A Deadly Secret Whispers in the Dark

Chapter Four

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                          Chapter Four
                          The Necklace

      Axariah steps out of the bath, her body still dripping with water as she wraps a towel around herself. She quickly gets dressed, her eyes lingering on her reflection in the mirror. She notices that her deep brown eyes now look even darker and her long curly hair, once matted with blood, is now clean and shiny. Her light brown skin, which was previously covered in dirt and grime, is now soft and smooth. She can't help but feel a sense of relief that her body is now washed of any evidence of the murder she did not commit, but there is still a lingering feeling of guilt.

She pulls on a red sweatshirt with Radford High School's logo on it, a reminder of her former life and innocence. Despite her new identity and clean appearance, she knows that the past will always haunt her. She takes a deep breath and prepares herself for another day, hoping that one day she can truly leave the past behind and start over. She reaches for her necklace as a gentle reminder of family.  And it's GONE!

"Shit!" She murmurs.

She walks out of her room and  quickly rummages through her room, searching for her missing necklace. She may have left it at the crime scene, and now she was worried that it would be used as evidence against her. Her heart racing, she frantically tries to think of a way to retrieve it without getting caught.

Finn is sitting on her bed with muffins and two cups of coffee in hand. With a concerning look on his face, "What's going on? Why are you running around the room like a mad woman? Did you lose your carrots?" He chuckles.

"Ughhh,  not funny." She growled.

There's a pause of silence as she throws clothes out of the dresser drawers onto the floor and Pulls stuff from under her bed. "This can't be happening." Her eyes are searching for all areas in her room. And it's nowhere! "I can't find it!" She yelps.

"What is happening?" He furrows an eyebrow.

"My necklace... It... it's gone..." Axariah can feel a sense of worry come over her, a sense of guilt, like she will be the one to screw everything up. For everyone!

"What do you mean gone?" He asks firmly.

"I mean it's Gone...  As in missing." She repeats.

"As in the one you had yesterday? AT THE CRIME SCENE????" He's furiously concerned now, not at her but at the fact that it could put her in jail.

"Yep that's the one... So can you help me look."

They both scurry around the room completely destroying it. Moving furniture, pulling out books from the shelf, spilling out everything from her backpack.

"What is going on here? Why is your room in complete disarray?" Her mother says as she flings the door open.

"Nothing, I just lost my school notebook." 

She walks in the room looking around helping us.

"You don't have to help mom, it's okay."

"Nonsense I don't mind." she smiles. She continues to look around while me and Finn rummage through the bathroom.

"I found it." She yells from the bedroom. "It was under your pillow, silly. I'll clean up while you go to school."

Finn and Azariah exchange a knowing look. "School..." They both whisper. "Great, we can check there just to be sure we didn't leave it there." Finn says, scrambling up her backpack's belongings from the floor.

She knows that if anyone finds out about her involvement in the coverup of Jonathan Bennett, her life will be ruined. She can't afford to lose her life or reputation. Her mind races as she tries to come up with a plan, but the worrying continues to weigh heavily on her. She knows she needs to find a way to clear her name and prove her innocence, but she's not sure where to start. As she finally arrives at school, her mind is consumed with questions, but she knows that she can't focus on anything else until she finds a way to retrieve her necklace and clear her name.

"Ok it has to be here somewhere." Finn says turning off the ignition. . 

"Yeah, maybe. But we can't be sure. What if it's at the crime scene?" She says not fully convinced.

"We'll get to that later. The only thing we should be worried about is searching every square inch of this place."Finn rushes over to Axariah and opens the door for her.

"Let's do this." She says.

Axariah and Finn frantically searched every corner of their school, determined to find the missing necklace. They scoured the library, cafeteria, classrooms, and even the lacrosse field, combing through every possible area they had been in the day before. As they met up with their friends at the lacrosse field, their fears were confirmed - the necklace was nowhere to be found. Panic set in as they realized it was gone for good, and they all uttered the same expletive under their breath. It was a devastating blow, but they knew they had searched everywhere and it was time to accept the unfortunate truth. It's at the crime scene, where they all promised not to go. The one thing that could link them to the crime is now left behind somewhere, and now they're all in trouble. Shit...

"What are we going to do?"Spencer asks.

"I don't know." Axariah replies.

"We can't go back there but we can't go to jail either." Jace says.

"Then what do you expect us to do? We can't leave it there, I will not let Axariah go to jail for this." Fin says, trying to push the frustration lodged in his throat, down.

"Let's all calm down." Wren Suggests.

"Wren's right!" Davi agrees, nodding his head.

"Nobody is saying let her go to jail..." Jace huffs.  "We just don't do anything for now."

Right when they all agreed and began walking to class, the entercom rang.

"We just received some devastating news. Jonathan Bennet did not return home last night. Any information you have regarding where he may be or why he is missing, is extremely important that you come talk to Sheriff Langley, and Agent Hernadez about it.

You all heard that right?" Wren whispers.

"Yeah." they all reply.

"What do we do?" Axariah asks.

"Nothing, we know nothing, we've seen nothing, we've heard nothing." Jace says calmly.

"We have to get to class and act normal," Finn suggests.

"Right." Axariah hugs Finn and walks to class with Davi and Spencer.

"You're gonna be okay," Davi says.

"Davi's right, there's no need to freak out. It's just a necklace, it could be anybody's."

"Yeah but it has my DNA on it and my dad and grandpa's picture in it.

"Ohhh shit..." Spencer says, dumbfounded.

"Yeah..." Axariah replies.

"Let's just forget about it..." Davi says.  "Axariah doesn't need anymore worrying on her plate."

"Let's just go to class and try to enjoy this already shitty day." Axariah sighs.

As they trudge through the crowded halls, Davi, Axariah, and Spencer can feel the weight of the day dragging them down. Their shoulders are slumped, their faces tired and drawn. They had all struggled through their morning classes, barely keeping their eyes open as they tried to absorb the information being thrown at them. And now, as they make their way to their last class, they can't help but feel a sense of dread. It's been a rough day, and they're all just ready for it to be over. But they know they have to push through, so they continue on, hoping that the rest of the day will be better.

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