âWhen the police were investigating the missing teenagers, they discovered that all the teenagers left their homes by their own will.
âThey all went somewhere without surveillance cameras and disappeared.
There was surveillance footage of their faces, but their eyes were lifeless. They were obviously drugged.â
Eason handed me the investigation report.
âAnd they were all in contact with Stephanie.â
I snapped up to look at Eason.
âWhat do you meanâ¦â
âAll the missing teenagers had Aspergerâs syndrome and were particularly talented in a specific field. However, they were born to have social difficulties and refused to communicate with others.
âTheir parents would hire similarâaged tutors to help them adapt to society. When Stephanie was still a minor, she was their tutor.â
Eason frowned.
He was confident that Stephanie must have had something to do with the teenagersâ
disappearance.
âHow is that possibleâ¦â
My head was throbbing, and I could hear a ringing in my ear.
âStephanie was just a normal student. How could she tutor geniusesâ¦â
I refused to believe in what he said. I was no genius; I was just an average student.
I was just another student who was preparing for the college entrance exam.
âThat was a disguise.â
Eason scoffed. He looked up photos of a few yellowed exam papers on his phone.
*These are exam questions for the advanced class. Steven may have written the questions, but look at who answered the questions.â
I took Easonâs phone and gasped because it looked like my handwriting.
âStephanie was a genius. A genius who pretended to be average, Eason said icily.
He believed that Stephanie was more than what she seemed on the outside.
âI got these photos from Steven. He treasured them a lot. Even though he refused to admit it was Stephanie who answered the questions, you canât alter the handwriting.
âStephanie got everything right. She was a monster who scored full marks.â
In Easonâs opinion: humans couldnt possibly score full marks in the advanced class. To him, Stephanie Was a monster.
Nobody suspected Stephanie since she died. Otherwise, she wouldâve been rather suspicious, âStephanie was a genius. She was very talented in chemistry. She could formulate various psychoactive drugs with raw materials, which allowed her to control people.
That way, no police report would be done, and the police wouldnât know where to start.â
Eason must have added his deductions.
He deduced that Stephanie had created some psychoactive drug to control the teenagers with Aspergerâs syndrome so that they would leave their homes voluntarily.
Then, she kidnapped them at a remote location.
As I held Easonâs phone, my fingers trembled.
That was impossible. I refused to believe him.
I mustâve been a minor then. How could I possibly have done such things?
I had no memories of such thingsâ¦
âMy head hurtsâ¦â
Suddenly, my head began to ache tremendously.
âStephany?â
Eason saw that I was stumbling. He stared cautiously at me.
I leaned against the bed. My head hurt so much that I started to feel dizzy.
âStephie!â
Michael rushed in hurriedly.
He mustâve heard about the accident and how Steven took me away.
Michael glared at Eason before carrying me away.
I was too weak to fight back. My head felt like it was about to explode.
âStephie, are you okay?â
When I regained consciousness, Michael was seated next to my bed.
He gazed at me anxiously, looking very worried.
âI told you. He canât protect you,â he whispered. He sounded guilty and regretful.
He implied that I shouldnât have left the Ford residence and left with Steven.
I ignored Michael and closed my eyes again.
A voice in my head told me what he actually meant. âYou canât run, Stephanie. You canât run.â