The Death Code

Sunday, October 3rd

"Are you being serious!?"

My mother paced all around our living room. Her eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open in disbelief as she grasped the top of her head as she always did when she was feeling anxiety about something. I sat upright on our sofa and attempted to make eye contact.

"It wasn't that big a deal," I replied, surprised by her reaction. "The hospital called the police immediately. We just had to answer a few questions and B helped us explain everything."

"Not a big deal?" she repeated. "That psycho could've hurt you! And this was after the psycho living in the attic tried to kill you?"

"That guy didn't try to kill anyone," I corrected with a groan. "All he did was run away and then Deputy Allen shot him."

I hate my mom's tendency to twist and exaggerate details.

"Not helping your case, Terra!"

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"When you told us you and that big-haired kid were being 'detectives' this whole time, I thought you were finding lost puppies or something. Your father never told me you were doing dangerous things, running around with crazy surgeons, kidnappers, poisoners-"

"Hey," I interjected. "The poisoning happened at the stupid charity thing you and dad dragged me to, that one's on you. Besides, our cases aren't 'dangerous', they help people. And you guys told me to either join extracurriculars at school or get a job, and I got one with pay that's not bad."

I waved my hand across my chest to display the new designer scarf I was wearing, which I had bought with money from J's less exciting cases. My mom simply sighed, then walked over to me and her hand landed firmly on my shoulder. I looked up at her and saw the stern look on her face.

"You're only fifteen," she said. "You need to be careful."

I scoffed. "You think I don't already know that?"

"I need you to promise me that if you two ever get into a situation that could be dangerous, you'll use your head and get away while you can."

I was genuinely surprised; I had rarely before seen my mother this shaken up about the things going on in my life. I knew she had the wrong impression, thinking J and I were going to get ourselves killed somehow, but I knew my words wouldn't do much to convince her. So not knowing how else to respond,

"Okay," I simply agreed. "I promise."

She frowned for a moment, then flashed me a seemingly defeated, begrudging smile.

"I've got to get to work," she said, walking away to grab her purse from the counter. "We'll continue this discussion later with your father."

I rolled my eyes. "Not necessary, but okay."

She didn't argue any further, she just said goodbye and left. As I heard our front door shut, I fell back onto the sofa and sighed, wondering how deeply my parents would continue to pry into my new extracurricular. That moment, however, resting on the couch in my otherwise empty house, were the last few seconds of normalcy and relaxation I would get before the day went to complete chaos.

It started with an alert sound from my phone. I had gotten a text from my friend Christine, which simply read,

"Turn on the news now!"

Blindsided, I reached over to the remote on the nearby coffee table and turned on our television. In a few seconds, I was watching calamity I never would have expected.

"No one has been injured," reported the woman on the screen, surrounded by police cars and a fast-gathering crowds. "The police theorize the first explosion was only a warning."