Dedicated to AkanbiFavour , you're an icon, honestly ♡

~~~

Liam woke up and immediately touched his neck, thinking it would hurt because he slept on the couch. When the memories of yesterday came back he hastily grabbed his phone and keys and stormed out of the house. Throwing a look full of mixed feelings to a certain spot in the living room, touching his neck one last time.

Around noon, when the sun rays where laying in warm yellow stripes over Aaron's face, they woke up too.
They were in Ava's bed. Thinking the little girl couldn't sleep again and asked them to stay for the night, they went into the bathroom.
First they checked on Ava whom was save and sound sleeping with a frown on her face.

Aaron opened the doors of the mirror cabinet over the sink, searching for Aspirin. They had a terrible headache and could remember yesterday only in a blur.

They eyed up their reflection and saw something on their forehead that looked like a red bump. Not knowing, that it was the almost completely healed bruise they've got from a demon, they shrugged it off.

They popped out one of the pills from the foil. It dropped down and rolled under the wash machine. Silently cussing they got down on their knees and reached under the massive machine that was hurling clothes every weekend.

Instead of the pill their fingers touched something else. Something that felt like cotton.
"Oh fuck, I'm late" they murmured. Then they hurried to the front door, however they didn't open it.
They were late to what?
As a matter of fact, they weren't late to anything.

They shook their head and headed a little confused upstairs again.

After some time they went into Liam's room, opening a drawer from his desk, which was loaded with a hell of a lot paperwork.

They took out a little box with paper clips and wanted to leave again. However, they didn't.
Aaron was thinking. Something didn't feel right.

They opened the drawer a second time, taking it out completely. It felt way to heavy.

A gun was taped on its back.
First they just sighed and wanted to put it back, but then they noticed something.
There was earth on the gun. They inspected it closer.
Suddenly they gasped, their eyes wide open.
"Oh my... please don't be..." they silently mumbled, their hand covering their mouth, utter shock in their eyes.

They put everything back and left the room worriedly.

I didn't follow them, I thought that maybe something in this room could be interesting to see.

I went through the paper on top of the desk. Everything was work related.
The trash can was empty, except for one crumbled note.

I looked inside the drawers, there were three of them. The top two contained nothing but print paper, a few pens, a calculator and folders.

The third and last one was locked. I played with the thought of just breaking it open, but instead I opened the one in the middle. Now there was a small space between the front of the third drawer and the bottom of the second one.

I reached through the gap and my fingers touched a lot paper and an envelope.

I grabbed it and took it out.

It was closed, the right side was a bit torn, like someone wanted to open it but changed their mind when they were halfway threw.

On the envelope were nothing but three lines which were forming a triangle.

I tore it open, a handwritten letter was inside. The ink was deep black and smeared at some places, as if the person whom had written it had cried.

I've read it, and it made my heart drop.

Dear Aaron,

I'm sorry, so so sorry. But you can't imagine the pain that's currently tearing myself apart.
Today I finally counted one and one together, the truth was always right in front of my face but I've been to ignorant to reach for it.
You probably remember the story I've told you about the day I've lost my beloved sisters while we were playing in a forest nearby our home. I must say that I didn't tell you the whole truth...
Me. Millie. Caitlin.
Our triplet bond was strong and we always protected each other. I said I'd always be there for them, still I wasn't. I owe this to them. I hope you will forgive me.
The night they died Liam was with them, as you know already. However it was not because he has had heard the gun shots and wanted to help, like he had told me. What I didn't mention to you was, that the gun had been in his hands. He said he picked it up, not acknowledging that it was the murder weapon. He made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone. And I didn't, not until today.
I thought he had no motive, why would he hurt my sisters? My naive ten year old self knew something was foul, it took me so many years to admit that the voice inside of me screaming, was saying the truth.
He killed them.
Liam murdered Millie and Caitlin.
And it's my fault. They told me they didn't trust him. They told me he is evil. That was the first and only thing I didn't believe them. I hate myself so so much for not paying attention to their warnings.
I betrayed both of them. And if it wasn't for me, they would still be alive.
It was me who befriended with Liam. It was me who had the idea to go into the forest. And then, it was me who hid the murder weapon. I didn't want him to go to prison for a crime he did not commit. You have to know that Liam was 14 at this point already, the judge wouldn't have any mercy left for him.
If only I knew that I made a mistake.
Now I have to let justice win over hatred, my sisters can't find peace until everyone got what they deserved.
Liam and I deserve death ever since.
The restless souls of my sisters whom I shared everything, even our mothers womb with are haunting me in my sleep, telling me what has to be done.
I don't want to leave you. I wish there was another way out of this.
You and Ava mean the world to me. I love both of you more than anything else, tell her that.
I am sorry.
I love you.

Yours,
Ethan

Ethan, Aaron's dead husband, has written a letter to them,
A Suizide note?
but why hadn't they received it?
A better question would be, how did Liam get it in his hands?

Something didn't seem right about him from the very beginning, I just didn't pay attention to it.
I didn't know what to do with this newly gained information.

"What are you reading?" Janes meek and thin voice came from behind me.

The paper fell out of my hands.
"Jane, why do you always have to sneak up like that?"

She picked up what I have dropped, ignoring what I have said and skimmed the text. After that she read it again with analytical gaze.
While she was doing so I noticed that her belly looked rounder and fuller than I had in mind. I probably just never noticed it before, she couldn't have gained weight while she was dead so it always looked like that.
It didn't matter anyways, she's the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, with or without tummy.

She handed me the letter. "What are we going to do now?"

Murderers tend to keep souvenirs from their victims, some even keep limbs, but mostly they keep things like letters, clothes. Bras if they are real perverts.

I asked Jane to look for something that will give us more information about Liam, maybe Millie and Caitlin weren't his only victims.

We had the bad feeling that the fire that burnt down the house the family used to live in wasn't an accident.
The possibility that Ethan's death was cold blooded murder increased pretty fast.

Meanwhile I went to the kitchen. Aaron was sitting by the kitchen counter, their arms laying on the greyish blue worktop, a phone in their hands.
I peeked over their shoulder.
They were reading a newspaper article from twenty years ago.

10 YEAR OLD SISTERS GOT MURDERER IN THE FOREST

The headline was in bold letters, promising an article full of real life tragedy. Bloody and brutal, exactly what humans wanted to read.
Humans want to hear that others suffer, they enjoy it to read in a historical book that hundreds of people got killed by a blood baroness, in the internet that a single woman killed 9 little kids or in the newspaper that two girls got shot in the forest, leaving their close ones in agony.

Did they enjoy reading that a boy killed his whole class and then vanished?

Aaron looked behind, right into my face, brushed of their shoulder and focused on their phone again. I realized that my hair has been brushing against their shoulder the whole time.
Thankfully they couldn't see me.

First they've seen the weapon in Liam's room and now they're reading an article about the crime their dead husband has mentioned in the letter they have never received.
Something just didn't seem right.

I took a knife from the holder, it was the same knife the half-faced demon tried to stab into my eye.
The clouds outside were dark and promised rain, preventing most of the sunlight from shinning down on earth, which suited the already dismal atmosphere.

I raised the knife and pinned the letter with it to the wall. At the same time the knife hit the light brown area a thunder growling tore the silence.

The young person jerked by the sudden noise.
Their eyes landed on the paper, I left while they removed the knife.

~~~

Ava was still in bed, her eyes wide open.
No sunlight was shining threw the window anymore, instead everything was grey.
She glanced at me for a second and gave me a weak smile.

"Hey, how are you?"

She just shrugged in response. I sat down at the rim of the bed.
"Yesterday, that was not real, don't break your mind about it"

"It wasn't?" She asked relived.

I shook my head "That was just a terrible trick someone pulled on us. You shouldn't mention it to the others though"

We just sat there for a while, both of us stayed silent.
My gaze met the doll, it sat on the ground at the end of the bed.
"You like her?" I picked her up, the dress was pulled down at the neck and I could see why. Someone, maybe Ava or perhaps Aaron, took a closer look at the brand.

Magnolia dolls

I fixed the dress and sat her down besides me.

"She reminds me of you" Ava stated.

I tugged one of my red curls behind my ear and sent her a smile.
"Well, anyways," I started to talk again, "you did a great job finding out that you had to find a doll and then actually finding it"

She sat up with a proud expression.
"I think you're ready for round two. But this one will be a lot harder than the first one, darling"
Her eyes lit up in excitement. She was good at finding things and she loved to explore the new house while searching for something. Seeing that made my heart ache.

"I think I will be able to do this" she said that with confidence, but not with a single trace of arrogance. That was probably something only for men, anyhow.

"Okay, listen carefully. You need to find something that's similar to the doll, something that will remind you a lot more of me than she does. It's a very special kind of metaphorical house, but it will be physically damaged and you will probably be frightened once you have found it. Very frightened"

She nodded, thinking about what I've said. I felt bad for making her do this, but I had no other choice...

The clouds outside broke and a fine rain started to pour from above while white fog was filling the soggy air.

Someone opened the front door, Liam came home the same minute Jane lead me into his room, showing me what she placed on the desk.
We exchanged worried looks, knowing that hell would break loose again any minute.

09.09.21
19.19