Midnight At The Sheriff's
LISA sat in the office. She was now calm after moments of crying but she was still in shock. She looked at the clock, it was thirty minutes to twelve at the night.
It was almost exactly three hours ago when she stepped into her neighbour, Sarah's, house. She had been dialling Sarah's line but there was no answer.
She didn't want to bother and almost thought about not visiting but she had already left. She was about to ring the bell when she had noticed the door was slightly open.
Sarah never left her door open, it was always closed. Feeling something wasn't right, Lisa ventured into the house that seemed eerily quiet.
There was no distant sound of a TV show, or clatter of dishes or sounds from a cooking pot. It was a Monday night and Lisa knew Sarah would be watching TV or doing the dishes or cooking as Sarah always had free Tuesdays, but she heard nothing.
She checked the kitchen and called Sarah's name but got no response. Getting a bit worried she headed inside. Sarah lived in a bungalow that had the same interior and exterior as the other houses on the street, so Lisa knew where to go, plus, she had been in this very house plenty of times.
There were two rooms in the house, Sarah's and one for the guests, whenever she had one. Lisa once again found Sarah's bedroom door open and now had a bad feeling but it wasn't compared to how she felt when she saw a trail of red liquid.
Using her eyes to follow the trail it led her straight to a horrible sight. Beside her bed laid Sarah with a blood stained shirt and black jeans, her hair was a mess. Her head was sideways and her eyes were open, staring, but seeing nothing.
She looked lifeless, she was lifeless.
Lisa had let out a shrill scream. Not long after she had called the police, an ambulance arrived. They needn't do any last minute revivals or CPR. She was long gone and it was obvious by the amount of blood on the floor.
Lisa saw the ambulance leave and immediately Sheriff Robin headed towards her.
"Lisa I am so sorry for what has happened here. I want to assure you that I would do my best to make sure that the person who did this would be imprisoned.", he said and Lisa nodded.
"I would like to know what you saw and how the day was for you from the beginning. I understand you wouldn't be able to stay here considering it's just beside a crime scene and it's surrounded by policemen. Would you mind coming with me to drop your statement and probably resting at my house after?", Sheriff Robin suggested and she stared at him with her red puffy eyes.
Robin was a nice man, some years older than Lisa. He once had feelings for her, but she could never return them. Things got strained between them when she had started dating Hugh.
Hugh never got along with Robin because he felt Robin was always trying hard to get in everyone's good graces and wasn't genuine, despite him being a sheriff while Robin never got along with Hugh because he felt he was up to no good. He didn't have a particular reason to feel so, he just didn't like Hugh.
Robin had married years ago and even had a daughter who was five, but he had marital issues with his wife. She wanted him to leave the town and get a better job elsewhere but Robin didn't want to and that led to their divorce and her leaving the town, of course without her daughter. She had left Robin to deal with work and a growing daughter.
This made her a topic of gossip for a while in the town. Some people openly talked bad about her in front of Robin, some offered help in raising his daughter and some women saw this as their opportunity to throw themselves at him.
"Thanks Rob, I would appreciate that.", she said and after giving some orders he led her to his car and drove off. The car ride was silent and Lisa tried not to cry so not to make Robin uncomfortable.
They arrived at the station and he decided to give her some time to calm down. Later, he came to take her statement.
"Yesterday, I had talked to her and we planned to go kitchen shopping today. She said she needed some new baking trays. We agreed but she told me Josh was coming over that after he left we would go out.", Lisa said and Robin noted this down.
"He stayed for a while and then he left. I also saw him drive off."
"And after he left, did you hear from Sarah?", Robin asked.
"Yes, I had called her and she said we would leave in an hour's time since the shopping mart was close by. But twenty minutes to the time we were supposed to leave, she called and she cancelled."
"When was that? When did she call?", Robin asked.
"Around ten minutes past seven.", she replied before she continued. "I asked her why, but she just said she was tired and wanted to spend the rest of the day asleep. So I let her be.", Lisa explained.
"And did she tell you why she was tired, if she was sick?". Robin asked.
"No, she just said she was tired.", Lisa said and sniffed
"Then what made you visit her in the evening?", he asked.
"After we decided not to go shopping, she said someone rang the bell while I was still on the cal. She hung up saying we would talk later. She had something she wanted to tell me that was important. The reason was for the past few days she had been looking worried, acting like she was hiding something or wanted to tell me something but couldn't and whenever I would bring it up she would wave it off.
So today, she said I should follow her kitchen shopping so we would discuss whatever it was, but we didn't so she said we would talk later. I waited till who ever it was to leave but I never saw them leave. So I decided to go instead. I found both her house and bedroom door open and then I...", her voice cracked and she remained silent as the image flashed in her mind.
Robin put a hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to console her.
"I just never, I never thought she... She didn't have any problems with anyone in town and if she did, they weren't so massive that one would want to kill her, I... don't get it. Why would anyone want her dead?", Lisa said more to herself.
Sarah and Lisa were close friends. In the time Sarah had spent in Liddenville, the only person she truly trusted had been Lisa. Though Lisa had been feeling Sarah slip away of recent. Lisa would question her recent change of behaviour but Sarah always dismissed the topic.
Later, Robin sent someone to take Lisa back to his house. His daughter, Betty wasn't at home. She was in a sleepover at her friend's house. He didn't understand why she went for a sleepover on a school night, but he didn't really question it.
Robin loved and trusted his daughter enough to know that he had trained her well, along with some of his friends help of course. Also, the person who's house she went to was a trusted friend of his.
His house wasn't so far from the station, so ten minutes later Lisa was at his house. She had been to his house before, so it wasn't new to her.
After Robin's wife left, she would come to babysit Betty for a while so she knew her way around the house.
She thanked the officer, who gave his condolences before leaving. Then she headed to the guest room. She had a nice long shower. She had managed to calm herself and was now seated on the bed.
She wondered whether the rest of her friends had heard. Raven, Pablo, Miles. Hugh.
She thought of calling Hugh, but she just couldn't bring herself to talk to anyone. This was all so painful for her. Sarah who had come to the town like three months ago, had befriended a lot of people and was admired by almost everyone.
Sarah had once told Lisa of how her life was before she came here. She was the only child of her parents and lived in New York. She never told Lisa what actually happened, but all she told Lisa was that her parents had died and she found things hard so she decided to leave and get a new start, which she did get.
Sarah found her way into their small town and into the hearts of many. She even got someone who admired her in a different light. Josh, her boyfriend and the Mayor's son. Lisa and the four of her friends never really liked Josh. They had known him since elementary school and knew him for his bad behaviour and habits. She would never know what Sarah really saw in him but once Sarah had said she was happy with Josh, that was all Lisa needed to let them be.
Lisa couldn't believe that the next thing they were gonna be talking about her burial and things related to it. Then she thought back to the sight of Sarah's body. Was Sarah murdered or did she die a natural death?
It was obviously the former, but who and why would anybody want her dead. There were a lot in this town but they weren't so much 'cause everybody knew each other.
After a lot of thinking, Lisa couldn't, at the moment, think of anyone who would want Sarah dead.
Then she thought back to how worried Sarah was the last few days. She remembered it started after Sarah had visited Josh's parents.
Josh and Sarah had met the day after Sarah arrived and he helped show her around the town. Sarah had explained to Lisa that she felt an immediate connection to him.
Of course, she didn't have much of a say and soon, much too soon rather, Sarah and Josh started dating. It wasn't till weeks later that the news spread and it was even on the papers.
Sarah told Lisa that she was going to try her best and impress Josh's parents and Lisa supported her. Although she didn't like their relationship, she gave Sarah tips. She was dating Hugh and she had met his parents a lot so she told Sarah everything she did.
But unfortunately, it wasn't enough given that Sarah had come back home alone and deflated. Josh didn't even bring her home despite how far his parents house was from Sarah's.
Sure, she felt Josh was a jerk but he couldn't have been the one who killed her, she even saw him leave with her own two eyes. She wasn't the nosey type, but she heard the sound of his car and checked to see him driving off.
Unless, he had come back later in the evening, but she knew Josh always went out in his car. Since he had gotten his black Honda Civic, he hadn't gone anywhere with it. But aside from that, what would have been his reason?
All this thinking was stressing Lisa as her eyelids started dropping. She turned on the bed, not feeling as comfortable since it wasn't hers.
She tried to avoid thinking of the next day and the week to come but she hoped that the person who did this wouldn't strike again.
The last thing they needed was a serial killer on the loose going off killing people.
So guys how was the first chapter. It's kinda short compared to how my other story is but it's just the start. I want to know your views on the story and the characters you've met so far. But the next chapter would talk more on the people of liddenville. I really hope you guys enjoy.
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SJ💝