The Last Victim #JustWriteIt

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

Dawn stood on the bridge and looked around. She had set out on the pretext of meeting Jay. She had no idea what was going to happen. But she had to do it. The scene she had witnessed eight years before, was still plastered in her memory. Whatever she did, she could not remove it. Shivering as the cold air touched her bare shoulders, she scanned the view before her. Inky black sky, the bridge seemed cold and uninviting. Taking a deep breath, Dawn collected her broken thoughts and stepped onto the bridge. Gazelle had left her no choice.

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Jay stopped the car abruptly and shrugging of his tux jacket, stepped out of the car. He was on the cliffs which lead up to the bridge. His heart started beating faster. Something deep within his heart knew that Dawn would be here. She had some unknown connection with the girl who died. Maybe it had been a friend. Or maybe she had witnessed the scene? Whatever the reason was, Jay's intellect, refused to go further. He had to talk to Dawn. Quick.

He started climbing the fairly steep roughly cut path through the cliff. Though it had been clear and glittery evening before, each step Jay took near the top of the cliff, seemed to tighten the fog which had almost suddenly came down. The skies too were now enveloped by thick black clouds. The cold moist and misty air stung Jay's nose. His breath was already coming ragged and shallow. Somewhere in a distance, a dog's howl rose and died away rapidly. The whole scene was too scary. The loud thrumming in him was not to be mistaken as his heart pounded painfully in his ribcage. As he finally reached up, he................. Felt his entire body going numb. He had expected this.... But still not this.

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What happened next was something Carmela did not know. The monster raging inside her, now contended seemed to have gone back to its sleep. Eyes watering, dishevelled state of herself, Carmela finally seemed to realize the truth, the heinous crime she had just committed. But nothing could be done now. An anguished scream escaped her lips as she found the meaning of her act. Gazelle was no more with her and she had killed her..... Killed her own friend?

Nauseated by the thought, she had made a run for home. Her parents had consoled her and asked her to tell them about her problem. Heart aching and eyes streaming, she had told them the whole story. Except the part that she had pushed Gazelle. She replaced it with that she had slipped. A horrible accident. Her parent's knowing the two girls deep affection for one another, had believed her. Even she tried to at times tell herself that she had not done what she had. But nothing could wipe out the guilt.

She started hallucinating, her problems becoming worse. Her parents thought moving from this place might help Carmela get over her pain for Gazelle. Carmela played along the story. The quicker she got out of this place, the better. Her parents finally managed to move to the States. Every clue which tethered her to her past was cut off. The pictures of her and Gazelle were torn and burnt, her gifts taken away, her dairy was too burnt. Her parents did all they could to get her back to her normal self. But she was past the days of cheering and laughing. At times it seemed that she had even forgotten how to smile.

After a year of little or no progress, her parents finally changed her name to Dawn. They hoped this would console her that she was not Carmela anymore. They hoped she would forget about her lovely friend. But guilt reigned every fibre of her body now. She was not getting better. Finally, her parents started taking her to see a psychiatrist. Dr. Sophie. She tried helping her pull through and though Carmela- now Dawn never revealed her issue, started feeling better. Things were turning for the better now. Until Jay Aston entered her life a year back- Things had gone downhill from there.