Mass Murder

Chapter 1; The Walk Home

Sunshine, crisp cool autumn air,
These were just a couple of things that brought me undeniable happiness. I tilted my head back to feel the suns warmth on my face, giving a slight squeeze to my girlfriend, Mandy's hand. She was staring at the ground as we walked hand in hand, her bright blue eyes looked up at me as if my gesture surprised her, she gave me a sheepish grin. Her beautiful black hair always seemed to frame her pale freckled face perfectly.
How did I get so lucky? I honestly couldn't tell you.

"You look really pretty today, babe." I said, giving her a peck on the cheek.

She looked back at the ground smiling shyly. "Thanks Brody." She replied, leaning into my arm.

Every Saturday morning I walk over to her house and from her house we walk to the local coffee shop in our hometown. It's one of those things that we started early on in our relationship and have been doing ever since. This is what our typical Saturday morning had entailed for the past year and a half.
As we walked up the steps of The Coffee Exchange, I let go of Mandy's hand and pulled the door open for her. She thanked me, stepping inside and I followed suit behind her.

"I'll go order. You wanna get us a table?" I questioned.

Mandy nodded and pointed outside to the patio tables. "Can we sit out there for a change? Its really pretty." her eyelashes fluttering while she spoke.

I smiled and nodded.
"You want your usual, right? Chai latte and almond butter croissant?"

"Yes, thank you. I'll go get us a table!" She excitedly made her way outside.

I ordered our usual drinks and waited as Zach, the barista made them.

"Order for, O'Connor.", he called out, setting our drinks onto the counter top.

I scooped up our drinks, nudged open the door with my back and stepped outside. Mandy sat at one of the patio tables, the wind gently blowing her long hair. She looked up at me and crinkled her nose before smiling. I returned the gesture and smiled back at her, pulling out the chair that sat across from her and seated myself.

"Heres your croissant." I said, handing the small brown bag to her.

"Thank you-, she replied, peeling the bag open and pulling it out. She took a bite from her croissant. -"These are my favorite!"

I smiled and took a sip of my coffee, leaning back in the chair. I couldn't help but look at all of the beautiful sights that surrounded us. The leaves were slowly beginning to change, the birds were chirping happily, the sun was bright, and the wind was cool.

"Its a beautiful day. What do you wanna do after this?"

She looked up at me from her breakfast, "We can go back to yours?"

"That sounds fine." I finished up my coffee and patiently waited for her.

I could hear sirens in the distance, quickly growing more ear-splitting with each second that passed. Two police cars and an ambulance rushed down the street, leaving a trail of dust behind them. I craned my neck around to see if I could see past the trees that were in front of the coffee shop, but they had already jetted down the street and were out of sight.

"Whatever happened must have been no bueno-" I stretched my arms up over my head and stood up. -"I hope whoever it is will be okay. You ready, baby?"

Mandy nodded, "Yeah, I'm ready. I hope so too... You don't think its anyone we know, do you?" Her face beginning to look a little panicked.

I shook my head and with a swift motion I grabbed her hand. "Nah, definitely not." I gave my best attempt at being reassuring.

We began our short journey to my house, which was maybe a ten minute walk from the coffee shop.
Mandy talked about what she was learning in Veterinary school and how she was nervous about one of her upcoming tests. I always reassured her that she was incredibly intelligent and that I would always help her prepare for any upcoming tests. She asked if I was nervous about the police academy, which I replied with no. Maybe once the date becomes closer I will be, but that's the day that I've been counting down for.

Thick black smoke started to cloud the skys around us, I could feel the burning sensation in my lungs- making it harder to breathe with each step that we took. There were people gathered around observing the officers as they took notes and pictures of what had happened.
There was what looked like the remains of a car that was almost completely blackened.
We pushed through the people that were standing around, so we could get a better look at what had happened, and that's when I saw it. Paramedics were zipping up a huge white body bag, I caught a glimpse of what looked like my father.
I turned around, shaking my head, trying to quickly get the image out of my head.

"No, no, no-" I muttered to myself, trying to steady my breathing. "There's no fu-"

Mandy's grip on my hand tighten, her eyes almost looked dead from what she had just seen.

I heard someone from behind me clear their throat, "Brody O'Connor?"

I turned around to see that it was Will Barker, one of the deputies that worked with my dad. He didn't have to say anything. The look on his face told me everything he needed to know.

"Brody... I'm so sorry son-" he reached out and pulled me into a tight hug. "Your father was a great man." I could hear him starting to choke up.

My tears felt like acid that burned all the way down my face, I had a lump in the back of my throat that felt like it was choking me, and now matter how many times I swallowed it wouldn't go down.
I saw my father in a big white body bag, completely burnt up, and there was nothing I could do.

"What happened? What happened?!", I demanded. My mind was going foggy and it was getting harder and harder to breathe.

Deputy Barker took in a deep breath and sighed. "We aren't for certain yet. But you and your siblings will be the first to know."

All I could do was scream. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't speak. My vision was blurry from all of the tears, my head was pounding, my heart racing. I could feel myself slipping away from all of my surroundings, the sirens slowly fading away.