• Disclamer (just incase I need it): i may use some businesses and things like that, so incase I may get sued, I don't own any of them.





    -----Preface -----

    Travelodge Salem

    Jared, if you're reading this, I'm probably dead. It's up to you to find out.

    But if I'm not: Save me.






    -----Chapter One -----


    No, my mind said, as I slowly read the words on the hotel stationary, written in Aryanna's hand. This can't be happening. This doesn't happen to people like us, like me and her. But every second more I spent re-reading the words centered on the paper was an inch more my mind went into denial. Save me the words said, as though there was still hope, as though the word dead didn't smash every living particle of hope left in the world. I could remember just two days ago, she was smiling like there wasn't a care in the world. She had been called to the office; she had a doctor's appointment. She wasn't at school the next day. How could something have happened between then and now? Why hadn't word gotten around; why hadn't someone told me?

    Maybe my mind said, no one else knows. That was a definite possibility. I had found the envelope on my bed; it had been the first thing I saw when I woke up that morning.

    "Jared, are you up yet?" My mom called form the hallway.

    "Yeah, mom, I'll be out in just a second." I yell back to the direction of the door, listening to her footsteps walk away. I got up and walked into the bathroom. I used the restroom and splashed some water on my face. I opened the cabinet behind the mirror to get my toothbrush and instantly regretted it. On the lowest shelf of the cabinet was a small case with a blue velvet cover. Inside that was a ring, a golden band with a diamond in the middle. I was going to give it to Aryanna on our date Friday. I put my toothbrush back in the cabinet and went back to my room. Throwing on a pair of jeans and a shirt, I grabbed my wallet and the note, walking into the living room.

    "Mom?" I half-asked, half-said. "I'm not going to school today, okay?"

    "Why not, sweet heart?" She asked, "Are you not feeling well?" She set a pancake on a plate and I sat down, drowning it in syrup.

    "I'm fine. Aryanna's missing." I said, showing her the note. She stood there for a moment, then reached for the phone.

    "No," I said, "Don't call anyone."

    "We have to call the police," My mom said, "This is could be a kiddnapping, and you have to run these situations through with the police."

    " 'It's up to you to find out.' That is what it said, and that is what I intend to do." I started eating.

    My mom was silent for a minute, then factoring in how much I cared for Aryanna, she said "How?" She got a can of pop from the fridge. Leaning against the counter, she waited my response. I thought for a couple of seconds, then grabbed the envelope. Looking at the return address, I said "First, I'm going to go to Oregon." My mother nodded at how I got that information. She had worked as an investigator since she got out of college, and she had been teaching me to spot the not-so-obvious. After being proud for half a second she asked "Then what?"

    "Well," I said, looking at the note and envelope, "The return address says Sam Adams, so I'll go to the Travelodge Salem and see if anyone has checked in under his name. Then I'll see what I can find in the room. If no one checked in under his name, then I'll call the police, okay?" My mom nodded her head. Finishing my last pancake, I headed to the door. My mom gave me a kiss and I walked out to the car. Waving, I started the engine and headed down the road and onto the highway that led to the airport. I was going to get her back.