The Mystery Of Eastbrooks High

Chapter One: The Fire

"YOU KILLED MOM?" NORAH ASKED exasperatedly, leaning against the kitchen's doorframe as she sighed wearily, "Again?" Her little brother, Julian, lifted his head up at the sound of her voice and gave her a wide, proud grin before looking over at their mother's slumped figure.

Norah made her way towards the two, the floorboards slightly creaking as she tentatively stepped around the loose one. She could see her mom's slouched frame even more clearly now: her cheek pressed against the dark wood of the centre table, her eyes moving beneath the closed eyelids, her golden blonde hair spilled out on the rich brown wood, a clear contrast.

Norah grabbed the TV remote and turned it off, ignoring her brother's indignant yell and moved her mother's shoulder, "Mom, come on, don't be dramatic. It's just a video game!" Norah's mom, Natasha Daniels, opened her clear blue eyes- a mirror to Norah's own- and shook her head bitterly, "He absolutely destroyed me in it. I'm still not able to get a hang of the game!"

Norah's lips curled up slightly at the ends, a sight that made her mother's face brighten, "It's okay, it's just a video game," Norah repeated, "I'm sure you'll destroy that ego of his someday," she said, pointing a finger at her smug little brother who rolled his eyes.

Her mother lifted her face from the table, "One whole week," she started, sitting upright, "one whole week I've been playing this video game with Jules, and he's always winning!" Her mother shook her head in irritation as Julian grinned. "How?" she asked him frustratedly.

Jules laughed, shaking his head. Norah narrowed her eyes, "You could've let her win once," she said, ignoring her mother's mock outrageous shout that she didn't want any pity.

"Anyway," Norah took hold of her mother's hand and gave it a squeeze, "I'm gonna go to Isla's bookstore, then to the school." Upon seeing Jules' frown, she clarified, "Yeah, there's no school today, but we have a book club meeting. I'll be back in a few hours, yeah?"

"You are going to the bookstore?" Two voices overlapped perfectly, and Norah's eyebrows rose, "Okay, that was creepy." But her mother and brother's faces were beaming up at her with profound relief and happiness, their efforts to hide their relief didn't work. After all, it had been almost two years since she had gone to a bookstore.

Norah felt a pang of guilt hit her, her family had been so worried about her. It was obvious every time she was going back to her routine, the relief evident on their faces when Norah started jogging early in the morning again, started helping her brother with sums, got a gym membership, and sat by her mother's side while she was cooking and enquiring about her latest cases, joined in their new school's murder mystery book club.

Norah smiled, "Yeah. I'm going now, or I'll be late! Bye, guys!"

Norah tossed her thick, dark braid behind her shoulder as she grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder, balancing herself as she stuffed her feet into her boots. "You want me to drop you?" Natasha yelled from the living room. "No, I'll walk to the bookstore and get a cab to the school. Bye!" she shouted and stepped outside.

Dry leaves crunched beneath her shoes as she speed walked, and the sounds of birds chittering were blocked out as she stuffed her earphones into her ears and turned on a true-crime podcast.

The walk to the café cum bookstore was about two kilometres, and by the time the glass doors automatically opened and a blast of cold air hit her refreshingly in the face when she stepped inside the bookstore, she was slightly breathless. A chirping voice alerted the bored cashier, who shot her a smile. Norah managed a weak, watery one in return.

As usual, there was a voice in her head, pointing out the usual, making her think about how easily she could've walked the long distance very quickly without getting breathless before her depression because she had been in shape then, and also about how smiles weren't coming naturally to her as they used to.