CHAPTER TEN

I dialed Nick's mobile as I sat on the bench in front of the mall settling the shopping bags gently beside me. The night's breeze was really cold, I had to undo my hair from the bun it had been to fall down to my back. I wiped strands of hair from my eyes as something caught my attention at the end of the alley just across the street. Wasn't that my ride? That was the car that had brought me except that the driver's window looked smashed

I crossed the street and left my bags on the chair I was so curious to find out what happened I mean why in God's name was my car opposite the street. I quickened my steps when I got close to the car. Sweat trickled down behind my neck as I looked down into the car. I placed my hand over my mouth as I tried to silence my scream. No sound came out as my throat was completely dry

Nick was hung over the wheel motionless. He reeked of strong liquor making the scene look like a drunk driver crashing into an alley. But Nick never drank, he was still speaking fine about ten minutes ago. As I tried to check his pulse I noticed blood stains on his neck, there was a slit across his throat and it seemed like the mark was carefully cleaned because it had just a little blood compared to what is expected from that kind of wound.

I kept my hands to myself as I reached for my phone in my pocket. My hands were shaking as I wanted to call 911 but it was only my father I could think of. I dialed his number and he picked on the third ring. Tears welled up in my eyes when I heard his voice. I was so scared at that point. I sat on an upturned can beside the car

"dad" I said as I swallowed hard

"hello sweetheart how are you" he said from the other end I'm sure he guessed something was wrong already

"dad" I gasped as I looked at Nick's lump body again and how everything could change in just ten minutes.

"are you okay, is something wrong" he said his voice sounding louder than intended

"it's nick, he's dead I think somebody killed him" I said as I cleaned my eyes with my hoodie sleeve and started sobbing

"where are you exactly?" he said sounding agitated

"in the alley opposite the mall, that's where I found the car Nick just called for me to get..." I let out the tears as I tried to make words but nothing was coming out

"get out of there now, go into the mall the person who did it might be in the corner somewhere" he said with his voice very firm

I stood up out of impulse and started to walk backwards. My dad was seriously frightening me. I looked back at Nick, even though I had only met him few weeks ago we had become gist partners for few hours. How could everything go so wrong?

I noticed someone's shadow coming to the alley from behind me. I turned around as I ran speedily at the middle of the road almost into a tow truck. As I got to the other side of the street, right in front of the mall I held the edge of the bench to catch my breath as I could only catch a glimpse of the heel of the mysterious person's boot. I picked out few strands of hair almost entering my mouth as I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans.

Grabbing my shopping bags I staggered back into the mall. I nearly collapsed on the couch beside the dressing room as I breathed heavily trying to contain what I had just seen. Nothing really made sense anymore. As I was picturing the whole scenario again, the slit, the blood, the horrible stench of liquor, large palms tapped me on my left shoulder.

"hey I thought you left already" he said as he flashed a smile

I looked up to find the same Kyle Hunter I had had an encounter with earlier except this time in a more disorganized situation. My hair undone, my thoughts disorganized, my palms seriously sweaty

"yeah I came back in, my ride is still not around" I said even though it was not completely true

End of episode

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