Heavy Rain

Chapter 6

The first trial is in this chapter!

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Chapter 6

“So, this is the box?” I asked, inspecting the green shoe box placed on the table. It had five origami figures as Ashton had described. Two were opened, and the other three were closed. There was also a piece of paper which I assumed was the letter, and there were pictures.

I held one of the pictures in my hand. It was blurry, but I could see it represented a girl, whom I assumed was Hannah, under metal bars like the ones in jail. Her hair was wet, and there was water reached her knees. She had a hopeless look on her face, and was clutching onto the metal bars for dear life. I stared closer at the picture, noticing that she looked familiar, but I couldn’t recognize her.

I sat on a chair placed in front of the table and dug inside the box for more pictures. The more pictures I saw, the more she seemed familiar. I knew that I’ve seen her eyes blue eyes somewhere, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

Ashton shuffled from behind me, reminding me of his presence.

“Are we going to open one of the origami figures now or later?” I asked him, without looking at him. I knew that he would just try to get me off the case, but I didn’t want to bend. If he was going through these trials, then I was going to join him in them.

“Rosie…” he started hesitantly, but I cut him off.

“No. If you’re thinking of trying to get me off the case, then don’t even bother. I set my mind on helping you, and that’s that.” I heard him sigh from behind me and he got off his bed, coming up next to me.

“Before starting with these, you need to read the letter so you can understand more about what you are accepting to. If you change your mind, you are welcome to leave. We can still be friends,” he told me. Was it even more horrible than what he told me? Was the letter capable of making me turn my back on him and forget that I ever found out about his past? I nodded my head, but then remembered something that I really wanted to ask him.

“Is this why you are so closed off?” I asked him softly and he nodded, letting his gaze rest on the floor.

“It just seems like when Hannah left, she took all of my happiness with her. I didn’t want to have any relationships with any other people so I wouldn’t get attached to them and hurt when they decide to leave me. I just became a shadow, you could say,” he explained and I nodded in understanding, taking the letter from the box. It read:

“Dear Ashton,

How far are you prepared to go to save someone you love?

How was your date with Hannah? I hope you enjoyed it. Don’t worry; you can get your sweet little Hannah back, but on my own terms. I have a few tasks for you; some that might benefit me and some that are just to check your loyalty to your ‘girlfriend’. Each origami figure represents a task, and each task that you will successfully accomplish will earn you a few letters from Hannah’s address.

The tasks are dangerous, and sometimes life-threatening. You wouldn’t want to die when you are supposed to save Hannah, do you? One thing’s for sure: Don’t think of getting the police to help, because I, the anonymous origami killer, am an advanced person, and I know very well how to hide any evidence.

 If you don’t get her on time, she will die. You can clearly see that from the pictures I sent you. What a sweetheart, isn’t she?

               If she dies, I will send her body to you… But I don’t think her limbs would still be attached to her body.