Dark

Searching

This morning I woke up to the smell of bacon cooking away nicely and strong coffee and also had cramp in my neck from where I had been laying awkwardly on the couch. I was obviously too tired last night to go to my bed.

"Morning sleepyhead, I made breakfast for you which is kind of overdone but I'm no Gordon Ramsey and I also rang your work and said you were sick" Alissa put a breakfast plate on my knee that consisted of burnt black bacon, a half done egg and a slice of pizza that I know I had been spotting in the fridge the past couple of weeks. Liss is the best friend I could ask for but the worst cook and I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was probably going to get food poisoning from her cooking..again.

"I had the worst nights sleep ever I just kept thinking about those initials on the locket so I spent all night on google searching up what it could mean but it just came up with doctors and driving experiences, I'm never going to find out who it is. Thanks for ringing work for me, I'm just going to stay at home and try figure my life out and whilst your off, you can help too. " I tried to say but my voice sounded hoarse and rough like I had a hangover.

Alissa give me a pat on the leg and a sympathetic smile as she sat on the other side of the couch, flipping through different channels on the television. Our house was what you would expect from two best friends living together on a small income. It was plain but cosy in our own way. We had the necessities and just decorated small with plaques and candles. We never used the lights, we always used the candles as they gave the perfect atmosphere and ambience. Instead of eating the breakfast, I had resorted to moving it around my plate and cutting it up to make it look like I had tried it. I was looking at Alissa, my blonde best friend who always attracted all the guys and had the perfect figure. I was lucky to have her there for me and thankful that I didn't have a ton of friends that I had to worry about backstabbing me.

"Breaking news this morning, a body has been found in Edendale park with multiple stab wounds to the chest, such a sad time for all his family and friends who reported him missing just two days ago. He was known to be called Carl Bradley who was an older man aged around his late fifties. The murderers are still yet to be caught and we will be releasing CCTV tapes later on to identify these criminals. Stay tuned" The television had been turned up as I pushed the breakfast plate onto the floor to get a better look at what was happening.

"Nothing like this ever happens here, it's such a serene town and everybody knows each other. Who in their right mind would just kill someone like that and leave them there? Whoa.. hold up Carl Bradley? He was uncle G's neighbor" My mouth had gone dry from it been wide open and focused on the news. I had watched this sort of stuff on Netflix but never once thought it would happen around this small village. They had now started showing videos of the crime scene investigators in their white ballooned outfits looking for any evidence in the park. They had also showed a picture of the victim's foot with a time of death tag around his ankle.

"Krissy, OMG! The initials are carved onto his foot, 'D.R'" Alissa shook my hand and put her hands on either side of my head forcing me to look at the screen that she had now paused and sure enough showed the same initials that had been carved onto the locket that I had received just a day ago. The carving looked freshly done, blood still slowly seeping out of the cut.

My thoughts had started racing round my head. Was my uncle involved with this so called 'D.R' when he was alive? Why would they send me money and a locket but kill an innocent man and mark him with their initials? Maybe someone is being set up? Maybe I am going a tiny bit crazy?

"Alissa turn the TV off, we are going to G's house" I picked up her car keys from the side of the TV and ran out of the house feeling like a detective trying to solve a crime although this detective didn't quite know what she was actually looking for.

After months passing the funeral I never had the confidence to go back into uncle G's house until now as I stood looking up at the now bordered up house and the sky clouding over, rain threatening to fall. I felt round my neck for the necklace that lays there in remembrance with a star pendant from G on and his house key. I shakily tried to open the door with the key but anxiety started to kick in and I stepped away feeling defeated and broken. Alissa pushed the door and led the way inside. As soon we entered the property, it was dark and musty with a smell of animal urine and old people. I took a deep shaky breath as I gathered myself together and ventured further into the place I once called home.

I stepped into the living room wearily, looking down at the blood stained floor where I had found my dear uncle shot and lifeless just years ago. Framed photos littered the floor now smashed. All good memories we had here now gone and taken over by death and darkness.

"Maybe he has something in his office" Alissa pulled me out of my thoughts for which I was grateful for otherwise I would have broken down and ran out of the door faster than you could say Boo. I turned around to see that she was shivering and looked creeped out by the eerie feeling that now washed through the house.

"He never let me into his office when he was alive and I still want to respect his wishes now. Although maybe who ever killed him and is now sending creepy sh!t to us may have killed this man in the park." I felt like I was arguing inside my head but by the look on Lissa's face she looked like she was going to escort me out of the premises in a straight jacket. We both shrugged at each other and made our way into my uncle's office that I had never been in before. This room wasn't like the rest of the house, it had a sense of safety and smelt like fresh linen. It was clean and well organized with a plain mahogany desk right in the middle of the room with a small padded chair that looked washed of all colour it once had.

"Hey, look, did you know that your uncle kept a toy teddy cat on his desk" Alissa had picked up the cat and started moving its paws making it look like it was waving. She started to pet it and meow at it. I started to laugh at her stupidity and told her:

"It's not a toy Lissa, its an actual dead cat that's been stuffed. It was my uncle's cat Mog from when he was young. To be fair I wondered where he put that. It started attracting flies and bugs so I told him to throw it away but he obviously didn't" I tried to get out between laughs. Alissa's face was a picture that I could sell in a museum. Her eyes had gone wide and she dropped the cat where she stood letting it bounce on to the floor with a heavy thud. She stepped back from it as she shivered and looked disgusted.

"I ain't touching anything else now, he could have a stuffed body under the desk for all I know. I'll stand guard whilst you search" She said staying in the one spot but looking around to make sure nothing would jump out at her.

I approached the desk and sat down at the chair where I could imagine him sat doing what ever business he had. G told me he was in an important line of work but never told me what it was and he always got angry whenever I asked about it. "Always keep your nose on that pretty little face, not in business where it doesn't belong" he would always say and steer me away from his office. I giggled as I could see his wrinkly face in my mind shaking his finger at me for sitting in his chair.

I opened up the drawer that was attached to the desk and found multiple log books that had the label 'Sales' on them. I opened one to see a book full of names followed by another column of what he called 'product number' which included: M203, MG42, M16R, AK47 and then alongside would be prices that where well over hundreds of pounds with signatures near each row to say that they had paid.

Alissa had been reading over my shoulder and piped up "He could of been a car salesman, the numbers are like registration plates and the list of names like Hell's Angels are them motorbike people and Dark Riders sounds like they could be into motor cycles too." Maybe Alissa was right but my mind was thinking that there was deeper meanings to this but I just couldn't think what it was? I pocketed the books and other items such as pictures and letters that were tucked into the draw. Something in my mind was telling me that I had to dig deeper and so I was going to.

Something just wasn't right...