Toxic

02. 8k!

I gasped in disbelief as I stared at the black ink was my own name.

"No, no..." I mumbled. There was no way I would let myself be killed before I'd solved the case for Brent.

I quickly tucked the list back into its pocket and shoved the entire file into the folds of my quilt. I sighed in frustration. Why did he have to pick me? I wasn't done living my life yet, and worse of all, Brent was broken enough with Claire gone.

I heard footsteps nearing my door and I quickly slammed my head on my pillow, pretending to be asleep.

In my haste, I'd completely forgotten to switch off my nightlight. If my mother came in right now, I was doomed. Luckily for me, the footsteps receded slowly and I breathed out a slow sigh. I rubbed my head softly and turned off the light, leaving the room pitch dark and discarding the evidence that I hadn't already slept.

I closed my eyes and a split second later, they shot back open. I rubbed my eyes gingerly and then decided to go down to the kitchen to get something to drink.

I poured myself a cup of water and proceeded to drink it until I saw something move around the windows. There seemed to be someone lurking around, I could see their shadow move. I kept my gaze on the shadow for a few minutes, gripping the edges of my cup tight. It didn't move. It was probably just a trick of the eye, I thought, as I set my cup down.

But then the shadow shifted again. I stopped in my tracks. Was it the killer, spying on me like I did with him? I stared at the shadow for a few more minutes before retreating to my room.

When my head was safely on my pillow again, my mind refused to stop. Every time I closed my eyes, the illusion of a shadow moving was imprinted into my overwhelmed brain. All I could think about was how I was next to die. He'd strike again in under twenty hours, and this time, my blood would be on his knife. I hadn't even found out his real name, or why he started killing all those innocent girls.

I was positive that I wouldn't get a wink of sleep.

With the help of some unknown force, I managed to sleep, and stay in that state for at least six hours. I was awoken by the loud sizzle of the frying pan, and I quickly scrambled to make sure that the files were still hidden. To my relief, they were.

I went down to the dining table and grabbed a banana out of the fruit bowl. Brent was still in his room, and since he started getting special treatment from my mother because of what happened with Claire.

My mother carried a plate of scrambled eggs towards me and I set it down on the table for her. I sprinkled salt on top and poked a fork through it. It was good, but it wasn't long-lasting. I'd barely had two bites before my mother asked me to go out and buy her some groceries. I nodded and hurried to my room to get a change of clothes. I'd learned the hard way to always, always, obey my mother.

I slipped some bills into the pocket of my jeans and hurried to my bicycle, which was lying under the sun. The handlebars burned to the touch and I yelped softly. I calmed my fingers and slowly pressed them to the handlebars, before plunking myself on the tiny black seat of the bicycle.

I pedaled slowly, simply because I wasn't in a rush. What could occupy me during the summer holidays anyway?

A rush of cold air greeted me as I walked into the overcrowding supermarket. I picked up a basket and let myself be part of the crowd, examining fruits and vegetables here and there.

I had a quarter of the basket filled with vegetables when I called it quits and hurried over to the meats section. I had just plopped some raw meat, which was wrapped in cling wrap, into my basket when I saw him.