I couldn't tell what it was.
Everything was silent except for the deafening beat of my heart as I waited for it to move.
Was it a deer? I couldn't tell.
I slowly backed away from the window and moved off to the side. This way, it wouldn't see me, but I could see it.
That's when I realized it wasn't a deer.
It was a human.
I gasped softly and ducked down, hoping they didn't see me. My mind raced with countless thoughts, trying to think things through.
Who were they? Why were they here?
I pushed myself against the kitchen cabinets and made myself as small as possible.
I didn't normally get scared, but maybe my aunts death had taken a toll on me.
I must've sat on the floor for hours. I couldn't sleep because I was so stricken with fear that I didn't dare leave myself vulnerable. It wasn't until I saw thin rays of sunlight shining into the house that I decided I might be safe.
I moved slowly, every part of my body aching. It must have taken me at least three minutes to even stand up.
I peered out the window anxiously, quickly scanning the scenery and letting out a sigh of relief when I saw nothing.
I was okay.
I dragged my aching body to the bathroom and climbed into the shower, triple checking that the door was locked. Even then, I still took a quick shower.
After that, I dried off and headed towards my room, feeling a bit better but still shaken up.
Why did it bother me so much?
I decided that I needed to take my mind off of it. I needed a distraction. And I figured that the best distraction would be focusing on my aunts case.
So I went back to meet with the detective.
"I want to visit the apartments," I told her.
She glanced at me and sighed.
"You can't go alone. I'll have to go with you. Give me five minutes," she replied, shuffling through some papers.
"What are those?" I questioned, stepping towards the desk she was sitting at.
"These are the profiles of all the victims. I was trying to see if there was any similarities," she explained.
I nodded my head and moved to stand behind her. My eyes hovered over the profiles, examining each one and trying to find any similarities myself.
I couldn't.
"I don't see any..." I commented.
"Yeah, I don't either," she sighed.
"Let me write down the apartment numbers and then we can go check out the scenes," she said as she began writing numbers down.
Soon, we left the police department in her car and were on our way to the scene of the crimes.
I wanted answers and I was going to get them.
It was silent between us as we walked to what I assumed was the first apartment. When we got there, the door was already open, but a line of police tape blocked the entrance.
I mentally prepared myself for what I was about to see.
I don't think I could have prepared myself enough.
Once we ducked under the tape, I was met with blood—lots of blood. There was a trail from the doorway on the right of the room leading to a large stain in the middle of the living room. Splatters of dried blood stained the walls and furniture throughout the room.
I grimaced.
"Mikayla Brewer: 37 with no husband or kids. She was an art teacher at the high school. No enemies," the detective finally spoke.
I inched towards the doorway, the one with the trail of blood, trying to get a better idea of what happened. She followed me as I entered the room.
It must have been Mikaylas studio.
I knew this because in the middle of the room, there was a brown easel, an unfinished painting on the white canvas.
The painting had blood on it.
"She must have been painting when the killer found her. Once the killer attacked, she must have been dragged out into the living room, or maybe she crawled?" I voiced to the detective.
"Based on the trail, I would say she crawled, probably trying to escape. But the blood in the living room suggests the killer followed her and finished the job," she responded.
It went on like this as we visited other apartments. We'd examine the scenes, searched for anything that the killer might have left, and tried to figure things out.
It wasn't going well.
"I can't figure out a motive or a pattern or anything. I thought I might find something if I searched the scenes myself, but so far, there's nothing. . . I think I'll have to wait for the specialists to send me their analysis'," the detective announced. She ran her fingers through her hair as we walked to the next apartment.
"Specialists?" I questioned.
"Yes, they took some dna samples from the scenes to analyze but they haven't sent the results yet. It might not matter, though. It's likely there's dna lying around their apartments from friends and family," she explained.
We stopped waking once we reached an elevator. She pushed the button and I jumped as it opened right away.
I had so many questions.
Weren't there cameras that could've caught something? How did the killer (or killers) get into the apartments undetected? Why did they do it?
Questions continued flooding my mind as the elevator moved up.
"You won't be able to enter the next apartment," the detective told me.
"It's. . . It's the one your aunt was in. . ." She trailed off, eyeing the elevator doors.
"Oh," I replied.
It made sense, I guess, but I was mildly disappointed.
I sat outside the apartment and stared at the blank walls while I waited.
All of this felt kind of pointless. It felt like we weren't really getting anywhere. I sighed and continued to stare at the wall.
I wanted to find my aunt's killer. I needed to find my aunt's killer.
What would I even do once I found them though?
At this thought, my shoulders slumped.
What could I do?
Nothing. I couldn't do anything.
I wasn't strong enough to fight anybody nor could I defend myself in a fight. And how did I expect to get revenge if I couldn't do that?
I sighed.
Eventually, the detective came out and we walked silently to what I thought would be the last apartment.
I wondered if she was strong enough to do what I couldn't do, if she had received physical training in order to become a detective. I knew police officers trained, and detectives were similar, so it made sense.
That's when it hit me.
She worked at a police station—the same police station I've visited several times.
Would it be possible for me to train there while I continued my search for my aunt's killer?
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1159 words
Thoughts? I haven't written anything in a while so I think my writing skills might be a little rusty aha.
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