Killer on the Cruise

Chapter 1 - Reputation

It was the usual calm, quiet night in the monotonously dim town of Muse Lake. The local grocery market owner was closing up his shops, humbly waving goodbye to her employees. Alice Brown was a beloved jewel in the community, everybody either adored her or envied her. She was in a particular bright mood as she left her shop, despite the gloomy weather forming overhead.

She strolled over to her car, an obnoxiously bright yellow minivan, and hopped into the drivers seat.

•••

The news reporters rambled over the minivan's fuzzy radio. They breezed through the many topics you'd expect to hear in the news; politics, drama, and weather (which had unfortunately caused major traffic conditions on the one major highway through Muse Lake, along with a couple accidents). A pinch of annoyance sprung up inside Alice. The "endless, depressing, stormy, weather" (as the cheerful news reporter described it) wasn't all that bad. "There's plenty of fun things to do in the rain!" Alice muttered to herself. She always tried to keep a positive mindset.

Her hand went to power off the radio, yet a shrill noise made her pause. Gameshow-like music beamed into the car, with a cheerful host talking over it.

"To all people listening to Muse Lake Radio, today is your lucky day!"

Alice's finger hovered over the power button, after a moments pause, she placed her hand back on the steering wheel. The host continued, their very expressive voice laced with tiredness.

"Cuz' today we're giving away..."

"A FREE CRUISE SHIP TRIP IN THE CARIBBEAN!!"

The rain softly pattered against the roof of the car. Alice gradually accelerated until she was just going over the speed limit. She was definitely intrigued about the vacation. She couldn't help but imagine her and her family suntanning on the deck of a grand cruise, letting the gentle breeze kiss her skin, and the calming lap of waves lull her into a daydream. What made her most excited, was that Jordan couldn't embarrass her as much if they were on vacation.

Alice had to admit it, she didn't like her daughter. She was utterly embarrassed by her. Yet no matter how many times Alice begged her daughter to not act like a weirdo, Jordan still persisted.

Of course, you can't do anything about it. Because Alice's reputation would be slaughtered if her friends and coworkers found out she hated her child.

So she lived on with this never diminishing thought in her head.

"All you've got to do to win, is send us a number ranging between 1 and 100. The closest guess to a number we picked, WINS! Message us at @ml.radio.ca" The blare from the radio interrupted Alice's thoughts.

Her heart racing with excitement, Alice took out her phone without really thinking about it, and typed in her password without looking. She opened up her messaging app, and typed in the email address.

Of course, she used her favourite number, 11. Something about the shape of the numbers, the simplicity of the lines, made the number 11 her favourite number of all time. "Simplicity is key!" As her mother always used to say.
X
Alice hit send and excitedly squirmed in her chair, unaware of the red light her car was blindly speeding into.