mysterynpcs

[mysterynpcs]

arrest report: cameron white.

cameron white Cameron already has cold feet, a twinge of concern nagging at the back of her mind as her stomach sinks at the sight of Danny's house. This entire things felt stupid all of the sudden, standing there, expecting the police to be so stupid and dense that they wouldn't think to take a teenager Girl's phone for clues when she goes missing. The only thing that's keeping her from recommending they back out is the fact that this is the first lead they've gotten and the first real opportunity to get her friend answers. And, after dragging Danny all the way out here with the intent to canvas his parent's house? Something she highly doubted he really wanted to to do? It wasn't like she could say that she wanted anything different from this. Besides, it was July 3rd. Half the town was out celebrating early and the other half was raiding grocery stores and crossing state lines for the good fireworks anyway. If there was ever a time to do this, it was now. "You're sure your parents are gone, right," Cam asks turning to Danny. "We can do this another night if we need to."

danny logan Danny looks around the neighborhood for any sign of his parents or nosy neighbors who might try to cause a problem. He knows their routine after years of being forced to live it and right now they’re busy playing nice with the rest of the town for celebrations in hopes of getting more support from local government for their big pharma aspirations. The Lexus is gone and so is his moms Escalade. “Yeah we’re totally free. Let’s head in. I did blend my key so we’re token have to go my old bedroom window on this one. See the corner window over there? It’s that one.” He takes Cam’s hand and guides her effortlessly to the area in question, behind bushes he knows expertly conceal their figures and towards the back window. “Fuck. Not gonna lie I sort of hoped they’d have kept the ladder on this side of the house. I’m gonna have to lift you up.”

cameron white Cameron trusts Danny implicitly. That doesn't mean she trusts his neighbors not to stick their nose where it didn't belong. As soon as Danny confirms the all clear, she tosses her hood up on top of her head, hoping to keep her face out of sight as much as possible. It's one thing for Danny to break into his own house, it's another entirely for Cameron to break into the Logan household when most of the upper echelon in town would consider her a person of interest in the case of the Logan Daughter's disappearance. She ducks into branches and shadows until they land right outside Danny's bedroom window. It seems o much higher knowing the Danny's going to be lifting her to reach. She groans quietly, but nods. "Make it fast, and pray they haven't fixed the window since you moved out."

danny logan “My parents? Pay to fix a window. I have to laugh. They don’t think it’s worth it for that.” He laughs gently. This whole thing is sort of terrifying him even though he’s putting on a brave face. There are so many options about what that room is going to look like and he’s scared. Still, Danny offers her a gentle smile and with the practiced ease of a man who did this for like eight years, lifts Cam up and onto his shoulders. “Do you see the broken latch? There should also be a small hole near the frame of the window. If you jam something into it hard enough it unlocks.”

cameron white "See? I can't see anything, Dan," She hisses. Cam can hardly see her hand in front of her face, let alone a broken latch in the dark. She runs her fingers along the window, trying to work fast as unsteady as she feels on Danny's shoulders. She knows he won't intentionally drop her, but the anxiety of hitting the ground from this high is still present. Finally her fingers run along the latch in question, and Cameron leaves one hand on the latch in question, the other ducking under her hood to pull a bobby pin loose from her hair. "You think a bobby pin will work, right?" She asks, already feeding it into the lock. She jams it once, twice, three times, and nothing. Huffing in frustration, she glances down at Danny as best she can with him right below her. "I have no idea how you did this constantly." With enough frustration behind it, she jams it one one more time, and it clicks victoriously open. "Got it," She whispers, feeding the window up, bit by bit until there's enough room for a human to fit through. At least, a Cam sized human to start.

danny logan Danny gives a quiet cheer at her victory. Thank God they work so well as a team. This whole thing might actually go off without a hitch. “Okay I’m about to do something freaky but you’ve got to trust me. Remember I cheered for years.” He presses his palms underneath her feet. “Stand on them and you should be able to force your way up. Then I’m gonna take a running start at the house and you’re going to, like, catch me. I don’t know what’s changed in there, but if my room is the same you could throw down a sheet or something too. On the count of three.” He doesn’t give her time to argue. “One. Two. THREE!”

cameron white The minute Danny's hand shift from holding her feet in place to the underneath, Cameron immediately regrets not recommending they bring a ladder to this little escapade. As soon as he completes his plan, she opens her mouth to argue. Somewhat about hoisting her higher into the air when she has the balance of a struggling new born deer. But, also because of the fact that she isn't entirely sure she can lift him into the house, running leap or not. But, the unfortunate thing is Danny knows her far too well, and is pressing her upwards so suddenly Cam's almost sure she'll lose her balance. She bites down so hard on the inside of her cheek, she swears she can taste the coppery tinge of blood in her mouth. But, it was necessary to keep from making some noise of fear. Grabbing at the window, she uses every ounce of strength in her body, to yank her way into the room, grabbing randomly at any sort of hand holds until she finally tumbles through, ungracefully, onto the floor. Eyes blinking a few times to adjust to the new space, she recognizes almost nothing. She has half the mind to ask Danny if they have the right house, but the image of Dani on the nearby desk confirms it. Whatever remnants of Danny's room there were no longer existed. She thinks briefly about closing the window to spare him the hurt of seeing himself erased from the space, but she knows that would only end in disaster. With her head poking back out the window, she tries to keep any sort of look off her face to worry him, and nods. "Okay, I think... I think I'm ready?"

danny logan Always ask for forgiveness, never for permission. His father had told him that once and it feels weird to be saying it like a mocking prayer as he prepares himself to leap into the second story window of his house. This is, perhaps, the top of a very long list of incredibly stupid things Cameron and him have done. He’s not sure this moment will ever get topped though. Even when compared to the time they played Fuck marry kill at a playground at like 6 pm while laying across some monkey bars. “Coming up.” He takes a good number of steps back and takes a deep breath. This is gonna suck so fucking bad. And it does. It sucks so bad as his body collided with the side of the house, but he’s managed to catch the windowsill and is pulling himself up as best ad he can. “grab me! Grab me!” Danny says frantic as his grip starts to loosen. Every muscle in his body burns from the exertion of keeping himself up using just his core and his arms.

He has no fucking idea how they do it but Cam manages to catch him, lifting him up with help from his own aching body. There’s a moment of pure triumph but it is so quickly replaced with a tight pit in his stomach. The room is empty of everything that used to be his. He knows it’s not fair to be upset. He tore all those posters down in a frantic display of desperation for freedom when Cameron had helped him move out. It’s like there’s a knife in his stomach and he’s afraid to pull it out in case he bleeds out.

Danny goes to the wall. It used to be painted a lime green his mother hated. He touches it gently and swallows hard. All his cheer trophies are gone too. Years of competitions either tossed in the trash or hidden in a storage shed they’ll never open. They didn’t even care enough to keep his ghost around. “When I was fourteen…my mom grounded me for getting a C in English. I was so angry I stole a knife from the kitchen knife and carved my initials into the wall. So they’d know how mad I was. But they never noticed.”

cameron white Cam's not sure where she musters the strength to pull him into the room. Probably the same place those Moms who lift cars off their babies do: Pure fear and adrenaline. For more reasons than one. She sits on the floor for a long moment, chest rising and falling until she realizes Danny hasn't said anything. Her eyes shoot upwards to find him scanning the room, and the lack of him that remains. She had been the one to help him take everything of his out of the room and move it into his new apartment. She had been there for each moment of it. But, it's still jarring to see them not keep an ounce of Danny in this space. How easily replaceable it makes him seem. She finally pushes herself to standing, and comes to stand next to Danny where he traces his fingers across the wall, letting her hand rest on his back. "I'm sorry. I wasn't sure how to warn you about this. I... I know this can't be easy on you." She has half the mind to offer for him to sit the rest of this out, take one blow at a time instead of waltzing into his missing Sister's room. But, she knows him too well to even bother to offer at this point. Letting her hand slip down his arm, she laces their fingers together and gives it a soft squeeze. "Let's get this done so we can get out of here, yeah?"

danny logan Danny swallows and for a moment he thinks maybe he’s going to just slide back out the window. It’s all gone. Every inch of him. But then Cam is touching him, grounding him back to reality and he feels the air rush from his lungs. He’s going to have to go into Dani’s room next and that might be the worst. He remembers the way she had screamed out him the last time he was here, threw things at his head because she was leaving him. He wonders if anything in that room has changed in a year. “Yeah. Yeah let’s do this. The air conditioning in the room sucked ass anyways.”

cameron white A soft, tight lipped smile graces Cameron's face unconvincingly. She feels as if she's glued in place for another moment, wanting to offer him the out, but she's sure that he'll refuse. Or maybe she's hopeful he will, because she doesn't want to do this on her own. "We'll be quick, it shouldn't be hard to find it." If it's even there her mind supplies, but she pushes the thought away, not willing to face that as a possibility after all of this. She gives his hand one last reassuring squeeze before slipping her hand out of his, and moving towards the door. The wood creaks softly as she pulls it open, just enough to scan the immediate hallway, darkened, but empty. "I think the coast is clear, come on." She still isn't sure about this entire thing, but there mere feet from Dani's room, and it's too late to turn back now. "Which one is Dani's room?" Her voice is still soft, even if she assumes that the house is empty at this point. It's as if she's too loud, it will send up some alarm, and get them both caught and booked for Breaking and Entering.

danny logan He mourns the loss of her fingers threaded through his but he also knows they need to be quick and efficient if it’s possible. They cannot be something they linger doing. This isn’t one of their stupid bits where they dance around like court jesters for the amusement of others. They are committing a crime that is infinitely more severe than the illegal weed there happens in his apartment. If his parents find out he’s here…well he’s not sure what’s going to happen with that one. His dad might actually kill him. The hallways is as empty as he remembered but just at the end of the hall is his sisters room. The pink floral stickers are gone but he can see the faded imprint of their many years glued there. Thankfully the door is unlocked, no doubt so his parents can parade people around in there like it’s a museum of their bereavement. The room is the same as it was just a year ago but there’s a fine layer of dust on most of it. It’s terrifying being in this space. It hurts more when he sees the picture frame on her desk he almost cries. It’s them, the day he went to college, sitting in the trunk of his car with popsicles they weren’t supposed to have.

cameron white Trekking down the empty hallway is somehow worse than anything else they've done so far for multiple reasons. She can practically feel Danny's emotion rolling off of him in waves, and if that weren't bad enough, she's got the added stressor of a hollow pit forming in her stomach telling her something was wrong. It was hard to know what, but she knew that her gut was rarely ever wrong after everything she had been put through. She's never one to ignore that intuition either. But, the thoughts of putting her best friend through of all this only to come up empty handed are too haunting and cruel for her to honor her own mind, and she finds herself continuing forward despite everything. They make their way into Dani's room, and Cam feels as if she's just walked into some morbid art instillation. The last pieces of Dani around the room, displaying her life in an eerie way that Cameron can't place. But, she finds herself following Danny's gaze to a picture on his Sister's desk. "We're going to find her, Danny, I swear." They'll be one step closer if they can find her phone. "Do you want to check her desk? I'll check around her bed and night stand."

danny logan He knows he shouldn’t but Danny can’t help but pick up the picture. It’s the last piece of him in this entire house and he feels desperate enough right now it’s impossible to take in. Tears bubble at the edge of his vision as he traces her smiling face. He almost doesn’t hear Cameron’s voice. “Right.” But his voice is weak so he tries to sound more determined. “Right. Yeah I’ll take the desk.” It feels more personal and he hopes it’s less of an invasion of privacy if it’s him.

cameron white Lingering for a moment longer than she'd like to, Cam studies him for a long moment, willing herself to say something. But, there's nothing to say, really. She knows that pain isn't taken away. Ever. Unless they find Dani. The only reality she'll accept is one where Danny never has to experience the loss of family the way she had. After another lingering moment, she approaches Dani's bedside, trying to act with the great amount of reverence as possible given the situation. She's aware the depths of a teenage girl's bedroom are private, and sacred in many ways, and to dig through her things seems slimy. But, she supposes it's a forgivable sin if it helps them figure out what happened to Dani. She quietly lifts notebooks, tracing the cable of her charger behind her table to no avail. She shifts open the top drawer first, willing herself to find a phone, but it's most junk. Hair ties, lip gloss, chapstick, and folded up bits of note paper. Nothing she's hoping to find. "How's it going, any luck?" She asks, despair looming over her as she realizes the possibility that this was a waste of time is slowly becoming a reality.

danny logan Danny opens her desk drawers. There lots of things he recognizes from his own school years. Text books. Notebooks. Cheer practice routines outlined to help commit them better to memory. None of it is particularly note worthy. He tries to wrack his brain, even looking for various other things that might help out at all. The realization dawns on him slowly. Nothing is here. They’ve broken into his parents house, dug through his sisters things, and gotten nothing. “It’s not here,” he says softly. “There’s nothing here.”

sheriff hastings When the Sheriff had gotten a text from his old buddy Andy (with a Y) Logan about a possible B&E at his house, he couldn't believe his luck. With the Logan girl missing for over 2 weeks, they were running out of leads. But a B&E? The guilty party always returned to the scene of the crime. Or the scene of the family of the crime-d.

They'd put off turning on the sirens until the last minute, but by the time they arrived at the house, he'd already received a completely unedited screenshot from the Logans' security footage of the guilty party. Singular. Clear as day.

It was like Christmas.

The Sheriff's Department didn't get to do sneak attacks a lot, but with the element of surprise on their side, he'd sent an officer to each side of the house to set his trap before letting the siren go off.

"Cameron White," he announced through his speaker. "Don't you know that breaking and entering is a crime? We have the house surrounded. Come out with your hands up."

cameron white With s soft thump of her fist against the wall, Cam turns to Danny. "It's fine. Maybe... maybe your parents just moved it downstairs. Or... or..." She can't even come up with another idea before the darkened room is illuminated by red and blue lights, and the tell tale sound of police sirens blare. Her stomach sinks almost instantaneously, and she thinks she's going to be sick. "Shit. Shit, shit shit." She glances out Dani's window as inconspicuously as possible, spotting the officers in the backyard, and if he's telling the truth, that means every other exit to the house has an officer stationed right outside. She had managed to offer herself up on a silver platter to the Chief of Police, and there was no way out of this without getting Danny in trouble, too.

For a moment, everything seems to grind to a halt. She has so few options. Make a break for it with Danny, and hope they can out run the cops until they get tired of chasing the two of them. Or, walk out the front door, and take the consequence for both of them. This was her idea, and she had dragged Danny down with her. She couldn't see Danny go down with the likes of her: Coolville's troublemaker. Coolville's problem child. He was better than that, she was better than letting him become that.

She approaches Danny quickly, passing him her phone. The risk of them checking her messages and incriminating the others with interfering with the Dani investigation was too high. "Hide," She states simply. "Hide, and don't come out until you're sure all the cop cars are gone. Do you understand me?" It's not a request, it's not even a suggestion. It's a command.

danny logan The sirens come before he's really even expecting them. Maybe a part of him, deep down, knew they'd be getting into some serious trouble for this kind of tom fuckery. Putting together some head, asking a few questions. That's fine. It's normal. It's not actively impeding a police investigation. Snooping around in a missing girls room? That is.

He's mentally doing gymnastics to figure out a way out of this where everyone is safe, sane, and perfectly okay. In theory he could call his parents and explain to them what he's doing but they've already made is clear they don't like his mystery adventures. And then the police are saying it's just Cam they're looking for. "Wait...wait I should be on the security cameras too. Why aren't I?"

But it makes sense, really, with how vile his parents are. "No. No I'm not. Cam you're crazy! So you can go to jail?" Despite everything though, Danny is not stupid and he can tell when she's not in an arguing mood. She's upset and scared and he wants to make it all go away. The fact of the matter is there is no scenario in which case they both get out of this without issue. If even just one of them does, well, maybe there's still a chance. "I'll get you out." He promises, grabbing her hand and hooking their pinkies together. "I promise."

cameron white It feels like she might collapse at any moment the way her head is swimming with anxiety. For all the problems she's caused around town, she's never been arrested for it. Let off with a warning, cleared, or just been able to slip away before the problem starts itself at all. But, there's not a way out of this. This was a stupid mistake, and she should have known better.

The way Danny asks why it's just her, why not him, makes her want to scream. She's the one they want to pin this on. She's the easy target. The Logan's already hate her, and this is easy fuel on the fire to burn her like the witch the town views her to be. It was never going to be Danny they wanted or suspected. They were never going to let anything happen to him, because that wasn't good business. It leaves a sour taste in her mouth to know that this is all a power trip.

Her jaw tenses as soon as Danny argues like she won't lock him in Dani's closet and make this far worse for herself to ensure his safety. But, he agrees, looping their fingers together, making promises she knows he can't keep. Fighting back tears, she nods. "I trust you." With that, she slips out of his grasp, and does her best to keep her head held high as she marches towards the front door.

Shaking fingers wrap around the knob, and she throws one last glance over her shoulder up towards Dani's room, reminding herself who she's doing this for. And, then she opens the front door. Hands, non-threateningly, shooting up in the air as soon as she comes into view.  "I don't have anything on me," She states, as if that will stop whatever theatrics they're about to put on for the gawking eyes of all the neighbors.

sheriff hastings The Sheriff couldn't help the shit-eating grin that was plastered across his face as Cameron White emerged from the house, hands up just as he'd demanded. She'd evaded the law for far too long, and now she was finally paying the price.

Wasting no time, he was behind her before she'd even made it three steps, hands reaching to pull her arms behind her back.

"Didn't think the thing you'd go in for was a B&E, but that's about to be the least of your worries," he made sure to stress as he slapped on the handcuffs that he'd always known would be in her future. Troublemaking teens without a good influence became troublemaking adults. That was just the way it was.

He didn't even spare a second glance at the house as he radioed the others that they were all set, concluding the show with the loudest Miranda Rights he'd ever read.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you."

Having ensured that he drew plenty of attention to the scene, he escorted Cameron into the back of his car and straight to the station.

#mysterycameron #* feat. cameron #mysterydanny #* feat danny #* sheriff hastings

[mysterynpcs]

meet:

cooper hastings, the sheriff

#* sheriff hastings #* npcs

[mysterynpcs]

interview: missy watson

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 It was probably for the best that Darcy and Arabella had been paired up to question the cheer coach. Darcy sometimes struggled with first impressions, and what said legitimate inquiry more than showing up to the end of cheer practice with a local journalist? "Do you know Missy Watson?" Darcy asked as they waited for the little huddle that Missy was in to disperse. "Do you think she'll be receptive to questions, or have we been assigned an uphill battle?"

arabella carson Was it the best or worst case scenario to get assigned Missy Watson? They had never been on anything but good terms. Bella was always the darling in her eyes because, much like Dani, she was her favourite teacher! Except she wanted to believe that Bella was locked in some box somewhere and she wasn’t sure if Missy could ever look at her and see different. “I cheered in school,” Ara explained with a shrug. Darcy was one of the few people that didn’t know her for who she was before, and this threatened to ruin it. Her grip around the clipboard tightened as she watched Missy talking to the squad. “I think she wants the same thing we do. Dani home safe.” The question was if she agreed some twenty-something-year-olds conducting their investigation was the way to do that.

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 Darcy processed the news about Arabella cheering in school the same way she processed everything else - with only a brief pause to take in the news before nodding and continuing, business as usual. It was likely better for them that Arabella knew her. Maybe Missy would be more willing to open up.

"Well, considering how the Sheriff's Department has been very little help in that regard..." Darcy drifted off, her meaning clear enough. "Given your connection and your line of work, do you want to start the questioning, or should I? She's not yet acknowledged our presence, so I could try and get her attention?"

arabella carson “I got this,” Arabella flashed a confident smirk over her shoulder to Darcy. As the squad broke away to start running laps for their warmups, she approached the older woman. “I don’t miss that,” she joked, letting her eyes linger for a moment before she worked up the courage to turn and face Missy. “I did miss my favourite teacher.”

There was the urge to tie her hair back and try to hide all of the Manic Panic hair dye, but it was too late for that now. “How are you? How are you… holding up with everything?”

missy watson Missy had clocked the arrival of the two girls from the second they'd stepped foot on her track, but from a distance it had been difficult to figure out who they were. Hearing Bella's voice calling out to her at least helped to identify one, but as they moved closer, Missy still couldn't place the other. "Running is good for you at any age," she reminded Bella, offering a brief smile to acknowledge what had once been one of her favorite students. She did not, however, answer the girl's questions. "Who's your friend?"

arabella carson So this was going to be harder than she thought. Wasn’t the whole point of having connections supposed to make things easier? “This is Darcy,” she explained with a wave of her hand to signal the other girl over. “We were just in the area and thought we’d swing by.” That sounded way better than coming back to the school to question her unofficially, right? But she doesn’t shy away from the topic for too long. “I know she was on your squad and I remember how much you cared about us.” And how annoying it was to reorganise the routine when people dropped out. “I can’t imagine what it’s like for you and the squad.”

missy watson Watching the redhead approach, Missy tried to match the face to the name she was given and came up empty. Bella she was able to have at least some sort of conversation with, but what was the other girl's purpose? She had been hounded via phone and email by bigger newspapers and reporters from some of the closer Ohio stations, TikTok true crime enthusiasts blowing up her school email address. Was this a shitty manipulation to try and get a quote? Had "Darcy" manipulated Bella into this? "I do care," Missy agreed, figuring that she at least owed it to Bella to acknowledge some of her questions. But she had questions of her own too. "Cheerleaders are resilient, but we're all hoping for a positive outcome. Darcy, what do you do?"

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 "Oh," Darcy started, having assumed that Arabella's quick introduction would be enough to get the conversation actually flowing. But for some reason Missy seemed stuck on the fact that she was a stranger. Maybe with a little more information, she'd open up? "I'm a scientist. With Logancorp. Dr. Darcy Warren." Darcy wasn't sure if her next words would help or hurt things, but she was hoping they would finally break the ice. She wasn't great in social settings. "I'm a friend of the family's - the Logans. Dani's told me just how much she loves cheerleading." She looked to Arabella for guidance.

arabella carson “Yeah, we are.” It was almost strange to still lump herself in with the cheerleaders, but she was sure it would be better to Missy’s ears than trying to distance herself from it completely. “She’s someone we can trust.” Didn’t the title of doctor make her sound pretty professional? “We just wanted to talk it out, if you didn’t mind.” It was all too familiar treading lightly around Missy, but Darcy’s glance gave her the courage to speak up. To help her friend or save face? Who really knew. “We’re going to be asking a few questions about Dani.”

missy watson The pieces of the puzzle weren't adding up for Missy. Why would Bella Carson and this random doctor for Logancorp be asking around about Dani? What could they possibly think would be accomplished through a conversation with her? "I'm not saying yes," she warned. And she meant it. "But, what do you want to know, and why do you want to know it?"

arabella carson “We’re helping her brother,” Ara stated. “We’re trying to gather all the necessary information and bring her home.” It wasn’t an ‘if’ anymore. No more ‘trying’. They were figuring this out and bringing Dani Logan home safe. Not saying no was pretty much the best case scenario she could have asked for right now. “You know, parents can kind of suck sometimes and they’re hard to talk to. Sometimes you really need an adult, but they’re so unavailable to you. I… always came to you.” The lamest part was that it wasn’t even manipulation. “Was there anything that she said to you that caused concern?”

missy watson "Bella..." Missy sighed, more out of pity than anything else. She completely understood the girls' desire to get some answers - she wanted them too. But there was really nothing to report. The police had asked the same question, and it hadn't helped them in their search. If the police couldn't figure it out, Missy didn't have much faith in the attempt at vigilante justice playing out in front of her eyes. "I completely understand wanting to help, but I already gave a statement to the Sheriff. And honestly? It wasn't very helpful. Because no, there was nothing."

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 "But had she been acting oddly prior to her disappearance?" Darcy interjected before they could be dismissed, determined to keep the questions coming even if the result was going to be a string of similar answers. "Even if it was something small, like just being on her phone more than usual."

arabella carson Bad talking the police was probably not smart, but the roll of her eyes was a knee-jerk reaction. “I’m sure the Sheriff is doing their best, but they’re also doing things their own way. Maybe a different set of eyes looking at the same clues could find something else.” Were they better than the police? Hell no. Were they going to try? Of course.

missy watson "Should that different set of eyes not be a higher power, like the FBI?" Missy questioned, turning to the redhead specifically to clue her in on how cheerleading worked at Coolsville High. "I have a no phones at practice rule and a zero tolerance policy for nonsense. I'm especially harsh on that during cheer camp to set expectations," she explained. "Dani Logan was a star student and a great cheerleader. She knew the rules and followed them to the letter. The only annoying thing that she did that week was making the squad wait 2 minutes for her to finish a chapter of a book after lunch. She's never given me any trouble, nor has she ever indicated to me that she was in trouble."

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 The answer she received to her question wasn't terribly surprising, given the bits of information she'd been given that had already hinted as much, but at the mention of a book, Darcy's interest was piqued. "A book?" she asked, more towards Arabella than to the cheer coach who had just uttered the word. Did that sound like a possible clue to her too?

arabella carson Arabella’s attention turned to Darcy at the mention of the book, just to be met by the other girl’s eyes already on her. “What was the book?” Worst case scenario, it was a dead end. Best case scenario, a lead. “What about gossip? You remember when Sofia Jackson got dumped by her boyfriend. The entire squad knew about it and talked about it before it was social media official. Have you heard the girls saying anything about her?”

missy watson "Gone Girl," Missy answered, fully aware of the conclusions that could be drawn from such a title. But she knew Dani Logan. Dani Logan would never pull a stunt like that. No, that girl (wherever she was) was in real danger.

"Don't get any crazy theories from that, though. That book has been in one pair of hands or another on the squad all year. It's just unfortunate timing."

And as for the gossip? Missy glanced over her shoulder to take stock of where the squad was in their warmup running, noting who was at the back of the pack because they'd burned out too early before she turned back. It was time to wrap things up.

"Sofia Jackson wasn't the incoming cheer captain. The squad talks, but some positions are immune. If there's something out there being whispered and it hasn't hit social media yet, it's not going to. Now, I appreciate your concern for Dani, but I have to start practice."

arabella carson “Who has the book now?” Writing secret notes in the book was probably unbelievable fiction, but who’s to say it wasn’t worth a shot? “Did Dani finish it and pass it along, or is it still with her things?” Was there any way the could get their hands on it for clues.

Arabella ripped off the bottom corner of her note pad, writing her number down for Missy. Cringing at the way she wrote Bella. “If you hear anything, or remember anything else, please let me know,” she requested, holding paper out to her with the best pageant she could muster. “We, and the Logan’s, would really appreciate it.”

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 Darcy watched as Missy Watson slipped away before their eyes, Arabella's questions going unanswered in favor of the woman blowing a whistle and shouting at the group of kids in front of her. At the very least, she'd taken Arabella's slip of paper and offered a nod. But how promising was that? "Thank you for your time!" Darcy made sure to add before she was out of earshot completely.

Already beginning to think through next steps, she turned to Arabella to offer a nod of her own. "Well," she started. "I guess that's... that. Gone Girl feels like something, at least."

arabella carson “Gone Girl is definitely something,” Arabella stated with a nod. “Passed from girl to girl or not, it’s something. Keeping everyone waiting two minutes to finish a book before cheer is something.”

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 Darcy didn't find it so odd to make others wait for you to finish a chapter, especially if the book was good, but just a few minutes at the edge of practice had her understanding Arabella's words to a certain extent. Things seemed... intense. "Let's report back," she suggested, beginning to lead them away without even a glance back. "And add this to the conspiracy board that I agreed to host in my thi-uh, spare room. Maybe this is the key."

#mysterydarcy #mysteryarabella #* feat. darcy #* feat. arabella #* missy

[mysterynpcs]

interview: alyssa michaels

VALENTINA GARRIDO

Walking onto the Coolsville High football field, Valentina has to wonder how anyone could subject themselves to this torture. The heat is unbearable as it is but to be doing these drills on top of it? Cheerleaders were a different breed of human altogether— she’d have to commend Danny for that much. After dragging Cameron as close as she could to the cartwheeling adolescents without risking a kick in the face, Val starts scanning the crowd. In all honesty, she didn’t even know what Alyssa looked like ( she should’ve asked for a picture when she had the chance ), but that’s what people had poker faces for. In a room full of people, or in this case a football field full of them, she was the only one that needed to be privy to that kind of information. So she lets her eyes travel from one cheerleader to another before turning to Cameron and whispering, “do you know which one them is Alyssa?” Val figures that Cam’s cousins should’ve provided the information. Well, she hopes they did because asking all of these teenagers for their names was almost as bad as singling one out for questioning. It suddenly dawns on her how weird this situation is, pseudo-interrogation, partner-in-crime and all.

CAMERON WHITE

The absolute last place in the world Cameron wanted to be was the football field. She avoided it when she was in school, and if it was up to her, she'd be avoiding it now. But, she had swore to do anything for Danny, and that meant anything. Including interviewing a high schooler for information. Something she had probably already given to the cops ten times over. After the dread and distraction of even being here wears off, Cameron pulls her phone from her back pocket, opening Instagram. Jessica and Mary had pointed her in the direction of Alyssa's Instagram. Holding her phone out for Valentina, she says, "Her." She lets Val investigate while staring out at the field for the girl in question. It felt a little weird to be cornering her at cheer practice, but at least it wasn't quite as creepy as full out stalking her. Eyes finally land on the girl, around the bottom few rows of the bleachers for, what Cam can only assume, is the much deserved water break they've earned working in the ungodly heat.

ALYSSA MICHAELS

Alyssa is not expecting to see anyone approach her on the field but immediately she's on the defensive. Lots of people have been coming her way asking questions about her missing best friend. She doesn't get why they won't just leave her alone and let her grieve in her own way. She rolls her eyes upon their approach and sighs. "I already talked to the police and you guys don't really look like police." She studies one of them and frowns, "Hold on aren't you Dani's brother's ex girlfriend from like forever ago?"

VALENTINA GARRIDO

The attitude shouldn’t surprise her, really, but her brows raise in something like the emotion at the start of this interaction. It makes sense when your best friend goes missing, she’ll give her that. Alternatively, the fact that Alyssa recognizes her doesn’t produce the same shock and awe from her as the former, “yeah I am Dani’s brother’s ex girlfriend from like forever ago,” she repeats before formally introducing herself. “Valentina, not the police, and this is Cameron, also not the police,” it’s all she can say in an attempt to keep her own attitude at bay. “We’re just here to ask you some of our own questions, right Cam?”

CAMERON WHITE

Alyssa is clearly already over this whole thing, and Cameron really isn't sure where this is gonna go. She'll either be entirely uncooperative. The fact that she recognizes Val as Danny's ex is both amusing and a little offensive seeing as Cam's cousins are on the team with Alyssa, but that's neither here nor there, she supposes. "Yeah, definitely not cops. We just wanted to talk to you person to person." It could be intimidating to talk to law enforcement, especially if things had gone on the day Dani disappeared that could get other kids in trouble. "You down to just answer a few for us?"

ALYSSA MICHAELS

Alyssa bites her lip and looks anywhere but at the two people in front of her. They want to ask questions, which is annoying and nosy as fuck, but she gets the feeling they’re probably snooping to help out Danny, the guy whose sister is missing. She feels a little bad for immediately going hostile. “Sure I guess. I’ve answered a lot of questions though so I’m not sure how much help I can be.” She pauses, “but first answer me a question. How’s her brother?”

VALENTINA GARRIDO

It comes as a huge relief that Alyssa didn’t decide to run for the hills then and there— and Val couldn’t exactly blame her if she had but it would’ve been an annoying hurdle in this investigation. Besides that, chasing after a teenage girl looked worse than cornering said teenage girl during cheer practice. “Don’t worry about that, we just appreciate any and all information you have.” It’s not like they had her statement sitting around somewhere for reference, and its a fair exchange, though she doesn’t plan on airing all of Danny’s dirty laundry. “He’s doing as well as you’d expect in a situation like this,” her words trail off and she looks to Cameron in hopes that she could fill in the blanks. The two of them were closer anyways.

CAMERON WHITE

It's nothing short of a relief that Alyssa's willing to talk. Frankly, Cameron hadn't even begun to think what she would do if someone was unwilling to speak to them. They weren't the cops, they had no power to sit anyone down and wait for them to get tired of using the fifth amendment. That also meant they need to negotiate for their answers. Val trails off, not fully committing to her explanation on Danny's state, her eyes falling on Cam. It makes sense. Danny is her best friend. She knows better than anyone that even Val's summation is greatly overestimating his current state of well being. But, that's also not the answer she'll give, a protectiveness over him taking hold. "He's been doing his best, but I think he'll feel a lot better once he knows what happened to Dani, you know?"

ALYSSA MICHAELS

She looks around the field again, sucking on her teeth as she contemplates her next move. In theory, she could run, probably way faster than these two women who haven’t been conditioning for weeks. But Alyssa’s not going to do that because her best friend is missing and maybe some weirdos can help. They certainly won’t hurt. “I’m not sure how much there is to say that I haven’t already said but go ahead and ask. I’ll have to like, get back at some point again though. I’m guessing you already know the basics though? That Dani and I were best friends.”

VALENTINA GARRIDO

“For sure, we wont be keeping you any longer than is necessary, so thank you for letting us ask.” The words felt really weird to say— hell, the entire situation was nothing short of peculiar, but it was good that they hadn’t come here for nothing. Valentina takes the opportunity to take a small lilac notebook from her purse and opens it to the first page ( an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, right? ). “You’re her best friend and you were around her all the time, so, did you notice anything different lately or had she told you anything of concern?” A large part of Valentina thought the question would lead nowhere but it was as good as any opener. Having said her piece, she left room for Cameron to ask another question in their odd little good cop, good cop routine.

CAMERON WHITE

Cameron feels a twinge of panic climb through her body. She really didn't think they'd get this far, and now she has to ask the right questions before this kid decides she's had enough of this little game of detective, and continues on with her day, no solid information actually extracted. Her, albeit self proclaimed, duty to help her friend was nearly suffocating. But, Val was doing so good keeping calm and level, all Cam wanted to do was match that. "Or maybe there was some suspicious activity around camp? Any unfamiliar cars or people she might have mentioned?"

ALYSSA MICHAELS

Alyssa looks them over and sighs. They have no fucking idea what they’re doing. But fine, sure, it can’t hurt to answer their questions in some way so they’re not just fucking floundering like fish out of water. “The weirdest thing was that she dumped her dumbass boyfriend finally. She never should have been dating the fucking police chief’s son anyway. He sucks ass.” Alyssa looks down at her wrist and sees the friendship bracelet that Dani had made her. She twists it around twice. “Camp was normal and fine. I mean she didn’t bring her phone the day she disappeared which was weird, but nothing else. I figured she just didn’t want Chase calling every four fucking minutes saying he missed her.”

VALENTINA GARRIDO

Val starts nodding as she processes the high schooler’s words. She figures now is the best time to practice her listening skills, people tended to say more when they were being paid attention to, right? The first of the two bits of information seemed normal enough; Valentina was no stranger to dumping a guy spontaneously, though it seemed like the ex-boyfriend wasn’t well-liked. “It wasn’t a good relationship then?” It was a question with a very obvious answer, but it never hurt to elaborate— there was a million and more ways in which a relationship could be bad. Still, she’d hoped it only went as far as a bad attitude and shitty personality. The second half of the information was more frustrating than anything. Who knows if that one small detail could have changed things.

ALYSSA MICHAELS

“It was…whatever,” Alyssa makes a face, her grip tightening on the water bottle. She hopes it’s not obvious that she’s about twelve times as tense as she was before she started talking about Dani’s boyfriend. “I didn’t like it. I’m her best friend and it should have mattered more that we didn’t get along. I kind of always thought he was pushing her into things she didn’t want.” She shrugs. “It’s whatever though. Or maybe it’s not whatever. I don’t know.”

CAMERON WHITE

Cam clocks a few things immediately. One, the fact that Dani didn't and likely still doesn't have her phone wherever she is. Two, that her ex probably had blown up said phones with texts, ones Cam would be interested in reading through. And, three, the fact that this girl didn't just dislike her best friend's boyfriend, but wore that familiar face of I could be better than him that Cam knew all too well. She had the same feelings about more than a few girls in High School, but she wasn't about to out this girl in front of Val either. "Do you know if the cops took her phone during the investigation?" It seems like the answer is yes, unless they didn't think it mattered enough to check. "And, when you say pushing her into things, what kind of things are we talking about there?"

ALYSSA MICHAELS

She’s a little frustrated this conversation has an end that is already determined. “I don’t know. She left it at home so maybe it’s still there. Her brother still has a house key right? Or did he give it back when he abandoned her to her vulture family?” Alyssa knows she’s being a little mean but Dani is probably in trouble right now and it’s scaring her a lot. “He was just pushy. I don’t know. I know they were… doing stuff. The kind of stuff that could get you pregnant and running away with a baby since your parents are breathing down your neck about being the perfect Coolsville princess.”

VALENTINA GARRIDO

Valentina doesn’t miss the ever-devolving tone in the cheerleader’s voice, or the venom that follows. So much is bubbling to the surface as this conversation continues, but it seems to be far more than the typical teenage angst. Her anger could be justified sure, but even so Val feels driven to defend Danny; at the very least, she’d derail this portion of their interrogation before it spiraled out of their control. “Ok, we’ll make sure to check the house for her phone.” There’s a finality in her tone, and she tries to move the conversation forward before Alyssa has a chance to interject, “could she have been pregnant? Was she showing symptoms?” That was a possibility they couldn’t really ignore.

ALYSSA MICHAELS

The thought that Dani could be pregnant makes Alyssa a little sick, but it’s not like she can really say no. She thinks for a second, back on everything that happened. “Maybe? I don’t know for sure but she’s just been acting weird lately. If you’re pregnant maybe you just act weird right? Because of all the extras hormones. Oh my god what if he did something? What if she was pregnant and Chase did something?” She’s starting to panic now.

CAMERON WHITE

Cameron bites down on the inside of her cheek to keep from rushing to Danny's defense. As if he's somehow responsible for the way his parents ever acted towards him or his sister. As if he was wrong for leaving a toxic situation. But, derailing this entire conversation by arguing with a child wasn't going to do anyone any good. "Hey, take a second. Breathe. Acting weird is not always a sign of pregnancy. How was she acting weird?"

ALYSSA MICHAELS

Alyssa tries to breath, to keep herself grounded but there are tears in her eyes now as she wonders why she can’t do more to help Dani. “Just weird? I mean she said she really liked Chase and then she breaks up with him? And I thought it was weird she left her phone at home too. I mean we’re, like, seventeen. Why wouldn’t she bring her phone to cheer camp? What else are we supposed to do then sit there during break and film TikToks? We were doing a routine to the Corn Song.” Alyssa rubs her eyes and fiddles with her bracelet again. “Chase was acting weird too. The last time all three of us hung out.”

VALENTINA GARRIDO

Setting aside her confusion over the ‘Corn Song,’ Val reaches into her bag in search for a handkerchief. That’s as much comfort as she knew how to provide, and she wasn’t going to make a fool of herself in an attempt to do more. Cameron could pat the high schooler’s back if she wanted, but Val wasn’t touching that with a ten-foot pole. Finally locating the square of fabric, she hands it to Alyssa, “You’re right, all of that seems pretty weird.” More than, but Val wasn’t going to push the girl any closer to a panic attack than she already was. “Could you tell us how he was acting weird?”

ALYSSA MICHAELS

Alyssa takes the square, thankful for the comfort. Something twists deep in her stomach, but she tries to ignore it. These people really want to find her. “I sort of just thought they had gotten into a fight before or something. I know they’d started talking about applying to colleges together before. He’s always a little… creepy, I guess? If that makes sense. Like he’s weird, he’s a weirdo. But I thought a harmless one.”

CAMERON WHITE

Cameron wishes there was a way to get more specifics out of this girl, but she doesn't know the right questions to ask. It's not like she has extensive background knowledge in interrogations or profiling outside of crime shows. And, even that was subpar. She was seldom figuring out who the suspect was until the last second. "How has Chase been acting since Dani's disappearance? Is he out of the ordinary at all? For him, at least."

ALYSSA MICHAELS

She shrugs, looking down at her shoes. She drags the white Keds through the dirt and contemplates what more she can say. “We’re not exactly besties, him and I. For a few reasons. I think he was jealous we were so close and I was… jealous for other reasons. He’s been spending a lot of time at the library. Lots of studying from what I heard. Not really hanging out with his friends.”

VALENTINA GARRIDO

That seemed like a pretty confusing situation for all parties involved; she certainly didn’t miss that aspect of high school life. Nonetheless, Valentina doesn’t think they should push her to elaborate further, it doesn’t seem like that information would be all that necessary to the investigation. For a moment she allows herself to ponder on the possibilities of Alyssa’s involvement in the disappearance, but this wasn’t an episode of Riverdale — the girl didn’t seem like she was lying. “Ok, this is all really good information.” And what else could she ask? “Is there anything else you could think of? Any detail no matter how insignificant it may have seemed at the time?”

ALYSSA MICHAELS

Alyssa rubs her eyes, taking a drink of her water while she thinks. The questions are kind of exhausting, especially after she’s already answered a hundred of them from other people. “I’m not sure. I don’t think so. I thought everything was okay until suddenly it wasn’t. I just really hope she’s okay. And I hope everything gets figured out. It would suck so much ass if we didn’t get to do senior prom together.”

CAMERON WHITE

There's not much more that can be said or asked. It seems as if the girl is spent anyway, and Cam isn't sure continuing to push buttons is the best choice. "Thank you, Alyssa, for talking to us. I know it's a lot, but we're hoping we can help make sure that you've got your prom date." The phrase is used nonchalantly, like one would talk about a pair of friends. But Cameron knows it runs a little deeper than that. "If you think of anything else, Jess and Mary are my cousins. You can get my number from one of them."

ALYSSA MICHAELS

Alyssa’s brows knit together and she purposefully and pointedly looks over Cameron. “Your…cousins? Right. Cool I did not see that one coming. I’ll be sure to ask for your number.”

#* alyssa #mysteryvalentina #mysterycameron #* feat. valentina #* feat. cameron

[mysterynpcs]

meet:

missy watson, cheer coach

alyssa michaels, dani’s best friend

chase hastings, dani’s ex-boyfriend

sabrina shirazi, local dog walker

#* missy #* alyssa #* chase #* sabrina #* npcs