The Dead Crime (Draft)

Chapter#8

Camille blinked her eyes to the sun rays coming through the gap in the curtains. She stood up from the uneasy position she had slept in and stretched her arms and back. She went out rubbing her eyes and placed an emotionless stare over her father who was sitting on the couch flipping the newspaper without reading it. Kevin had this weird habit of flipping the pages of anything that was on the table without any reason while he waited for his morning tea. Perhaps he wanted to make him look busy in something while he waited. He didn't stop overturning the paper until Diana came out of the kitchen with the tea. She placed the tray on the table and registered Camille who stood still on the other side.

"Oh Camille, you're awake. It's your birthday today isn't it?"  Diana laughed

Camille rapidly woke up from the blank world she was lost in and looked at Diana with her glittering eyes. She was so happy to see that she remembered her birthday but deep inside her heart didn't beat in happiness or excitement. It was all dark and frozen on the inside.

"I want a chocolate cake." She bloomed.

"I know, I know, chocolate is your favourite." She exclaimed trying to make herself believe that she knew it when she literally had no clue about it. When the morning became more brighter, they all sat on the kitchen table in front of a large chocolate cake like an ordinary family having an ordinary birthday celebration. Diana poked 9 candles on the cake lighting them and then they all started singing the birthday song. Camille had a smile on her face while she clapped with them looking at the cake waiting to blow the candles. Her face didn't show any expressions other than joy, as if she had lost all her memory of yesterday and was starting a new life. But they were there, buried deep down. That was the day when she died on the inside. Thinking about the fact that Diana was her fake mother had broken her completely.

"Hurry up, blow it now." Diana exclaimed

"I wanna blow it, I want to do it." Emily shouted stubbornly.

"But it's my birthday Emily, you can blow it on yours." Camille protested.

"No!! I wanna blow it now." Emily cried curling her lips.

"Aww, let your sister do it, Camille."

"But-"

"She's your little sister. Don't be such a baby."

And that is how the, "later, I'm busy right now" turned into "come on, she's your little sister." Camille had understood that Diana didn't have any real affection towards her and the love she got was all fake.
Her birthday was just an unimportant and ordinary event as always and it ended really soon without any presents or balloons. The same year Emily's birthday was like a wedding ceremony; the house was decorated with balloons and flowers and they arranged a huge party in the garden outside with lots of guests bringing in presents and snacks with a 3 story birthday cake. It wasn't anything new for Camille, she had seen it all get prepared and then celebrated with fireworks at night every year on Emily's birthday.

That old man's second advice popped up in her mind, "don't get fooled by others." It fed into her brain like a computer program. She brought herself back to reality where Diana was her only mother and that she loved her before Emily was born. The loneliness that had vanished from her heart suddenly struck her back like lightening...

9 years later when Camille had turned 18 and Emily was 14, Camille's sadness and loneliness had slowly started to turn into envious rage. She hated Emily because she was loved more. It wasn't long before this haterd started to make her wish she had never existed. Living with her enemy had become like adding fuel to fire.

Epilogue; (8 years ago)

One night when everyone was sleeping, it was past midnight and Kevin hadn't come home yet, he had been late outside. Early that morning when Diana woke up, she saw him outside in the backyard watering a plant beside two huge trees. She stopped by him, folding her arms and quizzed,

"Why didn't you come home last night?"

"I came honey, but late."

"Oh is that so...what are you doing so early, you should have slept till late." Diana said noticing his tired face, "growing another tree?"

Kevin hummed with a strange smile. He examined her face with his pupils expanded over his dark blank eyes, trying to see if she had any kind of doubt on him. After being sure that she was clueless, he lowered his gaze onto the watering can, spraying it back and forth continuously.

"Alright, come in after you're done. I'm setting the breakfast on the table." She explained and went inside.

After a while of silence Kevin looked at that huge tree by the side and smiled,
"Honey, I thought you both would be bored all alone so I bought you another friend." His devilish face sparkled with his sarcastic smile while he kept staring at the tree for a long time.
As time passed the backyard was becoming crowded with more trees, some had grown tall and some were still young. No one knew from where did Kevin develop interest in this new hobby of his, they all just admired his hard work in making his backyard packed with beautiful trees.

But would they ever know what was under those trees?