Hide and Seek

Part One

"Come on guys!" I moaned, hoping that they'd help me. "We've been doing nothing all week and now that something's actually happening in the shit-hole you just want to sit there and do nothing?!" I paused, "imagine this; we solve the murders and become heros. It's as simple as that!".

Shayna was fiddling with the longer strands of her auburn hair, twisting and crushing them between her delicate fingers. Her eyes were riddled with worry as she started carefully, "It's too risky, we might get hurt".

I shook my head in disbelief. "Honestly, what could go wrong?" a smile pulled at the corners of my lips as she sighed in defeat.

"Ok" she mumbled in reply as she looked away.

"What about you Robbi?" I turned towards my other friend, his blue eyes darting away from mine as he bounced his leg nervously.

"I can't let you both do it on your own..." he trailed off, his voice hard as he turned to look at me. "I think you're an idiot for even wanting to try this" he continued, a frown etched across his disheveled face.

My smile grew as I stared at them both. "We can put the news article right here" I stated, turning to face the wall beside me. It was covered thickly with posters and photos which we had collected over the years, everything that appealed to us and everything that we had agreed on. A couple ribbons even hung from the pinboard, accompanied by messy drawings, some of which looked like they were drawn by a two year old.

The harsh buzzing of my phone drew my attention away from the wall. I hope it's not my mother, I thought bitterly as I pulled my phone from my pocket.

You're next.

The words glared at me from the screen, threatening me and chilling my soul. I swallowed, hard. "Guys..." my voice shook slightly as I turned my eyes towards them, "I think you're right to think I'm insane..."

"What happened?" Robbi asked, his eyes widening as he took in my sullen expression.

I showed them the message, knowing they would know what it meant. Hell, everyone would know what it meant. It was the murderer's signature, he did it with every single one of his kills.

"Shit!" Robbi swore, worry evident in his voice as he became lost within his own thoughts. "I guess we really need to find who it is before they kill you..." he trailed off, turning to look at me with a newfound determination.

"Where would we even start?" Shayna bit her lip as she turned her gaze towards the roof.

I sighed, "maybe we could start at the last murder... it didn't happen too far from here".

They nodded in reply as they stood up. "Probably a good idea, I guess" Robbi spoke as he turned towards the door, knowing exactly where I was talking about. It was all over the local news after all. It only happened yesterday.

The victim was one of the sweetest people I had ever known. She was everybody's Grandmother. Not literally, but that's how she acted. Her funeral was in three days. I had no doubts that most of the town would show up, she was well loved by the shit-hole's entire population.

"Ok, lets go" I said sullenly to Shayna as I followed Robbi out the door.