Paper Doll

Chapter Seventeen | Grace

I was reading a book, trying to relax for just a day before resuming on finding where Leigh was. Or even figuring out the shadow that lurked around the area. A police car stopped in front of the house and I stood up quick. My heart was beating at an irregular rate. They were here for a reason and I was afraid to find out any.

          "Grace Duvann?" one of the officer called.

          "Yes. Do you have something for my sister?" I asked, nervous.

          The other one, I could see his name on his uniform—Officer Ryans, nodded once and handed me the folder he was holding while saying, "I'm sorry but we found her body."

          I did not manage to open the folder. My knees had gone weak and I fell on the ground. Officer Armstrong, the other police, caught me right away.

          "What do you mean you found her body? She's still alive!" I shouted in no one in particular. "She's alive. I saw her just the other day. I saw her presence around. She's... she's not..." I couldn't finish my sentence.

         I spotted Percy running to our place. My tears fell right on then as I ran towards Percy, in the safety of his arms. I cried there, pain shooting in my veins. My other half, my sister, my twin...

          "What happened?" Percy asked. I think the question wasn't for me because the officers answered him.

         "Leigh Duvann's body was found last night at the Easton riverbank. According to our autopsy, she'd been there for ten days. Half of her body was in the water, causing it to bloat. While the other half, well, it was already decaying. People near the river only noticed it when the smell grew around."

          I faced them, wide eyed. "How long she's been there?" I knew I searched on that area. Why we didn't see her there?

          "Probably around two weeks," Officer Ryans answered. He pointed to the folder. "All the reports about your sister is there. If you have any questions, you can drop by at the office." He sighed, like it's nothing new to him. Maybe this was not the first missing case with found body he had encountered. "I'm sorry for your loss."

           They walked past us. I stared at the folder. She's been there for two weeks. Then who...

           I turned to Percy. He was wide eyed as well. We had the same question in our heads.

          It answered the question in my head. There's someone out there and he or she was mad. They were lurking in the dark and I could tell, they're out to get me this time. They managed to kill Leigh, now they're going for me.

          "Grace, Grace, look at me." I looked at him. "They're not going for you. Whoever those who killed Leigh, they're not going to get any closer to you. I promise you that, okay?" Nothing assured me anymore.