Shadow Killer

Chapter 17 = A Plan To Accomplish

"It's Victoria! I know it! She's always wanted to kill me and I'm sure that she's going through with it." I said, or more likely yelled.

"We don't have proof." Miranda said.

"Oh yes we do. Her hatred is proof." I said

"But she's a suspect for now, isn't she?" Hanna asked, totally ignoring what I said about her hatred being proof.

"Yeah." Miranda said.

"Now we need to spy on her or something to see what she's doing. We'll-" Hanna was interrupted because of her phone. She picked it up, "Claire? Claire! How are you? Finally, it feels like we haven't spoken in ages! Where are you? Uh-huh, uh-huh, well come on. We're at my house."

I could make out that Claire said something like 'as if we're ever at anybody else's house."

"You are?" Hanna continued, "Come on in, bye!" She ended the call.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Claire's on her way up. She just wanted to tell us that her 'family problems' are still ongoing but she's untangled herself, meaning that she still has the issues but not that many anymore, so that she can spend time with us. She was outside my house."

We all heard the door creak and open. All of us, including me, jumped on Claire and hugged her.

"Claire, it's so good to have you back!" I said.

"I know right? I've missed you guys so much but now I'm back and I won't be going anywhere." Claire said.

"You better not." Miranda said. I wanted to ask her what family problems she was having but then decided against it. One can never predict Claire's mood swings and family feelings.

"Anyways," Hanna said, "We told you about how we thought that someone was trying to kill Alex. We think its Victoria and now we know that the fire at her house was actually set by someone."

"I told you that I think the theory is stupid. No one would want to kill Alex. Not even Victoria would go that far. Come here." She said and pulled me in a hug.

"Claire... choking... can't... breathe." I wheezed.

"Oh sorry," she said and let go of me, "But if you guys think that someone is trying to kill her and want to find out whether it's actually Victoria then be my guest. So, what's the plan, then?"

"After school," Hanna said, "We're going to... walk past a shop that sells umbrellas."

"How will that help?" I asked.

"We have to make sure that Victoria follows us," she continued, "Claire will follow her with a camera and record it. If Victoria is the actual killer, then she'll throw and umbrella at you, Alex. Its tip is pointy so it can injure Alex or maybe, in a very severe case, kill her."

"So," I interrupted her, "Is this actually a plan to plot my death? Like you said, I can die."

"Alex, nothing will happen. Miranda and I are there. We'll protect you."

"Then why did you say-"

"Just so that everybody could know what could be the results but enough about that. As I was saying, if it doesn't work in the first try then we try again with a different plan. When we have the footage, we give it to the police. Then they can't deny that Victoria set the fire and that you are innocent. Now, team 'Save Alex!'" We all put our front and raised them into the air. Though I didn't seem completely convinced, for the first time since the police officer came and way before that, since the fire,felt a spark of hope.