You Murderer...; Juniors Trilogy

You Murderer -Chapter 1&2-

Peighton passed me a bowl of ice cream as I switched the TV on to channel 9 News. It was my first month in Australia and I was still getting used to the annoying lack of channels to surf through.

There was a slur of headlines that I really didn't care about; such as robberies, athletes on drugs, miracle hair loss treatments and other things. Just as I was about to change the channel, one particular headline caught my attention. It showed a video of a girl in her early twenties being driven off in an ambulance. Not having anything better to watch, I settled myself down in the couch and glued my eyes to the TV, disregarding my ice cream on the side table.

“The girl who has been identified as Charlette Raine was found by a local fruit market owner in a dense patch of forest while on her morning walk. Nothing has been released about the alleged attacker, or how she came to be in such a state. Charlette has 3 broken ribs, a broken collarbone, serious head injuries and an unknown complication with her lungs. We will Update you further on this story in the future....” The seemingly bored news reporter said.

I could feel Peighton stiffen up next to me.

“Lukey?” She asked in her sweet little girly voice, tugging on the sleeve of my T-shirt gently. I nodded in her direction.

“Do you think that girl hurt herself?” She asked in the same tone. I shook my head, quickly dismissing the idea.

“No, I don't think so, sweetie. But they will catch the bad person.” I assured her, stroking her hair.

Peighton and I were brother and sister. We were as close as you could get. Our parents had both died in a plane accident 3 years back, when Peighton was only 1 year old, and I was 17. We were separated for a while, Peighton living with our Uncle Gavin and me living with our Grandma, on my mum's side. It was pretty difficult being away from each other so I took custody of her when I turned 18. We lived in Quebec for most of our lives, until I started to get tired of the same old routine there every day. We needed a change. We moved to New South Wales, Australia and it was working out just great. I got a job as a journalist, Peighton started school and we ended up buying a nice Victorian 2 storey house. Life was good.

The phone suddenly rang, making me jump. The caller I.D read Skylar, my best friend of 6 years. She was also my assistant journo. We used to travel around and take photos of random things, then making videos of us pretending to be reporters. Picking up the phone, I unravelled my arm from around Peighton's neck and put the phone up to my ear.

“Luke! Are you working tomorrow?” She asked, not bothering with a greeting.

“Yeah, hi Sky. Mm, I'm not working tomorrow, why?” I replied, seeming happier about the fact I wasn't working tomorrow. It was a Sunday anyways.

“Well now you are. We are going to Melbourne for a few nights to cover that girl that was just on the news. Were you watching?”

“Yes. Wait, what? Melbourne? Well, whatever. I'm tired. What time are we leaving?” I trailed, yawning loudly. We discussed the details of our trip before saying our good nights and hanging up. Peighton was fast asleep, clinging onto my arm. I scooped her up and took her into her – very pink – bedroom. She didn't even stir as I pulled the covers up to her chin.

The floor creaked a little as I walked down the hall paved with glossy wooden floorboards. My room was all the way at the back of the house, the window looking out over a lake full of shimmering water. At night, looking out through the window and seeing the moon and stars reflect out of that lake was soothing, but strangely eerie at the same time. Just the way the water was completely still, and you could even notice weird ochre and reddish colours in it if you looked hard enough.

After a long day of scavenging through newspapers and clicking endlessly at the computer mouse, sleep came quickly and easily to me, swallowing me into a world full of dreams.

Chapter 2

“Hello? Luke! Get up! It's time to go, the plane is leaving in an hour! Get your butt up before I drag you out!” Skylar yelled from in my en suite bathroom. I heard the distinct sound of her brushing her teeth. I hated that sound. It got me up pretty quickly.

I stumbled groggily over to the bathroom door and slammed it, mumbling as I walked to my wardrobe. Out if it, I took a smart pair of trousers, and my favourite plaid blue and black collared shirt. I quickly changed and went to get Peighton's clothes ready. After deciding she could wear a pretty green dress and black Mary Janes, I left her to change and ran into the lounge room, tripping over the steps in the process. I noticed Skylar had made breakfast and cleaned the kitchen. I bet if I checked, there wouldn't be a speck of dust anywhere. She was a neat freak like that.

Breakfast was ham and cheese Breville sandwiches (A/N does anyone else know what they are? Well you make a sandwich then you put it in the like big double iron thing and it squishes and cooks it. I'll shut up now.).

My neighbour, Caleb, agreed to care for Peighton for the 2 days I would be gone, as he has his own 6 year old daughter. Peighton skipped down the stairs wearing a pleased expression.

“I like this dress, Lukey.” She squealed, sitting next to me to nibble off of her sandwich. Skylar came down right after her and took a seat in front of me.

“We have 45 minutes to get to the airport. Better eat on the go!” she remarked. Oh crap! We were late! I rushed over to Caleb's to drop Peighton off and sped off to the airport.

::On The Plane::

Pushing the little earphone into my ears, I heard the voices of witnesses to some crime speaking. Skylar pulled a earphone out.

“That's our case. Listen.”

I pushed it back in and turned my full attention back to the news.

“Police are baffled by this strange mystery. Charlette Raine is still in hospital in a critical condition. There has been no evident to suggest what happened last night on November 28th. There will be further investigations until police can make sense of the event. More news at 3:00.”

My eyes narrowed in confusion. What could be so hard about this? Surely there had to be some kind of evidence, a foot print, fingerprint, a hair, anything! I would have to find out myself when I got there.

::In Melbourne::

We were here, the exact spot where Charlette Raine was attacked almost to death. The ground was covered in long grass, weeds and dead leaves. The area surrounding us was nothing but tree after tree after tree squashed together. Like we had heard on TV, there wasn't a single thing to suggest anyone had ever been here. Not even an indentation in the ground. It was all just a mixture of earthy colours.

Skylar was fumbling around a few metres away, picking up every bit of rubbish she could scavenge, then dusting it off, examining it for any traces of blood. I was just standing there, dumbfounded. How couldn't there be anything?

This was definitely the place, I could remember seeing that same tree on the news. It was tall, and twisted around in almost a full loop and there were big chunks of bark peeled off and hanging by the sides. I knew this was it.

“Would you like any help?” asked an unfamiliar voice. I turned around and my eyes widened.

_A/N_________________________

I no, I know, randomish cliff hanger. this took a while to write and yet I STILL think it turned out crap! I know my awesome BFF will probably say not, but I am not happy with this at all -_-. Next chapter will be way better! Seriously! It will have action in it : D Or will it not.....We shall seee....mostly because I'm too lazy to decide at the moment XD