The sound of rushing water filled my mind as I went back to that day... The day it all changed forever.
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It was never supposed to turn out this way, It wasn't supposed to end like this; we were supposed to make it out, be a family, be with each other again.
"Mr. Jackson" The voice of the detective filled the empty room, echoing off the walls.
"I know this is a difficult time, but we still need the full story." He continued.
I stared off at the bland wall in front of me, all the rooms here looked so... cold.
I cleared my throat and dug through my memories, ever since that day they had been so scrambled.
"It started at the river..." I began.
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"Jesse!" Elton yelled as he walked through the crowded woods.
They had been looking for him for days with no luck, and I had been the last one who had seen him. Anyone who knew Jesse the way I did knew exactly where he'd be, but they didn't know Jesse like I did... no one did.
I looked over to my right, seeing Jesse immediately look up from his spot on the ground once he heard his father calling for him.
He looked scared, but Jesse was always scared when it came to Elton... and I can't blame him for It; for wanting to leave.
I remember the first time he caught Jesse after he had ran away, the screams from that room were unbearable to hear.
"Jesse! This isn't funny!" Elton bellowed as he traveled further into the woods, closer to Jesse and I.
"We have to go." Jesse said firmly as he quickly jumped up from the ground.
"Are you sure? I mean maybe if we just tell him why-" before I could continue Jesse cut me off.
"Why?! Tell him why? There is no why. He isn't going to listen to me, all he'll do is send me back to the church and tell me that I'm wrong. That we're wrong."
I couldn't argue with him, he wasn't in the right state of mind and I knew there was no reasoning with him.
With one look we were running off deeper into the woods, everything felt like it was going by at a hundred miles a minute. Off behind us I could hear Elton gaining more and more footing, he was catching up to us.
Jesse and I ran, and we kept running until we hit the river. It was cold outside, late December cold. Jesse wanted to swim across and keep going, but I knew we'd end up getting hypothermia if we took that route. There's no way he expected us to just swim in ice cold water and keep running through the woods with no shelter, no dry clothes, no nothing.
"Levi let's go." Jesse said as he turned back to look at me.
He already had one foot into the riverbank, and his hand outstretched to me.
"I know you're scared..." he said softly.
"I am too, but you're with me. and if my dad catches us there won't be another chance for us."
and with that I took his hand as we dashed into the ice-cold water in front of us.
Once we hit the water it felt as if a thousand tiny knives were digging into my skin, and it didn't help that the current was forcing us further into it.
Jesse and I grabbed a nearby tree branch that was hanging down and pulled ourselves closer to the other side. We had almost made it to land when I heard Jesse gasp and turn snow white.
I looked at him and saw all the color drain from his face, and before I could say anything I saw what monstrosity laid ahead.
It was Jasmine Morris, Jesse's cousin.
Her lips were blue, and her skin was almost completely white. There was a thick sheet of ice in front of us, stained red.
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"Right, so you expect us to believe that you and your little juvenile boyfriend just stumbled upon a dead body?" The detective asked me, interrupting my story.
"Well, yeah I do. That's what happened."
"Jesse Holmes has been in and out of juvie since he could walk. He had been missing for days, and just as you said he was agitated."
"He was scared of his dad! He may have done some things in the past but he isn't a killer."
"Scared of his dad? Or scared of his dad finding out about Jasmine?" The detective asked with a condescending tone.
and in that moment... I knew what they were trying to do.
To be continued...
