The Killer Secret

7.

Detective Carter pulled up in front of the Morgan's home and I suddenly began to feel extremely nervous. Exiting the car, I jammed my fists into my jacket pockets and tried to calm myself.

The house looked haunted as if-

"You okay?"

I nodded, looking up at the house in front of us, as we slowly made it to the front door. He was the first to knock. On his second attempt, the door creaked open and a gust of bone chilling wind engulfed us. The house was dark and cold as we made our way through it.

"Longwood PD." detective Carter called out but there was no sign of movement.

"I'll check upstairs."

Before I could protest, he had already disappeared through the darkness and I was left alone to search the ground floor.

Great!

Pulling out my phone, I turned on the flashlight and proceeded to the kitchen. The moonlight bounced against the walls, giving the room a slight glow that I was thankful for. At least it was less scary now.

I heard the floor creek in the hall and I spun around, shining my light at the dark spots. Walking backwards, my breathing became heavier and faster as the floorboards creaked again.

"H-hello?" My voice shook as I continued to walk backwards. When the noise sounded closer, I turned around to run out the back door, but trip over something and hit my head against the edge of the counter.

My vision became blurry, but there was no mistaking who I saw laying next to me. I screamed, trying to gain some distance from his body. Nausea took over me and I tried so hard not to contaminate the scene with my vomit.

"Oh my god!"

I had his blood all over my clothes and my hands, which made it even harder to suppress my biliousness.

"Kayla?" detective Carter called, running into the kitchen. "Kayla, are you hurt?"

"Axel," was all I could muster up before darkness took me, but not before I noticed the bloody shoeprints leading out the back door.

- - - - - - - -

They say death was peaceful, like falling asleep. That was the way I always wanted to go. Peacefully, quietly and unpainfully. Taking a brief look back at my life, I noticed that I wasn't happy as I should have been. Death took over my world, inserting its claws deep into the relationships I've initiated.

Darkness surrounded me and I kept falling deeper and deeper into nothingness. It was sad, cold, and lonely and I hated it. I hated being alone. In the distance, I could see a small light coming closer the deeper I fell into the darkness.

This was it. I was ready.

The light engulfed me and I felt at peace. I was no longer cold, afraid or alone. In fact, I was feeling something considerably different.

I groaned at the pounding headache I was undergoing and tried to sit up. There were wires hooked to my chest that connected to a beeping monitor next to the bed, and an IV tube lodged into my left arm that made me squirm uneasily.

God, I hated needles!

"Oh, honey!" My mom lightly kissed the top of my head. "I was so worried."

Scanning the room, I noticed Taylor and Eliot sleeping in the corner by the window, my dad was snoring away like no tomorrow, and Travis, who stood up and approached the other side of the bed, when my mom spoke. I tried sitting up again, but it was no use. Dizzy spells clouded my vision and so I laid my head back onto the hard pillows in fear of throwing up.

"I'll get the doctor."

When my mom left the room, Travis took my hand in his and kiss it.

"I thought I'd lost you too," he mumbled.

My heart skipped a beat at his words but I knew better. We were too broken to be put back together and, lately, it had been challenging being back on good terms again. I'd admit that I haven't fully gotten over my feelings for Travis. Heck! He was my first! But, like I said, I knew better.

"What happened?"

He shot me a questioning look, searching my eyes. "Y-you don't remember?"

I raised an eyebrow at his cautiousness. "Remember what?"

Travis ran the hand that wasn't holding mine through his hair and sighed. "Axel's dead."

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks crumbling down to the pavement. This was serious now. It wasn't just about me anymore. People around me were being plucked out of my life like weeds in a garden.

"None of this is your fault, Kay," Travis whispered and I lowered my eyes to our interlocked fingers as my mind wondered off to that night.

My mom returned with a woman at her toe. She looked pretty young, making her blend in with the crowd in my room.

"Hello, Ms. Mason," she started, looking at her clipboard.

My heart fluttered at my name and my mind suddenly wondered off to detective Carter. He must be in so much trouble by now because of me.

"How are you feeling?" She asked and I groaned as a response, too deep in thought to answer her properly. She pulled out her penlight and told me to follow it with my eyes, which was difficult and painful to do.

She wrote down a couple things on the clipboard and raised my bed a bit. She placed the cold diaphragm of her stethoscope above my left breast and on my back.

"Well, other than the concussion you suffered, you seem to be in tip top shape."

Relief flooded through my body as I smiled widely at the news.

"So, when can I go home?"

After the doctor was done writing, she spoke. "I want to keep you over night just to be safe, but, if all goes well, you will be released in the morning."

I nodded in accordance and my mom thanked her. Time flew by after my consultation. I mostly slept and ate only half of my stale dinner. Then, I slept some more. Taylor and Eliot left after I ate and Travis stayed until the doctors escorted him out for being in my room past visiting hours. My dad still remained snoring away on the chair and my mom was fast asleep on the bed next to me.

It was nice, being surrounded by my parents. They gave me a sense of security that I haven't felt since everything started. I was afraid that I would be on the list of who ever was doing this, and that made me more determined to find them before they could get to me.

* * * * * * * * * *

Soundtrack 12 = Lucid Dreaming by Lights and Motion

Soundtrack 13 = When You're Gone by Message To Bears