Chapter Two

The rain ceased but to mere drizzles, suddenly and unexpectedly. The wind was still howling vigorously, its noise echoing in the narrow alley, which was lit by a single street light flickering ever so slightly every now and then. "Oh Lord!" whispered Emily in shock, her hands rushing to cover her opened mouth. "Is that Bianca?" She mumbled the question into the air, still frozen in place.

Marcus rushed to the body and kneeled next to it, his eyes helpless as he looked at Liam with a shake of his head. "She has no pulse." He stated with dread. "I checked. I tried CPR, but…but…" he stuttered turning from Liam to stare powerlessly at the dead redhead. He knew Bianca all too well. He knew her invalid excuses for being late, he knew her smile when she wanted to ask for an early leave, he could recall very vividly the way she would swiftly brush her red hair away from her freckled face. Bianca Davis, his waitress, who worked for him for over two years. He even attended her graduation along with her grandmother, Louise. What would I ever tell Louise? He thought as his body trembled with s silent and a tear-less sob.

Liam, his stiff body finally moving, lumbered his way towards Marcus. He stood right behind him in his drenched grey suit, staring down at the dead body lying on the ground. "We must call the police man" He slipped his hand into his pocket and got his cellphone out with a mixture of worry, shock, and fear. Liam dialed 911 and explained what happened, meanwhile Emily walked with careful steps, as if the ground would shatter beneath her feet, towards Marcus.

With her hand clutching his shoulder, she tried to sound as comforting as possible, considering her own shock as well. "Marcus, please calm down. It's going to be okay" The words didn't sound convincing to her own ears. She stared at the widely open brown eyes of Bianca and grimaced, her upper body involuntarily moved backward as her eyes shut tightly on their own accord. Emily has always been a firm believer in God, in the devil, in heaven, in hell, in angels, and in demons. So, she found her lips muttering a short prayer for the poor soul of Bianca, someone she didn't really know, but she believed that she had known her enough.

Marcus shook his head once more, still staring at the empty brown eyes, "I just don't understand. What happened? How did it happen? How will I tell her grandmother that she passed when I don't understand what happened myself" The quiver and frustration in his voice warranted Emily's affection and her heart went out for him. She patted his shoulder once more, while he sat on the wet floor beside the dead body of who was once his employee.

"They should be here any minute" Liam exclaimed walking back to them. "I have explained the situation and gave them the exact address" he stood next to Marcus, "Get up, man. The police will clear the scene for sure"

Marcus turned his head abruptly wide-eyed, "Are you saying she was murdered?" he stated with an incredulous tone. He alternated his gaze between Bianca and Liam very quickly, "Killed?"

"Look, I honestly don't know. But the police will look into it just to be sure" Liam explained. "Just get up and let's wait for the police to arrive"

Emily nodded her head vigorously, "Yes, Marcus you have to get up. I am sure we will understand everything better once the police are here" she encouraged and tried to clutch into his upper arm to pull him up. Marcus felt like a dead weight to her, he was not willing to cooperate or help, but it was a second later that he pushed himself off the ground and onto his feet. He looked absolutely devastated, which made Emily wonder about the kind of relationship he had with Bianca. She had not seen much of their interactions; she hadn't seen much to know anything about Bianca. It was only when she went through her lunch break that she saw her, she was always walking around the diner with a frown of contempt on her face. She doesn't remember a day she saw her without it. The police sirens were heard loudly approaching the alley and the three of them stood in anticipation with the body of the young woman lying to their feet.

The town of oddville had always been one of those calm towns. They don't have major crimes, nor do they get a lot of action. It was a peaceful town and its people were as friendly as they could get; it was some modern day Utopia, or at least that was what some would say. However, there is no such a thing as a perfect town, actually there is no perfection. That single misplaced belief led the police into a slight panic when they became aware of the situation. A body being found in an alley, and the victim is of such a young age, was something unprecedented.

Sheriff Stanley Flockhart, a big man with silver hair and bright blue eyes, was overseeing the situation himself, so he found himself standing in the drizzles of rain with two police officers, an ambulance, and a dead body of a young girl that he knew all too well. "What happened to you Bianca?" He whispered to himself under his breath while his eyes were following the body as it was being placed in the coroner's van. He has been a good friend of her grandmother, they had known each other since they were children. How would he bear such news to her?