?THE UNKNOWN?
?Chapter Twenty-one and Twenty-Two <21& 22>?
?Friends??
“You have a very beautiful and wonderful daughter.” Gina said to Clay as they walked down the aisle to a colorful garden. “She’s gorgeous.”
Clayton stuffed his hands into his pan-ts pocket and gave Gina a warm smile. “Thanks. Besides, she’s her father’s daughter.” He joked.
Gina chuckles. “Indeed.” They finally got to the garden and took a seat on a bench. In front of the bench was a lake. A beautiful lake that shone at night. Too bad Gina couldn’t watch the lake glow.
She took in her surrounding with a smile on her face. The house was indeed beautiful. Honestly, she has never seen a place as beautiful as this place.
“You have a very beautiful home.” She said, voicing out her thought.
“Thanks. It was built by my wife and I…” Clayton bit his lower li-p in annoyance. He shouldn’t have added that part. Now she’s going to be curious about the whereabout of his wife. “Forget I said that.” He quickly added as Gina was about to talk.
Gina closes her mouth and gave him a questioning look. She wouldn’t deny the fact that she was going to ask him about his wife whereabout but why does he look so uneasy as he mentioned his wife? She wonders.
“What happened to Mia? Was she born blind or what?” She decided to ask that instead. Clayton kept mute, for a moment Gina thought he was not going to answer her but he proved her wrong…because he spoke up.
“She was involved in an accident. That’s caused her sight lost.” He says, staring at the lake.
“Oh my God.” Gina breath out. “I’m so sorry about that. Thank God, she didn’t die. I mean, that would have been worst.”
“Yeah. But I would have been more thankful if no else had to die.” He says with bitterness in his voice. He was bittered. No doubt.
“What do you mean?” Gina questioned.
He let out a de-ep sigh as a tear roll down to his face. “My daughter didn’t only lost her sight…but she also lost her sanity and her mother.” He doesn’t know why he was saying all this to Gina. He has never been this open to any one after his wife’s death but it wouldn’t deny the fact that he felt really relief telling Gina all this.
Gina threw her hands to her mouth in shock. She thought she had the worst life ever but she was so wrong. He lost his wife and his daughter sight all in one day. Not just that, but also lost his daughter’s sanity. Wait, does that mean….?
“When you said, Mia lost her sanity… what do you mean by that?” She now asked.
“Some times she speaks to someone in her room. She pleads with the person not to harm her. I don’t get. But that’s one reason why I had to take her away from the neighborhood and bring her to a place as lonely as here. She felt more safer here.” He explained.
“You think the accident wasn’t an accident, right?” Gina asked looking at him closely.
“I have lot of enemies, Gina. People who wants me dead or wants people around me dead. I wouldn’t doubt the fact that someone had planned to kill them on purpose.” He says.
“Do you have any suspect in mind?” She now asked.
“Francis.”
“Francis? And who is that?”
“Clara ex boyfriend.”
“Why do you suspect him? Did he do anything suspicious?”
Clay turned to face Gina who was staring right back at him. “Oh…I almost forgot that you were a detective.” That made her laugh. “He never wanted to accept the fact that Clara chose me over him. He was so obsessed with her and threatened to make her pay dearly for hurting him the way she had done. But truthfully, Clara didn’t hurt him. He hurt her. While they were still in the relationship, he always complain for every little thing that she do and beats her for it. At then, she was my best friend. She told me about how Francis treated her. Whenever I try to fight him, she holds me back and plead with me not to do anything rash to him because she loves him. I won’t deny the fact that I had a crush on her but like the saying goes, when you love someone then you happiness should be their happiness. ” He paused. “I hated the fact that she always defend him for every evil thing he do for her. I hated the fact that I couldn’t do anything to help her out of the mess that she got herself into all in the name of love.
But one day, Francis beat her again and she ended up in the hospital. She stayed in the hospital for weeks. And when I took the police to his house…. he was gone. He ran away.”
“What if he wasn’t the one who killed her? Listen. He thought he had killed her and that was what made him ran away. Which means the person who killed her knew that she’s still alive.”
“He returned.”
“What?” Gina asked, confused.
“He returned a year later. But at a then, Clara and I were already married and that was how he threatened to make her pay for hurting him. That’s why I suspect him.”
Gina sighed. “That’s why you joined the police force, right?”
“I need to protect Mia.” That was his reply.
“Let me help you, Clay. Lete help you find this murderer while we find the serial killer on loose now. Let’s work together.”
“Am I not the suspect anymore?”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have suspect simply because you are acting like one.”
“Let me tell you a story….There was this woman who didn’t socialize with the world. People sees and calls her a witch because of how she behaved. The woman never said anything to them whenever they made fun of her. She just sit in front of her porch and stares at the sky. She was sad, no doubt but no one cared. They just point fingers at her and call her a witch…. One day, two kids went over to her house to make fun of her as well. The woman cried and entered her house in fear because they were throwing stones at her. But then, a child of their age stopped them. The two kids just glared at the girl and left. The child went over to the sad old woman to talk to her and apologise for those two children sake. The woman accepted. And then the child asked the woman why she behaved the way she did. The woman grew trust in this little child and told her, her story.
She lost her child and her husband on the same day. She lost everything. She lost hope. And ever since then, each morning became a torture for her. And that was why she stayed away from people because she was afraid of losing someone else.” He sighed. “So you see, you don’t judge people with the behavior. Because you never know, the killer might be very very close to you.”
“Wow. That was quite a story. Now I feel so bad over how I treated you. I’m sorry.”
“Why do you hate men?” Clayton suddenly asked. That took her by surprise because she wasn’t expecting him to ask her that. Clay could see her reaction. She was scared to reveal her past. Wait…she wasn’t scared, she was ashamed. Gina pulled away from Clayton she started fiddling with her fingers. “It’s okay, Gina. You don’t need to tell me anything. But I’m quite sure that one day, you will tell me. Friend always do that.”
She snapped her head to him in surprise. “Friends?” She choked out in a very low voice. She doubt that he heard her.
“Yeah. Friends.” Oh, he heard her. “Thanks for listening to my story. I feel relieved now. And yeah, I would be more than happy to have you join me in this investigation. But first, you will have to trust me.”
Gina calmed down a little and smiled at Clay. “Okay. I will try to trust you.”
Clayton stretch out his hand towards her. “Friends?” He questioned.
She hesitate for a while before taking his hand. “Friends.” She quickly pulled her hand from his. She was still scared of touching guys.
But she hopes and pray that one day…just one day, she would be able to open up to someone and let go of her past Just like Clay had said. She hope.
****
“Wait. I don’t get this. How is Alisha the next victim? This is so confusing. You and Gina said that Doris is the next victim due to the alphabet you had seen at the back of a note.” Olive says.
“Wait. Me? i was the next victim?” Doris questioned. This was the first time hearing this.
“We thought you were. But it turned out not to be you but Alisha.” Zoe explains as she read the note all over again.
“God…i can’t believe this. What do we do now? What if I’m still the next victim but all this is just to confuse us and complicate the whole situation.” Doris says in fear.
“I doubt. I think the fact that we thought that you were the victim was just some kind of Complications.” Zoe says.
“But Jane’s note had P on it which happened to be Phoebe.” Olive States.
“Yeah…but…God, we need Gina right now. Where the hell is she by the way?”
“Uh…she called to tell us that she had a place to be with Clayton, remember?” Maddie questioned.
“Oh…yeah.” They all said in unison with a nod of their heads.
“Guys, this isn’t helping at all. My life is at stake. We need to do something. We have to do something.” Alisha said in between tears.
“We will.” Zoe replied. She turned the note to the back to see the letter on it and oh boy was she in for a big shock. “Z…” Her voice cracked as she said the word.
“What?” Olive asked, confused.
“The next victim start with the letter Z…. I’m the next victim, guys.”
****
?THREE WEEKS LATER?
“She was a great person. A great friend, a great sister and a cheerful giver. She was the best. I miss her like crazy. Knowing the fact that she’s gone….and gone for good hurts like a bi-tch . Alisha was a sweetheart. After losing her parents in that drastic car accident, she took us as her own family. She loved us. God, I miss her.” Maddie says between tears. Another one of them was gone again. They’ve lost someone else again. Alisha was gone. She died two days ago. No one knows who killed her. But they knew it was that stupid serial killer!
“Anyone wants to say something else about our beloved?” The priest now asked as soon as Maddie left the alter.
A guy with a lady stood up to their feet and made their way to the alter. The girls gave them a confusing look because they didn’t know them before so how come are they going out to say few things about their friend?
The man cleared his throat. “Good day everyone. Well, too bad it isn’t even a good day. Anyway, I’m Danny and here with me is my wife Sally. I’m able to still call her my wife because of this wonderful woman, Alicia. God, she was a Good sent. A helper from above. We owe her a lot. We owe her for putting a smile on our faces and from stoping us from making a very great mistake. She was not just out counsellor but also a friend. We aren’t only the ones which marriages were saved by this gorgeous lady but on behave of others who aren’t here… We hope and pray that her journey to heaven would be a happy one. May her gentle soul rest in perfect peace.”
Sobbing filled the church as the couples left the alter. Olive leaned her head on Gina’s shoulder and cried her eyes out. Maddie was also crying, so was Zoe and Doris. While Gina…She was just staring at Alicia’s smiling photo. The photo was taken in her birthday. She was really happy on that day and had even hoped for a better one this year but…she wouldn’t be able to celebrate this year’s own because she’s gone.
Alicia’s coffin was taken to the back of the church. The same place where Phoebe’s body had been buried. Her grave had already been dug out and her coffin was placed in the grave. Each person would come forward and pour sand on the coffin. Some dropped roses. The coffin was later covered up and everyone stood in front of the grave while the priest stood in front of all them.
“A minute of silence for the decease.” He says. Everyone kept mute as they bowed their heads. They were paying their respect to the deceased.
After a while, the priest finally spoke up.
“Every human has one or two thing to fulfil on earth. We see each other everyday but one day, one of us might just disappear. But what matters is how well did you live your life? What will people remember you for? That’s why, in whatever we do, we have to do good to people. Who knows they might be the one to bury you when you are gone. Alicia Maxwell have done her part. Her work here on earth is over.” The priest let out a sad sigh. “She was a wonderful daughter, a great friend, a good counsellor and a beautiful lady with a pure heart… may her gentle soul rest in perfect peace.” TBC.
A/N: *Sighs…* I’m quite pissed right now but just decided to drop this chapter. Anyway, how do you see this chapter? Hope it’s worth your time? May Alicia’s soul rest in peace.
Question: Who is happy on Gina and Clayton’s new found friendship?
If you like this chapter…please give it a like, a share and also drop down a comment. Thanks guys for reading.
See you in my next chapter, guys.