The KILLER (1)

JANICE

You said you'd never leave me. You said you would stay by my side and that we would never drift apart and stay the closest any two sisters could be. But you drifted so far away, I don't even know where you are. You broke your promise, Hillary.

What would I do without her?

It all just happened so fast. How did it even happen?

How could she have died?

Think Janice. Think. What could have happened?

But my mind had a million thoughts pushed together. No, I needed some time for myself first. I needed to set my thoughts in order and wait for the reports prior to any judgments. But Hillary was gone. Nothing would bring her back now. She was all I had. My whole life. After our parents died, she was my life jacket. She kept me afloat. She didn't let me sink. But now she drowned, and I wasn't there to help her.

What would I do now?

"I need to go now"

"ok"

I walked outside and watched Thomas shut the door. I knew things weren't going well with them but I could see he was hurting just as much as I was.

I went home and cried even more, clueless, and unable to process my sister's death.

I got up, looking at the frame on my mantle. We both were smiling, our teeth visible. She had her arm around me and I was looking up at her.

I think I remembered this day, we were in front of our grandparents' lodge. It was snowing that day, heavily. Our grandma had made us hot cocoa and we sat there sipping it slowly on the window seat watching it snow. Then Hillary suddenly jumped up with the idea of making a snow angel. I remembered jumping up and clapping my hands excitedly, like I did for everything she said. I'd always looked up to her. We had gone out and just started to make a snow angel as grandpa rushed out with the camera smiling. We stood up to take a picture and then noticed the snowing was getting heavier so we hurried back inside. This was a year before grandpa passed away.

I held the frame tightly in my hands. I looked at it again.

What would I do without you?

We drifted apart the last three years, even I realized, we barely met once a month. I know. But you're my sister. We'll always be close no matter what. I hugged the picture to my chest for a while and sighed.

I put it back on the mantle, face down. I went to my room and threw myself onto the bed, coat and all. I tossed and turned around in confusion and despair. I was tired.

I opened my eyes looked outside. Was it noon already? How long was I in my room? I walked over to the washroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I splashed water on my face and went into the living room. The phone rang. I stared at it before lifting it to answer.

"Hello?"

"Janice? Finally. I tried your phone five times in the last hour."

"Sorry. I fell asleep. I was tired"

"The results came in. The doctor called me an hour ago......"

"Okay................. What did it say?"

"It was some kind of poison. It will take some time to identify it."

"WHAT?"

"I don't know what to do Janice. They advised me to inform the police if it wasn't a suicide but I don't know what to do.

"What do you mean? It wasn't a suicide."

"But-"

"IT WASN'T A SUICIDE THOMAS! Hillary wouldn't do that. She would never. She wouldn't do that, to me and- and to you. It wasn't a suicide" My voice was stern and commanding but I was shivering.

Did I really know Hillary that well anymore? Yes. I think. Yes, I did. She's my sister and I know, I know, I know she didn't commit suicide. She wouldn't. Would she?

"I know. I know" I could tell he was in tears. "So should we inform the police?"

"Ok"

"I'll call the police station on the 7th street and get back to you"

"Ok"

"Bye Janice"

"Bye, call me when you find anything new"

A beep. I sighed.

If it wasn't a suicide, then what? Was she deliberately killed? Who would even do that? And why? It wasn't like Hillary had a vicious enemy or anything of that sort. Not like that's what happens these days. But still. Who would even want to kill Hillary? No way. She couldn't be intentionally killed.

This was getting me frustrated. I just realized.... This whole thing actually distracted me from Hillary. Even though this was about her, I didn't cry for the past half an hour. This was it. Grieving would get me nowhere. I needed to think, to find out the truth, about what had actually happened.

And I would. I needed to. Who was there that night? How did she even get poisoned? Was it something she ate? Was it an accident? But who could accidentally poison a person? I needed to find out all of this. And there was only one person to ask, someone who is still mourning and needs more time to heal.

Oh, Hillary. If only you could tell me who it was. If only you were here. If only you knew what was going on. Wait...... Would Hillary even know who it was?