I slowly moved away from the couch and peered out the window. There stood a twenty-or-so year old Asian woman dressed in a simple black dress cut of at the sleeves. She stood in an alert posture as if she was ready to speed off any minute for any reason. Her fist pounded the the door once again. I inched forward and slowly opened the door.
"Hello?" I said.
"Are you Elizabeth Maine?" She asked, her voice strong and confident, unlike how she stood.
"Yes, is this for taxes because my parents are out on business trips?" I told her.
"No, no, I wanted to speak with you about Mark Preston, I'm aware that you were a classmate?" She questioned.
" Yeah, like back in second grade." I said confused and befuddled.
Who would ask about him seven years later?
"May I come in?"
"Who are you?"
"Chief of McMillagen Police Department, we have been asked to reopen the case of his young Mr. Preston's disappearance ."
Her hand shifted toward her pocket on the front of the dress and slipped out a badge.
" Yes come in."
She walked into the entryway and I closed the door behind us. She examined the objects around the house very closely, as if trying to sniff out a suspicious particle of dust. Her hands clasped a small ceramic bowl my aunt gave us after her trip to Spain.
"Interesting piece." She droned without turning around.
"So why are you guys opening this case again, it's been years?"
"Have you seen anything strange lately?" She said ignoring my direct question.
Well...
" Nothing extreme, why?"
She stayed silent and continued to admire a poorly painted replica of the Mona Lisa done by my eleven year old cousin.
"Why are you not wearing your uniform?" I proposed.
" I was going out and decided to get some work done on the way."
Her voice cracked.
"Weak alibi" I half joked.
" Well my work is never finished."
What is up, this isn't normal.
"Listen I haven't heard from him since I was a grade schooler, so if you want information I'm not really the best choice."
She stayed silent, so I gave up and let her "investigate". I peered out the window to see a faint shape running down the lane.
What now!
"Were you two friends?" Chief what's-her-face said.
The shape was closer and it was that short kid from the stream.
Crap!
"No, we just knew each other from church a bit, but I still wasn't close." I explained.
"Well, sorry to bother , thank you for your cooperation"
The chief pushed the door closed and my attention returned to the window. He was waving frantically now attempting to gain my attention. I opened the window.
"What?"
"What you did today does not need to be shared!" He said frantic and high pitched.
He turned and darted away into the dark woods.
YOU ARE READING
Tremble
Science FictionElizabeth Maine had an undoubtably dull life, except for one intriguing incident years ago. Mark Preston had ran away from home at age seven, as a classmate of Elizabeth's it meant nothing to her, until she found out where he had run off to, and how...
