Chapter One

The alarm on Hailey’s phone beeped incessantly. Without lifting her head from the pillow, she felt around for the damn thing and flicked it off. Sunlight was flooding through the gaps around her window blind, bathing everything in a cheerful brightness that didn’t match her mood. Today was the day. The anniversary of Jen’s disappearance and it seemed wrong that it was so bright. 

A second later her brain reminded her it was worse than that. She was going back to the forest. Back to the last spot any of them had ever seen Jen. The thought of returning to Lucas Point again, the very place where Jen vanished, didn’t sit well with her.

She sighed and wondered if she should try asking Josh if he’d go too. Perhaps if she explained how oddly Andy was acting, he’d go, then at least she’d have some sane company. She shook that thought away. Who was she kidding? It wasn’t fair to drag him into this. He missed Jen more than anyone. No, she’d just have to deal with her brother’s bizarre notions on her own.

With a groan, Hailey dragged herself up out of bed and headed for the shower. The warm water helped wash some of her anxiety away, however, the looming camping trip continued to weigh heavily on her mind. She pulled on her fluffy warm dressing gown and a pair of slippers Andy had bought her with floppy bunny ears, and tramped downstairs towards coffee.

Stepping into the kitchen she grabbed the coffee bean jar off the shelf and poured two generous spoons into the grinder. It whizzed into life with a loud scraping noise as she pressed the smooth silver button on top, spinning the beans around as it grated them.

Someone groaned from the living room. Glancing over the breakfast bar, Hailey saw a figure push back the blanket she kept on the couch and sit up.

“What fresh hell is this?” Josh asked, rubbing his face.

To her surprise, her friend Josh lay sprawled on her couch, looking slightly disheveled and clearly puzzled by his surroundings. The remnants of a night out were evident in his crumpled attire.

“Morning, sunshine,” Hailey said deliberately loudly. She absently wondered what he was doing on her couch and if his being here had something to do with Andy’s trip, but she squashed that hope down.

“Hails? Why are you in my apartment?”

“Josh, you’re on my couch.” She emptied the grounds into the coffee machine and clicked the pot into place.

Josh looked around, a little confused. Hailey left the machine filtering and stepped into the living room, opening the drapes as she went. Josh blinked as the light engulfed the room and hit him full in the face. Hailey tried not to smirk. His suit jacket was thrown on one of her chairs and his shirt was very wrinkled and only half tucked.

“How did I get on your couch?” 

“I’m going to guess Andy put you there.” She replied, mentally hoping he remembered to lock up afterwards too.

“Okay.”

“You want some coffee?”

“You’re a lifesaver,” Josh sighed.

“I guess you went out for a drink last night?” she half asked, stepping back into the kitchen and grabbing three large mugs from one of the cupboards.

“Yeah, I bumped into Andy at the bar. I was on a date.”

“A date?” Hailey asked as she poured the coffee and headed back into the living room handing one to Josh.

“Yeah, my mother set me up.” He ran a hand through his messy hair and took a mug from her. “Thanks.”

“I’m guessing by the fact you’re on my couch it went well?” she said sarcastically while taking a sip of her coffee.

“Yeah, I kinda forgot about it and I think my mother might kill me.”

“You stood up a blind date your mother set you up on to drink with Andy?” Hailey smiled. His mom really would kill him.

“Maybe?” He hovered over the mug, not looking at her.

“Maybe.” Hailey smiled a little sadly. As funny as it was watching Josh at the moment, she knew he hadn’t dated anyone seriously since Jen.

“It wouldn’t have worked anyway,” Josh justified. Hailey rolled her eyes and took another sip of coffee.

“No. None of them do,” she said a little pointedly.

“Not since…” Josh trailed off, rubbing his face with his hand and avoiding looking at her.

“Jen.” 

“Yeah,” Josh replied while drinking coffee.

Hailey couldn’t help but notice the tiredness in Josh’s eyes, a weariness that echoed her own feelings of loss and longing for Jen.

“So, how much did you drink last night?” she asked, deciding to change the subject.

“Not as much as Andy.” Hailey took a deep breath. Josh looked down at the floor between his feet as if he was thinking. “Does he drink that much often?”

“Yeah.” Hailey sat down on a chair and put her mug on the glass coffee table in front of her. Josh nodded.

“He told me he has some theories, about Jen, about the point.” 

“Did he…did he go into detail?” she asked guardedly.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you.” He tried to smile. “But he was pretty serious.”

“Yeah.”

“I think, I mean, he seems a little… Look, we’ve all been friends since high school and Andy has always been a little…”

“Odd,” Hailey said.

“Yeah, but I remember enough of his ramblings last night to be worried.”

“You’re not the only one.” She sighed. “Josh, he’s going up to Lucas Point today. I’m going with him, I’m hoping, somehow it’ll help him, if it doesn’t, I think I may need to get him some help.”

Josh rubbed his chin and then rested his elbows on his knees and leant forward, he seemed tense. “Hailey?”

“Yeah?”

“You think it’ll work, going up there?”

“I don’t know,” she replied honestly. “But I have to try something, he’s the only family I have.”

“Alright, when do we leave?” Josh offered unexpectedly.

“We?” Hailey’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, I’ll come to the point with you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Hailey replied, touched that he’d even offer.

“Yeah, I do. I can’t lose Andy as well and I’d feel better if you had support up there.”

“Thank you,” Hailey said, suddenly feeling the burden on her shoulders lighten a bit. “Would you like breakfast?”

She wandered back into the kitchen placing her large frying pan onto the hob and grabbing some bacon from the fridge.

“Sure.” He smiled, glancing at her as if he’d seen her for the first time. “Are you wearing bunny slippers?”

Hailey giggled. “Why not?”

“Cops don’t wear bunny slippers, it’s like a thing. You can’t arrest people and wear cute bunny slippers. It disturbs the mystique.”

“Shut up.” Hailey smiled, throwing an oven glove at him.

“I’m just sayin’.”

“Cool, you wore the bunnies,” a voice rang out from the front door. “Is there bacon? I smelled bacon.”

Andy wandered over to the bench, his flip-flops slapping on the kitchen tiles. Hailey looked him over. He was wearing the same shirt and khaki shorts as yesterday, but he looked much less unkempt than Josh. He plonked himself down heavily on a stool and spun round to face their friend.

“Dude. You look like hell man. You were wasted last night, but wow!”

“How are you even standing?” Josh asked, genuinely curious.

“Bod is a temple, dude,” Andy declared.

“Yeah, a temple to beer.” Hailey scoffed, handing Andy a coffee as she flipped the bacon she’d put in a pan.

“Ok, I got a deal for you,” Josh said, slowly standing.

“What sort of deal?” Andy asked.

“You don’t drink, and you listen to Hailey and me when we discuss your theories about Lucas Point without totally losing it.” Andy narrowed his eyes at Josh. “And I’ll come with you tonight.”

Andy broke into a huge grin. “For real? Awesome, dude. Wait, what do you mean by “losing it”?”

“Deal?” Josh asked.

“Yeah, yeah, whatevers man, deal.” Andy grinned again.

Hailey threw the bacon into some bread rolls and placed them on the kitchen bench. This was going to be an interesting trip for everyone.

Chapter Two

The midmorning sunlight falling through the trees left dapples of shade over the car park as Hailey pulled her truck into a space next to Andy’s. She glanced over at Josh and sat in the passenger seat. He looked up towards the imposing silhouette of Lucas Point looming over them and then silently stepped out of the car, a look of grim determination on his face. Here we go, she thought. She closed her eyes briefly, remembering that day so long ago when they had last parked up there together. Everyone had been smiling and happily grabbing equipment from the trucks. The cliffs’ prominence, once a beacon of shared excitement when they were younger, now loomed ominously over them. Hailey sighed and stepped out into the heat of the day feeling anything but happy and cheerful.

Andy was already wrestling equipment out of his trailer as Hailey went to pull her rucksack out of the back of her flatbed. Josh pulled out his own bag, plopping it on the ground by Hailey’s back tire. He still looked rough. His hair was always a little too long to be considered neat, but it had taken on a wild unkempt look thanks to his night on her couch that even a shower hadn’t quite tamed.

“Why are we setting off so early again?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Because man, we have stuff to do,” Andy replied, hauling a metal case out of the caravan.

“What the hell is this?” Josh’s incredulity was palpable as he eyed the peculiar equipment.

“Giger counter,” Andy responded matter-of-factly, prompting an arched eyebrow from Josh.

“Where did you get it?” Josh picked it up and turned it over. Andy snatched it off him.

“Careful dude. Remember Logan, that dude from the university I hang out with?”

“Yeah?” Josh said.

“I water his plants when he’s away and he’s away, so I borrowed some stuff.”

“Borrowed?” Josh’s skepticism lingered in the air. “You stole this, didn’t you?” Josh exclaimed.

Oh god, thought Hailey. “I can’t hear this!”

“Bo-rro-wed,” Andy replied slowly. “I’m gonna take it back.”

“Andy, this is a felony.” Hailey ran a hand over her ponytail and sighed. “I should arrest you.”

“Eh, pish. It’s fine,” Andy replied. “You want a coffee before we head up?”

***

Hailey settled beside Josh, cradling her coffee cup, while Andy buzzed around the trailer, methodically assembling the last pieces of equipment. Absentmindedly, Josh sifted through a stack of papers on the table, a glint of disbelief flashing across his features. 

As he extended the papers toward Hailey, she started flicking and realized this was part of Andy’s research. A list of people who had gone missing on the point over the years, along with as much information as he could find about their cases. Hailey sighed sadly as she flipped through the pages. Most of the cases were really old and none seemed to have anything in common with each other apart from the place they vanished, or supposedly vanished. A couple Hailey remembered happening.

Pausing at a photograph of a young man with a radiant smile—Trevor Stokes—Hailey’s breath hitched involuntarily. She knew this case intimately; it was hers. The familiarity of Trevor’s face reignited a surge of unresolved emotions. Hailey sighed and wondered if Trevor Stokes had never gone missing from his hike if they’d be sitting here now. Somehow it had been a trigger for Andy, Hailey guessed, because it was so close to the date of Jen’s disappearance. She flicked over the other pages, pushing aside thoughts of Stokes’ cold case.

The final page had no notes, just a picture of Jen. She sat smiling on a rock with the forest behind her. Hailey remembered the photo. She’d taken it on that trip up to the point. The last photo of Jen. She remembered it like yesterday, Jen laughing and tidying her long dark ponytail so it would look neat in the picture. She had on a pink t-shirt that Josh had bought her as a birthday present and a pair of blue jeans that she’d bought years ago on a shopping trip they’d taken in the city. Happy memories mixed with so much heartache.

Hailey’s vision blurred a little and she realized her eyes were brimming. She fought back the tears, glad Josh had been distracted by something Andy was doing. Hastily, she concealed the photograph within her pocket, shielding it from Josh’s gaze. Some memories were too fragile to be shared, especially today. She swallowed hard and tried to forget what was going on, focusing on her coffee and the conversation going on around her.

“We should head out,” Andy was saying. “Here, carry this dude” he handed a substantial metal case to Josh, who grunted in response. “Hails, can you grab that tripod?”

Shouldering his own rucksack and grabbing another metal case, Andy ushered everyone outside and slammed the trailer door shut. A big grin spread across his face, but it didn’t seem to reach his eyes. Josh huffed as he picked up his rucksack. Hailey giggled at him despite herself.

“What?” he asked, glancing at her.

“Sorry, it’s just…” Hailey waved her hand at him. “You’re hardly dressed for the occasion.”

Josh glanced over at Hailey in her shorts and t-shirt and then down at his old suit pants and shrugged. “I am bringing style to the outdoors.”

“You don’t do the outdoors,” Hailey replied.

“Not true. I am an avid outdoorsman, can’t you tell?”

Hailey smiled. Maybe they’d be ok today. At least they were together. Perhaps that would help. Usually, she volunteered to work on Jen’s anniversary, but even then, it was a lonely day. She missed her friendship this time of year more than ever. She could only imagine how it was for Josh. After all, Jen was her friend, but she was the love of his life. 

Pushing that thought away, she followed Andy and Josh into the tree line that marked the trail up towards the point.

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