The Dead Friend (StoryADay)

“Dear friends, I am not dead. Meet me at the Blue Sun Theater on Tuesday at 8PM. ~Taylor Parker.”

Stuart Greer, Mara Llewellyn, Irene Haughton, and Pearl Tanner frowned as they stared at the message they were given. The funeral had just ended, with the mourners standing around the Sarah Jane Green Memorial Gardens, talking about Taylor and how and why she didn’t deserve to die. The Parker family (which consisted of Benjamin, Aimee, Billy, Aubrey, and Ashton) were speaking to the mourners and ignoring the rainy weather that fell upon the city of Harrison Creek, Oregon.

“I wonder if this is a joke,” said Mara as the others stared at the note. “Taylor’s dead. The police found her body at the Green Hill Manor a few days ago.”

“But how do they know the body is actually Taylor’s?” said Irene.

“Fake, or different person,” said Pearl.

“Exactly,” said Stuart. “Don’t forget, we’ve heard the story about Tracey Powell and how she disappeared around the same time Taylor did.”

“I’ve noticed,” said Mara. “Nobody could have known about Tracey, not unless…”

She grabbed the note again, saying, “Maybe this note is true. Maybe Taylor’s still alive and they buried the wrong girl.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Irene.

“But we won’t know that for sure until we go to the theater on Tuesday,” said Stuart.

“I’m not sure that’s going to happen,” said Pearl. “Mayor put up curfew. We kids not allowed to go anywhere without adults.”

“Oh, so *NOW* they want to play it safe after the crap they went through with trying to get us to put down our phones and tablets and get off the computers and go outside,” said Irene. “That’s not happening!”

“Not unless Team Sescape investigates this mystery letter,” said Stuart.

To make this long story short, Team Sescape stood in front of the Blue Sun Theater the following Tuesday at 8PM. It was a slow day, with only a few people coming to the theater to watch movies. Just then, a girl wearing a white coat decorated with red roses came out of a dark car that pulled in front of the theater. She saw the kids and said to them, “I was beginning to think you didn’t get my message. Did you miss me?”

“Taylor?” Mara, Stuart, Irene, and Pearl cried out.