Hello?

It was the same thing every time, every new location brought with it a new body, one that seemed familiar but so distant. So far there have been twenty victims. I didn’t understand it or how it worked at first but then I realized, a new address or location would only appear on a new page after I found the body and made sure she got laid to rest.

Why me? Who was sending these messages? How did this little black notebook find its way into my hands? How long have I been doing this? The days mesh together like a brightly patterned blanket. I no longer have a concept of time. The strange thing is all of this feels so familiar but no matter how hard I wrack my brain; I can’t figure it out. I just keep searching, another location, another body, another entry into the book.

When will this end?

The most recent entry has been the hardest to deal with. She was the youngest victim hidden within the forests of Mount Hood. It was an 8-year-old girl named Lara. I didn’t know how I knew her name. It scared me. She was dressed like Elsa from frozen, ripped out of her life by a deranged monster. She looked as if she was sleeping peacefully with her teddy bear by her side. If it wasn’t for the red markings around her neck, I would have never known what happened to her. I made her body just visible enough to be found and did what I always did…I made a phone call.

"Hello? I’d like to report a murder."

As with every victim I had found before, I hid and watched from afar as police headed towards the coordinates I carefully gave. On occasion, a police dog would look my way or sniff into the air, but no one ever noticed or saw I was there; they were on a mission to solve a case.

I was always afraid I would be caught, but I never was. I didn’t want to stay but I couldn’t take my eyes off the victims until I knew they would be taken care of. The worst part was whenever family or loved ones would arrive before I could leave. It was so hard to see people in so much pain. Hearing parents scream for their dead child, pleading for anyone to help her, in denial that the beautiful person lying before them was gone forever, never got any easier. I could never imagine my family going through that. The mere thought brought tears to my eyes every time.

There were two more empty pages in the book. Was this ordeal finally coming to an end. With all the bodies I found, all over the Pacific Northwest, was there an end in sight? Would I find the person who sent me on this mission? I opened the notebook in my hands, and I looked down at the once blank page. A new location appeared. It was in Salem. I hadn’t been there yet. It made sense though, the bodies started in Seattle, then Vancouver, Gresham, Portland, Wilsonville, Lara in Mount Hood, and now Salem. This had to be the same killer. They all died the same way. Their bodies violated and then strangled.

Her body was easy to find. She was left on the bank of the Willamette River. Anyone could have found her. Her red hair flowed back and forth as the river ebbed and waned against her body. I rolled her over to see her face. It was Beth. A middle-aged librarian from the local middle school. She was married and had four kids. How did I know that? How did I know her? I felt connected to her. None of this made sense. I cleaned her face from the dirt and leaves but something about Beth was different. I could see hand markings around her neck. He choked her. With all the other victims he had used rope, why did he use his hands now and why leave her body out in the open like this. It was messy and desperate and rushed. No hiding or covering like the others. It felt off. I made the call and waited.

Within minutes the area was crawling with police looking for any clue to lead them to the serial killer that was now as infamous as Ted Bundy. I watched as they placed her body in the black bag and took her away. I held the notebook tightly in my hand. I knew there was only one more page. Where would I be going and who was it going to be?

The next day I was in Ashland. A city best known for The Shakespeare Festival that drew thousands of tourists from around the world. My family and I visited every year. My parents loved dressing up in medieval costumes for the different performances and competitions. My siblings and I loved all the different booths filled with souvenirs. Three years ago, my brother bought me a rose gold and onyx necklace that I loved so much I never took it off. The memories of being here made me feel so warm and safe, but I knew I was here for another reason that I couldn’t just ignore.

I hesitantly opened the book and there it was. The last location. It had to be! There were no more pages left. I started in Lithia Park. I remembered learning about the Park and how big it was. It was 93 acres of forest and canyons around Ashland Creek. My heart was racing? My head was spinning with so many questions.

I took a deep breath and began looking for the body. The sun was setting, and I knew I would have to be quick to find the body before it got too dark. Every other time I had found the victims it was during the day.

I walked for hours deeper and deeper into the woods. Like with all the other victims, I knew exactly where I needed to go. The closer I got to my location, the stranger I began to feel. I was getting cold and tired. That never happened to me before. At one point I dropped the book onto the ground and noticed the tips of my fingers becoming white. It was cold in the forest, especially since it was dark now, but was it that cold?

I kept moving, knowing I was getting closer and closer with each step. Then it happened. I heard rustling and yelling. I stopped to make sure that I wasn’t imagining. I could hear a girl screaming for help. I started running towards the sound. Was this girl still alive? Was this ending going to be different? I ran faster and suddenly came to a halt. I was at the edge of a cliff looking down at a scene out of a horror movie. It was a girl, no older than me. She was fighting a man nearly twice her size. He was trying to control her, but she was a fighter. She kept screaming, “You’ll never get away with this! I won’t let you! I swear you won’t! You killed them all! Why? Why?” I could hear him laughing and mocking her as she fought with all her strength.

I bellowed for him to stop as I looked for a way to reach her. The sense of doom was overbearing. I screamed louder but neither of them turned my way. Suddenly, the man slapped the girl and she fell hard onto the ground. I could only make out silhouettes now as it was too dark to see faces. He got on top of her and wrapped his hands around her neck. I was crying and screaming for help, for anyone to save her. I could feel her pain. Just as I thought she was done for, I saw her take a knife the man had in his belt and stab it into his thigh! He fell off her in agony. She tried to get up, but he grabbed her and rolled her over, putting his massive hands around her throat. This time she stabbed him in the chest, but it didn’t stop him. He kept choking her.

I fell to the floor watching her take her last breath. He stood up and snickered as he pulled the knife out of his chest. He took a few steps and fell to the ground on his knees. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small black notebook! He opened it and wrote something down. I was now standing right behind him. He was writing my name into the book, with the date and location of where he killed me.

My mind flooded with memories that I couldn’t control. Every girl, every death, every time he touched any of us! I remembered everything now. It was him. The monster that took me away from my family, who locked us away and laughed every time he made one of us cry. He moved us each time he killed one of us. How could this be? All I wanted to do was run but I couldn’t. Suddenly, he started breathing harder and making strange noises. He collapsed to the ground face first. When he pulled out the knife, he inadvertently caused himself to bleed to death.

"I did it, I killed him!"

I ran to the girl and checked for a pulse. It was just then I realized who she was. Impossible! My necklace shined under the moonlight that now filled the sky. I was staring at myself. I watched myself die and could do nothing to prevent it. I looked down at my hands which were now covered in blood. I took a deep breath and walked over to the monster’s body. I picked up the book. It was the same little black notebook I had carried with me all along. It was then that I realized that I had sent myself on this mission. I had to make sure that justice was served.

I kept my promise.

I sat for several hours before I had the courage to make the call.

“Hello? I’ve been murdered.”

The police arrived just as quickly as they did for Beth. This time I didn’t move. I stood over my body watching officers walk passed me as they collected evidence. This is why they never found me. They couldn’t see me. Radio chatter filled my ears. The first thing they picked up was the black notebook I placed back into the monster’s hand. An officer flipped through it and said, “This is all the proof we need to tie him to the victims that have died over the past year. Names, dates and locations for all of them.”

A female officer took a picture of my lifeless body. She sadly said to another officer, "It’s Meg. We were too late.” The other officer replied, “She is a hero Gwen, she was able to kill this animal before he could hurt another girl. Without her we would have never known what happened.”

I stood in the doorway of my living room and watched my family fall apart as an officer broke the news of my death. People visited our house paying their respects, but the pain was overwhelming. The $20,000 reward for helping solve the murders lay exactly where the Mayor had placed it after visiting my family. He said, “No one deserved this more than Meg, she didn't die in vain.”

My tears soaked my jean jacket, as I stood staring at my family. I never wanting to forget them. They held each other tightly trying to process what had happened. I wanted to stay, but knew it was time to go. I went to each one of them, kissed them on the head and whispered, "Goodbye."

I smiled and closed my heartbroken eyes for the last time.