Valerie walk to school again that day. It was thursday, and the slat that sprayed on her face on her chilly way around the bay sent shivers up and down her body. She thought she had caught a cold and vowed never to sleep with the window open again. She shivered, shoulders hunched against the wind. The thought of seeing Nat kept her going. She wanted to get that terrible dream off her chest.
She had the shaking suspicion that, dream or no dream, it was bad omen. She hoped that it wouldn't affect her too deeply, even though her paranoia was kicking into effect. Her hands, though warm and safe in her pockets, were pulled out every five minutes so Valerie could chech that no blood had been spilled on them. She had pulled her short hair back tightly, so the wind in it wouldn't reming her of the victims curls billowing in the cold, terribly clear water. She kept glancing over her shoulder, too, making sure that she wasn't being chased by screeching sirens and baying hounds.
When she crossed over the same traffic bridge she had passed over four days ago, though it seemed like a lot shorter, she glanced into the trees on the oppisite side. They were dark, mesterious and...taped? Yellow police boundaries criss-crossed their way through the trees, rebounding into darkness. When Valerie had crossed the bridge, she strayed off the road for a moment to get closer to the scene. I wonder if this is the same place I was... She thought, but pushed the unbidden thoughts from her mind. Detectives and officers gathered at the scene looking for clues. One spotted Val and frowned at her.
"Hey, little girl," he said, with a preoccupied air about him, "This is not something you should see." He turned his back on her and ignored all of her requests to recount want had happened. Finally, annoyed, he turned to face her. "Do you want a ride to school?" Valerie shrugged. That wasn't really what she had intended, but she decided to accept the offer. You could always trust the police.
On the way over, Val was silent. She had a bad feeling about this ride. Even though she knew she was innocent, and so was the lift, she couldn't supress the feeling that she was caught; trapped. A beeping noise filled the car. The officer picked up a radio contact while still driving. "Yes, I read." He said, but the static was so bad on the other end that Val couldn't understand. She supposed he could, because he said. "You have identification!? Are we clear? Okay, okay...Yes, I'll tell the first person I see. Ten-four." He hung up. Silence fell again.
When she arrived at school fifteen minutes before she had expected, she found the place in uproar. Students running, trying to find thier friends, teachers trying to restore order. Valerie ran from the car, and was immidately tackled by Nat. "Woah, hey! Nat, calm down! What going on?" Valerie managed through the gap in his arms, trying to throw him off. "What, haven't you heard?" Nat said, letting her go.
"They say a studen at B.V.C. High was murdered last night. One of those forest killings again." Valerie groaned, the dream coming to mind. "They said the girl's residence was on the other side of the bay, but they haven't released her name yet. For a second there, I thought..." His voice trailed away. Val would have been worried, too. It did sound like the victim had been her. Nat looked up into the face of the officer that had gotten out of the car with her. A teacher came running up behind the pair. Val recognised him as some of her friends English teacher, but, as she didn't have him, she never caught his name.
"Officer, could you please tell us...?" The policeman nodded. "I was given clearance on the way down. Her name's Jessica Castlewell. Died sometime last night. We were really close to catching who did it, but they sipped through our fingers." The teacher capped his hands to his mouth, turned and ran into the school, obviously to tell the principle. Nat had returned to hugging Valerie, and, though she returned the embrace, still felt it rather awkward.
The bell rang in the distance. Nobody paid it any heed. Valerie seemed frozen in the moment, between the thought of another terrible murder, another victim to take her place amongst the work of a lunatic, and Nat's warm, sincere embrace. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and did the thing she wanted to do the least. Placing her plams on Nat's chest, she pushed away from him. His arms fell to his side and a shocked expression came over his features when he saw the serious, morbid, look on hers.
"Nat, we have to talk." She said, once the police officer had driven away. "About a dream I had last night. Please, don't tell anyone - I promise I'm not crazy...."
Kitani Memori Community Member 
|
|
