Death Itself

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

         Green eyes flickered to the sudden cause of illumination in the otherwise dark room, a phone, sat propped up against the drywall opposite the figure, the screen facing the wall. The light caused an almost ominous glow against the barriers dark grey coloring.

Joints popped loudly in the silent room when the figure slowly stood from their propped position against the wall. They could not remember the last time they had moved from that spot, nor could they remember the last time the phone had buzzed with an incoming message. They pondered on the time that had passed since initially setting the phone upright against the wall as they shuffled slowly over to the device.

Days? Months? Years? In that dark room with no windows or clocks it was impossible to tell the passage of time, though the state of their body was telling enough. The figure had refused to touch the phone until it glowed again; even to see the date or time.

Slim pale fingers reached for the black phone with no hesitation. They had been waiting a long time for this day after all. When they turned the phone to their face and swiped the screen, the sudden burning brightness in their eyes caused them to let out a hoarse curse from their unused vocal cords and swiftly turned the device away to shine on the ground.

Heavy lidded green eyes stared at the faint illumination on the wall for a couple of seconds, allowing their retinas to adjust to the light they'd been denied for so long, before turning the screen upright again.

1 New Message. The white notification bar contrasted sharply with the black, blank background of the phones lock screen. Swiping right against the pulsing notification in the middle of the screen unlocked the device, revealing the black words waiting to be read. The multiple numbers at the top of the screen indicated it was a group message but none of them were recognizable.

 Black slim eyebrows furrowed as anger zinged through them for a moment before being pushed back; this is not the message they had been waiting all this time for.

Group Message: 406-875-****; 406-627-****; 406-218-****; 406-722-****; 406-648-****;???

406-875-***: Hello

406-875-****: This is going to sound super crazy and way out there but my sister went missing 4 days ago and yesterday I received a text from her. 

406-875-****: The only thing it had in it was your number

406-875-****: Her name is Leianna Andino

???: You've got the wrong person. I don't know who that is.

406-875-****: Please, you're the only lead I got. I don't know why she sent me your number, but it must mean something!

406-218-****: Tobi give it up. Who knows who this person is! For all we know they could be the kidnapper.

406-629-****: They could also be someone important who knows something! The police are taking too long, this person might be able to help us Xan.

406-218-****: psh, as if some random ass person is going to be able to help us find Leia. Leave it to thrpolice.

406-218-****: The police**

406-722-****: you know as well as I do that the police don't give a shit Xander! to them it's just another girl whose ran away from home. 

406-722-****: But I also have to agree with Xander, Kenzie, we don't know who the hell this person is. 

406-875-****: Can you at least tell us who you are? A name, gender, age; anything.

The almost constant buzzing of the phone going off from each message was causing the figures hand to go numb. Despite not knowing how these people got their number, they were intrigued. Why was their number sent to Tobias? The number was private and only a select few had access to it. Perhaps it was a mistype? No, even then the messages shouldn't have been allowed through. Someone granted access to these people for a reason. The figure shifted their weight from side to side while thinking. Joints popped and slight sparks of pain radiated from the stiffer locations.

Long lashes brushed against the top of pale cheeks as a resigned sigh filled the room. Eyelids lifted as both hands came up to hold the phone; fingers danced across the screen in swiftly before pressing send.

Salem: I am female. You may call me Salem.

The reply came back almost instantly, as if he already had the response typed out and was just waiting on her message to appear.

406-875-****: Salem my name is Tobias Andino. do you know who my sister is?

Salem: I've never heard of her.

406-218-****: Impossible. Everyone in this town knows who Leianna Jacobs is. Why are you lying? Did you take her?

406-629-****: Xander calm down! Not everyone knows who she is. besides, you were one of the last people to see her. 

406-218-****: Are you trying to say something Kenz? I'm one of her best friends, of course I was one of the last people to see her!

406-722-****: And we're also her best friends. Title means nothing the moment someone goes missing.

406-218-****: You can say that again. Her supposed boyfriend sure has been silent this whole time. Got anything to say J?

406-648-****: You do realize you guys are arguing in front of a complete stranger right? We don't know who this person is.

406-722-****: Salem is a part of this now whether she wanted to be or not. It's better to keep such a suspicious person close.

406-629-****: Eren! You can't say stuff like that! Salem, I'm so sorry. We don't really suspect you; we are just confused on why your number was sent to Tobi from Lei.

Salem let out a soft huff that's half amusement and half astonishment. Are these people idiots? They gave up their names and relation to that girl so easily.

Verdant eyes shifted from the phone and looked around the empty room. Salem has been alone for a long time. She wasn't sure if she could pass off as compassionate and friendly but playing with them sounds like it would be much more entertaining than sitting alone in silence again. This will make the time pass more quickly.

Dry cracked lips half lifted into a smirk as her eyes narrowed at the drama playing out on the screen. Who knows? Maybe she'll be the one to solve the mystery.

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OKAY! So, that was chapter 1 you guys! It's short, I know. But not to worry, chapter 2 should be longer. We'll be introducing one more person and will be having individual conversations. Some secret and some not so secret, or I should say conversations they thought were secret but aren't (^.^;). I know the phone numbers can be pretty confusing on figuring out who is who, but remember, that's the point! However, next chapter should have most of them replaced with names. 

I find myself typing out Salem's thoughts, adding her actions to those thoughts, then going back and deleting the thought process. It's the only way I can make her actions seem more natural, I guess? I just really hope in the future I will remember to always delete the really important thoughts otherwise I'll give the whole game away, (>.<!)

I would love to hear from you guys on what you think! My writing is pretty stiff and I can see that. It irritates me to no end! So please be gentle. If you've read the authors note then you'll know it's been almost a decade since I last wrote something for pleasure and not for an assignment. Hopefully the next couple of chapters will loosen me up enough that I may even be able to come back to these chapters and touch them up. 

(P.S. Cover photo up top is an actual part of the real Kalispell, Montana)

Thank you for reading, until next time ya'll!