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Infected Town: Series One (Part 3)

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Today was incredibly long, so I’m going to try to sum it up quickly. Right now I’m frustrated and I want to cry, but I also want to punch something. I hate this. I’m writing it all down, mostly to try to make sense of everything, because I can't fucking sleep. But also because you’ve all been so helpful and compassionate and you seem to want to know what's going on.

I have no idea how to get ahold of Dean’s parents, so first I called Samantha’s mom, who was nearly hysterical. She and Sam talk regularly, but she lives in another state, so when I told her the story, I felt like I was causing undue distress. She says she hasn’t heard from her daughter in a couple days, as long as I have, but she’s called her a couple times to no avail. She also urged me to call the cops, like many of you. So I did.

Is it cliche to say the police were completely unhelpful? They were. I spoke to this Officer Robins on the phone and was told to go file a missing person’s report on Dean and Samantha. I was told that, since Dean’s girlfriend is out of town, it’s reasonable to think he just went to meet up with her. Sam might’ve tagged along. They didn’t seem impressed when I insisted they would have TOLD me if they were leaving town, especially since they know I was coming for a visit. We made plans to hang out this week. He disappeared!

So I went down and filed two reports. They promised to investigate, but also assured me he’d probably show up soon. No one has been found in the woods around here, no reports of any anonymous attacks or, ugh, murders. No neighbors have reported anything strange. They’re not even going to check out Dean or Sam’s apartments, since a search warrant is a lot of paperwork. So now I’m pretty much left sitting on my fucking thumbs, just waiting. Waiting isn’t something I do very well. Especially when I’m concerned my best friends might be in danger.

Next I visited Dean’s work and asked if he’d come in. The manager just looked at me funny.

“Uh no, we haven’t seen him,” he said. “But that’s not surprising, since he called and quit two days ago. No notice, either.”

That was the day after those text messages. That was after he’d stopped all contact with me or Samantha.

I would agree with a lot of you that Dean just went out into the woods and got lost or even hurt. There are definite forests around here. But Samantha disappearing only a couple days later? Her phone being left in his apartment? Resigning from his work? And where’s the cat?

I know how it sounds. It sounds like he just up and left town. But WHY? As someone who knows him better than almost anyone, I can’t possibly see him doing that. Especially without taking anything. What kind of trouble is he in? Is someone after him? And what happened to Samantha? I just can’t shake the feeling that something weird is going on.

So now I’m left with my last clue. Samantha’s cell phone. Upon closer inspection, the screen is cracked at the upper corner, as if it was dropped, even though it has a hard cover. I managed to unlock it with her birth date.

Everything looked normal at first glance. Picture of shirtless Jensen Ackles on her lockscreen? Check. Highly organized apps, including Reddit and Happy Hours? Check.

Then I checked her messages. First up were my twenty-five frantic “Where the fuck are you????” texts. Scrolling up, I read our last conversation from a couple days ago. We’d been talking about Dean and she’d been calling him an asshole for making us worry. Then I said I was going to bed, and she’d replied with her signature “Love you. See you sleeping.” It made me tear up. What if that was the last thing she’d ever say to me?

My heart thumped as I looked at the next conversation in the column. It was the same night she’d texted me goodnight, but an hour later. And it was from Dean. He’d contacted her, and she hadn’t told me.

I’ve transcribed it here:

Dean: Come over.

Samantha: What the fuck, dude????? Where the hell have you been??? Jess and I have been freaking out!

Dean: You shouldn’t worry ahdld Me. I’m fine. Hahahaha silly.

Samantha: No. Not fucking silly. Why haven’t you been answering your phone?

Dean: Come over.

Samantha: Answer my question!

Dean: I’ve been owkrgdh on something. I want to show you.

Dean: Come over.

Samantha: No! It’s 1 am!

Dean: Please, I’m doing it for you.

Samantha: Doing WHAT for me??

Dean: It’s a surprise. Ylu’kk love it. Please, Sammy.

[Samantha can’t resist when Dean calls her by her nickname. Obviously, IRL it’s not “Sammy” but it’s something cute in that vein. He’d won this game.]

Samantha: Christ. I fucking hate you. You’re lucky I’m bored. Okay. I’ll be over in ten.

[Ten minutes pass.]

Samantha: I’m out front.

And that’s it. That’s the last thing she wrote. The rest of the convos on her phone are from last week. I checked her missed calls, her voicemail. All of them are from me or her mom. Nothing new or interesting.

Except the final voicemail, the one I apparently left when I was calling her phone in Dean’s apartment.

It’s just white noise for the first few seconds. I hadn’t realized I was leaving it, distracted by discovering her phone in the kitchen. You can clearly hear the phone vibrating as I approach it. Then I say “What the fuck?” You can’t hear the crash that occurred shortly after that. But in the last five seconds before I hang up, there’s definitely something.

I’ve listened to this voicemail upwards of twelve times now. And I swear to God, I can hear someone say something. I can’t make out exactly what it is, but it’s this hushed, whispery voice. I think it’s masculine, but I can’t be sure. It says three syllables.

That’s all I know. Of course, it could just be white noise or a rustling of my clothes. But what if someone else was still in that apartment with me? That thought makes my skin crawl.

And you know what else makes my skin crawl? The last two pictures on Samantha’s phone.

Here they are.

Keep in mind, I have no evidence to prove that these were taken in Dean’s apartment. Other than the fact that the picture taken before this is one of the puppy Samantha and I were playing with the day before. And obviously I have no idea whether they mean anything. I'm just starting to think this isn't all coincidence.

So that’s what I’m working with here. I plan on continuing this tomorrow, but right now I need to sleep. Enough investigative work. I’m exhausted and stressed and I popped a Valium a while ago. Goodnight, nosleep.

EDIT:

You guys are not gonna fucking beleive this. Id just fallen asleep and my phone buzzed. it was DEAN.

"Come over."

obviously im not going to. I'm all valium'd up. i'll deal with it tomorrow. 

---

Credits

 

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