Something About Alice Murphy: BOOK 1

P A R T - E I G H T E E N

Chapter Eighteen: Revealed.
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The air in Alice's lungs seemed to freeze in her throat. Her eyelids fluttered as ice travelled through her veins, she could smell the metallic stench of blood and held her hands still, even though she was beginning to tremble slightly with panic.

Slowly, she stood up, keeping her hands extended in front of her she managed to make her way over to the light switch and shakily turn it on, her hands smearing the blood across the white plastic surface. Breaths left her throat shakily as the lights came on, and in a way she had naively hoped that her eyes would've mistaken her.

But the light only revealed what Alice had been dreading. Her lips parted as her eyes began to water instantly, there was blood all over the kitchen floor in a large crimson pool. Smears of it where all over the counter doors and there were four stripes on the fridge. Panicked whines began to leave Alice's throat as she looked at the scene, tears dropping down her cheeks as her hands began to shake... her gaze dropped to her hands and her legs, seeing that she was covered in it too. "Mom?" She asked, her voice wavering as she felt her heart turn to ice and drop like dead weight onto the floor. "Dad?" She asked a little louder, looking around herself to see blood spatters across the ceiling and on the counter tops, there were more smears across the dining room floor and spatters across the glass table.

"Charlotte?" She called, knowing that if Charlotte was still here she wouldn't be able to hear her. Silence echoed back and Alice's eyes blurred as tears flooded her vision. Ragged breathes scratched her throat as she clumsily reached across the counter to grab the home phone, dialling for the police as she accidentally moved some hair out of her face, and smeared the blood across her forehead...

Alice could barely breathe as she tried to explain what had happened over the phone. She was frozen in the corner of the kitchen, staring at the blood across the floors, walls and ceiling... "Miss, we'll have a patrol car come to your location soon." A woman's voice said on the other side of the phone, since Alice had said little except mentioning blood and that she was scared that her family were hurt.

Her mouth felt dry as she hung up the phone out of frustration, feeling as if she'd slipped into a daze even though she'd heard the operator asking if she was able to respond. Alice stared at the blood, feeling helpless and angry that she'd been enjoying herself at Magnus's house whilst her family had been... here. She felt sick to her stomach, her mind involuntarily showing her what could have happened. The house was so silent it felt like it was screaming in her ears, ready to blow her ear drums with its volume.

She didn't move for fifteen minutes, her heart was still thudding heavily, pumping adrenaline, fear, panic and rage into her bloodstream as tears slipped down her cheeks and dropped off her chin. Her face was void of emotion, and she barely noticed the red and blue lights pull up outside her house. She didn't notice the police coming to knock at the open door... she didn't notice them calling her name and hurrying into the scene, calling for back up when they saw the blood everywhere.

They believed the innocent faced sixteen year old was in shock, and panicked themselves as they saw the horrific mess of a scene. Alice was dazed and silent as she was escorted to the back of a ambulance to be checked over, and it was as if she was watching the events that followed unfold around her in slow motion. More cop cars pulled up, closing the scene with their yellow and black tape, their lights flashing. People in white forensic suits made their way into the house with their briefcases and a police officer tried to get something, anything, out of the girl they knew to be Alice Murphy... But she barely breathed above the sound of a whisper. She barely blinked.