|THE FACELESS KILLER| Hiatus

| N I N E T E E N |

GLEAM CANYON
08:23 am
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A week later

•••

The past week had moved painstakingly slow. No clues, no suspects, nothing! It was as if nothing had taken place in the quiet woods of Gleam canyon.

The police would occasionally drop by the motel seeking more details to break the case, but as before, they hit a dead end.

Melany hadn't left her room. She had cried herself to sleep till she felt she couldn't anymore. Her once lively, grey eyes had sunken in; dark bags coated her under-eyes leaving them tired and dull. She hadn't eaten, nor spoken a single word to anyone besides grunt and weakly give out no's when her sister asked if she wanted anything to eat.

“I'm worried about my sister, ” Bethany voiced, concern pooled in her eyes as tears begged to be let free.

“Come here, ” Oliver outstretched his arms on the couch he was sitting on, slowly encasing her in his warmth he placed a lingering kiss on her temple.

“I don't know what's going on, but we'll get to the bottom of it. Being an only child I don't know what it's like to feel what you're feeling right now, but I know that I'll do anything to protect you, Melany, and Emily. We're all we've got and we gotta stick together if it all we are going to survive this, ” Oliver declared. Looking down at his girlfriend, his heart ached at how broken she looked.

Wiping away the lone tear that escaped her closed eyes, he cradled her to his side silently promising to be her protector.

“How is she?” Emily questioned as she plopped on the other couch.

“Not so good. She's taking it badly and I can only imagine how Mel is dealing with all this, ” Oliver admitted. His eyes fell on Melany's locked door, if only he could see the inside and see how she was. They might have not gotten along, always at each other's throats with their constant bickering, but he'd rather have those moments rather than this...whatever it was they were going through. At least in those times, Bethany would be happy, sending those cute annoyed looks between him and her sister.

“Could you check your cell and see if there's network coverage, ” he requested Emily who silently bobbed her head.

Heading back to her room, she retrieved her cell from the small table next to her bed. Glancing at the black screen, it came alight as she pressed the side of the phone— at the top of the screen, the network bars were full.

Making her way back to the couple, her face couldn't hold the hopeful glimmer she felt.

This could be the break they needed. She hopefully thought.

“Network's back!” she couldn't help but squeal her excitement.

“Isn't your Dad some big shot in the FBI? Maybe he could send people to protect us or something?” Oliver asked with a slight pull to his eyebrow— a habit he picked up when he was a curious kid.

“He's no big shot, ” she grumbled out her reply, “...but I think he can pull some strings and get people out here once he hears out our situation,” she replies.

Dialing up her father's number with hesitancy, her mind pulled her back to the last conversation they had.

“Why are you even going there?” her father's voice dripped with disapproval.