A cop was hiding in Alice's house? The cop must have heard me shout "Alice" and hid until we walked together down the stairs. What do we do now? We have no reason to be here; depending on what we say or do now we could end up arrested or even dead. And what if Alice has a gun in her backpack and she's waiting to use it... I don't want to kill a cop...
The cop looked agitated but he spoke in a calm voice, "I'm here to investigate the murder of --
"A murder?!" Alice exclaimed. "We know the people who live here.... Are they really dead?"
Apparently we were friends of the family. Her lie could get us out of this mess.
The officer raised his eyebrow but lowered his gun, "I'm sorry but it's a possibility. They've been missing for a couple of days.... Just yesterday the Thompsons, a neighbor, called saying there was a putrid smell coming from this house. I came in yesterday under the grounds to suspect there could be bodies rotting in here but when I came inside there was no smell. My theory is that it was the drainage; it's common for the drainage to smell like that in other areas of the city but here it happens once-in-a-lifetime. So, why are you here?"
"We're family friends. We were worried so our parents told us to come before class..."
"Alright... just to make sure, can you identify this man?" The cop showed us a picture of a fat guy with a scruffy, long beard.
"Yes, that's Payton. I had no idea they could be victims of murder... Who do you think killed the officer?" Alice eloquently said while I stood in silence.
"Hmm..." the officer groomed his mustache. "We'll have to investigate more, check for debts and connections that could've gotten them in trouble."
"Ehh.." I uttered. "I don't think they had problems with debts since they live in a nice house."
"You have a point miss... but you would be surprised... drugs, gambling... and there's still the possibility they escaped somewhere... When I searched the place yesterday we couldn't find their wallets... so, what's your name?"
"I-I'm" -- I stuttered
"I'm Lin Rose, and she's Lana."
I picked myself together, "Y-yes, I'm Lana Edevane."
"I see; but you were still in a crime scene so I'll search you under suspicion of a knife or gun." the cop said.
"Sure," Alice said and handed him our backpacks. I was scared she would do something but she just smiled at me; that smile probably meant "everything will be fine."
The cop searched us and found nothing. He turned to our backpacks and chose mine first. I didn't know why I was so nervous when I knew I had nothing dangerous except scissors. The cop checked until he looked satisfied and closed it.
Alice noticed I was shaking so she grabbed my hand.
The cop opened Alice's backpack, he took everything out and checked every nook and cranny in it, finally, he looked satisfied and said, "I think that's alright. Remember to call us if you think of anything."
"Okayy."
Alice wasn't carrying a gun and we didn't end up killing him. We were lucky he didn't consider scissors a note-worthy weapon or we could've been arrested by now.
"Thank you officer. I think we'll be going now."
We came out the front door and saw the cop walk away.
We were silent for a minute, "What are you going to do now?" I said.
"I'm going to pull the plastic bags out of the river."
"Why?"
"Our prints are still there. Fingerprints can last up to seven years in plastic bags and you need detergent to clean them off."
"Oh I didn't know that... won't they was away with the water?" I asked.
"No. Fingerprints are oil based and oil and water don't go together so I'll have to look for the bodies and properly get rid of them. Actually I was looking for detergent while you mopped but I couldn't find any and then that cop knocked on the door."
"You couldn't find any? But your clothes always smell nice."
"Yeah I've always washed my clothes. Someone probably threw it out or put it somewhere else so I'll have to buy some."
"Oh... can I help you with all that?"
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it..."
"Hey, can I ask you something Alice?"
"What is it?"
"Why did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Kill your parents..."
"There's a cop walking away over there."
Lana is 17 years old.
Alice is 18.
Paisley is 19.
They go to school from 1:10 pm to 7:20 pm.
(This is just details)
Time spent between school and getting to Paisley's house:
Last class ends at 7:20. (On the first day) It took them 3 minutes to be out out of school (7:23); 7 to get to Alice's house (7:30); 6 for them (Lana and Alice) to be on their way to the river (7:36); 9 to get to the river (7:45); 5 for Paisley to go pick them up (7:50); 5 to get to Paisley's house (7:55); exactly 5 minutes later Lana would check the time and say that it's eight o' clock.
--
We stood in silence for a moment, "Look, there's your mom."
"I'll see you tomorrow at school." I said.
"How was it? Did you have fun?" My mom asked as I got into the car.
"Mm, yes, it was pretty fun."
I looked out the window and Alice was smiling and waving at us so I waved back.
I hadn't slept too well so I slept on the car and when we I got home. I ended up waking up at 4:00 am and I had nothing to do at home but clean and think about Alice and the cop.
I remembered the cop saying her neighbors were the Thompsons and Alice said they were the Taylors so Alice made a mistake. Turns out Alice wasn't the best at remembering, or the Thompsons were other neighbors.
I did my assignments and watched shows online until it came time to go to school. I wanted to know more about Alice and Paisley.
I was nervous and excited when Alice came in the door and sat down next to me. I whispered to her, "Did you bring a knife today?"
Alice giggled, "Just between you and me... no, but I have scissors if you need them."
Classes quickly passed by until the bell rang for recess. Alice and I would sit down at a table and just talk to guys and try to come up and talk with Alice; Alice was always cold to them. I never noticed Paisley but she usually passed by with her friends, today she was absent; she was probably hungover.
It was normal for a guy to come and try to talk to Alice. She had round eyes, a small nose and she was always in good shape; apart from her bright scarlet eyes and hair. Today another guy came by; he was part of that group of guys who could never get a girlfriend. He was bigger than us, he looked shabby, and he smelled badly.
"Hey, can I sit here for a while?" he politely asked.
"Okay." Alice said.
"How's it going?" he intently looked at Alice.
"We're doing good." she nodded with a flat smile on her face.
"I see... that's good..." He looked at me, "Oh, Hi, what's your name?"
"Lana."
"Oh, that's good." he stopped looking at me and stared into the nothingness. We ignored him for the time being.
"Did you like the party?"
"I did, yes! It was the first time I had ever gotten drunk like that."
"Did you kiss anybody?"
The guy (who was still sitting by us and listening in on our conversation) leaned on the table, suddenly interested in this. Alice had probably blocked out his existence and had forgotten about him.
"Ohhh, did you go to a party?"
"Yea." Alice's charming expression had dissipated into a blank; almost robot-like expression.
"So, what did you do there?" he asked.
"Nothing really."
"Ohhh, but a party sounds like fun, I've never been to a party like that."
"I see." I replied. I considered myself unlucky for never being invited or taken to a good party so I couldn't help but feel bad for him but with his ways he was just annoying.
"Did somebody ask you to come here as a challenge?" Alice sharply asked.
"No... I just wanted to talk for a while..." he looked guilty and pitiful. "Do you have any family?" he fixated on Alice again.
"Yes, my parents."
"Oh... that's a lot..."
I was shocked to hear it myself but I knew she was teasing.
The bell rang and we got back to our classes. He followed us back; he sat at the far right corner of the room while we were on the left side so we felt relieved but we couldn't shake him off completely.
He didn't have anyone to talk to in class but from time to time I would look over to his corner and notice him staring at us. You didn't need to be a genius to know he was madly in love with Alice but we ignored him and continued our day like usual until we got out of school.
I texted my mom from Alice's phone to let me stay over one more time and she accepted. We were first going for something to eat then we would sleep over at Paisley's house; Alice was going to be staying there now.
We went to a Burger Ape; a popular burger place near our school. While we waited for our orders I noticed the guy from earlier sitting far away. It was normal to see students in this burger store so it probably just a coincidence.
Our orders came and we started eating.
"Hey... and did you kiss anybody?" I asked Alice, who was about to bite her bacon burger.
"No, I didn't. I don't like kissing people... No, not that I don't like it but... I'm alright without kissing them."
"I didn't know that. And by the way I didn't do it. Actually... I've never kissed anyone." I said.
"Oh really?" Eh... but you're pretty and you're nice so I wouldn't worry about it. I-I haven't kissed anyone either."
"Really? You never had a boyfriend in middle school or kissed someone at a party?"
"I think I've had enough from just seeing Paisley kiss others... just kidding...!! she's not like that!!"
I giggled but looked at the other end of the restaurant and noticed the guy leave. We were done with our food so we went to wash our hands then went outside.
Paisley's house wasn't far away but it was dark. "Hey shouldn't we call someone to come pick us up?" I suggested.
"Why's that?"
"Well, it's late and it would be safer."
"Hey, we're together. Paisley's house is nearby, we should go now before it gets later."
"Are you sure?"
"I know what's best for us." Alice said.
It was dark outside with only a few lights in the road. We walked the road by ourselves and we were almost halfway there. To our left there I saw a barren terrain all boxed up; just in case, I looked behind but no one was there. I looked to my right and saw our classmate fastly approaching us. Alice looked at me and tried to grab my hand so we could run together, but the man flew towards me and punched me in the gut, knocking me over. He tightly grabbed Alice by the wrist and took her to the barren, dark terrain. He took off her backpack and forced Alice to take off her blouse. Alice had killed someone before but this guy was way bigger than her and I was badly hurt in the floor.
"I'm madly in love with you... It's not fair for me that I will never be able to have a girlfriend... I'm sorry but you're just so fucking pretty... Why do guys like me always end up suffering... It's just... you make me fall madly in love with you... I'm sorry I hurt your friend but you are so pretty. I've wanted you to be my girlfriend ever since I first saw you."
I looked over to see Alice struggling and the look on this pig's face, he was taking off her skirt and I saw him lick her face, she moved around her face so he wouldn't kiss him.
"Lana... remember what you asked me... I'm sorry..."
He suspected whatever we could've been talking about but he was busy taking off Alice's clothes.
I was livid, furious, enraged, twisted and worried. I forced my body to crawl despite my pain and desperately looked through Alice's backpack. I had found them.
I put up the strength to stand. I saw Alice kicking and hitting with the limbs he hadn't locked down. He was trying to take off her panties but Alice screamed right in his face and struggled.
I strode to him, saw his unprotected, fat, disgusting neck and stabbed the scissors.
He let our a gruesome scream and tried to grab the scissors while he stumbled over. He was bleeding out but he was still alive. I saw him look at me with a mad face but Alice stood in front of him and punched him in the throat. He choked but still stood so Alice punched him in the throat again.
The man let out an awful noise of gasping for air while choking and struggling; I got to see when he fell over his back and finished to stab the scissors in his neck.
Alice was half-naked. She put on her blouse and skirt and grabbed my hand.
We stood there, watching the blood gush out of his lifeless body; in the middle of a dark, barren terrain. I was terrified but relieved at the same time; his death brought me peace of mind.
I froze at the lifeless, whimpering, twitching body of that guy. I didn't regret doing it but I couldn't get over being so close and causing this body to die. No one could see it because the place was like a box with only openings to the sky and to the front, all in the dark. to the other side of the street there was a closed building. Luckily the only house nearby was 1 or two buildings away so they couldn't have accidentally seen.
"Now what do we do with this...?" Alice said.
"Let's just throw it in the trash." I suggested.
"Oh yeah that's...not a good idea."
"What if we clean off your prints?"
"We'll end up missing some spots; and they probably still find my DNA."
"Do we have to take him with us?"
"We could..."
I grabbed my backpack from the floor, "I wonder if --
"I don't think he would fit even if we used both of our backpacks. And we couldn't leave our books somewhere. First of all, this," Alice hesitated for a moment then kicked the body to be facing down, then jerked the scissors out of his nape, "We'll have to throw this somewhere far, far away."
"Couldn't we take off his clothes and try to hide your prints somehow?"
"His clothes?"
"We could focus on the prints in his limbs... Actually, never mind. But I think he deserves to be found naked so they tell it like that on the news... if they find him."
Alice waved back and forth, thinking.
"It's too risky to leave him here... I'm sorry I couldn't do anything."
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Are you?"
"Well... this is really disgusting... we shouldn't touch him anymore."
Alice stumbled and when she was about to fall I hugged her. She was cold and weak. I couldn't force Alice to do everything again, "I have an idea." I said.
"We're two girls walking alone in the night. He jumped on us."
"I know... but the scissors..."
"What about them?" I wiped their handle with my blouse, making sure not to get blood in it.
"Your prints only prove you struggled against him. Look at us, do we look like killers?"
Alice stepped back and stared into my eyes.
"Let's call 911. We won't even have to lie, except for one detail; I didn't stab him. We'll tell them this classmate planned to assault us, he punched me in the gut, made my backpack fly off and left my scissors in the ground. Then he tried to... do things; when suddenly, a strange man appeared, took my scissors from the ground and saved you."
Alice cleared off her throat... "I didn't want them to know who we were but --
"We can beg them to not tell anyone else. We can tell them leaking this to our classmates would only put us in more danger of it happening again and would ruin our reputations and relationships."
"I-I think you're right. Let's call 911."
"Yes. Let me throw my backpack so it's more believable. Actually... Let's do something first..."
I took off my socks and used one of them as a mitten; I took the scissors away from Alice, swallowed my disgust from touching a corpse; and, like grabbing an injured bird to help it fly, I stabbed them back into his nape. I furiously kicked him too, so he would be facing up.
Alice called 911 and told them we were attacked in this street. I threw my background to the ground so it would be more believable. Some blood got into my sock so I hid it beneath my feet; I hid my other sock too so it wouldn't be strange I was only wearing one of them.
Instead of waiting in the light of the street we hid behind the body. We thought if another guy passed by they would glance at the box and see two girls chilling behind a body.
Finally, a cop car arrived; it was the same officer we encountered in Alice's house; his mustache damp with coffee.
The cop flashed a light into the terrain box and we came out to talk.
"Hey, I know you two," he said. "What's happened?"
I told him what happened. Alice's white skirt was ripped by the side and her hair looked messy.
"Jesus... first, what happened the other day and now this... Holy... you're an unlucky pair."
"What were you? Sisters? Neighbors? Friends?"
"We're friends." I said.
"We're sorry we dragged you here late at night. Were you with your family sir?" Alice said.
"We were having dinner," he exclaimed. "My wife makes this great pasta with cream and shrimps; I'm learning to make it myself."
"Do you have kids?" Alice asked.
"I have a beautiful daughter; she just turned 7, we were going to build a puzzle after dinner."
"What was the puzzle like?" I asked.
"It was a puzzle of kittens in a basket. It has 100 pieces..." He cleared his throat, "you two were Mana and Rose right?"
"I'm Lin Rose yes." Alice said and I followed with my real name.
"Rose, really? Red roses and your hair too; did you dye it to match your last name?"
"Nope, I was just lucky."
"Does your mom have auburn hair too?"
"She did, yeah."
"Oh, and you miss, you were Lana Edevane right?"
I nodded.
"So this guy, how did he look like? Do you know him? Did you notice him following you earlier in the day?"
I looked behind him, far into the street, almost looking for more excuses to use; I saw a little pond with tire tracks from the officer's car.
"E-Eh... He looked like a grown man; he was wearing a black hoodie and strangely, no shoes. He was also wearing a shoulder bag and denim pants. I couldn't see his face."
"No shoes? He ran here in his socks and helped you out?"
"I guess so... I don't know why he wasn't wearing his shoes but they were probably in his shoulder bag."
"Hmm... So this man just grabbed the scissors on the floor and did it."
"Right." Alice said.
"Alright look. I'll call some people then I'll call your parents and tell them to come for you."
"Wait, wait... please don't call them... we're both adults and our moms always worry to death about us. I think it would be more dangerous for her to know what almost happened to me today. We never want this to happen again. Please don't call my mom, I really worry for her health; she believes in things and I don't want to see her sad."
The cop let out air, "What about your mom?"
"She's right. I don't want to make my mom sad."
"I could arrest you in suspicion of murder today but you girls have been through a lot these past days. I'll give you a ride home."
"Oh, our parents aren't home and we don't have keys; we were going to stay with a friend." Alice said.
"Alright, let's wait for someone else to arrive here first then we'll go."
We waited for someone to arrive, I stood outside and Alice sat in the back of the police car.
The cop looked around; asked in the houses nearby and gathered information. I'm sure he noticed the pond like me and realized the man probably stepped in it. I couldn't tell the cop it was because of that because he probably would've thought I manipulated him into thinking that but I'm just giving him the pieces and he's completing the puzzle.
Forensics or something arrived in the scene and the cop drove us to Paisley's house, it was alright pretty late.
Paisley opened the door, "Alicee!?" she leaned outside while she smoked a cigarette.
"She looked up at the cop then down at us. Alice stared at her with a mean face and Paisley said, "Oh, so Alice couldn't come. So who's the cop?"
"You shouldn't be a smoking girl. You're going to regret it someday and when it's too late your money is going to be gone and your lungs will pay for it."
"Don't worry I'm 19," Paisley grinned.
"Take good care of them." The cop nodded at us then got into his car.
We waved at him and Paisley stared at us in confusion.
We went to Paisley's room and I told her what happened.
"Holy shit. Really? A guy from your classroom that used to look creepy at Alice?"
"I didn't think he had the balls to do something like that." Alice scoffed.
"You should've cut his balls and little thingy."
"We couldn't." Alice let down her fist into the bed. "The police would think it was a passion crime instead of a defense; they would've charged us with the murder or with desecration of a corpse."
"But it would've been funny!!"
Alice couldn't help letting out a stifled laugh.
We ended up watching shows until 6:00 am then we went to sleep and I texted my mom I could go to school with them and I would come back later tomorrow.
We took showers and went to sleep with some of Paisley's clothes. When we woke up I chose to wear some cigarette pants and a white blouse for school; I somehow looked like an office lady. Alice had a black jacket and pants; she looked badass. Paisley wore an oversized red (wine) shirt and denim pants; I couldn't describe her outfit because I lacked fashion wisdom, maybe someday I'll ask Paisley to teach me.
When we got to our school we separated ways; when we entered our class the atmosphere seemed gloomy and quiet. It didn't take long for the teacher to come in and say, "I believe you've heard the unfortunate news."
"Your classmate, Edward, passed away yesterday. His family is arranging a funeral and we are going to go with the principal to give our respects to the family."
I could see Alice wanting to look back at me. I leaned in and told her, "What? We can not go."
I couldn't go to their son's funeral right? That would be disrespectful. I also didn't want to think about what happened again. This was just a trap to get traumatized even more and I don't know if I could bear the weight of his relatives on my conscience.
Alice went to the restroom to wash her hands, I was alone for a good while so I wanted to try talking to more people.
A group of three were talking to my right, "What's up?" I started.
"The roof." a tall guy said.
"What's your name?" another one asked and the third sat in silence.
"Oh, I'm Lana. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." the second one said then turned to the third and they continued talking. I couldn't just try to start a conversation again, it would be too awkward and I didn't have the gut for this kind of thing.
In the meantime I thought about the funeral. We couldn't just leave; the teacher would notice and we would seem evil or something for not going. We could try getting out of it by saying we're sick and going someplace else but I wasn't sure.
Alice came back and I was comforted in her smile. She sat down and I felt like following in her footsteps so I went to the restroom too to catch some fresh air.
I came into the restroom and Paisley was also there.
"Hi." Paisley waved at me.
"Hi... Hey, I worry for Alice. You've been her friend longer, what can I do to help in class?"
"Do to help... I have a question first. How did you get into crime?"
"Well, I helped Alice with the bodies..."
"I know but, how did it happen? Why did you help her?"
"Well... We were good friends and one day she came up to me and asked me if I could help."
"And you just said yes?"
"I did, yes, but I was worried about her. Why do you ask?"
"I don't know, I just wasn't sure how much you knew her."
"How did you meet her?"
"Well, one day, like two years ago... in a city away from here, she came up to me and asked me for a cigarette; after that we became friends."
"What happened after that? A city away from here?"
"Look, Lana, you should go back to class or you're going to be spanked"
"No, who cares about class, and the teachers don't do that."
"Lana... I meant you should go back to class if you wanted to help Alice. And I didn't mean the teachers when I said spanked."
"Okay... I think I'll be going."
Paisley rawred at me then I heard her giggle while I walked to class.
I never thought about things that way. I decided to be a criminal... I did it, because I had a good reason but I still did it. I guess I'm not like other girls... or criminals... My household is completely uneventful. I couldn't say I did it but I wasn't going to run away from this, I just couldn't look to the side in a situation like this. I had to go, because I was the person that killed him. It's not like they'll know it was me but I just couldn't run away.
I came back to class and sat. "So, what are you going to do about the funeral? she whispered to me."
"I'll go. But I think you should say you're sick." I said.
"Oh, don't worry about me. I worry about you."
"Don't worry about me... I decided to go."
Classes passed like normal and we went in the school bus at 8:00. The graveyard was all foggy. I saw his brother sit quietly, his dad was talking with his coworkers that came to pay their respects and his mom was kneeling by his grave, crying. I decided not to look away. I took away his life, I'm the one responsible but I cannot say. I had no plans of ruining my life just yet and this guy had it coming to him. I wasn't cruel enough to go talk with his mom, I would've probably broken down but I watched from a distance. I couldn't even begin to comprehend what she had to go through. She was waiting for him to come home safely that night and the night just kept getting darker and darker until she received a call, telling her her son had passed away.
Alice stood next to me the whole time, she tried to grab my hand but I didn't want her pity. I destroyed that boy's life and damaged his family forever... but I won't say he was an angel that glued them together either. It was because of Alice that we didn't call a cab and walked instead but that wasn't her fault. We were unlucky and not careful enough. After all, I shouldn't be blaming her, she did nothing wrong, it's the guy's fault. Alice ended up being almost raped. The one who ended up suffering the most wasn't me, it was Alice. And I threw away her hand, I was being selfish for my own selfishly selfish reasons.
I walked back to Alice and grabbed her hand, Alice looked confused but she smiled.
Now that I remember, I decided to help Alice with hiding those bodies because she seemed desperate and in need of a supporting friend. If I had just said no, ignored it or said it was a joke I wouldn't be feeling all of these things but at the same time, hadn't I been there, who knows where Alice would be today.
Apparently, they chose to make the funeral at night so his friends could come. Sadly for him, he had none in our group. His actual group was scattered across all the different classes so no one stepped up to talk to the family.
We stood next to our classmates; they looked weird and quiet. After this we were allowed to go straight to our home or go back with the teachers but most people brought their backpack here. Everyone had gone away except for a few family members and we were somehow still here.
The dead guy's brother strode towards us. I think he thought himself a peacock and wanted to impress the only pretty girl at the funeral.
"Hey, how did you know my brother?"
"He was in our class." I said.
"Who are you?" he frowned.
"I'm Lana."
"Nice to meet you Lana, and nice to meet you Alice."
How the fuck did this guy know her name already.
"Were you close?" He stepped closer to Alice.
"Hey, I'm sorry to say this but your brother was kind of an asshole."
"What the fuck, why do you say that about my dead brother?" He stepped closer to Alice but Alice pushed him back.
"He deserved this." Alice spat in his brother's grave.
"Hey, hey, what the fuck bitch, I'm going to tell someone what you did and they're going to think you're a fucking bitch"
"Your brother used to go around groping girls, if you tell them this I will tell them that." Alice spat in his brother's grave again.
"Fuck you." he pushed back Alice. I kicked him in the leg and he scurried off.
We walked away in the opposite direction and sat down on the bench. I waited for Alice to call someone but for the moment we were just enjoying the fresh air.
"Oh God, I killed that guy's brother."
Alice poked me with her elbow, "Look."
The guy's brother was walking towards us.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"You shut up I'm trying to... ," he paused, "I'm trying to say sorry for all of that... I mean, my brother was kind of a douche sometimes... so I can understand that..."
"He was." Alice said.
"So... Do you mind if we start over, maybe go watch a movie or something?"
"Go away." Alice stated.
"Okay... Okay, fine." He walked away defeated.
I hadn't even realized it but I was holding hands with Alice on the bench and when I turned Alice was staring into my eyes. "Hey, do you mind if I take you somewhere else?" she said.