Fervent

Chapter 2 { there's always a story }

{ A missing piece I yearn to find, So close. Please clear the anguish from my mind. }

Chapter two –

As I waved goodbye to Charlotte I felt myself slipping away. As she walked off my driveway and out of the gates I pelted to my room, wanting nothing more but the warmth of my bed.

“Not so fast, darling daughter.” A hand rested lightly on my shoulder as I got to the first step of the stairs. I threw my head back in defeat and turned around to face the evil woman smiling mockingly at me. “I believe I have an appointment.”

She led me down the hallway to the longue, where she ushered me to sit down. I looked at her confusedly but still followed her directions, knowing whatever words she would tell me next would be important. The only other time she got me to sit down to talk was when she told me dad was leaving. That was a horrible day.

“I have two things to tell you.” She sat on the sofa opposite me, putting her hands neatly on her lap. I nodded, persuading her to just tell me. She rolled her eyes at my hurry but she kept talking as if wasn’t even there. “The first is that the police have found the murderer.”

She was simple; nothing she ever said was sugar-coated

“Who is it?” I questioned, a little more interested in where the conversation was heading now. My mind skimmed through all the suspects I’d picked out myself.

But the name she said wasn’t in my head. “Kleever.”

Kleever. The name alone made me shiver.

He was a serial killer, but he hadn’t murdered anybody in almost a year now. When he did, he always wrote Kleever in their blood on the walls. But no matter how hard the detectives tried, they never even got close to him. Each of his victims were connected somehow. From being second cousins to secret lovers, it was a chain. It was obvious who the people on his hit list were, but the police failed to protect them every time. It was rather like one of those horror movies that everyone hyped about.

“It can’t be him.” I said suddenly, opposing to the decision of the police. “If it was they’d have known immediately. He’d have written Kleever. And the victims don’t even know any of his last!” I burst out, thinking of everything wrong with their solution. The police were just looking for someone, anyone, to blame now. This was getting desperately silly.

“They say that they think he has taken a more mature nature. They think it’ll be easier to catch him now, and when they do, we’ll see.” She said neatly, clearly agreeing with me, but not wanting to rebel against the police. The only people she ever listened to, the police.

Jamie was right! They had nothing! They had only charged Kleever for this because they were too lazy to find the real killer, it didn’t matter if he had actually done it or not, he was going to prison anyway.

“That’s stupid!” I stood up in a moment of rage. They couldn’t just ignore what had happened! There was a murderer out there with the blood of three people I knew on their hands!

“Control yourself.” She snapped at me and I sat down obediently. She even acted like a head master at home. Sometimes it was a good thing…

I nodded and looked down at my lap as she explained that I mustn’t tell a soul until the police made it official. I cringed at the thought of how the town would react. They weren’t stupid, surely they wouldn’t accept it. Or maybe they would, taking in comfort that they’d named a killer.

“Oh, and the other thing.” My mother said, standing up to leave the room. She had a habit of leaving me alone, like she wanted me to feel the emptiness of the house. “Your brother’s coming to stay for a while next week.”