7 - Strike Two: Breakdown

                                    

                                          
Wanting to look even deeper into the mystery-shrouded life of Matthew Evans, Clara had agreed to go to Devon's place again the following afternoon. They would've been driving there in Devon's car, but it just so happened that her mother's car had not started that Thursday morning. And since Devon's house wasn't far from Auburn Vale High, it was fine with both girls to just walk instead.
                          
Devon noticed a slight lift in Clara's moods, but still felt a bit of shock radiating from her. Then again, finding out you have an uncle you never knew about, then finding out that they could possibly be a mass murderer that is now targeting you and your friends is a fair reason for anyone to be freaking out. Which is why, in Devon's mind, things weren't exactly adding up anymore.
                          
Ever since the revelation came to light, she had actually been wondering if the rest of Clara's family were hiding other secrets from her too. If an uncle could be kept a secret for her 16 years of life, then surely this wasn't the only secret they had hidden. In addition, she began feeling that the lead they had was a dead trail. That ancestry information that they had found just seemed... too obvious. Too easy to just stumble upon.
                          

                          
Devon snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Clara, who had fallen unusually silent. "Clara, you alright?" she asked.
                          

                          
"Yeah, it's just last night. My uncle-" she trailed off, close to tears.
                          

                          
"Clara, I don't think that was real" she interrupted, muttering a swear word under her breath right afterward. 
                          

                          
"What? What do you mean, Devon? That ancestry site was pretty legitimate, there were so many connections there" she said, now looking directly at her friend, her brows knitted together. 
                          

                          
"But that's just it! Everything on one page. That isn't possible, not to that extent at least on a free website. Also, did you notice that there were empty stems on your mum's side of the family tree? I think the killer somehow set us up to hide their true identity" she told her. 
                          

                          
Clara's expression was full of confusion, but also of sadness. She thought that they had almost done it, almost figured out who was behind the moniker. Devon looked forward, not being able to stand her friend's emotions. That was when, out of her peripheral vision, she noticed a dark van behind the two of them, about a hundred metres back down the road. Her heart began beating faster as she pulled Clara along and picked up her pace.
                          

                          
"Ow!" Clara exclaimed, pulling away from her friend and stopping in her tracks. "What are you doing, that hurt...".
                          

                          
Devon turned to face Clara and looked over her shoulder back at the van, which was slowly approaching them "Clara, walk faster. I hate to play to pronoun game but they're following us" she murmured, grabbing her hand and hauling her around.
                          

                          
"What?" She asked, beginning to turn around.
                          

                          
Devon pulled her forward swiftly, "No, don't turn around. We had to get out of here".
                          

                          
The van began to speed up as Clara ignored the instruction and looked at the van.
                          

                          
"Clara, no!" Devon exclaimed, dragging her until she started running down the road as well.
                          

                          
"We can't outrun a freaking van, the killer is going to catch up with us!" Clara pants. They glanced back again, less than thirty metres in between the teens and van, the distance quickly closing.