Okay I don’t know if I’ll have time to write more later because by tonight I’ll be with Madelyn, the Sheriff and the history teacher who shall not be named and all the other psychos who decided to start a cult in Black Lake will be in prison, and Tilly will have realized that I’m not the enemy and we’ll be making out like the last three weeks never happened.

I mean obviously that’s the hope anyways. I wish I could report that I’m totally calm and ready for whatever comes next but the truth is I’m barely holding it together. Neal and Julian have been out there keeping track of all the comings and goings of the cultists for the last couple days. They don’t want to bring the police out until everyone is present and likely to be getting into illegal activities, you know? Like we’re trying to get these assholes arrested, not just annoy them.

Georgia and I spent all afternoon out there yesterday, which annoyed the shit out of Neal (imagine Neal, with his perfect jawline twisting up his pretty boy lips because he’s pissed we’re out there disturbing his peaceful woods time. Haha Neal. Sorry not sorry)

Anyways, they were all out there briefly yesterday evening, but we watched them through the windows and they just sat around talking it looked like, and didn’t have anything spooky or illegal going on so we just sorta sat out there. There was also no evidence of Madelyn being out there, which Neal was quick to point out.

Okay that’s not really fair. He wasn’t being snarky or anything. And it’s true, there really isn’t any solid evidence of her being out there. Like we haven’t seen them putting together any like… prisoner meal trays or anything. But that doesn’t mean they’re not doing it, there’s a lot we can’t see when they’re in that house.

Anyways, this morning Julian heard the waitress on her phone saying that “they’d have to do it tonight, with or without the book.”

So that seems like something scary, right? And then, if that wasn’t enough to seem suspicious the pregnant one was sharpening daggers on the porch this afternoon according to Neal. So like it definitely seems like there’s something going on out there.

Right?

It sounds like I’m trying to convince myself. I guess it’s hitting me how much could go wrong tonight. What if I’m wrong and Madelyn isn’t even there? What if whatever they’re doing tonight with daggers is unrelated to whatever fucked up shit is going on in this town?

But like — okay, we know it’s not good. Whatever we find tonight is bound to be terrible, right? Madelyn is probably upstairs in some secret room or closet that I didn’t check. She’s probably been up there this whole time. She’s probably waiting for me to come save her right now.

Okay Georgia just came in — it’s really time. We’re heading out there to check on everything. Catch you all on the flip side.

Wish us luck —

That did n o t go the way we were hoping, said Shiloh, making the most radical understatement of the century.

I’m literally typing this on my phone in handcuffs in the back of a cop car. So that should give you an idea of how bad tonight went.

Oh my god my mom’s going to kill me.

Shit the officers are coming back to the car. Georgia’s giving me the panic eyes I should just post this and go.

But this is the important thing: Mad wasn’t there. There was no sign of her. The police were very thorough. Even the scratches in the cellar had been scrubbed away. They must have found them after I escaped through the cellar on Wednesday. From the police’s perspective two strange adult men burst into an abandoned property with two high school girls and guns and scared the shit out of a high school teacher, a pregnant woman, a waitress, a librarian and their literal boss. And no, it doesn’t help that their boss was apparently participating in some creepy ass ritual — that’s not illegal, it’s just weird so everyone’s just uncomfortable and grouchy.

We’re so fucked.