Written by: Anushree Acharya - 28002, Grade VIII
Posted on: 21 December, 2023
On a dark rainy night, she was exploring the forest. To her aid she had her cellphone, some food and a torchlight. To be honest, she was not just looking to explore the forest, she was looking for something - or someone who disappeared on this exact trail. While walking, she came across a tall tree. As she was tired and drenched in water, she went under the tree. There she fell asleep. When she woke up, the sky had cleared. She looked around and saw the mud was all sticky. Then she saw her legs. There was something going down. It was blood. Red, dark blood.
She stood there shocked. She slowly looked up. The blood dripped in her forehead and it slowly made its way to her cheek then her neck. She stood there, baffled. On top of her was a body, stabbed and shot. There was one bullet hole on the stomach of the body. The blood drained from her face. It was her sister.
The body was of Lorel, the sister and the only family member of Luna - known as the best detective in the town But she was never satisfied with her life.
After the incident with her sister, she reported it to the authorities and went to her work station. She thought she had no right to cry until she found the murderer. She remembered the incident with her dad, mom and brother. Just three years ago, her dad had died - in the exact same way! No one found out who murdered him. She was sobbing at his funeral and at that time her sister came and told her, “Why are you sobbing? You and I have no right to sob. Our dad is murdered and no one knows anything. You should not be crying, instead get up and plan how you are going to get revenge for dad. So, you are not allowed to cry. Get up and prepare yourself.” These words rang in her head in the present time. She was searching what was going on when something in her head clicked - The death of her family. She took out the file of her dad, mom, and brother. They were murdered as well. The first person to die was her dad. He was found hanging in a public restroom. He was stabbed once and shot four times. Next was her mother. Two years ago, her mom was the one who died. Same way - she was found hanging in her cabin of her office - stabbed and shot three times. One year ago her brother was found dead - stabbed and shot two times and today, her sister - stabbed and shot one time.
There were two things that were clear. First, her whole family was killed in the difference of one year and two, she was next. The bullet holes indicated who all were left to die and the bullet in her sister’s stomach being one meant there was only one remaining to die and it was her. She also knew another thing, to catch this person, she would have to wait till the person came to kill her because this person left no markings of him or her. So she decided to wait,
The wait was finally over. It was the day her sister died. She was dejected at the death of her sister as she was really close to her. She remembered the conversation she had with her before she went missing:
“You feeling sad Lorel?”
She wiped her tears and said, “Yes, but you do remember what I said to you during dad’s funeral right?”
“Yes, that is why I became a detective”
“Don’t ever cry again. Take revenge. Even when I die”
“Stop! Don’t ever say such things. Why will you die? I will protect you”
“Oh really! You will protect me! Ha, look who’s talking”
“Of course I will! You are the only one I have”
“But promise me, you will never cry, even if I die”
“You won’t die, but ok. I promise”
She had then kissed my cheek and said she would go out for a stroll in the forest. It was her favourite place. But she never returned.
Remembering all this I couldn’t help but cry and I cried bitterly. “Why couldn’t I-I s-save her? Why couldn’t ha-have I been the o-one w-w-who died?”
“I’m sorry Lorel, I broke my promise” I said that after collecting myself. “But no more tears, it’s time for revenge. But I knew it was not going to be easy to track that person nor could I easily defeat that person. So I needed to hatch a plan. I decided to do one thing. I called my husband. Him and I were high school sweethearts. We had been dating since we were 16 and later got married when I was 23. Right now I am 28. I called him and decided that I would share my location with him. And if I was in an unknown or remote place, he would inform the police. The plan was simple. I would be sharing my location with my husband and I would stay on the beach. If my location changed, he would contact the police.
With this plan I went out to the beach and started waiting for Mr. Murderer. To be honest, I was excited to know who was the one who killed my whole family and was after me. The battle had officially begun at this time.
It had been two hours of wait. No movement, I decided nothing was going to happen and started heading back home. Suddenly, a person came from behind and covered my mouth. Then injected me with a tranquilliser and I fell asleep.
When I woke up again, I was in a cabin. Tied to a chair. My phone was on the table. By now my husband must have already shared my location to the police. Now it was time to keep that person busy. So when that person came, I asked, “Why are you doing this? What have I or my family done to you?” No response.
The person brought me some food and kept it in my lap. I threw the plate away. One piece of the plate fell near me and I got it with my shoe. The person went and brought me another plate of food and this time he fed me. After feeding me, the person went to collect the pieces of the plate. What was taking the police so long?
I started screaming, “Why are you doing this? You will not be spared. My husband will come looking for me, you know that? Then you will be rotting in jail”
The person turned around, lifted my leg and took the piece of plate from me. Oh no! What was I going to do now? I decided to just wait.
After what felt like an eternity of waiting, the person came in. I started screaming again, “Let me go you idiot! What did you get by killing my family and what will you get by killing me?”
Suddenly there were police sirens. My face lit up. “Now you are gone.” I said confidently. All of a sudden the person came close to me and I felt a pain in my stomach. The sirens went away. The person said, “They are not there for you. They don’t even know you are here. Because I never told them to come and get you. As I am the one to kill your whole family and you. I am your husband.”
A tear rolled down my face. “I am sorry Lorel, I couldn’t get revenge. But I am coming to you now.”
