Innocent Killers

IK (4) Day Of The Dead

TWO WEEKS LATER

Katherine stood in front of her bathroom mirror and stared emptily at her reflection.

The desire to go back in time grew with every passing day. She questioned how the hell she had ended up in the position that she was in, If only she had said no to Clara's weekend away invitation.

"Katherine?" Her grandmother's empathetic voice called from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Yeah, Grandma Lee?" Katherine responded trying to put some glimmer of liveliness in her voice.

"It's time for the funeral." Her grandmother's voice held the undeniable tone of sympathy, and it made Katherine sick to the stomach because she knew that it wasn't what she deserved.

"Okay," Katherine mumbled stepping away from the mirror.

The image of Clara's dead body flashed in her head, and the unpleasant taste of bile crawled up her throat. Like she was a professional - since she seemed to be becoming one - Katherine ran to the toilet and threw herself forward just in time as her breakfast is rejected from her body. Her grandmother who, apparently, had been pushing her ear up against the door rushed into the bathroom and held back Katherine's perfectly straight hair.

"It's okay Sweetie," Her grandmother tried to console her, only it was hard to do since the reason Katherine was vomiting wasn't that of trauma but because of this sickening destructible demon called guilt.

When Katherine was finished, she leaned back and closed her eyes to take a deep breath.

"...Katherine?" Grandma Lee mumbled unsure of herself.

The voice of her grandmother seemed to drag Katherine back into reality. She opened her eyes once again and blinked back the wetness that they held. She turned to Grandma Lee and gave her a weak smile.

Her words where slowly uttered as she stood from the bathroom floor and returned to the bathroom mirror. "Sorry Gran, I must have eaten something bad."

Her Grandma slowly stood and looked at Katherine through the mirror. Hesitantly Grandma Lee whispered a question which she hated to ask, "You aren't - you know - again?"

Katherine groaned and turned from the mirror to face her Grandmother face to face. "No. I'm not."

Grandma Lee nodded slowly then stepped back and nodded towards the door. "Common, let's get going."

Katherine quickly grabbed her toothbrush and brushed her teeth with lightning speed before following her grandmother out of the bathroom and house.

As they exited the small house, Grandma Lees old fashion cherry red convertible car came into view.

Katherine walked around to the driver's side of the car and hopped in while Grandma Lee hoped in from the Passenger side. A token of Grandma Lees growing age was her increasing lack of senses. Her hearing wasn't the best, and neither was her sight. Meaning Katherine now took the liberty of being Grandma Lees, personal chauffeur.

As they pulled out of the driveway, Grandma Lee stared at Katherine's side profile. The pale complexion of Katherine was becoming more apparent with every passing day, along with the darkening bags under her eyes. Instead of the bright glimmer Katherine's eyes had held two weeks prior, there was now a cold, almost paranoid look as if she feared everything.

Grandma Lee knew she had just witnessed her best friend get murdered by her vengeful ex-boyfriend, Andrew. But, it seemed like there was more to the story. And she wanted to know what exactly that was.

The funeral was all black attire and pained expressions. The people that surrounded the ceremony all possessed swollen red eyes and shocked eyes; as if they couldn't believe the sudden loss. Except for four.

Everything reflected the epitome of a classic funeral scene, it was cold and damp the air was silent other than the occasional slap of rain colliding with a surface.

It was dark, hazy. No birds were singing, and no flowers were blooming. A classic funeral scene. Katherine thought sourly.

While Katherine was stuck in the wickedness, the rest of the world rushed passed, reality didn't gift her a chance to catch her breath. Karma in its purest form. She wandered through the churchyard like a silhouette of her former self.

Her slow stroll dragged to a slow stop as she arrived next to them. Keith, Marcus and Madeline.

Keith was expressionless, unreadable. He stood still, the only movement indicating that his mind was still slightly tied to the ground was the erratic shaking of his fingers. The sheer hollowness that now took claim of his soul threatened to engulf him entirely.

Katherine was quick to remove her eyes from the ticking time bomb and instead switched them to Marcus.

Where Keith was emotionless, Marcus was livid. Countless emotions flashed through his eyes in mere seconds. Anger, Paranoia, Regret, Pain. It was all there, a free display to Katherine's willing curious gaze. She saw everything thing he felt, everything he thought. The vacancy in his heart, the dullness crushing his brain. It was ripping him apart.

It was destroying them all.

Madeline cried like her chest was lungs where concaving. She trembled like she was standing atop her own earthquake. It was a perfect display of heartache. If only it were real. Then maybe Katherine would believe there was still some sense of humanity within Madeline. But where everyone saw tears and brokenness, Katherine saw an act played to perfection.

Katherine didn't allow any tears to fall from her eyes as she looked away from the guilty and towards the fooled.

Clara's parents Mr and Ms Williams stood clinging to one and other as if freeing each other would be surrendering themselves to the undeniable heartache of losing their only child. Mrs Williams bright blue eyes leaked multiple tears in the time that Katherine had been staring at her. And finally, as if feeling the gaze of a predator Mrs Williams glanced up and met the empty unflinching gaze of Katherine. The look in the teenage girls' eyes chilled Mrs Williams body to the bone. As quickly as she had seen it, it was gone.

Katherine quickly realised that the way she was looking at the women was nothing short of suspicious, so she covered it with a sad smile. A smile she had stolen from numerous people attending the funeral.

Mrs Williams didn't return the look and instead slowly switched her gaze back to her daughters' casket.

There was something wrong with those kids who her daughter had once called her friend. She could just sense it; they were lying about something. And she wanted to know what exactly that something was.