I could still remember all the jokes and teasing they’d done just after everything happened, coming from both the boys and girls. It hadn’t taken long for the whole school to find out I’d lost my parents, and I quickly discovered just how hateful middle school kids could be, with them beginning to harass me about living alone with my ‘hot’ older sister.
Apparently, one of the kids had overheard a couple of teachers discussing the problem with the adoption, finding out that we weren’t related biologically, and I didn’t hear the end of it after that for a solid semester.
Honestly, in hindsight, it was only about four months of torment, but it felt like an eternity to my crushed thirteen-year-old self. At the very least, it slowly taught me to not let words bother me — otherwise, I might not have survived the regular onslaught of bullying.
Nevertheless, I still hated them all. Or maybe ‘hate’ wasn’t the right word. It was more like I couldn’t consider trusting them again, even though I’d never had much trust to begin with.
When I finally heard my older sister’s car pull up, I glanced at the clock to see that it was almost 6:45 PM, indicating that it might have just been a really busy day. However, my powerful senses told me differently.
Even over the noise of the car engine, with its familiar clanking sound from a loose bolt, I could hear her fast heartbeat. And even despite the smell of bacon, I could smell her salty tears, as well as the scent humans gave off when they were grieved — something that shouldn’t even be possible for a wild animal.
The only predators who had a comparable sense of smell were the shark, which could detect a drop of blood from about a quarter of a mile away, as well as the bear, which could smell a food source almost twenty miles away. However, my supernatural nose could home in on a scent from much further if I concentrated hard enough.
When Serenity didn’t come inside after turning off the engine, I realized she must not want me to see her crying. Granted, it’s not like she would be able to hide the fact that she had been crying. I knew her face would be red and puffy, even if she managed to get ahold of herself anytime soon.
Sighing again, I got up to go bring her inside.
The kitchen was connected to the rest of the house by the foyer area, where the door, stairs, and hallway to the living room all met. The wide entrance to the living room was only about halfway down the hall — someone coming down the stairs could easily see into it — but the hallway continued on to the laundry room and backdoor.
Underneath the stairs was a small bathroom with only a toilet and sink. Upstairs, above the kitchen, was Serenity’s room, along with a spacious closet, whereas on the other side of the house was my room and the bathroom we both shared. It was only a two-bedroom house, but all the rooms were extremely spacious, providing more than enough living space for just the two of us.
Opening the front door, I saw my sister resting her head against the steering wheel, her dark brown hair disheveled, trying to control her breathing like she was on the verge of having a panic attack. Her blue car was parked at the edge of the long gravel driveway, in its usual spot next to my silver one.
Tall trees lined each side of the drive, including all around the house, giving us a sense of privacy since we were about a tenth of a mile off the road. Even though we lived on three acres of land, I only had to mow roughly half an acre in total, including the two strips of grass along the driveway.
Not wanting to startle her, I tried to be noisy as I walked over and then gently tapped on the window, rather than just opening it. However, despite her not looking up at me, I knew she’d heard me. Keeping her forehead on the steering wheel, she moved her hand to unlock the door, only to open it up herself. The moment I was able to, I knelt down and reached out to pull her into a hug.
Serenity immediately accepted the offered gesture, returning my embrace as she began to sob.
“Can you tell me about it?” I whispered after about a minute of her crying on my shoulder.
She immediately shook her head no, before answering. “Not officially…” She then told me anyway. “It’s a s-serial killer case, Kai. And it looks like h-he targets only women.” She sighed heavily, trying to speak clearly despite her sobbing. “And what he d-does to them is…horrible.”
“How many?” I wondered, already considering intervening, since this predator had made my older sister so upset. This was by far the worst I’d seen her.
She tried sucking in a deep breath. “T-Technically, he’s only killed two so far. But a new girl was just kidnapped…” Her voice trailed off as a whine escaped her throat, a sob then erupting from her chest as she began falling apart again. Her face was twisted in anguish. “And if w-we don’t find her soon…”
“What’s the timeline?” I asked, speaking in a way I knew would help her mind shift into detective-mode.
It worked — not perfectly, but it worked.
My sister took a shaky breath and began speaking more clearly, as if a switch had flipped in her brain. “If his two victims are indication of a pattern, then she’ll be dead by midnight. He leaves a spray paint symbol, along with a token from his previous victim — that’s how we know who kidnapped her. Previous evidence suggests that the first two were tortured in the most inhumane ways possible, before he killed them while sexually assaulting them in the woods.”
“The woods?” I repeated in surprise, feeling that was odd if it was really the pattern.
“Yes…” She pulled away to look at me then, her deep brown eyes hesitant, knowing she shouldn’t be sharing information about this, but deciding to do it anyway. “We think he enjoys the chase. He wants them to run, probably so they have a sense of hope — that they might find freedom after being tormented.” She paused. “Only for him to catch them and finish it off horribly.” A pained expression crossed her face again as she barely managed to maintain her composure.
Suddenly, I realized I’d missed a fundamental question — something to explain why my sister was upset to this extreme. Because her reaction was far beyond what I’d ever seen before.
“Serenity…do you know her? The girl he took?”
Her composure broke, and she lost it again.
I waited patiently for her to gather herself, not wanting to seem too pushy. After all, I could never let my older sister find out I might get involved in this situation. She could never know my secret.
While I waited, my mind began going through the people she knew, wondering who it might be. Honestly, my sister didn’t have very many friends — the only close friend she had was a girl named Gabriella who she met only a few months ago. Serenity also had a few coworkers who she was friendly with, including Jessica and Abby, but otherwise the list was pretty short.
Granted, it could also just be a random acquaintance from high school or the police academy. Simply knowing the person could make a case feel a lot more personal. All it would take was just seeing a familiar face, coupled with knowing what might happen to the girl if they didn’t catch the guy in time.