The Protagonists

Chapter Two - Annalise

"Annalise, darling, you know we do not watch television during dinner." The mother, a tall, slender woman with a short, curly bob of jet-black hair and round, hazel eyes, shook her head at her young, sixteen-year-old daughter, who was staring intensely at the television screen. The daughter, a spitting image of her mother, ignored her, and instead continued to be transfixed to the screen.

"'Rushing Water's lead vocalist and guitarist found dead'?" The father, a big, burly man with a deep, throaty voice read the screen. "What's Rushing Water?" He turned back to the table, where his wife and three children were now staring at the screen as well. Ben, the youngest of the three children, was too young to be able to comprehend the situation, but he was grateful that he could now watch something other than his peas and mashed potatoes. His oldest, Anastasia, did not seem to care about the news, but just like Ben, she was glad her strict parents were finally allowing something to do while they ate. Annalise, on the other hand, had tears welling up in her eyes as she stared at the screen.

The television screen showed a video of two girls laughing together; one had short hair dyed pink and the other had long, jet-black hair with turquoise extensions. Julia Cleo, the taller, black-haired one, was smiling widely with her blue-green eyes squinted with delight. Jessica Ebony, the shorter one with hot-pink hair, had her arm wrapped around Julia, giggling into her shoulder.

"Can I be excused?" Annalise questioned abruptly, standing up and nearly knocking her wooden chair over. Mr. and Mrs. Dakota glanced at each other quickly, then looked back at their obviously-upset daughter. Mr. Dakota, the more lenient of the two, curtly nodded, watching Annalise push her chair in and speed out to the den, where the television was. She sat on the mint-green couch, dusty from use, and stared at the news report in anxiety.

Annalise, being a teenager and all, had a life that focused a lot on music. With her friends really enjoying the usual pop music that came on the radio, Annalise preferred the alternative genre, with her favorite band being Rushing Water.

Rushing Water consisted of four members: Jessica (their pink-haired lead singer), Julia (their extremely-tall lead guitarist), Iain Wood (their bald-headed bassist), and Gabriel Baker (the drummer). Without a lead vocalist and lead guitarist, there would be no Rushing Water.

Feeling extremely dejected and upset, Annalise grabbed her jacket-it would get cold in the nighttime-and her black sneakers. "I'm leaving!" She called before running out the front door, ignoring the responses of her frightened parents. With that, she ran out across the street and to the elementary school across from her apartment. Annalise thought it was strange and remarkable to see the elementary school's playground completely deserted and empty; not a soul was on the swingset, or the yellow slide, or the always-popular tire swing. Climbing over the fence-the gates were always locked up at night-Annalise landed on her ankle awkwardly; she tiredly limped to the tire swing, obviously in pain. She knew the tire swing was farthest away from the exterior security cameras because she would often go to the playground to think and to get away from her always-busy household.

As she sat on the swing, telling herself that Jessica and Julia were indeed still alive, Annalise noticed a dark, shadowed figure walk down the sidewalk, keeping his or her head down low. The figure seemed to be limping, as well as clutching his wrist tightly. "Are you alright?" She surprised herself in asking this question; "Don't talk to strangers," her parents would constantly preach.

The figure turned his or her head, revealing a masculine face, being a boy only slightly older than Annalise; what she noticed most about him was his striking green eyes. He shook wildly, head-to-toe, scared of Annalise. Before she could say anything else, the boy had run off, sprinting down the street away from the playground.

"How odd," she muttered to herself, looking down at her buzzing phone. A notification had popped up on her email. Opening up the message, her mouth fell open; the message was from Rushing Water's management, explaining how the band could no longer perform, and how Jessica and Julia's bodies were found. Their management described how the officers believe what had happened was no coincidence; the marks on their bodies proved that someone had indeed murdered the two.