She lay there, on the soft bed, limp and unmoving. Her eyes shut lightly. No color appeared on her cheeks or lightened up her slim lips. Her flesh was as white as the sheets that hung lazily off the edges of the bed. Her midnight black hair rested over the cream-colored pillows. The girl was sprawled out, seemingly comfortable. Her chest was not rising nor falling. She wasn't breathing. She wasn't moving. She did nothing to seem as though she was alive. Anyone who looked upon this girl would think she was in a peaceful slumber, but the truth was hidden, her beauty was lost and she was gone.
***
She held her head high as she pranced down the cemented sidewalk. Her walk was full of confidence and her beauty surpassed all of the girls in the city. Her bright charcoal black hair blew in the early morning breeze. Her golden-green eyes were outlined with a thin line of black eyeliner and her eyelashes were elongated with the same color of mascara. Her plump pink lips shimmered in the sunlight. She was gorgeous and well aware of her own appeal. She was accustomed to the usual stares from the other people walking along the same sidewalk.
"Melody?" She turned on her heels to face the person who called out her name. He came walking up in a haste. His hair was a wild mess of light brown curls and his brow was furrowed in contemplation. "Melody Rose?" His lips formed a sparkling white smile.
"Scott! I haven't seen you in years! How have you been?" Melody squealed while embracing Scott in a warm hug. Scott returned the hug and chuckled at Melody's song-like voice. Like old days, her voice hasn't changed! Scott thought to himself. They had some catching up to do.
"Well, it's probably because you've been away for so long living in the big cities." Scott mumbled, still laughing a little.
"I'm back now, my mom's been ill and I wanted to come and be near her in her needy time." Melody's structure saddened an inch.
"So I've heard."
***
A young guy entered the bedroom where the lifeless form lay on the bed still. The color was drained from his solemn face once he saw the body of the twenty-six year old girl. His fists clenched at his sides and he braced himself against the sturdy doorframe unable to look at the girl longer than a few seconds.
"You alright, man?" Another police officer asked from behind him. He stood up straight and turned his back from the scene behind the door. He nodded once and left the other man, Ben, stunned.
A few minutes later, the girl was rolled out on a covered gurney. A sigh escaped the lips of the man who had seen her minutes before anyone else arrived on the scene.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ben asked him concern infiltrating into his husky voice.
"Yeah, I'm good."
"So do we have a name for this girl?"
***
Melody and Scott sat in one of the town's few diners. It was their favorite hangout back in school. The two young souls had known each other during high school but had been separated while attending colleges thousands of miles away from one another. Scott had always been enthralled by Melody's easy-going personality, which was rare with her alluring attributes.
"So what have you been up to?" Melody asked Scott while sitting opposite him at the diner's table.
"Oh, nothing much really, just been working a lot lately."
"So how's patrolling downtown?" Melody took a quick sip of her sweet tea waiting patiently for Scott's response. Scott smiled.
"Actually, I am now the assistant chief of police here, it's the real deal." Scott beamed at his new title. Melody scrunched up her face, still managing to keep her beauty, and asked,
