Investigation

The sheriff finished talking with my mom. She waved her hand at me, watching in concern as I got into the police car. The sheriff had told her something before leaving. I didn't hear what exactly, but she seemed to calm down a bit, and smiled.

Then I got into the car and the sheriff pulled away.

****

(Present day)

"So our perfect Luke isn't so perfect?" Derek sneered.

"Oh, stop it." Candy frowned.

"What? I never liked him."

I was sitting in a semicircle. During the story, Derek had smoked at least half a pack.

"When did you start smoking?"

"You guys were all gone already."

I used to know everyone at Saintfour. After so many years, all the faces had changed. Only a few remained. Derek was among them.

"Why didn't you leave too?" I asked him and he grinned.

"I'm not in the habit of running away.X

Bobby laughed a bit. "Well it depends. For example, I didn't run from anything. I ran towards the prospect of a better life, and found it." Bobby straightened his suit, as if to draw attention to it. "Do you know how much this one cost?"

He accidentally brushed a candle with his elbow, and it almost fell of the table.

"By the way, why are we sitting in the dark again?" Derek asked

"The powers out." Bobby shrugged.

"Everything was working fine just recently. It must be a fuse." Derek stood up, walked over to the shelf, looking for something. He took down a flashlight. "I'll go take a look."

"I'll go with you." I said with a smile.

He looked at me for a couple of seconds then nodded. "Alright then."

We came to the fusebox cabinet behind the house."

"Here, hold the light."

I point the flashlight in the of direction Derek's hands, watching his action with interest. "Do you come here often?"

"Sometimes weekly... sometimes less often." He replied after checking somethings in the fusebox.

"And what do you feel, when you're here?"

"And what should I feel, Sarah? It's been so many years. What happened to us back then seemed more like a nightmare than reality."

SHIH!!

I heard a shushing sound.

"What the...?"

I point my flashlight towards the forest.

"Sarah, I can't see anything!"

SHIH!! SHIH!!

"There is someone there..." I turned to Derek.

"Who could it be?"

SHIH!! SHIH!! SHIH!!

The rustling of the brushes and the crunching of branches signaled someone's presence nearby, evoking a sense of curiosity and urgency. Despite the instinct to investigate further, my companion, Derek, intervened, preventing them from approaching.

"Don't move."

The branches began to move more and more..A fox jumped out. It shook off the leaves, snared at me and ran farther down the path.

"Every little rustled is scary in this place!" I said while shaking my head.

"Welcome to Saintfour."

Derek flipped a switch in the box. The lights all came on briefly, and then went out again. "Apparently not this time."

When everyone came back together again, I continued my story...

***

Mr. Nixon was silent, focused on the road. I saw his face reflected in the mirror. It was serious—almost evil—with the clear traces of a sleepless night. I had never been to an interrogation before and although I was not to blame for Sam's death, my anxiety did not allow me to sit still.

I wanted to break the silence, or just jump out of the car, in an attempt to escape the tension.

Crack!

The car shifted. There was a crunching sound of broken bones.

"What the hell?" The sheriff stepped out of the car, slamming the door loudly. Luke and I jumped out after him.

Mr. Nixon was squatting down by the front wheel, looking at something. "Stupid animal, rushed right under the car.

He pulled a hard from under the wheel. The skull of the animal was crushed , it's grey hair was soaked with blood, and if not for the long ears one could barely be ae to tell if it was a hare in the first place.

One of it's eyes had burst, and black mucus, smelling of swamps and decaying corpse, flowed out of its eyes socket.

"What is it doing on the road?" I asked, disgusted.

"Apparently, something scared him out of the forest. Maybe, escaped from a wolf or a fox only to run into a dammed car."

The sheriff threw the hate aside. "Let's go."

I turned to look at it. It's remaining bulging, looked straight at me.

Luke and I recounted how we found sam, trying not to omit any detail.

Mr. Nixon nodded. "so that's how it happened?"

"Every bit of it."

"Is that all? Do you have anything else to add?" The sheriff and Luke's eyes locked. Finally Luke responded. "That's all."

The sheriff took something out of his desk. "This...we found it in Sam's pocket."

"What is it." I asked.

"It's drugs." Mr. Nixon presented a small transparent bag with grey powder at it's bottom. He turned to Luke again. "Do you know that Sam is taking them?"

"No..."

"This drug affects the mucous membrane of the eyes and the mouth. If used too often it begins to eat through them."

"What do you mean by that." Luke asked with a frown.

"Did Sam ever mention it ir those who were taking it?"

"No, never. Was it because of the drugs that his eyes were like that?"

"I'm going to need a list of those that sam spaeaks to regularly."

"He talk to tons of people!"

"I need a list of them all. But first, the names of those with whom Sam had any conflicts or disagreement."

Mr. Nixon held out a piece of paper and a pen. He paused for a while, watching as Luke wrote out the names. I noticed that Micheal was listed third on the list. If you don't remember we'll it's that annoying kid I met at the school entrance that cannot say sorry.

"In any case, everyone at the school will have to pass a drug test."

I looked at him. "What? How is that even connected?"

"It goes without saying that you are not to talk about this? The last thing I need right now is town-wide panic."

The sheriff fell silent again, looking at me. "Sarah, could you leave me and Luke for a moment? You can wait for him at the reception desk."

"OK..no problem."