What Rose Above

Nine

The bare moon kept me awake as I tossed and turned in bed. Last time I checked the time, 2:00 AM mocked me. It felt like an hour had passed since then. Between the unsolicited package and my latest interaction with Robert, I didn't know which of them was bothering me more. All I knew was I couldn't sleep. And when I couldn't sleep, I was anxious and cranky. Terrible mix.

I sighed, then rolled over, tapping my phone screen.

2:45 AM. Just great.

An overwhelming urge to google the group home again had been haunting me since I laid in bed, and I could feel it creeping through my veins. The tips of my fingers twitched in approval. But I relented. After all, Google had little to no information to offer me. That was equally surprising as it was concerning. Mostly due to the fact that the reasoning for the group home's closure raised a lot of questions. A lot of disturbing questions.

I reached for my phone, then pulled up one of the blogs I'd found earlier. I had saved it for further inspection. But no matter how many times I read the blog over, it served me no purpose.

After opening in 1965, Lake Bellinor's Group Home for Teens' long run was short-lived when an incident took place between several of the residents. An incident that resulted in three minors being severly injured—one of them even ending up in the hospital. This is not the first time there's been claims of neglect and general mismanagement within the group home.

Lake Bellinor's Group Home for Teens reportedly had a repeated history of misconduct, foul play, and bullying. After its closing in 2001, the group home was deemed unfit for the teens and had been put out of service. No one, however, bought the property when it was being sold, which resulted in Lake Bellinor's Group Home for Teens falling abandoned.

Those two paragraphs stuck with me like white on rice. I'd tried to find more information but it appeared that the specifics of the incident hadn't been publicly disclosed. Articles were vague, and with an incident so controversial, it sparked debate online on several other blog sites. Just a bunch of theorists concluding their own opinions on what might've happened.

In a way, I supposed it made sense that specifics—like names and ages—wouldn't have been publicly revealed if they were minors. But that's what made it even more alarming. And mismanagement? Well, that could mean anything. Most importantly though, that could mean the teens might've been doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. Something that could have been prevented without poor management. It was all in theory though.

I sighed again and closed out the blog.

Christian and Logan were the next best things I could think of to look to for information. Surely, a detective would be able to obtain records about the group home. They needed it for their case. So, I hoped so. I guess asking Christian was worth a shot.

It didn't feel like sleep was going to visit me any time soon, so I accepted defeat and pushed the blankets down my legs. My feet flattened on the floor as I rolled out of bed. I then maneuvered towards the window as carefully as I could—so as to not make too much noise.

Robert's house was encased in darkness as all the other houses along the strip were. Still, I felt the need to stalk him from a distance. The same thought had been passing through my head since this afternoon. What if Robert was amongst the teens living in the group home at one point?

I didn't know his age but he seemed old enough to fit the time frame. Not to mention that vision. I'd also thought, what if the victims once lived in the group home too? Was that what my stalker wanted me to know? It was possible. But if that were the case, that meant it was also possible that their murderer came from the group home as well.