Merged By Murders

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Silence. Silencio. Silenzio. Stille.

There was no noise at all. After a lot of effort and a rough shaking, I'd managed to utter an account of what Brian had told me to Derek, but instead of a shocked gasp or a demand of whether I was telling him the truth, he went quiet. He didn't even move, he was still hovering over me, clenching my shoulders tightly. Each breath blew over my face, cool and refreshing and fanning my hair a little.

"D-Dererk?" I stuttered. No reply. I decided not to push it, he didn't want to talk, I understood. I didn't even know what I was going to say to him. I'm not sure how long we sat in silence for, but hell I knew it was a good while. I couldn't even think straight, she was dead. Found in a bathtub. Just like she said. Was it murder? Suddenly I felt sick, and so I bolted out of my room, racing for the toilet. Struggling to open the lid with my shaking hands, I proceeded to empty my stomach of the cereal bar I had for my breakfast.

I pressed forehead against the toilet lid, feeling how sweaty it was. A few tears slipped out of my eyes but I didn't even bother to wipe them away. I'd hardly known Samantha, but I felt so low, just like I would if she had been a close friend. Rising from my kneeling position, I stared into the mirror above the sink. My hair was dishevelled and my skin was as white as a sheet and so clammy. Rinsing my mouth out with mouthwash, I tried hard to hold back another wave of sickness. 'God, please let this be a dream,' I thought. Squeezing my eyes shut, I let a million swear words rush through my mind, words that desperately wanted to escape my lips in a harsh, screeching voice. Again, more salty tears managed to leak through my closed eyes.

Without warning, I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist, and a warm body press firmly against my back.

"Don't cry," Derek murmured into my ear. "There's nothing we could or can do," Turning me around, he brushed his thumb underneath my eyes, catching my tears. When my eyes were dry, I stared up at Derek who smiled reassuringly at me, making my fears momentarily vanish.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Derek whispered softly, taking my hand in his and leading me down the stairs. We reached the bottom, where Derek stopped.

"Hi," he said awkwardly and at that moment a tense feeling settled in the pit of my of my stomach. Peering past Derek, I saw my mum stood meekly in the hallway, her blue eyes wide and staring. A second later she shook her head slightly, and slunk back inside the living room.

"Keep going," I mumbled, pushing on his back.

Out in the garden, Derek kept my hand clasped securely in his, even if I wanted to remove it wouldn't be able to. But that didn't matter because I was perfectly content holding his hand.

"That was your mum," Derek stated, no hint of questioning, so I didn't bother answering him. We continued walking down the garden path, then out into the street and the whole time I could feel Derek's eyes staring at me, but I didn't have it in me to meet his gaze. Eventually, he pulled me down an alley, it was dirty and stunk of a mixture of off-putting smells but that didn't stop him from pinning me against the wall. I continued to attempted to avoid his eyes, which proved futile as he simply grabbed my face and held directly in front of his.

"What?" I whispered, finally staring into his eyes. I felt so uncomfortable at our proximity, and the fact that I always found it difficult to look directly into somebodies eyes.

"What?" I whispered again, after he didn't give me an answer. My annoyance spiked when he still didn't answer me, so using all my strength, I shoved him. Hard. Caught by surprise, he fell backwards, landing on his butt on the alley floor. I didn't wait for him to get up, I just stormed away back down the street. I looked up at the closest street sign, and realised that Big Bridge was only a block away. Without looking back at Derek, I set off at a sprint, heading for the bridge. People muttered angrily as I pushed past them, one guy flipped me off but I continued to flee; my destination firmly set in mind. I got to the bridge and leant over the edge, my breath heaving rapidly, my chest rising and falling. The brown lake underneath flowed steadily, but then, something faint below the water began to rise.. It swirled and swished around with the water, but it wasn't water.. It was solid. A face surrounded by tendrils of long hair. Female. Her eyes bulged and rolled up so the whites showed.. Her mouth lolled open.