I ran.
I could feel the air like needles in my face. I didn't know where I was running. The darkness forbid me to see anything.
I felt the fear.
Controlling my body and leading me forward. Not allowing me to stop. Not allowing me to catch my breath.
'Who were you so afraid of?', you may ask. It's not really a who, it's a what.
I ran away from reality.
From my home, the horror house.
From the darkness in his eyes when he killed her.
My sister. She is dead.
I cried until there were no tears left. I kept running.
Running from reality. From him.
The wood came to an end. Street lights let a road shine in a flicking yellow and I decided to walk along the street, considering the fact that I had been running for what felt like an eternity. I put my hood on and hid my blonde hair under it. I walked.
Step after step I got more tired and I knew I couldn't go on like that much longer. I looked around and stopped. I took out my phone to check if my GPS was off. Luckily it was. I looked at the time. The tears started to roll again. It was already 4:33 am, which meant I had been running for almost six hours. And that meant...
Seven hours and 23 minutes.
Around 26.600 seconds had passed since my sister had taken her last breath. I put my phone away.
I couldn't stop walking. Not now.
But first I blocked his number. He couldn't find me. So I kept walking.
Walking and walking and walking...
Until everything turned black.
When I woke up I felt disorientated.
I opened my eyes and looked around. I lay in a clean, comfortable bedroom, but nothing seemed familiar. I didn't know the pictures that hung on the wardrobe, neither the light pink walls. My eyes scanned the room until they stopped at a bag. My bag! Finally reality hit me. Everything that had happened came back and I shot up. I took my bag, went to the window and looked outside. There was a storm. I saw flashes and heard the thunder, the rain was almost as loud. I turned around and looked at the door. 'Where the hell am I?', I asked myself. Slowly I walked to the the only door and opened it. I stood in a long, empty corridor with many other doors, all of them closed. The only light was spent by a flickering candlestick, old carpets lay everywhere and every noise I made echoed. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't go outside into the storm, not knowing where to go. That would be suicide. Neither could I call my family because-
Well... What family?
Then I remembered.
There was someone I could call.
I dialed the familiar number, relieved that I had net. I was waiting for her to pick up, every second losing more hope. Just when I wanted to hang up, she answered. "Hello, Mary Andersson speaking?"
Her voice. I didn't remember the last time I heard it.
"Mum?", I whispered. There was a long break at the other side of the line. "Ali? I- how? Where are you?"
Hearing her worried about me let me forget what I wanted to say. Let me forget everything. I was furious.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking questions? You left." "I don't think this is the time to discuss that. Would you care to explain why the police came to my house one hour ago and told us that you murdered Rachel?"
I froze.
My heart was beating so fast that it felt like my chest would explode.
No!
Nonononononononono!
It couldn't be. I pressed my hand on my mouth, so my mother couldn't hear me sobbing.
" Alice? Are you still there? Look, I don't know what happened, but I won't believe that you killed her. I can't. Please tell me what happened so we can go to the police. You can come home. Please just be honest with me. You can trust me!"
"Trust you? TRUST YOU?!?
You betrayed our family, you betrayed Rachel and you betrayed me.
What happened is none of your business. You tell me to come home although you know I don't have one anymore. Especially not your place. It only reminds me of what you did. I-
I can't do this." The last sentence I mumbled more to myself than to her. There was another pause, then she asked me the question I had hoped for and feared at the same time.
" If you don't trust me, than why did you call me of all people? How am I supposed to help you?" "When I called you, I wanted to ask you to find me and pick me up but with everything you just told me, I don't think that's possible anymore. I can only think of one way and you will do me a favor. We both know you can't refuse.
You owe me."
After a second she answered.
"Okay. I'm in.
What do you want me to do?"
"I need you to convince everyone
that I'm dead."
