Running Late

Chapter 1

I couldn't believe it. I had just uncovered the truth behind Gilly Paulson's mysterious death. The company tried solving the case by themselves, but they failed numerous times before resorting to my help. It was a very unfortunate one. She lay wordless as the killer hit her repeated on the head and body till the life was drained out of her. The killer was a heartless creature indeed. Immediately after going through the after effects, which included a dizzy spell and extreme vertigo, I went and quickly wrote down everything I saw and observed for the brief 10 minutes.

I tried to push the image of her lifeless body and the killer's cold expression out of my mind, but it kept on replaying in my memory like it was a song on loop. His face showed no regret, remorse or even the slightest bit of compassion except for hatred and anger. The scar on his face matched his smirk, it was disastrous. It was like this crime scene was asking to be seen over and over again. I knew who to look for help, my grandfather always had all the answers. I jumped onto my bed and opened the bedside drawer. I carefully took the journal out and sat comfortably.

Long time before my only grandfather died he wrote down everything he knew and wanted to share into a book. He would keep scribbling into it all night long while I occasionally came in to give him a kiss on his cheek. I was never allowed to look at the journal or even browse through his library before I turned 15.

I kept the book so safely that it still smelt like Pops. Pops had one of those distinctively pleasant smells that would make you feel as though you were in a mustang or a really old BMW made in 1950. He never used to overdo his cologne but whenever I hugged him his smell would envelope me in a small temporary shell of comfort and safety. I chuckled. These were the good things I was missing I realised.

I gently touched the cover. Its genuine leather cover reflected its content. It was old. I flipped through the contents and found what I had been looking for - "How to forget certain scenes" This particular section of the book was great when I needed to forget some of the more gruesome and unforgivable scenes that taunted me. Though this spell exhausted me more than any other spell in the book I was willing to get the image of the innocent 12 yr old girl out of head. And most importantly I had to get the killer's face out of my memory.

I readied myself for the spell. I wore a loose tunic and tied my hair into a chignon bun without looking into a mirror. I had done this spell so many times over the last month readying myself for the spell felt like a daily routine. The crime scenes had gotten more and more gruesome over the last month. I changed from my tight formal skirt and white blouse into a loose teddy bear pyjama so that I would be comfortable while I was clearing my memory.

After that I sat back on the bed to erase that unforgettable memory. My fingers glided gracefully across the page as I retracted my fingers. I interlocked my fingers and straightened my spine. Then I cleared my mind of all thoughts and focused on the space between my eyebrows just as my grandfather taught me years ago as I held onto a sacred stone that I pulled out from a pouch that was with the journal. I visualized the scene in my head and after a few seconds I materialised into Gilly Paulson's body.

My hair was no longer the beautiful jet lack but it was strawberry blonde. I used my hands to tie the excessive amounts of overflowing hair behind my face. I looked down at myself. I was no longer thin and athletic looking, I was fat and chubby. Poor Gilly, what did she do to deserve such a gruesome death? My slender body ,which I achieved by going to the gym on alternative days to do the bench press, treadmill and also lift weights, was gone.

I looked at my surroundings, it looked exactly like before. The alley I was in was dark and lonely except for a small kitten in my arms. That's why Gilly had even come into this inhabitable street in the first place, just to save the kitten. I was touched by this small act of kindness. Out of the blue the killer was in front of me. He looked exactly the same from before but I was even more terrified this time as he was right in front of me. The previous time I was in this landscape I saw the scene I was watching it as a third person. This time I didn't have a choice, I was going to have to kill the murderer to get him out of my head.

I used my powers to materialize a sword into hand. Almost immediately an ancient-looking sword appeared and I slashed his throat with a single strike before he had time to react. He fell like a rock and hit the floor with a thud. I took deep breaths as I exited the landscape and opened my eyes to see my favourite wallpaper again. It was over and now I was finally able to breathe peacefully. I closed my eyes and plopped myself on the bed.

It was still unmade for the last six days and I didn't bother making it this morning either. I pulled the pins out of my hair and dropped them on the floor. It fell softly on the carpet and lay cluttered among all the other junk, unwanted and forgotten. My hair flowed a little over my shoulder and was naturally bouncy and wavy; I liked it the way it was like honey. I twirled a strand of my hair in my finger as I lie on my belly and read the journal.

A buzz broke the serene silence. My phone had one of those annoying vibrations that were impossible to turn off. I crawled over like a toddler to see who texted me. The lock screen said that Amy sent me a text.

I opened my phone with a quick password and saw the text.

Call me now! IT'S AN EMERGENCY! FIONA! CALL ME!!

My finger hovered over the call button as I made up mind whether to call her or not. My friendliness got the better of me and I touched the call symbol. Immediately she picked up the phone.

"Fiona? Are you there?"

At times my friend could be really ridiculous obviously I was there I called her. "Duh. Amy, are you forgetting that I called you?"

"Today's over and we totally forgot something!"

"What is it now?" I was beginning to get irritated as I was already beginning to question her reason for calling right after I finished the spell.

"Today is my aunt's daughter's friend's birthday! How did you forget?"

"What? Aunt's what now?"

There was a moment of silence and I could hear the car horns of some angry drunk drivers in the background. Then she spoke again. "My Aunt Priscilla's daughter Gracie's friend."

"Who are you talking about?" I was confused who she was talking about, Gracie was one of my best friends. It wasn't Amy's birthday today, her birthday was on 6th of October.

"Fiona, it's your birthday! How the heck did you forget your own birthday? It's August 23 today!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry I forgot. Sorry for forgetting." Wow. I had been in so much stress over the last month that I hadn't even realized that the month was no longer July. Time flew quickly as I hardly had any time for myself, I either was tracking down criminals, sensing crime scenes or researching about criminals. Then I realized that I truly was workaholic.

At school everyone used to call me a geek and that never changed all the way from middle school to college. Even on my graduation day a few months ago once I finished my valedictorian speech everyone scream "Go Geek" enthusiastically.

"Yeah, you better be sorry enough to open the door right now!" With that the call got cut.

I was speechless for a second. I had forgotten my very own birthday. Wow.

I got up and kicked the small pile of collecting magazines and made my way to the door downstairs. I looked through the peephole and saw nothing, not even a black shadow because of the broken light outside.

I opened the door to see just what was so important that Amy had to call it an emergency.