Flashbacks. . .
"I...I don't understand why I'm here, uncle Arthur." I said in a trembling voice, my eyes darting around a room I'm unfamiliar with. But all I know is that it's really dark, with only a feeble light from a bulb on the ceiling illuminating the small, grey-painted room. I'm seated across from Uncle Arthur. Meanwhile, two cops stand behind him.
I'm not sure why he hauled me here after the cops came into our house and handcuffed me instead of Archer, then they took mom inside the ambulance car.
They blindfolded me, and when they removed it, I found myself sitting in the middle of an unfamiliar room. I can feel the fear crippling my skin. I can feel, by the way they stare at me, that what is going to happen here will never be good.
Uncle A
Mom and I purchased a townhouse in a quiet neighborhood, which is four hours away from Camden. Our neighbors aren't the cheery types of people, unlike in Camden, who always greet you even when you are not close to them, but I found our new place much more homely than our previous house, because we are far away from judgments. The less people care about us, the better we live.Our new house is large enough for just the two of us. I'm now going to a public high school while working as a janitor at a mall. While Mom continued selling vegetables and fruits from the nearby market in our neighborhood.It hasn't been easy adjusting to a new environment that is both quieter and larger than Camden Town, but I'll admit that when we left Camden Town, our lives felt much safer than before. We were relieved even more when the Leviticus family did not discover us or se
I couldn't figure out why Archer took such a quick left and walked straight up to the back building. I came to an abrupt stop, trying to figure out his next moves when he suddenly slowed down. After a minute he suddenly turned to face me, my eyes blinked several times, and my heart rushed in such panic; he had caught me following him. But instead of saying anything, I was so surprised when he merely glanced at me intensely before continuing his walk. Just as I was about to move, I noticed blood on the floor dripping from his right hand, but he didn't seem to notice, or maybe he just didn't care, just like how he didn't question me when he caught me following him. I scratched my head, bewildered by his quick hurry out of the back building and perplexed with myself because I didn't know why I had follow
I stopped in my trance and came back to reality when I heard a sequence of doorbell sounds. But after a few seconds it stopped, I brushed it off and dart my eyes back to the book I was supposed to be reading but my mind kept flying back to my memories in Camden down. But just when I was about to keep my focus on my book, the doorbell suddenly started ringing again, this time, whoever's ringing it seems to be in a hurry because of how constant he rings the doorbell as if his life depends on it.I frowned in irritation and set down the book I was holding, and waited for a while, but the person ringing our doorbell didn't stop, leading me to stand up. What was strange was that I never heard Mom's voice. Her bedroom is simply downstairs; I'm sure she'd already opened the door for that person. And I have no clue who that person is. As far as I know, I am not expecting anyone today, even though it's a special da
"Ever, happy birthday! Woohoo!""Come on, let's go! Let's have a party! We brought lots of alcohol!""Nice house, man!"Then, all of a sudden, there was shouting and loud noises throughout the house, as they all surged inside, pushing me against the wall as I'm invisible in their eyes now.It's almost as though all of Willow High's seniors have gathered here. Our house isn't even big enough to accommodate them all; in fact, our once-large enough-for-us home appeared to be the smallest house I'd ever seen."Ever!"The noise was deafening, there were speakers blaring in every corner of the house, and it felt like I was in a crazy zoo in an instant.
"S-Sierra?" I blinked many times and even rubbed my eyes to be sure it was her and not just a hallucination of mine. She responded by smiling and nodding at me; I noticed her eyes are red and her smile didn't seem genuine as it didn't even reach her eyes, which bewildered me; she didn't seems fine at all, she looks like another version of Sierra—the saddest one. But before I could say anything to her, she took me by surprise when she grabbed my hand and placed the small box on my palm before immediately letting it go. I felt an electricity surge in me after she held my hand; I'm not sure why, but it seems like I felt that I longed for her hold so much because it had been so long since I'd touched her hand and stood face-to-face with her. The weather is cold, but I can feel a comforting warmth in her presence, just as I had before. In a single glance from her, all the love I've long buried for her emerges one by one from their graves. I thought to myself, I've alr
"I think you've had enough to drink." I started when Sierra came in through the back entrance, I followed her to the bottom of the stairs where we're the only two people here. I had just finished blowing out the birthday candle on my cake, and there were just a few unwelcome guests remaining in the house.She's strolling in a circus-like style and appears to be out of her head as a result of her inebriation. She's clutching a bottle of beer and drinking it as if it's her last, before looking at me and plastering her wide grin."I can't even feel the alcohol in my system yet." She said, and swayed with the music coming from the speaker. The carefree Sierra I met before reappeared in the blink of an eye that made me smile a little."So, how are you doing these days?" After convincing myself multiple times, I finally found the courage to approach her. I also realized that we would never meet again after this day, and I didn't want to wind up regretting my dec
"JUST IN! The dismembered body of a young woman discovered in garbage bags floating in a Camden Town lake has finally been identified. Sierra McCarthy, a sixteen-year-old female. The female victim was likewise reported missing just three days earlier. Her identity was discovered after officials retrieved some of her things, such as a backpack on other garbage bags, which also had her school in it. To date, no members of the deceased's family have appeared to retrieve her body. The police said that they'll continue seeking the deceased's family. Police are still looking for further information about the case and who is responsible for this heinous act, as well as anticipating to interrogate the son of Camden Town's mayor, Archer Leviticus, who was happened to be the last person seen hanging around with the young woman. Currently, he has just woken up from days of unconsciousness and is still recovering in the hospital. His family is still not saying much about the incident, s
PRESENT DAYNovember 30, 2021"How are things going for you here?" When Archer sat down in front of me, I quickly began the conversation. We're separated by a low glass. I noticed how his wrists are so red that I imagine he's trying to aggressively get rid of the chains in his hand, reminding me of when we were kids and I used to see him tied up in bed due to his impulsiveness. He's being guarded by a police officer who is leaning on the wall, just a few steps away from us.He's been imprisoned for four weeks now, but his weight loss is noticeably different from when we last met at his place. He's absolutely worse than before, but I can see how he's much more clear-headed and easier to talk to than before which all he ever said was about Sierra being still alive. He seems to be taking his meds on time now.Archer didn't say anything and just stared bluntly at me, but I could sense his rage in his blazing eyes even when his face was expre