Something About Alice Murphy: BOOK 1

P A R T - E L E V E N

Chapter 11: Discovery
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"You're not going to kill me, are you? Because I didn't tell the police anything." Alice said, looking at the profile of Magnus's face as he drove them out of the centre of town in silence. The radio was off, and all Alice could hear was the steady hum of the engine as it cruised effortlessly across the road ahead. She recognised this side of town slightly, but never really passed through it unless she was heading to Candice's house on top of the valley.

This part of town was where all the larger, more expensive houses were... they were all further apart with large gates enclosing the properties in their own private spaces. Alice always felt slightly intimidated passing through... the area was always so clean looking with neatly trimmed trees and barely any flaws on the road. Around here there were also some of the distilleries and vineyards along the edges of open fields and closer to the lake, it was something about the rich earth that made the wine produced here taste so good and gave summerland its vibrant and widespread reputation... which was now being tainted slightly because of the missing kids and murders.

Magnus didn't respond to Alice's question as he drove with both hands on the wheel, looking as if he was deep in thought and didn't even hear it. Which only meant Alice wasn't sure if she should start to feel nervous because of that... since he had turned the 4x4 down a long dirt road, almost twenty minutes from the centre of town, which was adjacent to the length of a vineyard that Alice recognised belonged to his parents. "Where are we going?" She then asked, looking out the window to her right and seeing the town looking a lot further away than she expected. Summerland was never a large place, and most destinations could be reached on foot, and yet, from where she currently was town looked an unreachable distance away.

After a few minutes Magnus pulled up to what looked like a small cafe at the bottom of the dirt road, it was rustic looking, and painted white and baby blue with apple trees dotted around outside the stretch of grass with white iron tables underneath. Alice assumed it was so customers could sit down. "Don't get too excited, it's closed," Magnus mumbled as he saw Alice staring at the building with hope before he cut the engine off and got out the car.

Alice released a heavy breath and got out the car as well, seeing Magnus waiting for her by the front of the car with his arms folded. He was dressed in an off white sweatshirt that hung from his upper body loosely, his skinny jeans were light blue and loose as well... Alice noticed that he never wore anything that would hug his body anywhere. She wondered if there was a reason for that but knew she'd never ask him. Her gaze lingered on the red beanie and liked the contrast between his light hair and the vibrant colour... red was one of the colours that seemed to suit him well.

It had just gone four o'clock, and Alice knew the sun would set in just under an hour... she could already see the orange light beginning to descend on the horizon as the cold afternoon breeze washed through her hair whilst she cautiously closed the passenger door and looked towards Magnus again. "Why are we here..." she said slowly as they made eye contact.

He exhaled through his nose heavily, looking annoyed for a moment before he unfolded his arms. "You can't stop asking questions, can you?" He asked and Alice furrowed her eyebrows. "Your curiosity won't do you any favours,"

"Obviously," Alice retorted, "and you're not helping my curiosity because you keep ignoring my questions," she added,

"You're questions could be answered if you were just patient," Magnus shot back, "Come on." He added and turned away, walking towards the cafe and surprisingly passed it to a slightly hidden pathway that Alice assumed was an unofficial one. She was reluctant mentally, but felt her feet moving after him to follow before she'd really thought it through... she didn't feel like she was in danger, and usually her instincts were accurate. Her arms folded, her gaze dropping down to her pants that were gaining a little dry dirt on the bottom as they hung fairly loosely around her ankles and over the backs of her sneakers.