The Uncanny Interest

Chapter 1

It's cold and wet and some of the trees are finally yellow. They say fall is a time for celebration and rebirth. Trees must shed their old leaves, decompose, and return to the earth like humans do when they take their last breath. Cassie Harper, who lives alone in her apartment not too far from where she works as a mortician at Thomas's Funeral Home, knows this process all too well. Of course, her corporate world parents didn't take this career choice lightly. This should've been no surprise to them anyway.

    It was a hectic shift, and Cassie took the long way to a bus stop out further. The sun was going down and it was starting to get even chillier. Nearby was a circus that caught Cassie's attention for a quick minute, but she looked the other way and walked through the woods that allowed only streaks of the setting sun to filter through. There was a brisk wind that sent the smell of her perfume lingering in the air. 

It was a frequent thing for her to wander through there collecting things that, in her eyes, might have a meaning behind them. Just last week, she found a black hairclip lined with pearls and thought about the girl it might have belonged to. How did she look? What was she doing when she lost her hair clip? Occasionally, she would grab her brown leather diary that was gifted to her by her friend, Julia, and a black ink pen, from her bag to journal her thoughts on that particular day while sitting on some rotting piece of log or a rock of some sort.

Cassie glanced at the dirt beneath her feet and her eyes caught something that looked interesting. She picked it up for a better look and realized it was a blue sapphire stone. There was a red pigment splashed on the edge of it that looked like blood. Unphased by it, she quickly stuck the stone in the inside zipper of her bag. Soon after a drop of water hit her forehead, prompting heavy rain.

She didn't have an umbrella; "Oh God", she whispered to herself.

She jogged through the wet soil holding her bag on top of her head in an effort to gain shelter. She felt a bush snag at her black skirt, causing a tear to reveal her upper thigh. Her eye makeup started dripping down her cheeks and her wet clothes were soon clinging to her body. She walked until she was able to see the main road.

The blur of rain was obscuring her vision, but she was still able to see the headlights of passing cars. She saw her bus approaching the bus stop, which was earlier than expected.

"Oh no, no, no," Cassie said to herself. The next bus wouldn't be until another 45 minutes.

Rushing out onto the asphalt she failed at making it to the other side of the road. She slipped and scraped her knee and the palm of her hand. Slowly, she forced herself up, looking up at the bus she just missed. A glaring light was approaching. It was a red car speedily coming towards her. Fright took over and it was as if she was frozen. Her eyebrows furrowed and her breathing became heavy. The screeching tires soon brought the vehicle to a stop, leaving it only inches away.  An older man with glasses came out with a worried look on his face. He had a tall stature and was wearing a black sweater with the hood down and dark blue jeans with a gold ring on his pinky finger.

"Miss, are you alright? Why are you out in the street?" said the man as he knelt beside her.

"I'm fine. I just fell trying to catch the bus. I'll be fine."

"You're bleeding," he said as he held out his hand.

"I'm fine," said Cassie, as she held his hand using it as a crutch to get up.

He knew that the next bus wouldn't be there anytime soon, and the weather was getting worse by the minute. Cassie was torn between staying in the bad weather with a bloody knee and a busted hand and going away with some strange man. She'd seen too much in the field she's in. Just last week there was a nine-teen-year-old girl who was brought in and was abducted by a creep in an alley. The handprints caused by strangulation were deeply imprinted on her neck. Cassie stood there for a minute, trying to wipe the water from her face before accepting his offer.