My Secret Killer

Chapter 1 - The Murder (Dec 31st)

I saw it happen...

It was New Years Eve. I was in my bedroom drawing, which I do whenever the inspiration strikes. As the pencil scratches the paper emptying itself, I become completely immersed into another world. Carving out every detail, hours pass that I didn't lift my eyes off the page. Drawing was peaceful to me, even if it was drawing something not so peaceful like a girl on the edge of a cliff.

It wasn't until I felt the coldness coming through my window, that I finally peered up and saw the darkness outside. A gush of wind brushes by my neck, sending chills down my body.

I look to my phone, displaying the time that was now 6:53pm. I always lose track of time when I'm drawing. 

I pause my music before getting up to stretch. My back pulls and I roll my neck which was strained from leaning over for so long. I had been drawing for hours. 

I pull the earphones from my ears which now enabled the obnoxious rap music to pierce my ears as it blasts from down the street along with the echoes of girly screams. I completely forgot that New Years party was happening tonight. It's being hosted by a few kids at my school, a few houses down. 

I, unsurprisingly, was not invited. I'm not social, I don't hook up with boys, nor do I dance or drink. I much prefer my little life of being alone, snuggled up in bed reading a book, escaping to another world all through the night. 

But before that can start, I have to close my curtains. Every night when it gets dark, I pull the thin white curtains closed. They are sheer to provide some natural light during the day but also protect from the blinding brightness that shines in the morning.

Getting up off my soft queen bed which was coloured in light grey, black and burnt orange decorative pillows, I hummed the last song to myself as I make my way over to the window, which is a glass sliding door that opens up to a small balcony viewing the woods. 

At night, I often leave my sliding door half open and just have the sheer curtains closed. This is so I can feel the light breeze push through as I cuddle up in bed. I like the fresh air that comes with having practically one less wall. I usually enjoy watching the sunsets fall into the night when my curtains are open too, but I clearly missed that tonight. Our sunsets end very quickly here in this dark secluded little town. It was almost 7pm and the moon was already shining bright and almost whole as a hazy cloud covers the bottom third of it.

I've never been scared of the dark. In fact, I quite like the night time and staring out at the stars. There is something so therapeutic about it. I keep a chair out on my balcony for when I want to look at the view and not just my neighbours house which my room unfortunately directly points to. 

My bedroom was on the east side of the second floor, and had a direct view of the Saccone's family house next door. I specifically had a clear view of the one bedroom which was level with mine. The room belonged to now the oldest brother—Malakai Saccone. Who's believed to be a couple years older than me. 

I've heard my parents talk about them. They're a family-of-four. They've got two-sons. One is my age and is transferring to my school. It's not often we get new neighbours here. Everyone who lives here has practically lived here their whole life. 

Corkhaven is a nice little town. With a primary and high school for the kids. Horse riding, and bike racing for the crazy ones. A cute restaurant strip by the lake. And our classic old style Haven Bar which everyone in town goes to with their fake ID's. Our historic style viewpoint deck of Corkhaven. It's the oldest thing in this town. But it thrives. 

Similar to our house, the Saccone's also had a two-story. But unlike regular neighbours who share a fence, we on the other-hand were separated by a nature strip that cuts straight down the middle, leaving a gap between the houses.