A Night To Remember

Six: Dead Girls

Okay, what the fuck.

For some reason, I just can't keep myself out of other people's messes. Now, here I was, falling down a rabbit hole of research... maybe to an insane degree. I'd managed to learn where the kid was found; in her house. Cause of death? Well, that's where things got complicated.

The newspapers, and any press-related information, hid the cause. They kept it suspiciously quiet. The last time they did that was when my mom was a kid and the reason? Too gruesome for the public eye. Seems like the poor kid, which I finally learned was named 'Vierra,' didn't go out well.

After researching her, I was surprised I didn't recognize her. Vierra Lincoln was her full name, and after looking into her a bit, I realized that she was more than just a kid in my school. She was actually important.

Five beauty pageant awards, a place on the school council, and apparently she helped the dog shelter last year or something. The girl was a legend. No wonder the school held a whole ceremony... I assumed it was just so they could pretend to care and avoid a lawsuit. Seems like they really did care.

Looking at her Instagram account, I realized where those beauty awards came from. She was pretty, really pretty. She deserved those wins; one hundred percent. She had photos of her with the trophies and everything all over the account. There were several pictures of her and her friends; some of which I recognized. The boy who pulled the fire alarm? He was her boyfriend, from the looks of things. She seemed genuinely kind. Who'd want to kill her?

I thought it over. A teenage girl...who looks older than she is; and is objectively pretty? In this day and age? Okay, things are starting to make sense.

But she wasn't kidnapped...or raped. She was just killed. I had seen enough crime shows to know that wasn't done by a perv. This was done by an actual murderer. By Someone experienced, and precise. Not some weirdo with a taste for little girls.

I should've, and quite easily could've stopped there. But no, of course, I didn't. I kept digging.

"Indiana?"

I was so engrossed in learning about this dead girl, I didn't notice that I worked so late into the evening. Or the fact that I fell asleep at my desk. I woke up with a jolt, noticing Raymond at my door. They were leaning against the doorframe like they'd spent an hour trying to wake me up. And frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

"Took you long enough," they said once I finally came to my senses. "Sometimes I can't tell if you're asleep or dead."

Still exhausted, I sat up and glanced at my laptop. Open to Google, there was a string of random numbers and letters in the search bar. Props to me for falling asleep on the keyboard, I guess.

"Mom needs your help downstairs," they stated, getting straight to the point. I was sure they weren't wanting to stay here any longer than necessary.

"With what, exactly?" I asked in a bored tone, conveying my exhaustion and irritation.

"Don't know, don't care," Raymond replied. "Just go downstairs and see what she wants." And with that, Raymond left.

Turns out my mother wanted me to help cook. I don't know why she didn't ask Raymond, they had much more experience than me in that regard. I barely knew my way around the kitchen; much less how to make food in there.

"You know," my mother said, trying desperately to fill the sound void, "your cousin Vindica is in town this weekend."

I glanced up from what I was doing in surprise. "Vindy? He's here?" I don't know when the last time I saw my older cousin was. Him and I rarely interacted, but we were really close. Same with him and Raymond. Surprisingly, Raymond got along with Vindica quite well. It was odd for Raymond to enjoy anyone's company, much less a family member we rarely interacted with. But it just kind of worked out, I suppose.