In moments, Mariah was standing next to me. We looked all through Logan’s room, but he wasn’t there. I was getting worried. Mariah was a mess. “Elias, where did he go? Where could he be? What happ-” I took her by the shoulders, stopping her mid-sentence. “It’s going to be fine. I’ll call some people, and have some others check the Brick. I’ve got it.” I pulled out my phone, scrolling through my contact list. I found Logan’s boss, a few of his friends, and some of my colleagues. But before I called any of them, I called Logan himself. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that sooner. I dialed his phone number, then heard a phone ringing. I pulled my lips into a tight line as I looked at the source of the ringing. Logan’s phone, sitting on his desk. Okay then. I started making calls.
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I first called one of Logan’s friends, Emmy. “Hey, Elias. What’s up?” Emmy’s chirpy voice answered. “Have you seen Logan today? Mariah and I can't find him.” Emmy thought for a moment before answering. “No, I haven’t, now that I think about it. We were supposed to meet for lunch, but he never showed. Try calling Jasper.” I thanked, then called Jasper. I got a similar response. “No, I haven’t seen him. Try calling Cam.” I called Cam. He hadn’t seen Logan either. I gave up, calling one of the people who I knew would still be at the Brick so late on the weekend: Sofia. I dialed her phone number. One, two, three rings later, she picked up the phone. “Sofia, can you do me a huge favor? Can you go to the diner really quickly and see if Logan is there?” I asked. “Yeah. Is everything okay?”
“Mariah and I can’t find Logan. He’s not at the house.”
“Okay, I’ll call you back in a minute.”
“Thanks.” I hung up, waiting for a few painful minutes until my phone rang again. I quickly answered it. “So?” Sofia sighed. “He’s not there.” That wasn’t good. “Okay. Thanks again. I’ll keep you updated.”
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Having no other choice, I called the least likable person in all of Salef: Logan’s boss, Mr. Condant. He answered the phone after a few rings. “Hello?”
“Hi, Mr. Condant, I’m Logan Hemsworth’s brother, Elias. Did Logan show up to work today?”
“Yes, he did. He went on his lunch break, and never came back. I thought he ditched. Is everything okay?”
“Logan’s missing. We can’t find him.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I hope he shows up. Have a good night. Buh bye.” And Mr. Condant hung up. I’d wanted to find out more, but it was obvious that was all I was getting.
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I found Mariah again. She was sitting in the living room, head in her hands. “Mariah? Are you okay?” I asked tentatively. Her head shot up. Her eyes were bloodshot and red. “Do you think I’m okay? My youngest brother is missing. Elias, he’s your brother, too. How are you not worried right now?” I took a deep breath and sat down next to her. “I am. Believe me, I am terrified. I’ve just gotten really good at hiding it. I’ve also had an incredibly long day. I am ready to just go to bed. Let’s eat some food, then we can call it a night. We’ll keep looking tomorrow.” We walked back into the kitchen. The dish we’d made was cold. Neither of us had the energy to warm it up, so I threw a frozen pizza into the oven. 10 minutes later, we ate dinner in silence.
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The next morning, I was finishing breakfast when I heard the front door open. “Mariah?” I called out. “No, it’s me, stupid. Jeez,” Logan said back. Within seconds, Mariah was standing in front of him, wrapping him in a tight hug. When she stepped back, her face turned from relieved to livid. “Logan Grayson Hemsworth. Where have you been? You have a lot of explaining to do, young man.” Logan rolled his eyes. “I’ll leave you to it!” I shouted to them both. I was meeting Sammy and Maggie at the Brick to figure out the coordinates. I put my dishes in the sink and left the house.
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I was standing by the elevator bay, waiting for Sammy and Maggie when a woman, who appeared to be in her mid-thirties, approached me. “Pardon me, I hate to bother you, but are you Elias Hemsworth?” When I nodded, the woman smiled. “My name is Rachel, I’m Juliet’s mother. I can’t express how thankful I am for her coming home safe. You and your sister are life savers. Juliet hasn’t stopped talking about how kind you both were. Thank you so much.” It was my turn to smile. “You are most certainly welcome, ma’am. Juliet is a wonderful child; I’m glad to have been able to help.” Rachel walked away, entering an open elevator.
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A few minutes later, Sammy and Maggie arrived at the Brick. “Where do you guys want to start?” I asked.
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An hour and a half later, we were in the library. I didn’t really know what we were looking for, which made the search much harder. Maggie threw her hands up in frustration. “I give up. This is getting us nowhere. Do we even know what to look for?” Sammy sighed, placing down the book he was holding. “She’s right, Elias. We’re not finding anything.”
“But we need to keep looking. The coordinates were obviously important. They must mean something.” I continued rifling through book after book. Sammy slapped his forehead. “I’m so stupid. Why don’t we just ask someone who can read the coordinates to tell us where they are?”
“Yes! Why didn’t we think of this earlier?” I exclaimed. Sammy walked towards the front desk in the library. I quickly followed behind him, listening to the conversation. “Excuse me, can you help me with something?” Sammy asked the librarian. “Sure. What do you need?” She responded. Looking at her nametag, I saw her name was Julia Smith. I could have sworn I’d seen that last name somewhere before. But it was a common name. It was probably just a coincidence. “I found some coordinates, but I don’t know where they lead to. Can you figure it out?” Sammy said. “Elias, show her the note.” I took the folded paper out of my pocket and handed it to Julia. She typed the numbers into her computer, and turned the screen to face us.
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The red pin on the map was right above small letters. Squinting, I read them as Salef Cemetery. The cemetery? What was so special about it? Obviously, there were more parts to the puzzle than just the coordinates. “Thank you,” Sammy said, walking away. We found Maggie again. “Well?” She asked. “We’re going to the cemetery.”
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