Dead rose garden

The duffle bag

After showing the police officer the photo of the engraved words, he and my dad rushed towards the diner. I really hoped that they would've found some more clues.

Aunt Betty looked shocked to see us standing in the doorway. Hastily she took the checkered uniform cap from her head, and scurried towards us.
"What can I do for you sir?" She asked politely and giving a slight bow.
The officer pressed his hands together.
"There are words scratched out in one of your tables, and we think it might have been Gabby who tried to leave a message, or a cry for help," the officer said, whilst hurrying to table 20.

Aunt Betty, unable to contain her curiosity, followed him. My Dad just stared blankly out of the window.
"Betty, when was the last time you saw Gabby in your diner?" The officer asked her.
Aunt Betty scrunched up her nose in thought.
"The night before her disappearance she walked in here alone. She ordered her favourite, a strawberry milkshake, but barely drank any of it. She left directly after paying." She finally said.

The officer wrote down everything in his ugly yellow notebook.
I soon stared out of the window, and the talking behind me faded.
A familiar scene caught my attention.

The two red heads smoking behind the building.
Ethan and Rodwin both had red hair, but they weren't related, they were best friends. Ethan was Gabby's ex boyfriend, and also a douchebag with no brain cells. I despised him for breaking Gabby's heart.

I realised that Rodwin had an irritated look on his face while making hand gestures. Ethan grabbed Rodwin's curly hair between his fingers, and pulled Rodwin's face closer to his own.
He looked angry.
Both Rodwin and Ethan stood up and threw their cigars into the nearest puddle.

I walked closer to the window, when I saw them picking up a black duffle bag from behind a dumpster. They looked around nervously before throwing it on the back of their dad's truck nearby. That's when I realized that the bag was moving. SOMETHING was in the bag.

"I need a moment," I said before rushing out of the door.
For the fourth time today, my shoes got soaked outside. I hated the winter. It was so cold and eery.
The dark blue truck rushed away, the tires screeching on the pavement.
I had to catch up with them, so my eyes searched the surroundings for something I could ride.

Three bicycles leaned against the brick wall of another building.
To my luck they weren't chained up or locked. This town was save, or at least we thought so.
The bicycle nearest to me, I grabbed and started riding the same direction as the truck.

The bicycle was slightly too small for me, my knees almost touched the handles.
I realized that I wouldn't be able to catch up to the truck, and almost gave up hope. Another car rode past me, and I did the unthinkable.

I got a grasp unto its hood, and stopped paddling. My hands started getting sweaty, and the wheels of the bicycle looked as though it might fall of at any moment. I have never done anything like this, and my adrenaline started pumping. The car driver noticed that someone held onto the car. He honked the horn at me looking angry.
I didn't let go.
He opened his window and started yelling at me:
"You punk! Leave my car alone! I don't care if you're an adrenaline junkie or not, go find someplace else to do this!" He yelled with a red face. I felt ashamed and let go of the hood at last. The blue truck was only a few metres in front of me, and turned left on a gravel road. Furiously I paddled afterwards.

My legs burned, but I kept going. The truck came to a stop at an old abandoned barn. The kids in this town didn't dare to come here. A long time ago this was a slaughterhouse, but a murderer took advantage of that. He killed a girl here. No need to go into allot of detail.
Shivers crawled down my spine. The murderer was caught and put in jail. Now this place was mainly known as the drug dealing spot.

Rodwin and Ethan climbed out of the truck and dumped the duffle bag. I took my chance and ran towards them.
"What are you bastards doing here! I saw the duffle bag moving, show me what's inside!" I yelled.
Ethan grinned, "Oh Cody, why did you follow us here. You know this isn't a place for a sissy like you."
I balled my fists.
"Show me the bag," I persisted.
"No, you are probably going to report this to the police again," Rodwin said rolling his eyes, and pushed me backwards.
"I promise I won't," I lied.
Ethan and Rodwin exchanged glances. "Promise?" Rodwin asked with his fist in front of my nose.
I closed my eyes: "Promise."

A fist hit my nose, and warm liquid dripped down onto my hands. Red liquid.
"Remember, if you break the promise, we would get revenge Cody," he said.
I nodded and wiped the blood from my face. The duffle bag still moved.
Carefully I opened the zip expecting to see a tied up Gabby with a gag in her mouth. Disappointed I looked down at the creatures inside the bag.
Chickens.
Distressed chickens scratching at each other.
"Really?" I asked.
"We stole the chickens because we need money for more cigars, and the new addidas," Ethan said looking annoyed. I rolled my eyes and walked back to the bike. I really thought it might have been Gabby. I thought that I might have found her.
"Well bye." I cold heartedly greeted them. I didn't know where all of my confidence went. Why didn't I fight back?
Ethan grabbed the bicycle before I could get on it and stabbed the wheels with his pocket knife.
"You're not getting away this easy," he sneered.

I walked back the way I came.
"The next time I wouldn't let them get away with beating me up," I thought while wiping the crusty blood from my face.
I walked for almost an hour beside the highway.
It took long but I finally got home.