Murder

Run.

Faster.

I couldn't stop.

He was coming.

I violently slapped branches away from my face as I stumbled through the trees, cursing softly under my breath as I continuously tripped over the roots jutting out into my path. The only sound to reach my ears in the silent forest was the sound of my ragged breathing; I heaved in shallow gulps of air through my mouth as I ran. Though my lungs begged for a more generous amount of oxygen, I knew stopping would be a fatal mistake. He would catch me.

How strange it was, I thought, that only a week earlier my mother had received a phone call from the police, informing her that my sister's body was found at the edge of the forest. That she had been murdered.

And now here I was, running through the exact same forest. The exact same forest her killer was running through, too.

***THREE DAYS EARLIER***

"I'm very sorry for your loss, Tessa."

"Thank you, Mr. Rogers," I responded stiffly.

"Alana truly was a magnificent girl. She will be missed," he sympathized, patting my shoulder awkwardly.

"Thank you, Mr. Rogers," I repeated coldly, glaring at his backside as he walked away.

It wasn't that I harbored any particular feelings of animosity toward Mr. Rogers, - he was my neighbor, after all - but I had grown tired of hearing the same words spoken over and over again. It was as if everyone attending the funeral was reading from the same script that they had banded together to create. Even the way all of them looked at me was the same. Expressions full of pity for the poor girl whose older sister had been murdered.

And did any of them even bother to think about her murderer? They all seemed to be unconcerned that there was, in fact, a cold-blooded killer walking amongst them. How could they be so dense? Maybe they would start to care more if it was their own children who turned up dead.

I yawned, politely raising a black-gloved hand to cover my mouth. I was tired, naturally, as I had been standing by my sister's coffin for about two hours as the funeral guests came forward to pay their respects. My mother stood still beside me, eyes red from days spent crying. She hadn't spoken a single word since she got the call four days ago.

"Bored?" inquired a voice at my side, interrupting my thoughts.

Startled, I jumped slightly before whirling around to face the owner of the voice. It was Jake, my sister's former boyfriend.

"Oh," I said, relaxing slightly. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, I'm sad about Alana and all, but I'm not exactly having the time of my life here."

"Mmhmm," Jake responded, taking a nonchalant sip of the fruit punch he held. "I know what you mean. I'm pretty sure this wouldn't be how Alana would want her funeral to be like."

"What do you think she'd want it to be like?"

He shrugged slightly. "Anything but this. It's so tense. I'm sure it'd just make her feel like her murder was happening all over again, you know?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I just meant that the atmosphere now would probably be similar to the one when she was murdered."

I narrowed my eyes. "No one knows what took place during her murder. How can you be so sure that it was like this?"

He chuckled nervously. "I guess you're probably right. I was just assuming."

"Uh huh."

"Look," he said quickly, glancing at his watch. "I'd better go. It's getting late."

With that he hurried away, leaving me standing by the coffin next to my mother. Alone.

But unfortunately, that didn't last for long. No sooner had Jake walked away then a police officer came strolling in my direction. I recalled that he happened to be the very same police officer who had made the telephone call alerting my mother to the horrible news.

"Ms. Simon," he nodded grimly at my mother as he approached. "Tessa."

"Officer Ryan." I inclined my head politely in his direction.

"I'm sorry once more for the terrible loss. I was just hoping to discuss with you more of what we've turned up about Alana's killer."

I perked up immediately, eager to hear what new evidence the police force had gathered. "Yes?"

"As we told you before, it's most likely someone in the neighborhood," Officer Ryan continued. "We're thinking that it's someone close to her. A best friend, boyfriend, or anything of that sort."

"Someone close to her?" I echoed.

"Yes." Officer Ryan nodded. "We've already interviewed all of her friends; none of them seem to be hiding anything. The only person we haven't been able to get a hold of is her boyfriend, Jake. His parents haven't been answering their phones, and no one answers the door when we visit the house-"

"He's here," I interrupted. "In fact, I just spoke with him a few minutes before."

"Here? Where did he go?"

"I-I don't know," I stammered. "He was just acting really strange and then said he had to leave."

Officer Ryan nodded. "Alright, I'll see if one of my guys can get a hold of him. But remember - until we catch the guy for sure, you need to keep in mind that everyone is a suspect."

As he hurried off in search of Jake, his last words echoed in my head over and over again. Everyone is a suspect.

Even my father? My mother? Simple, old Mr. Rogers? And what about the fifty other people living in my neighborhood? Could they be considered suspects too?

I scanned the crowd, looking at all of the familiar faces whispering solemnly to one another. Did any of them know who the killer was?

***

Run.

Faster.

I couldn't stop.

He was coming.

I hurtled through the forest as fast as I could, knowing that I couldn't afford to waste any more time. I should have run away that day at the funeral instead of staying. Maybe then I wouldn't be caught in this situation, running for my life in the forest.

Maybe then I wouldn't be standing at the edge of a cliff, staring at the fifty foot drop into the river below.

"Give it up, Tessa. It's a dead end."

Heart in my throat, I turned around slowly to face the man who had cornered me. The sun reflected off of the badge clipped on his shirt, sending blinding rays of light in my direction. I raised a hand to shade my face, taking a good look at the amused expression of the man who had been chasing me. Officer Ryan.

"I don't think so. I didn't come all this way just to give up."

He sighed, pushing a hand through his dark brown hair. "You see, I didn't join the police force to chase around unruly kids like you."

"Why don't you just let me go then?" My voice came out squeaky, like a mouse who had been caught by a cat.

Apparently Officer Ryan noticed this too, because he chuckled. "I can't let you go. You know that."

He stared at me coolly, his eyes seeming to penetrate into my soul. I shivered slightly, knowing that there was nothing I could do now. I was the mouse, and Officer Ryan was the cat who had trapped me.

"You murdered your own sister," he finally spoke, shattering the silence between us.

I sighed, closing my eyes. Someone had finally said the words. The words I myself had been dying to say. Someone had finally said them.

Someone had finally figured out the truth.

I let out a low laugh, the corners of my mouth turning up into a smile. "How did you find out?"

"Jake," the officer responded. "He saw you hide the body."

I nodded, recalling his odd behavior at the funeral the other day. "Ah, it all makes sense now. I thought perhaps there had been a flaw in my acting."

"Nope, no flaw. At least not up till now. You let yourself get caught." He advanced slowly in my direction, one hand creeping toward the handcuffs at his side.

"I don't think so," I laughed.

And then I threw myself backward over the cliff.