Murders Of The Past

ONE

THE SOUND OF an echoing DONG sound rings through my ears, and once I realize that's the obnoxious doorbell, I push myself up from beneath the water and sigh. Who decided it would be a great idea to interrupt my bubble bath?

I slide forward in the slippery tub, just enough to press the knob down with my toes and turn the water off before rising to my feet, reaching towards the wall and grabbing a white towel, wrapping it around myself and wringing out my blonde hair.

DING DONG, I hear again and begin to grow irritated. I swear if Carlos forgot his stupid key again.

I tie the white rope of the robe tightly before reaching for the silver handle, pressing down on it, and opening the white door, revealing a young boy in a baseball cap holding two boxes and a clipboard.

"Yeah?" I raise a brow, my voice coming out harshly.

"Sup."

"What?"

"Are you..." the boy looks down at the clipboard. "Sadie Bane?"

"Sadie Bane Colby, yes. Who's asking?"

"Me." I roll my eyes, not in the mood for this game. "Alright, alright, jeez," he mutters. "These are for you. Can you sign this?" He holds out the clipboard. I look down at it and hesitantly take the pen.

"What's in here?"

"Why would I know?" I glance up at him before sighing and scribbling my name down on the line. "Thank you. Have a good- " Taking the boxes from him, I shut the door, locking it.

I set the two boxes on the marble island before opening the silver fridge and pulling out a bottle of Pinot noir, then grabbing a glass and pouring the red liquid into it. As I bring the glass to my lips and take a small sip of the cherry flavor I've grown accustomed to, I glance at the two boxes. I'm too curious.

I set my glass down beside the boxes before reaching for one, reading the label and finding Carlos's name on it. Smirking mischievously, I cut through the tape with my long red fingernails and open it.

The first thing I pull out is a pair of claws with silver blades. Meat shredder claws. OK... There's still something else in here, and a whole other box. The second thing I pull out is in a small gray box, and on the box in big blue letters I read Control Your Woman, and then there's a picture of a gray remote beneath it. I shake my head, pressing my lips together.

"My husband everybody," I mutter.

When I pull out the last object, I'm not sure how to react, so I just blink at it, utterly confused.

It's a pair of giant red lips. It's in a small plastic bag with a cardboard label that reads Face Slimmer. So, let me get this straight. Carlos got these to wear to slim his face. He's going to wear these. He...

"I hate that guy!" I groan, dropping the trash back into the box and sliding it away from me. Absolutely insane!

There's still another box. I glare at it before huffing and grabbing it, turning it in my hands to see there's no label on it, just my name is written in black marker. I narrow my eyes. This is sketchy.

I cut the tape and lift one of the tabs of the box, then the other one, and find a white envelope. I frown. What idiot put a letter in a box? Theres a thing called a mailbox. Oh I get it! They put the mail in a box. I chuckle. That's kind of funny.

  I peel open the letter and, instead of a card like I was expecting, I pull out a black and white photo of a little girl with short brown hair and huge brown eyes. I squint, looking closer at the picture. Is that... Thana?

  I flip the photo to look at the back, but it's blank. I take the envelope and examine it— looking inside, on the front, on the back. There's nothing more to look at. Just a photo of my baby girl inside an envelope that was inside an unreasonably large box.

  What does this mean? And why does it give me the creeps? I shake my head, setting the photo on the counter and taking the envelope and box out to the garage to recycle them. Because I'm a good person.

  I turn around and reach for the doorknob to pull the door shut when I spot something red on silver knob. I rub it with my finger, watching it smear. Is that blood? I lift my index finger up to look at the red stain, when I find a glossy red dot growing on the tip of my thumb. Well how did that happen?

  I sigh and walk across the floor and to the kitchen, looking at the photo of Thana I left on the counter. I shake my head and grab a paper towel, wrapping it around my finger. Whatever.

  I'm going to go watch TV.

  I grab my glass of wine and walk across the deep brown vinyl floor into the living room, taking a seat on the long black leather couch that stretches from one end of the living room to the other. I told Carlos this couch was too big, but he didn't listen. Shocker.

  I reach for the remote and turn on the wide TV, scrolling through shows to watch on Hulu.

  You know what I want to watch? A movie about my life. No I'm just kidding. Living it is already enough.

What was up with all those weird things Carlos ordered? What is a Face Slimmer? Who sent the other box? Why was there a photo of Thana in it?

Alright, that's chapter 1. Hope you enjoyed!