Scratches| A SFWX001 Story

IV

         Clara Mitchel sat on the tan couch, holding a cup of tea, and a fluffy white blanket draping her shoulders. Her face was paler than usual with dark bags decorating under eyes. Her mother sat beside her, rubbing her daughter's shoulder in a comforting gesture. The tired girl's bandaged feet rested on the coffee table in front of her. Clara switched on the TV to a news broadcast. On the TV, the news reporter was starting to introduce their new headline.

         "We have breaking news," the news reporter said looking at the camera. Last night there has been a murder of four individuals at Redwood Park. The victims were five of high school seniors, only one surviving the attack. 'The kids were torn apart, almost unrecognizable' Chief of police, Joseph White had said. The investigators have discovered a supposed weapon at the crime scene, which would be a rusty, dull gardening fork as you can see now." Pictures of the weapon popped up onto the screen, exactly how it had been found at the crime scene.

         "Investigators have pulled up the name of the suspect. Amelia Smith, a now twenty-four year old young lady who disappeared without a trace six years ago at the age of eighteen." Pictures of the murderer flashed up onto the screen. The pictures showed a happy, teenage girl with dark, almost black hair and dark brown eyes, smiling at the camera.

         "Although police suspected she had died during these six years, they have found traces of the her blood and finger prints matching the DNA of Amelia Smith. Police and several men, working for Amelia's father have swarmed the forest, hoping to find the supposed living murderer."  

         Clara switched off the TV and tossed the remote across the room, tears welling in her eyes. If she hadn't given in to Levi's bribe that morning, he and the rest of her friends would still be alive. Perhaps, if she had just run faster, she would have been able to get help in time. Now, she was constantly looking over her shoulder, always listening for footsteps. The once confident Clara Mitchel was dead, replaced by a scared, little girl who the rest of her life would blame herself for the death of Levi Nelson, Jack Baker, Toby Williams, and Vickie Lopez. Now to Clara Mitchel, the thought of being the reason of her friends' death wasn't the worst, it was the constant tapping of nails on her bedroom window when she laid down at night. The thing outside her window waiting for the unlucky night when she would forget to lock her windows.