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We should’ve seen it coming. The sudden change in behaviour, the random intruding personal questions, her watching our every move. She was supposed to be our friend. I could go on telling you about this mortifying event, but I would imagine it would be hard to make sense of everything without any context. Allow me to take you back to that very afternoon.
3:30pm-The door creaked as it swung open, revealing James, the little Irish paperboy. Behind him stood my favourite person in the world, Minho, looking like your typical male love interest in any Korean Drama. Cassie skipped over to the door with a big smile plastered on her face, welcoming them in. Minho stepped across the marble floor and playfully punched me on the shoulder as he passed to get some pudding from the fridge.
“I’m just going to pop to the bathroom.” I told them, making my way up the stairs. This being my first time at Cassie’s house, I had absolutely no clue where anything was. I stood still, deciding which room to look in first. My eyes set themselves upon a wooden door near the stairs, and I made my way towards it. Alas, it was Cassie’s bedroom. Just as I was about to turn around to go back, my eyes caught something odd lying around under her bed across the room.
Silently, I shut the door and went over to peep at what it was. Kneeling down, I scooped them up. Polaroids. Normally, I would’ve just ignored them and tucked them back under the bed if I had not seen what the pictures were of. That was my house. My sister and I were walking out of the front door to her car. The next was of Minho eating the revolting school lunches that tasted like cardboard. All the others were similar. Me, Minho and James going about our daily routines. Under the bed, there was a brown leather book. I picked it up and looked inside. A diary. I read the last entry from this morning.
Dear Diary,
This is finally it. Today’s the day. Today’s the day that I will kill Minho, Eleanor and James.
In that moment, it seemed that everything around me had stopped. My heart skipped a beat, time had slowed down and everything was quiet. The silence was deafening.
Soon after I stuffed the paper and polaroids in my jeans pocket, I left the house, taking James and Minho with me, leading them straight to the sheriff’s station.
5:00pm-“Oh come on, Eleanor, do you really expect us to think that a fourteen year old girl is actually going to kill you?” Deputy Locke scoffed.
“I’m sorry, did you not see the pictures?” Minho exclaimed.
“He’s got a point.” The sheriff said.
“At least someone agrees with us.” I mumble.
After a few minutes of arguing, Deputy Locke finally agreed to help us. We formed a plan in which Minho, James and I were to lure Cassie in, and the sheriff would arrest her.
7:00pm- A deep scream echoed from across town. Niall and I looked at each other horrified. Minho. We bolted across the street, heading for the source of the sound. Turning the corner to the courtyard, we saw him, lying on the ground, with an object that seemed like a thick stick poking out of his diaphragm. As we got closer, I realised what it was. A knife.
As I fell to my knees, my jaw dropped. My eyes stung and a lump formed in my throat. I heard a high-pitched ringing in my ears. No. He can’t be dead. There’s absolutely no way. She killed him. He is dead because of her.
James sniffed behind me, then gasped, shaking my shoulder.
“El, we have to go, Cassie is here!”
He snapped me out of my trance. I sprinted down an alley, James following closely behind. There was a path that led in two directions. We turned the corner and hid.
“Ellie…” Cassie called in a sing-song voice, “come out, come out wherever you are…”
I signalled to James to run right and I would run left. He nodded and we bolted.
Behind me, I heard Cassie’s quick footsteps. Rushing down the street, I headed towards the apartment building where the sheriff and I had agreed to meet. “Almost there, Eleanor. Almost there.” I said to myself.
I panted as I raced up the stairs, taking them three at a time. The dagger in Cassie’s hand made her intentions clear.
The gigantic metal door clanked when I flung it open, leading me onto the wide roof. I ran out and looked over the side where there was a large truck parked half on the road and half on the pavement. He wasn’t there.
“Come on, Sheriff, where are you?” I muttered to myself.
I turned to head back to the door. There is no way she followed me up here, right? Wrong! The door creaked open, revealing my best friend’s murderer, blood splattered across her bruised face, her blonde hair looking like she has been dragged through a hedge backwards. Her right hand hung beside her, gripping a bloody knife. Instantly, my mind thinks of James. If she has hurt him in any way, shape or form, I will torture her like in the medieval times.
“I have been looking forward to this for a long time” she smirks.
I looked over my shoulder and then turned back to face her.
“Well,” I said, tilting my head to the side, “sorry to disappoint.” I turned on my heel and made a run for it.
It felt as if my legs had a mind of their own, running to the edge and jumping off. I felt my organs fly inside of me as I fell onto the metal truck. A sharp pain shot up my leg and I cried out. I saw the lights of the police car and the ambulance illuminating the street.
8:00pm-I limped to James, sitting in the back of an ambulance with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. I sat next to him and he rested his head on my shoulder as I wrapped my arm around him and rubbed his arm.
The only time I got up before the paramedics fixed my leg, was to watch as Cassie was shoved into a police car. She glanced at me, a fake look of guilt on her face with tears flooding her eyes. She is crying? She killed my best friend and she's bloody crying?
I already have a plan for when she gets out of jail. I'm going to find her and I'm going to kill her. And unlike her, I'm going to put a lot more planning into it, and I'm going to get away with it.
You'd better look over your shoulder Cassie, because I'm coming for you. I'm always going to be one step ahead.