text message at the same time, with the same haunting message, and from deep within the woods that surrounded Archer's, someone snapped their cell-phone shut, with a 'MESSAGE SENT' indicator flashing across the screen.

They smiled.