Beyond

Chapter 5 - 9576

In the time of Zoe's misery, everyone called her "the cursed girl."

She didn't have any friends anymore and Zoe felt more alone than ever.

This resulted in Zoe spending all of her free time with the security crew. Hours after hours were spent trying to find out who did it.

One man, by the name of Sparky, caught a flicker of an image, but that was all.

Tonight, there was a glimpse and the picture shut off but the sound still played in the background. No noise was placeable beside the creaking of the door of her apartment slowly opening and shutting. But no sound followed after that. Silence.

They listened until the sound turned off.

Sparky turned around to look at her. "This can only mean one thing," he paused. "The murderer is still inside your apartment."

-----

Anette was scared.

She was trapped and she wouldn't be able to get out.

Anette had no idea what happened or where she was beside the fact that she didn't belong in this place. She was tired. Anetter never got any sleep anymore. Anette was hungry. She couldn't eat.

No one knew she was there. Not her parents, not her friends, not the security crew.

Anette knew she was going to die. Either of hunger, guilt, worry, or she would be killed.

She knew why. She knew how. She knew that there would be no way to talk them out of it.

It was true, Anette was going to be killed, only to return the favor.

Anette knew what she had done but she had no idea what had taken over her. She never would've done it.

She wouldn't have done that. Especially anyone like Zoe.

-----

There she was. It was the cursed girl. Eating lunch all alone in a quiet and secluded corner. All by herself.

John's friend told him, once, that she could speak to ghosts and she had murdered her parents because she could only converse with them if she was the murderer.

The teachers said it was a tragedy to that had to happen to such a young and little girl.

John said that she deserved it because it was her fault that his parents were dead.

He missed his parents more than not, but the main thing he missed were their lessons. They taught him math and science and things that they never had heard of before. He learned all about measuring and his parents even gave him his own ruler.

Then the accident.

Then they were gone.

It was all because of one foolish girl name Zoe. Everyone said that it wasn't anyone's fault. Just a mistake. No one seemed to care about what John had lost. It was like he was problem.

No.

That wasn't the truth because John knew it.

Zoe was the problem. She needed to be dealt with. She was dangerous.

John thought to himself for a moment. There was a handful of things he could do, sure. But he wanted to do the one that was most painful. That made her feel as if everything in her life had just disappeared. Like it had all been taken away in a flash and it was never coming back.

Murder? No. That would be too quick. John needed something that would break her until she couldn't take it. He needed to destroy her from the inside, out. John needed to ruin her life until she couldn't stand and all she could do was cry.

He still couldn't stand it.

He still didn't understand it.

Why had she done it?

If it wasn't for her, he would still have everything. He never would have lost them. Why had she gotten in the way?

He remembered the night as clear as the stars that were scattered across the galaxy.

-----

He had to stand on the tip of his toes to be able to see out the window but he almost didn't want to.

There it was.

The Space Crusader. His parents' ship.

But there it was.

The sinking ship slowly falling, down, down. Never to come back.

And there was Zoe. The girl stood, watching her father as he slowly went on to the rescue ship. That was when she began to cry. Her father turned and watched her through sad eyes.

He knew that his daughter understood that he was never going to come back. He walked away from the crew and went to take his daughter away.

John watched the rest of the crew as they slowly got into the last rescue pod. It was old and the metal was rusting in places. The crew filed on rather quickly and as soon as the small barge was released, it began to fall.

He watched through widened eyes as the pod fell.

No one in the crew made it back alive.

John had cried and cried until he felt as if there was no more tears left to be lost and no more heart left to be broken.

It was her fault. He knew it. John knew that if Zoe's father had been there, he would have been able to get the pod to work.

He was the best mechanic and if her own selfish reasons hadn't gotten in the way, he would still have everything.

And if Zoe's own selfish reasons hadn't gotten in the way, there might have been more hope.

She would never realize that it was her fault that everyone lost everything.