The sun was setting in the horizon, and Taylor, Kaitlyn and I were searching the house for any obvious signs of Ben's murder. We'd been told he was found dead in his bedroom, bleeding out. We could tell why the police gave up on him. There was absolutely no clues, it was insane! Like nothing had even happened. The bed Ben was on when he was found was gone, and there was no blood on the floor or anything. I was just about ready to give up too, sitting myself down on the couch.
The house was pretty nice, a lot of fancy decorations and big TVs. Maybe Evan and I should move in here. I'd never been to Ben's new house since we were grown up, it was his childhood home, but there'd been a lot of renovations. The walls were all painted a dark maroon, and I didn't know how he could stand having every room be the same color. Sure, it was organized and it was a pretty color, but Evan and my apartment has at least four different shades of a dreary, ugly blue.
"This is impossible," I groaned, sprawling out.
Kaitlyn hummed in agreement. "I want whoever committed his murder to move in, because they do a great job at cleaning up quickly."
"Me too," I rolled my eyes, closing them and taking a swig from a can of beer Taylor had supplied.
Taylor was passed out, cuddled into her side--sleeping, not drunk--and I'm sure they were tired of searching too. They were the only one who found any clues whatsoever. Blood. It was on the floor in the bathroom, and in the bathtub. Ben must've been taking a bath or shower when he'd been stabbed.
Kaitlyn got up, not noticing that she'd woken up Taylor. "We haven't checked the basement yet," she said.
"You can go, I'm gonna hit the hay," I tossed the empty beer can into the trash bag we'd brought. I shut my eyes again, drifting off. Until I heard a few shots from the basement. Taylor and my eyes shot open, glancing to each other then the basement door. We ran down the steps, seeing Kaitlyn on the floor, bleeding out. It was exactly as Ben's death was described to me, except now she'd been shot. I couldn't bear looking at it. It smelled metallic and gross.
Kaitlyn sat up weakly, beckoning Taylor over to her. "A man," she sputtered. "It was a man." Taylor was crying, pulling Kaitlyn close to them. They threw their phone to me.
"Call the police," They said sharply, words cutting into me like knives. "We-we're gonna get you to a hospital, yeah?" Taylor held onto Kaitlyn's body, which was going limp slowly. Kaitlyn nodded along, smiling at Taylor. "You're gonna be fine. You're gonna make it, yeah?"
Taylor pressed their lips to Kaitlyn's, watching and sobbing out as her body went fully limp, leaving the two of us alone.
I sat on Kaitlyn's bed, we were probably around fifteen at the time. Cameron's fingers were laced with Kaitlyn's. We were watching youtube on the iPod she'd gotten for her birthday.
I sprawled out on the bed. "This is boring," I stretched out the o in "boring." Ben nodded in agreement, not speaking up. "Let's play a game or something."
"Like what?" Kaitlyn rolled her eyes, facing me.
"I was hoping you guys had an idea," I chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of my neck as I sat up.
"Umm.." Cameron's eyes darted across the room, I assumed he was trying to think of something to do.
"Well, if we're boring you," Kaitlyn's eyes narrowed. "You can always go home."
"Kaitlyn!" Cameron elbowed her, looking back at me and smiling fondly.
"No, she's right," I sighed, glancing to Ben, who frowned at me and waved. I grabbed my backpack and walked out of her room. "Have fun guys," I said as I closed the door.
I walked down the stairs, hearing Cameron and Ben arguing with Kaitlyn.
"Leaving so soon?" Kaitlyn's mom asked, frowning at me.
"I don't think they want me here right now," I rubbed my arm out of insecurity. "They just wanna make out or something," I joked.
"Well you are teenagers, they're just being teenagers." She walked over, giving me a hug. "Cookie for the road?"
I shook my head, "No, but thank you."
"Have a good day, dear."
I walked out the door, hearing my friends calling for me to come back. I ignored them, not realizing that would be the last time we were together for nearly ten years.
I thought back to all the years of times we'd been together. The three of us. All the missed opportunities. As Taylor clung onto Kaitlyn like their life depended on it, I realized how huge this actually was. I began to cry as well, tears falling into puddles of blood surrounding us. She's gone.
The police practically kicked down Ben's door, coming down the stairs at once. I had to pull Taylor off of Kaitlyn's pale body so they could investigate.
"So what exactly happened?" The police had a little notepad. Taylor was mumbling to themself quietly.
"We were going to bed, and she said she was going to check down here for clues of our friend's death. We heard shots and came running," I choked out.
"And why weren't police investigating?" The officer cocked a brow.
"They said they dropped the case." Taylor stated coldly. "She suggested we look. For justice for him."
"I understand." The officer nodded, closing his notepad. "Clear the area so we can investigate."
Taylor refused, sitting quietly in the corner and watching. I sat next to them, wrapping an arm around them as we watched. The officer rolled his eyes, looking all around the basement.
He checked for fingerprints on her, and everywhere in the room. All they found was a window that was left open, leaving a draft pouring in.
"There's not much we can do," another officer sighed. "No evidence except an open window."
Taylor growled from their position on the floor next to me. I held them tightly to ensure them it'd be okay.
"So that's it?" I asked. "You're just not going to do anything about it?" I squinted my eyes at the two officers.
"No, we can't-"
"This is crap," Taylor muttered.
The pair exchanged glances, visibly bored of the situation. "We'll send an ambulance shortly."
