Ray of Light

Chapter 2- DNA

I opened my eyes.

I was alive.

The memories of the wicked events that had transpried recently flooded into my veins. I was still alive; I felt cheated. Was I in heaven? Was I in hell? Was I still on earth? Wherever I was, I didn't want to be here.

'He's awake!' I heard a faint voice. Someone's face came into view. It was a familiar face. Oh my god; was it Jason? My blurry vision gradually became sharper. It wasn't Jason. Not even close. It was Dahlia. 'Are you alright?!'

'Not really.' That was the best answer I could come up with. I had lost my will to live.

Anita came over and began to speak to me. She told me what had happened during the past day or so. Apparently, I had thrown up over Jason's blood and guts inside the shower. I had a brief recollection of this happening, but my memories seemed very abstract and blurred. Because I had done this, I had signed the shower all over with my DNA. Dread filled my stomach. We were forced to flee Anita's flat. We didn't want to get involved with the cops because according to Anita, she had scanned the flat and there was no evidence whatsoever of someone breaking in. It had to be one of us three. However, someone with the key to Anita's flat could also have done it. But her key was inside the flat. Only the master key could have been used. But who would have wanted to kill Jason?

I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Jason was dead. Dead. The word hung in the still air and refused to leave. Dead. Dead. Who would have killed him? I made a mental list in my head:

1. Me. But I know it wasn't.

2. Dahlia. Why would she?

3. Anita. She seemed like a weirdo, but murder seemed too far. Even for her.

4. The blue-haired man.

5. Some other random person. Seems unlikely.

The most sensible answer was that the blue-haired man was responsible. But we just didn't have enough information. We knew so little about him. And how would he have gotten the master key, anyway?

I couldn't think about this. For the first time after waking up, I got up and looked around. We weren't indoors. We were in some sort of forest. The trees were thick, and the grass was dense and large. In my mind, I realised that I knew where we were. We were hiding in Raden Forest. To describe Raden Forest, it's basically massive. Huge. It's protected land. No people live here. No people go here. No one really cares about this place, except the occassional picnicker. It's a national park of some sort. 

It was the perfect place to go. No coverage, not too far from town, huge. The possiblities for this place were totally unlimited. We just had to be on the lookout for three things; picnickers, policemen and peasants. This was the ultimate food supply for poor people. Even though it was illegal, it was common knowledge that if you suddenly lost your job and home, you could resort to Raden Forest. And it wasn't too bad, really. All sorts of fruits and crops blossomed purely by nature.

Anita and Dahlia had set up a little hideout for us, up on a large tree. We could use it to survey the surroundings. We were safe, for the time being. If we were good at it, we could probably survive here for months.

But that wasn't the point. The cops were likely hot on our heels. Not necessarily to arrest us, but for information and DNA testing. We couldn't risk it. We weren't sure who did it, it admittedly did look like an inside job. And maybe it was. I had to be careful around my new 'friends', or perhaps I'd end up with a knife in my back.

It was about noon, judging from the sun's position. Anita had gathered up some fruits. It had been a rather short-lived endeavour, as the fruits were plentiful. I could already see many within walking distance. As we had lunch, an important conversation sprouted.

'What should we do now?' Dahlia asked the question that had been begging on everyone's mind.

'...What can we do now? We'll have to hand ourselves in.' Anita gave us the cold truth. We couldn't fight the law. But we couldn't rot in prison for something we hadn't done, either. 'Or, I guess we could continue with the clue. Those are our only sensible options. I mean, it was because of the first clue that got us into this whole mess. We should at least finish what we've started. We've sacrificed so much for this already. Why stop now?' She flicked her red hair back and studied my face, waiting eagerly for a response.

'We're doomed either way. We may as well go with the more mysterious option. Maybe we'll get some kicks out of it.' That was my contribution. It was met with universal approval.

We were going through with this. We had to finish what we had started.