Revenge or Revolution?

8.

Sandra remembered this event. She never answered the question which was asked by Steve that day but she trusted Steve then. But it was hard to trust him now. He met her after 3 years and they didn't part in the best way.

She reached home still wondering about what would have happened if she said yes to Steve that day.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Brian.

'Hey, babe. Where have you been?'

'Just out running some errands.' Sandra replied not actually listening. She didn't have much time. If Steve was right, one week was not enough time to stop something which started a couple of years ago.

'I am tired, Brian. I think I want to go to bed seeing some horror videos on internet and fall asleep. Please, don't wake me up. I will see you at dinner. Bye.' Sandra didn't wait for a reply. She walked to her room and closed the room behind her.

Sandra opened her laptop and jumped on the internet. She knew that if how Sean died was so brutal, information regarding his murder must be on the net. She searched for some time and found a link which lead to an article describing the whole incidence:

"'Murdered by speed or speedily murdered?'-

On the evening of 23rd of June, a 22 year old boy named Sean Roberts died of an injury, on the highway near Grestown, which was caused by something splitting his head open. The body was found the next morning by a number of people who passed the highway. One rod was found near the dead body with blood of the victim on it. Also, his blood was found on a nearby rock. The death is a mystery as there was nothing found on the road which could indicate accident. Along with it, the victim's motorbike was discovered standing upright. These signs clearly suggested that it wasn't an accident. But on the other hand, a murder was also not possible because the way the skull was cracked open. It was impossible to do it with bare hands. No person can bust a skull with a rod or a rock. The police are finding the reason for this death. Traces of alcohol were found in the blood of the victim. No item was stolen from the victim's body except a gold necklace with his initial on it."

Sandra froze as she read that last line. She couldn't think anything. She scrolled down and saw the photo of the crime scene and it was brutal. She couldn't see it. Although, Sean's face was blurred, Sandra wanted to puke. She scrolled down further so as to get away from that horrid photo. In an instant she knew it was a mistake. There was a photo of the necklace which was not found on the body which belonged to Sean. She put the laptop on the side and went to her dressing table. The necklace she had had an uncanny resemblance with this one. She opened the drawer and pulled out the necklace that was gifted to her by Brian the night she found the red stain on his shirt.

She took the necklace and started comparing each and every corner of it with the necklace in the photo. It was the same necklace. She became sick. She ran towards the bathroom and vomited. She couldn't believe it. She had been wearing a necklace which belonged to a dead guy. It was the sickest thing she had ever seen. And then it dawned on her. Steve was right. Brian killed Sean. The red stain on his shirt was indeed blood but of Sean. And he saw the necklace and saw the opportunity to wash it off and give it to me because we had the same initials. And as soon as that thought settled in her, she puked even more. She would never be the same. She hadn't just been friends with a murderer but was sleeping with him. He was going to be her husband soon. She was disgusted by it and she decided in that moment that she is going to connect all the murders and stop this psychopath from killing Steve.

As much as she was convinced that Brian was the one who killed Sean, she still had questions. How did Steve know about this? How was he so convinced that it was Brian? And if he was so sure that he was going to die next, why was he not scared? There was no panic on his face. It seemed as if he had accepted his death. There were so many unanswered questions and till she got an answer to all of them, she couldn't stop Brian. She went to sleep while thinking about all the possibilities of how she was going to approach this.