Forlorn Girl

Chapter 2

Samuel
I sighed as I looked at my watch. 15 minutes more. I was told by my grandmother to take Alice out for dinner. So I made a reservation in Golden Orchid at 7. What magic has that woman used on grandma. Obviously one of her plays to gain everyone's favour. After 'that' incident, all she will ever get from me is contempt. I looked at the next day's schedule and told my secretary to handle the remaining affairs and got ready to pick her up. My phone buzzed and looked at the caller ID. It's Lara. She told me that Alice ran away. "Damn it. Take Luna for shopping. Tell her I got caught up with work. I'll look for Alice myself", I said, gripping my desk in frustration. Damn it. Why am I getting so worked up? She is an evil person. A two faced liar. I told Lara to mail me the location from where she bolted and looked over there.

Alice
I stopped when I felt something warm and fuzzy under my feet. Am I walking on slime? I looked down at my feet. A dark red sticky fluid was around my feet. Blood. I sat down in a nearby park and took my journal out. In order to calm down, I start writing.

October 17
It was a rainy night. Flashes of thunder cracked the inky blue night sky. I was with Lisa and Mom. We were playing hide and seek. It was Lisa's turn to search for me and Mom. We hid in the closet, giggling silently as Lisa searched for us in our house. Suddenly, the lights went off. We thought it was a power cut. But we could hear many more footsteps in the hall as it was unusually quiet. We went out to the hall to find Lisa lying in a pool of blood. Her throat had been slit. Those men came out of their hiding place and said, " Miss Beth, Our master gives you an ultimatum: Divorce Mr. Adrian and come back to him or we kill her", they said, pointing at me. "Never", she said and held me tightly in her arms.
A man wearing a mask came out and said the same words to Mom. But she refused and ran away from them. We reached the top floor. She hid me in the closet and told me, "Ice, no matter what happens, don't come out. Don't get found out." I could hear the ensuing argument between the masked man and Mom. "You leave me no choice", said the man and I heard the sound of a knife and Mom's scream. "Hold her down", the man told his cronies. I peeped through the narrow slits of the door but it was dark so I could only see silhouettes. I could see the knife continuously being plunged into my mother's stomach. I could hear her gasp in pain. But I couldn't move. I was paralysed with fear. I couldn't cry, I couldn't run, I couldn't help. I just sat there covering my mouth, still with fear. When they finally stopped, the man said, "Let that little brat live. Let her know what it means to cross Carl Jo!" And walked out of there as if nothing happened.
I slowly came out of the closet and stood next to my mother's mangled,  body. Her hand suddenly twitched. She wrote on the floor in her own blood, "Ice is a brave child." The case ran cold after a few months and was closed. Dad went mad with grief. He held me responsible for he death. Called me a filthy murderer. I could never recover from-

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      I heard a familiar voices as I wrote my journal. I looked up and saw across the park from my bench. There, with his men, stood Carl Jo, the man who murdered my mother. A cold snake slithered in my stomach. My palms became clammy and cold with sweat. I felt cold. Not because of the rain. No, this cold feeling went deep down to my bones. It's him. I feel nauseous just by looking at him. He looked at me, smirked and said something to his men. He knows. I couldn't stay there any longer. I once again broke into a run. Anywhere but that park. I finally reached a back alley and crouched behind a trash can, hoping he wouldn't find me.

     All those bad memories flashed through my mind. Mom's mangled corpse. My dad's accusing words. My friends calling me a murderer and a freak. The blood. The sticky, red knife. Those threat letters. Those endless hours of interrogation. I hoped that he would stay. Why Samuel, why? True, I was a trickster. But I could never lie about serious matters. Weren't we friends? Those hurtful words flooded into my mind
"Al, will you tell me what happened?"
"I wish it were that simple."
"What's with the attitude, Al? Why are you making it difficult for me to talk to you?"
"Take a hint, genius."
"Last chance, Alice. Tell me what happened."
"Stop trying to act like you care, Samuel. Just leave me the fuck alone. Besides, I know you came just because people persuaded you to."
"Answer me, Alice. What happened?"
"Leave me alone, Sam. Believe whatever you want to. I don't give a shit."
"Fine, I will never bother you again. But remember, you were the one who pushed me away. From now on, we're strangers. Forever."

"Don't call me Dad. It's so sickening to to hear that from your mouth. Murderer!"

"You're not my friend, you sicko! Just stay away from us, freak!"