Chapter 3

I got up from the floor, not even daring to turn on the light. Using the moonlight from the window, I frantically searched my room.

Eleanor and I had separate rooms, but we shared many things.

If she wanted to leave me a message, where would she put it?

Her phone? Impossible; the imposter must have control of it already.

A diary? Too obvious.

My eyes landed on an old metal box tucked away on the bottom shelf of the bookcase.

It was the sketchbook we used together in high school.

I'm a freelance illustrator, and although Eleanor didn't pursue that path, she used to love doodling all over my sketchbooks.

We had made a pact that if one day either of us encountered a problem we couldn't voice, we would draw a distress signal on the last page of the sketchbook.

My hands trembling, I pulled out the metal box and opened it.

Inside, the faded, yellowed sketchbook lay quietly.

I flipped to the last page.

In the faint moonlight, I saw a simple drawing made with a black carbon pencil.

It was drawn hastily, the lines a bit messy.

It was a huge Ferris wheel, and beneath the Ferris wheel, a crooked cross was drawn.

A Ferris wheel...

My mind raced.

There was only one place in our city with a Ferris wheel: the abandoned amusement park on the outskirts!

And right next to that amusement park was Sunnyvale Orphanage, where we were adopted!

The orphanage had been demolished years ago; now it was just a patch of overgrown land, usually deserted.

A cross... did it mean death, or something buried?

Eleanor wanted me to go there!

She had left a clue, or herself, there!

I checked the time on my phone: 11:30 PM.

Going out now was too dangerous. If I alerted those three outside, I might not even make it out the door.

I needed help.

I opened Snapchat and found Ethan's profile.

Ethan was Eleanor's fiancé; they had known each other since college, and their relationship had always been strong.

If there was anyone else in this world who cared about Eleanor as much as I did, it was him.

But I dared not be too explicit in my message; what if his phone was being monitored too?

I deliberated, then sent a message:

[Ethan, Ellie ate cashew cream at dinner today and didn't react at all. I think she's been acting weird lately. Please keep an eye on her.]

After sending the message, I put my phone on silent, lay down in bed with my clothes on, staring at the ceiling, and didn't sleep a wink all night.

The next morning, I heard the sound of the front door closing.

Robert and Sarah Davis had gone to the morning market to buy groceries. The imposter said she was going to try on wedding dresses and also left.

This was my chance!

I immediately jumped out of bed, threw on a jacket, grabbed my backpack, and rushed out the door.

In the taxi, I received a reply from Ethan.

Just a few short words, but they brought tears to my eyes.

[I think she's acting strange too. Where are you?]

I immediately sent him the address of the abandoned amusement park, adding: [Don't tell anyone. Come alone.]

The taxi stopped in front of the overgrown land on the outskirts of the city.

The amusement park, once filled with laughter, was now just a pile of rusted scrap metal.

The giant Ferris wheel stood silently among the weeds, like a dead steel beast.

I took a deep breath and trudged towards the Ferris wheel, pushing through knee-high dried grass.

A deathly silence hung in the air, broken only by the rustling of the wind through the tall grass.

I reached the base of the Ferris wheel and began searching the surrounding area for the "cross" mark.

After about fifteen minutes of searching, at the bottom of a thick, rusted iron pillar, I saw a patch of earth that looked like it had been recently disturbed.

On the soil, two tree branches were crossed, forming a cross shape.

This was it!

I knelt on the ground, disregarding the dirt, and frantically began to dig with my bare hands.

The soil was very loose, clearly having been buried recently.

After digging about six inches deep, my fingers brushed against something hard.

It was a sealed plastic bag.

I yanked it out, hastily wiping off the dirt.

Inside the bag were a USB drive and an old black and white photograph.

My hands trembling, I took out the photo.

It showed a young couple holding a little girl, perhaps a year old.

Although it was an old photo, I recognized at a glance that the couple was none other than a younger Robert and Sarah Davis!

And the little girl's eyes and features were identical to Eleanor's -- or rather, to the imposter's!

On the back of the photo, written in blue ink, was a single line:

[Vivian's First Birthday.]

Vivian?

Vivian Davis?

My mind buzzed, as if a bolt of lightning had suddenly cleared all the fog.

Robert and Sarah Davis actually had a biological daughter!

And this biological daughter looked exactly like Eleanor!

No, that's not right.

Eleanor looked like her!

When they went to the orphanage to adopt children, it wasn't out of kindness at all, but because Eleanor resembled their lost biological daughter!

So the imposter in our house now... was Vivian!

She was back!

She had replaced Eleanor!

Just as I was reeling in disbelief, I heard an extremely faint rustling of footsteps behind me.

"Rustle... rustle..."

The sound of dry grass being trampled was amplified infinitely in the dead silence of the wilderness.

I spun around.

Robert Davis stood less than five yards behind me, holding a rusted shovel, his face expressionless.

His eyes were as cold as if he was looking at a corpse.