THE HARBOUR [EDITING]

The Devil All The Time

6 : 22 AM, AUGUST 26TH

They found a body, the police haven't confirmed whose body it is, but she knows it's his. The police don't know who the body belongs to. That's enough time to get her barring and her story straight. They're bound to start asking questions and when they do, she'll be ready.

Her pace speeds up as her mind races, simultaneously increasing the strain on her body and mind when the sound of crying violently draws her from her thoughts. She stops in her tracks-taking her earbuds out and scanning around for the source of the irritating noise. She spots a little kid who looks to be no more than six. She makes her way towards the child at the edge of the boardwalk.

"Hey, what is it?" She asks."Why are you crying, did you lose your mommy?"

"No, i-it's," the little boy stutters between sobs- unable to speak, he points to the water. She kneels, inclining her body forward, so she's able to look straight into the water- she spots a stuffed bear bobbing in the water caught in fishing reigns.

"Oh," she says, "Do you want me to get it for you?"

"Uh-uh," the little boy nods rapidly.

"Alright, I'll do it, but you'll have to close your eyes, I'm going to be using my superpowers to get it, I can't let you know my secrets," she says chuckling "is that ok?"
The little boy smiles and closes his eyes in response.

"Keep them closed, ok?"

-----

Jamie sits in her favourite window-seat spot at a café by the docs, drinking her mocha and watching the seagulls land on the water teasingly before flying off, scared away by the unpredictable waves. She watches quietly as people jog along the boardwalk and as fishermen ready their boats. Mondays aren't as busy as most days, especially not at six in the morning and today's especially foggy.

It's almost time for her to leave for school. It's only been a day since she and Wendy discovered the dead man, she is still beside her and can't come to terms with the fact that there's a killer on the loose in Caper. Things like homicide don't happen here. At least not in her part of town. This one hit too close to home.

She's told the police all she knew, and she hopes it'll be enough to catch whoever did it. The detectives haven't followed up on their questioning. She suspects there's much else to do, other people to question. She's glad of it, talking to Detective Bateman and attractive statue Pines makes her nervous, the questions make her feel like she's committed a gruesome crime herself.

What if they somehow find out about Adam? She thinks, not that it would matter to her or Wendy, he'd just go to jail. Like he should, but if her father found out, he wouldn't be pleased.
She winces at the thought of what her father would do. Luke will be going back to Boulder soon, his school break is almost over, and there'd be no one to intimidate her father. She shakes the thought out of her head and forces herself out of the comfortable seat and drags herself out of the café.

She stands outside the café- at the entrance holding her mocha- mindlessly staring off in the direction of the steady rising sun when she notices a struggle by the boardwalk.

It's a woman and... a little kid? What are they doing? She thinks. Is she hugging him? If she is, he doesn't look like he wants to be hugged. A mother and her kid, most likely, the little guy probably doesn't want to go to school. Makes two of us.

What is that wrapped around him? She stares at the pair, trying to understand the situation. The struggle goes on for a little while, then quickly stops. Jamie decides she isn't interested in the interaction anymore. She turns sideways and walks towards the bin three meters away from the café doors.

She continues her walk when she sees it in her peripheral vision.

She freezes- gripping the coffee cup so tightly the contents spill onto her palms. Her heart rate speeds up, and her breathing escalates- the woman, she tossed the little boy into the water...right? She stands frozen, unsure of what she saw- tears welling up in her eyes.

She decides to go over there and help the little boy, she half steps in the direction of the boardwalk when the woman gets up and looks around, it's then Jamie recognises the woman, she throws her hands to her mouth as if to hold in a scream.

Dropping her coffee cup in the process, and attracting the attention of the woman, who looks her dead in the eye. They stare at each other for what feels like an eternity before the woman smirks and continues her jog like nothing happened.

Jamie rushes back into the café and throws herself into an empty booth- covering her eyes. She wants to scream, to cry, to runway, the woman, she knows who it is, she'd recognise her anywhere- but why, why would she do such a horrible thing and smile as if she were proud of what she'd done? Jamie shuts her eyes hard -trembling with fear and adrenaline.

A/N
That chapter was a bit different (in terms of length) from my previous ones. I had a hard time deciding how to end it. However, I'm really happy with the final result and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do! :))