After Dark

Chapter 1: Physics

School was subdued, that day, not only because it was boring, as school is, but also because of one key event that occurred in the sleepy town off the coast of nowhere: a murder.

It wasn't often that someone died in Falridge for any reason other than old age, so it was a surprise when an employee of a bar stumbled upon Hillary Limon's body on a Monday morning while putting out the rubbish from the previous night. Contrastingly, it was no surprise when the news spread like a wildfire. It went from house to house, street to street, and within a few hours, the whole of Falridge knew about the murder. A close-knit community of only a few hundred people, they poured over the news as if it were the only excitingly horrifying thing that had ever happened to them. And, really, it was. The most exciting thing prior to this that had featured in Falridge's news was the arrival of a new product in the local supermarket: the front page was an advertisement for dark chocolate for three weeks. Hillary's death replaced the chocolate, and it's been there for four days.

Sady Jacks hefts her backpack on her back, testing the weight of it before pulling on the other strap with a weary sigh.

"Dad said she had blood, all over her. Her throat was sliced open, a smile from ear to ear." Sady rolls her eyes; her best friend, Adam, has always loved gossip, far too much for his own good, and having a policeman as a father has just added fuel to the fire. They walk into the school, side by side, bypassing their lockers and heading straight to homeroom.

"He said the knife must have been pretty sharp, because it cut through, into her spinal cord. They bled her out. And if she hadn't died from that, dad's pretty sure she would have died, anyway. Whoever did it, they were there for murder."

Sady spots Hunter Limon, Hillary's son, watching them from across the classroom as they slide into their seats. Tall and thin, with a wiry determination and hair like ink, eyes the same, he glances away from them quickly. He is sitting in his chair backwards, and he holds onto the back so tightly his knuckles are white; bloodless. Sady drives her elbow backwards, into Adam's ribs as he leans over to speak into her ear. He huffs, an outraged look on his face.

"Stop being an idiot, Adam. That's Hunter's mum you're talking about." Adam has the grace to look slightly embarrassed, but probably because he was heard, not because of what he was talking about.

He leans back in his chair, a hand on his ribs as if she actually hurt him, and smiles his easy smile. "This is a mystery, Sade, one I am very interested in."

She leans close to him, a hand on his shoulder to steady herself, and whispers in his ear, "You only care because nothing else happens in this left-for-dead town, and if you talk about it like that again, I'll do more than elbow you," she says.

Adam grins, and puts his hand over hers, stopping her from leaning away. "Never knew you cared about Hunter, Sade," he says suggestively.

She blushes slightly and slaps his hand away. "I don't," she says.

Adam gestures flamboyantly at her, waving his hand through the air in an oddly elegant gesture. "Your face says differently, my friend."

Sady rolls her eyes and turns to face the front as the teacher walks into the room, seeing Hunter stand and swing his leg over the back of the chair, flopping into it almost as if he is boneless.

Simon Rhyes is a normal person in a normal town. His parents were born here, lived here, raised their son here, and died here, and he is going to die here as well. He is exactly the same as everyone else. The only thing that has made him different, today, is the news he bears, and he bears it proudly.

"Good morning, children. Take your seats. I have some very sad news for you, this morning." It's the first day the school has been open since the murder, and Ryhes acts like no one knows what he has to say, like it is completely new information.