Young Writers Society

Avery typed up the address to Elizabeth's house into the Google Maps search tab. He started it and settled the phone on the dashboard in the safest way for Alex to see.

While Alex continued driving, he reached back into the backseats and dug out a bag of chips. "Same one we had when we came here," he assured. No one wanted to seem like the person who stashed food in their car forever. "Want some?"

“How are you hungry?” Alex laughed, “No, thanks, you have them.”

The car turned a corner and they were in view of Elizabeth’s building. Alex parked the car across the street and spotted Zoey on her way towards them.

They hopped out of the car, Alex locking it and walked over to Zoey - she had changed her clothes from yesterday. She now had black cargo pants and a red long sleeve shirt. She smiled at both of them. "Good to see you guys again."

Avery smiled back. "Yeah," he said. "Also... um, why exactly are we going to the movies with Charles missing?" He chuckled nervously, shifting from foot to foot.

“Well, Jonah’s friend Evan invited us to see a movie, and to bring friends.”

“Is this the Eva…” Alex tried to get her sentence out before Zoey interrupted.

“Yup, the one that was obsessed with Charles. The one always close to wherever Charles is,” Zoey saw Alex open her mouth again, “Jonah’s known him for years. He’s just a mega-fan, not a kidnapper.”

"If the guy is always close to where Charles is, is it possible that Charles is at the cinema?" Avery wondered aloud.

"Psh. I doubt it. Out of all the places someone could be kidnapped, a cinema? I doubt it." Zoey assured. "Anyways, Liz and Jonah are waiting."

They followed Zoey into the building and went up to Elizabeth's apartment. It was unlocked so the three of them walked right in.

“Hey!” Jonah exclaimed when he saw Alex, “What’s up?”

“Not much. Just some more stuff on Charle’s case.” Alex said, and the man in the corner looked up at her. She smiled and assumed it was Evan.

“Oh, really?” Elizabeth said from next to the man.

“Yup. We were thinking that maybe he’s being held hostage in a theater!” Alex explained, and Zoey shook her head, “Hear us out. ‘Views’ can also refer to looking at a screen, so movies woul…”

Elizabeth cut Alex off, “Sounds logical, but there’s a ba-jillion movie theaters in New York. You can’t look at all of them.”

“That’s BM’s point, so that we… oh nevermind.” Alex said, then walked over to Evan, “I haven’t introduced myself, I’m Alex Leifsson.”

“Evan, Evan McGee.” He smiled.

Avery's jaw dropped open.

EM. BM.

No.

Yes.

How?

He tugged at Alex's sleeve gently, but she didn't notice so he shrugged off the weird feeling.

"Yeah, hi, Evan. Avery Ashton," he introduced. "We're from Canada. Came here for a... a... vacation, ya know?" He shrugged lightly and flashed one of his quick crooked smiles.

Then he furrowed his brows and looked at Elizabeth. "Did you tell him?"

"About?"

Avery didn't say anything, hoping she would get the hint. Realization dawned on her face. "Oh! Yeah, we did, about Charles... yeah... We'll find him though." she added sternly, more to herself than anyone else.

Alex sat down on the armchair in the corner and nodded along to the conversation. Then something clicked. That must of been why Avery tugged on her.

“Evan, just a… random question, do you have, uh, any siblings?” Alex asked, leaning forward with her hands folded in front of her mouth.

Zoey snorted, “Look, if you're thinking tha…”

This time, Alex interrupted Zoey by putting her hand up, “Let the man speak.”

“I do,” Evan said, unaware of the situation, “An older sister.”

Jonah looked up, “Name? I forgot, sorry.”

“Beatrice, same last name. How come?” Evan looked at Alex.

“Holy shit,” Alex thought out loud, then she covered her mouth again, “Sorry, just wondering. People with siblings fascinate me.”

“Oh, thats… cool.” Evan nodded suspiciously.

Avery's jaw dropped open. Evan would lead them right to Beatrice! Unless... Evan wasn't in on his sister kidnapping people. But hold on.

Beatrice McGee. A woman.

Like Elizabeth or Zoey said - one of the two had a feeling that the kidnapper was a woman.

It all matched up. Either Evan was in on his sisters' evilness, or not. The man looked too innocent to be in on it. Or maybe it was all an act. Avery tried his best not to shout in frustration or face palm.

"There could be thousands of Beatrices in New York," he whispered from the corner of his mouth to Alex. He crossed his fingers and hoped she heard.

"But how many have Charles Emmett mega-fans as brothers.." Alex whispered back, just loud enough for Avery to hear.

"So, has anyone seen 1917 yet?" Zoey cleared her throat and asked. She was pacing around the room, probably contemplating everything that was happening.

"I have," Elizabeth said from a chair, "It was excellent."

Avery mulled over what Alex said and sighed. "I haven't watched it. I've heard it's pretty great though," he commented. "What time is the movie again?"

"10:30, if we want to miss the previews," Jonah looked down at his watch, "which we do."

"Alright then. We still have some time." Evan said, visibly confused by all the attention he and his sister were getting, "What should we do?"

"I don't know. We could maybe go to the movie theater early and, you know, check it out." Elizabeth whispered, winking at Zoey.

"Sounds fabulous." Alex nodded, "We could check it out, see the film, then look at it some more, if we miss anything."

"But, it's just a normal theater," Evan said, still confused, "I just want to see the movie, not the theater..."

Avery nodded. "You can watch the movie. We want to learn about some old theaters around New York," he smiled.

Then, internally smirking at himself, added, "Me and Alex are studying New York's history. It was an assignment given to us from our history prof."

Truth was, no one had told them to do any research in any sort of history stuff. Neither Alex nor Avery did anything related to history. Nothing close.

Evan slowly nodded. "Ookay?" he chuckled weirdly.

"Mm, well, we should get going if we want to do some research, eh?" Zoey said, getting up and reaching for her purse. "We're not all gunna fit in one car, so Evan, is it okay if you drive by yourself?"

"Sure," Evan said. Without an other word, he smiled, grabbed his jacket and left the apartment.

Jonah blinked at the other four. "Clueless guy standin' right 'ere. And the rest of you guys know somethin' I don't. Fill me in." And he plopped himself on the spot Evan was sitting at.

Alex sighed, "BM. That's who we are looking for. Evans sisters initials are BM and Evan is addicted to Charles. It's a perfect combination."

"You are not thinking that my best friend is the brother of a kidnapper." Jonah said.

"Yes, we are. It makes sense." Elizabeth stood up and wiped her dress, as if to clean it.

"There's thousands of other Charles Emmett fans!" Jonah exclaimed, throwing up his arms in annoyance.

"Not all of them are that obsessed and none of them have the same last name initial thing as BM," Zoey said flatly. "Deal with it. We're gunna figure it out no matter what. Alex, could you add him to your suspect list? If you have one?"