My Immortal (English version)

Chapter 4

Clarke was woken by her phone alarm, she felt as if she had slept so deeply that she didn't remember doing it in years. She felt renewed, with incredible energy and with enough enthusiasm to start investigating the homicides and unravel the great mystery. But first, she needed to put something substantial in her stomach, then she would visit Sheriff Reyes.

When she got out of bed, she was struck by feeling the cool morning breeze that slipped through the open window. The curtains were flaming, opening, revealing a clear and clean sky. A palette of orange and embroidered colours painted the horizon, while the first rays of the sun appeared among the distant mountains. Clarke could perceive the smell of the wet earth, from the rain of the previous night, as well as the fresh aroma of wildflowers, and feel the cold of the autumn breeze. But coming out of the fascinating natural spectacle, she was surprised to see that window open because she remembers very well that she had closed the window before going to bed, since Niylah had opened it a little to ventilate the room, when she prepared it for her.

She got out of bed, and immediately noticed that one of the sheets of the investigation report was on the floor. She assumed that it must have been because of the breeze coming in through the open window. She took it and put it back in the folder, without giving it more importance. Rubbing her arms from the icy cold in the room, while cursing she approached the window to close it, and when she opened the curtains, the beautiful sunrise appeared in front of her eyes. She wondered if the owner of the house would have entered while she slept and opened the window. But it sounded a bit crazy with that low temperature it made the night before. She imagined that, perhaps, the window would be damaged and could open due to the wind, although when she checked it, she didn't notice anything bad.

She looked at the parking lot of the cafeteria and saw that a local police patrol was parked next to her car, and the one that she supposed was from Niylah, since it was at the place when she had arrived the night before, she was the only client. At the same time, the sound of the brakes of a large truck caught her attention, diverting her gaze towards the gas station, where the large vehicle was parked to refuel.

She looked at the lock on the window again, but she didn't notice anything out of place, but the cold she was feeling all over her body made her move. She shook off all speculation about who had opened it and set out to start her day. But as soon as she turned around, she noticed that her suitcase had also been opened, since a portion of fabric could be seen outside, as if it had been closed in a hurry. She was sure that it was not due to the effect of the wind, and she immediately thought that she was going to have to look for another place to sleep. If Niylah had entered the room while she was sleeping and had rummaged through her things, it was a sign that she could not stay there. She needed a private and safe place to rest peacefully. In addition, when an investigation began, she used to turn the room where she was staying into a police room. She scattered the photos, plus the notes she took everywhere, and if she stayed in a hotel, she used to pay extra so that no one would come in to do room service.

And, depending on the place, she even installed a hidden security camera, which was connected to her phone twenty-four hours a day. Also, her travel suitcase was special, since she could close it with a security code. That was because in it she not only used to carry her clothes and basic personal hygiene items, but also, an extra load of bullets, and her laptop. The detective liked to write a personal report about the case she was working on, ideas, questions, summaries of interviews she conducted, places she visited, notes about the victims, possible suspects, etc. Also, through that laptop she had access to FBI files, using a secure IP, no matter where she was.

The problem of the night before was that she was so exhausted, that she forgot to close her suitcase with the security code, before falling asleep, a mistake she almost never made, and she cursed herself for having done it in a place like that, where the owner of the house could have access to her room. She was reminded not to do it in the future, especially in that town, where apparently there was no hotel where she could stay, and that led her to have to stay in someone's private house.