There was a message request from someone named Alison C.
“Run from him!”
I stared at it, blinking once, then again. There was no profile picture, no posts, and no mutual friends. I was about to delete it when another message came through.
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“Don’t say anything to Ben about this. Act normal. You have no idea what he did. You need to know the truth!!”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“Run from him!”
A third message came seconds later:
“He tells the story like it happened to him. But… it happened because of him.”
The room felt colder somehow. I walked into the bedroom, pulled the suitcase from under the bed, and started packing jeans, toiletries, and a sweater I always stole from Ben.
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I didn’t even know where I was going. I just knew I couldn’t be there if any of this was real.
The room felt colder somehow.
“Get it together, Ella,” I said aloud. “You have no idea what’s going on here. Calm down.”
It didn’t make sense. Who would do this? And why now?
Another message came through as I was looking at my suitcase:
“Please, meet me. I’m Rachel’s sister.”
Rachel’s sister?
Who would do this?
I sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at the text. Finally, I typed,
“Why should I believe you?”
Her reply came instantly.
“Because you just posted the first photo of Ben I’ve seen in years. Look up his name + accident + license suspension. That should do it. I’m willing to meet when you’re done with your homework.”
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I opened a browser
Her reply came instantly.
I typed in Ben’s full name, followed by “accident” and “license suspension.”
A small local news piece popped up — it was dated seven years ago.
“Driver in critical condition after single-vehicle crash kills passenger.”
There was no mugshot. There was no direct mention of Rachel, but in the comments, people were talking, arguing, and naming names.
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A small local news piece popped up.
One line burned into my memory:
“People said he’d been drinking. Everyone knew it… for goodness sake! She begged him not to get in the car.”
“Rest in peace, lovely girl.”
“Shame on him. A family has lost their daughter because of this man…”
**
“She begged him not to get in the car.”
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