The girl who cried wolf

Chapter 12

Melissa saw the headlines on the local papers. She had only seen Clara the morning of her disappearance. The police had questioned her everyday, as if they were hoping Melissa had missed a minor detail.

"I skipped school, I wanted to make sure she was okay. Just as I got there, she was leaving."

"Did she say where she was going?"

"No. We got into a big fight a couple days before and I said sorry. We talked for ages, but then, she had to leave. We hugged, she said goodbye as if she would never see me again." Melissa watched as the police tried to piece it together. They had spoken to Olivia as well, but she was branded as mentally disturbed when she told them that werewolves had taken Clara.

"Melissa! You believe me! Remember Tim? It was him! He's one of them!" Olivia said, pointing to Melissa across the room. The police turned to Melissa.

"Tim?" One of the officers questioned.

"Tim Finlay. He came to our school for a couple of days, he was also at the party the night Samantha died." Melissa explained, "He took an interest in Clara."

"He also liked Sam! He asked her out to the party. I know it's him-"

"Hush, Olivia." Aunt Georgia snapped, "That's enough."

Aunt Georgia's patience was wearing thin, with police ravaging through her house, day after day, looking for clues. One day, they found a locked door under the stairs.

"Is there a key for this room?" The Sergeant asked, Aunt Georgia nodded, before going through a number of drawers searching for the old key.

"I can't find it." Aunt Georgia said solemnly, as Olivia smiled to herself. "Perhaps you could find a locksmith."  

At 3:30, much to Olivia's dismay, the door was unlocked, revealing a small office with a huge mahogany desk. Officer Clint was about to take a step inside, when Olivia stopped him.

"Don't step on the salt." She warned, jumping over the line of white.

In the corner of the room was a gun, and before the officers could grab it, Olivia picked it up. They all yelled.

"What?" She asked as innocently as she could manage.

"You just ruined all chances for us to get proper prints on it!" Officer Clint cursed. 

"Oh. My bad." She said as she put the gun down and walked out. Melissa looked at her as she went into her room. There was something off about Olivia... Perhaps Olivia really was crazy. The next day, Olivia was shipped off to 'Soft Meadows'. 

Melissa switched on the TV, school had been cancelled for a couple of weeks, so she was home alone while her mother worked. Her parents were divorced and she hadn't seen her father since she was six.

Melissa turned it onto the local news. They were discussing, of course, Clara with a large man with  a even larger moustache.

"The wolves were always a danger to society, but never, have they killed in such periodical order. 15 years ago, they killed 28 year old, Henrietta (Hetty) Drake, who was a mother of two. And only a couple weeks back, the confirmed death of 15 year old Samantha, and now, with the disappearance of Clara who was, in fact, the eldest daughter of Hetty Drake." The man with the moustache said. It had never dawned on Melissa, Clara's mother was also killed by wolves. No.

Clara wasn't dead. Melissa refused to believe it, Clara wouldn't be killed by wolves, she was too smart, she would know how to get away from them, she would climb a tree or something.