Whispers in the Dark

Chapter 3: Follower

Whispers in the Dark

Chapter 3: Follower

Gumi sits down next to me silently on the front steps of my porch. Placing her hand gently on my shoulder, I faintly break my gaze away from the crowd of police officers surrounding two sobbing strangers and sneak a glance at her worried expression.

She opens her mouth to say something but immediately closes it and fixes her gaze on the mourning couple instead. Turning back to look at the broken married couple, I can see the wife sob in her husband's arms; but even he looks as shattered as her.

"I wish I seen the girl before you did," Gumi finally speaks, "so you wouldn't have to see a dead child. I can't imagine how painful that is to witness."

"I could care less about that," I nod my head at the sobbing couple, "they're the ones who are in pain."

Gumi sighs and nods slowly as she brings her knees to her chest. "Can you imagine? Being parents and then loosing your child? That's pure torture."

I close my eyes from the blinding flash of the police cars and tug at the thin blanket around me tighter to hopelessly block the cold from reaching my body. I let all the sounds of muffled voices grow dull around me and try to erase the image of the dead girl away from my mind - but seeing her short black hair dancing around her blood-drained face, well, that's something that probably won't leave any time soon.

After a few minutes of trying to numb my mind, a large police officer walks up to Gumi and I - or me, anyway - and places his hands along the rim of his uniformed belt. Deeply sighing, his thick mustache twitches along with his lips before his eyes peer down at me.

"Well, Miss Hatsune, the girl you found is Yuki Kaai; a nine-year-old student who lives with her parents not far from here." His deep brown eyes lock straight onto me as his deep, husky voice rings around my foggy head. "Do you know her?"

I shake my head and break my gaze away from him. The last thing I need is to be questioned here and now. It's bad enough that my mind seems to be fazed from the horrifying image of a nine-year-old child. I don't think I can talk about something so... fresh.

In the corner of my eye, I can see Gumi briefly glance at me before eying the large police officer standing before us. She seems to get what I'm thinking, so she stands up and walks out of my vision - back inside, I'm assuming. I'm sure she's trying to make me follow her so I can run away from this mess, but...

"Miss Hatsune, I must inform you that you will come in for questioning sooner or later." The man nods down at me. I nod, still refusing to talk. He eventually walks away - but not without eying me before walking all the way back to the circle of officers.

Sighing, I finally manage to force my weak legs to let me stand up and walk back inside the warm house.

I don't remember falling asleep on the couch, but perhaps my dazed mind finally surrendered to the stress that has been laying on my shoulders all night. When I woke up, I remember glancing out a nearby window and seeing the sky a gorgeous, rich pink laying over the rising sun.

Assuming it's sunrise, I get to my feet and walk to my parent's bedroom - but only to find that only the glow of the faint sunlight is dancing over the empty bed instead of my sleeping parents. A wave of concern courses through me staring at the empty bedroom.

Reaching for my phone, I see that my mother has left a missed call an hour ago and a following voice mail. Before I listen to it, my eyes catch a glance at the time.

6:53 PM.

I... I slept all day long!? Is it really sunset and not sunrise?

Sighing, I bring the phone to my ear. For a moment, I feeling of hesitation flows through me and fills me with panic. What if... what if that same male's voice comes through the other end instead of my mom?