The Day Hope was Murdered

14. Hacking Away

// Chapter 14: Hacking Away \\

"Die! Die! Die! Die!"

"You don't have to be so dramatic. It's not like you can kill a piece of wood," I say to Amanda as she brings the hatchet down for the millionth time.

Amanda shushes me. "Shh! Let me kill this monster in piece."

I step back and watch as she continues to lift the hatchet into the air and bring it down with full force.

Crrrraaack! "Yes! I see blood!" Amanda yells as she continues to pound away.

I chuckle at her antics, thinking of how insane we'd probably look to any strangers who happened to view what we were doing. It was now Thursday, and since my mom was out of the house for once, I called Amanda up with a crazy plan.

You see, it had been almost a week since we visited Oliver and got his little tip of reading my journal. After hours of searching alone for the key to my trunk my journal was in, Amanda decided to offer up her assistance. I mean, it's not like she didn't have the time with her boyfriend always backing out on their plans last minute.

So I began searching again, this time with someone beside me. Of course, the little metal key was never found. Then ensued the hair pulling and the headaches. I realized my 'temporary' relief at the bowling alley wasn't meant to last. I shouldn't have fun when the man who murdered my sister in cold blood is still out there.

And so, we decided to destroy the trunk. It's not like it was made of steel anyways. Just a bit of wood . . . no biggie.

This morning, Amanda and I went into the shed in my backyard, found a hatchet, and here we are, hacking away.

We were supposed to take turns, but as I watch Amanda with an evil grin on her face, I decide not to interrupt her fun.

"This is for leaving me alone at the beach! And this is for--"

I tune Amanda out as she directs her anger at her boyfriend towards my precious trunk that I've had for years. Looks like it's time to say goodbye to it soon.

I break out of my thoughts when I hear Amanda shrieking louder than ever. "It's dead! It's dead! It's dead! I killed him --er, I mean it."

I inspect the damage and see that wooden shards are in disarray all over the grass. But more importantly, the inside of the trunk is visible. Joy consumes my body. "We did it!" I jump up from my position on the ground and start jumping up and down with Amanda.

After a few minutes of jubilation, I decide it's time to see what all the hype was about when Oliver said I'd find what I was looking for in my journal.

Amanda seems to have read my mind for she kneels down on the ground and says, "Let's find out what this dead body is hiding."

I follow her actions and kneel down as well, careful not to lean on any shards of wood. "You're so weird," I say to Amanda.

"I know," she replies smugly.

I smile over at her, and realize that I'm actually happy with her. The last time we had fun like this together was when Hope was still here. It's nice to know that we're still close even with her gone. Nevertheless, now is not the time to dwell on our relationship status. I carefully reach into the massive hole Amanda created in my trunk and wiggle my hand around in search of the leathery feeling of my journal. I furrow my eyebrows together when I don't find it and continue feeling around. "Where the heck . . ." I trail off and continue searching.