The Southern Bank

Chapter 4

The sounds of laughter come from the living room, Ivan has a friend over. Just for a few hours, they have been together and they are inseparable. It reminds me of William when he and his friends would run in and out of the house while pretending a dragon was chasing them. I see it a little in Ivan, although I wish I didn't. The grief hits me and my smile fades. I haven't heard from the police station in days. I walked to the kitchen and got the cleaning supplies from the cabinet under the sink, and started to clean the kitchen. I heard walking toward the kitchen and it was Ivan's friend when I looked over he was crying. I ran over and knelt, "Hey, whats wrong." I asked in a soft voice. The boy choked back his tears and replied, "Ivan scratched me." I looked down to where he was scratched but it didn't look like a scratch made by fingernails. They looked as if it was a sharp cut, I panicked and picked him up and put him on the kitchen counter. I ran to get the first aid kit from the bathroom and ran back into the kitchen to see blood seeping through his fingers. I took out anti-bacterial wipes and took paper towels to stop the bleeding. After a few minutes, I could see how deep it was, it most definitely wasn't a scratch.  It was a cut, not one you can make with scissors. More like one you'd make with a knife. I bandaged him up and went over to the landline and called his mother to pick him up. "Hey dear, are you sure it was Ivan?" I began, he nodded his head and stated, "We were playing a game and we were blindfolded and we had to guess what was touching us - when it was my turn he put something cold on my arm and he dragged it and it hurt." I looked behind me to make sure Ivan wasn't close. I yelled, "Ivan, get in here." Ivan ran into the kitchen from the direction of the bathroom. "What's up? Oh hey, Bradley what's wrong?" I looked down and leaned on the counter with my hand. "Ivan, did you hurt Bradley?" I raised my head waiting for a response. He had a confused look on his face. "I was in the bathroom." He said in a confused tone, and my eyes widened. "Ivan, are you sure you were in the bathroom?" I asked, and he nodded in response. I took Ivan by his arm and took Bradley by his, and I ran outside worried that the killer just tried to kill another child. I made them stop by the mailbox and I ran back inside and went over to the Phone to call the police. When I was dialing the number I heard static.

Someone cut the phone line.

I ran back outside and saw that Ivan was the only one out there, but he was laying on the ground. I saw Bradley crawling out of the creek. I was confused as to why he was crawling but then I saw it. I looked down and saw the bloody axe, with five marks on it. I ran over to Bradley and fell to the ground. Bradley was screaming and crying because both of his legs were cut off at the knee. I saw the blood all over the ground, and he suddenly stopped. I ran over to see if he was still alive. I tried to find his pulse but it was a flat line. Nothing, no heartbeat, no breathing, nothing. I started crying and I looked over to see if Ivan was still there, he was standing over the ax. I yelled at him to not touch the ax so that when the police get here they could use the DNA. But it was too late and he picked it up. I ran over to him and told him "Drop it right now." He immediately dropped it. He looked scared when he saw me, I tried to calm down enough to pull myself together. I walked over to the car and waved to him to get in. We drove to the police station to tell them what happened. When they called Bradley's mother she was grief-stricken. She walked over to me yelling but I kept my head down, "WHY DIDN'T YOU DO ANYTHING? HUH!" "I'm sorry" I muttered with tears brewing in my eyes. "I LOVED HIM WHY – WHY DIDN'T YOU PROTECT HIM?!" a tear fell down my cheek. When I looked up her eyes were bloodshot red with tears falling down her face as she was being restrained by the police so she wouldn't attack me. I looked down to the ground, "I'm sorry....I'm so sorry." I started crying. His mother fell to the ground and screamed in pain. I couldn't look at her so I walked out of the room and sat down by the door, holding my knees to my chest. It reminded me so much of William, it hurt to see another mother go through it. Ivan walked over and sat by me, "I'm sorry." he whispered I looked up and wiped my tears away. I looked over at him with a small smile on my face. "It's not your fault, I should have been watching you guys. I'm sorry." I whispered back. Ivan looked up past me and I looked in the same direction. There was an officer. Who was looking at me with an emotionless face? "Ma'am, please follow me. You too kid," he said gesturing to me and Ivan. In the process, I walk into the room and we both sat down on the same side and the officer sat on the opposite side. "What happened before all this happened?" I took a deep breath and looked at him, "I was in the kitchen just about to clean. I saw Bradley walking toward me and he was crying. I helped him and he blamed Ivan. I took them outside to the mailbox and tried to call the police." I took another deep breath to calm my nerves. "I thought the killer was back and I wanted a look through the house. The landline was cut and when I went outside Bradley was gone. I saw Bradley crawling out of the creek." I paused trying to recall what I had seen without crying. "His legs were cut straight off and I saw an axe on the ground by Ivan, but he picked it up." I looked down at my hands and took a sharp breath. "Then I drove here." The officer stopped writing and looked at me, "Thank you, Ms. Parker, Ivan can you please recall what happened?" The officer asked turning to Ivan. "I was playing with Bradley and then I needed to go get something from my bedroom and when I came back Bradley was crying." I paused for a second.

Bedroom?

"Okay, what about when Ms. Parker took you guys outside." The officer continued, "I waited then Bradley ran into the creek because he said he saw something, but I stayed still because I was scared. I heard a scream and got scared. I fell to the ground to act as if I was dead. When I got up I saw an axe and Ms. April screaming over Bradley's body." I looked at the officer trying to hide my confusion but it must have not been good because the officer started "Ma'am, is everything okay?" I looked at Ivan's eyes wide for what might happen. "Um- I remember Ivan telling me he was in the bathroom when I was assessing Bradley." I looked over to the officer as I spoke. The officer and I looked over at Ivan who now looking at me, "No I said I was getting something from my bedroom." Ivan replied. I looked at the officer who was now looking at me, "Ma'am in the state of shock people tend to mishear others a lot. You must've misheard Ivan." I nodded.

Maybe I did mishear him. Was I going insane? I swear he said he was in the bathroom.