Chapter 10

My mom entered the room and sat on the bed. She looked upset. I guess she was feeling bad for yelling at me. She looked at me and smiled to which I smiled back. “I didn't mean to upset you, Ray. I was really very worried back then with all kinds of news going on about the murders and all. I was worried sick.”

I got up and sat on the bed beside her facing towards her and held her hand in between mine and said. “I understand Mom. I am sorry I didn't mean to get you worried. I will be more careful and keep you updated about my whereabouts if I am not home.”

She looked at me and smiled before saying “Cool! Oh and by the way. All the girls are coming over for a night out.” I looked at her with a wide eye and excitedly asked “Really?” to which she nodded.

“I am so excited,” I said. She laughed at me and said “You girls never get enough of each other right? But no late nights. You got to wake up early for school tomorrow. So you all better be sleeping early.”

“Yes, mom. But why did you call them over? Did you think I was upset?” I asked

“No, Actually, Liz’s father is going for late-night patrolling, and Nao’s mom has got night shift today in the hospital. So I asked all of them to come here. They might be here tomorrow as well as Liz’s dad has got night patrolling for few days.” she replied.

“Oh. Anyways, we get to be together and I am happy.”I said.

“And I also wanted to talk about the current situation going on around the town. Your Dad did tell you what is happening right? She asked to which I nodded. So she continued “There were many bodies found of young girls who were sexually assaulted. And it looked really bad. Some were sexually assaulted multiple times before they died. And it doesn't end there. The insides of their bodies were ripped. As if the assaulter pushed something deep inside them after maybe he was satisfied with his own needs but still was not satisfied. The cause of their death was internal bleeding and organ damage. It is really brutal. They even showed some pictures of few victims and it looked horrible. As if they were in some kind of shock before they died. Given the situation of how the bodies were found, I wonder what all they went through and it gives me chill.” I was petrified while trying to take in all that mom was telling me. I stayed there still without moving or even replying. I was just blankly staring at her. She then said “I know it is horrifying but we need to be careful. Make sure you don't go anywhere alone. You can tell me or dad if you need to buy anything. You are to go out only when you need to go to school and all four of you will be together while going and coming back. Don’t stay back late. Try to be back soon. Don’t talk to strangers. And even if someone you are familiar with asks any of you to follow them somewhere or asks to go with them, please refrain from doing so. Keep me updated on wherever you are going. You girls will be together for few days. So they all can come here or you all can go to V’s place and when Nao’s mom won't have night shifts, you guys can even stay back there. OK?” I nodded and then asked, “So does the police know who is doing it, or does they have any leads?”

“That is the scary part. They have no clue who is doing it. They don't have any fingerprint details or any other things to confirm who is behind such a gruesome act. They don't have anything on CCTV as well. The assaulter is very clever and has covered his tracks pretty well and only kidnapped these girls and then dumped them on places where there were no CCTV along with a blue rose. It's as if whoever is doing it is a ghost.” she replied.

“A blue rose?” I questioned.

“Yes. He is now known and a blue rose killer,” she replied.

We heard the doorbell and so our conversation ended there. We then heard Rhys squealing and rushing towards the living room and heard him hit something. My mom huffed and said, “What am going to do of this boy?” We went towards the living room and saw dad opening the door with a smile after seeing through the peephole on the door. I have to admit this killer has got everyone freaked out. I saw the girls coming in and Rhys straight away jumped into V’s arms and she held her and started twirling around with Rhys in the air. Rhys was giggling loudly. They two are close as only V can match up to the energy of Rhys and meet his craziness. Nao exchanged greetings with my dad and stepped in to see the twirling V and giggling Rhys while putting down her bags near the couch. Liz straight away came in to hug me and I hugged her back.

“Thank you Aunt Selene for calling us here tonight,” said Nao.

“Oh, no problem. I am always happy to have all you girls here.” my mom replied.

“I hope you girls did not have dinner and are hungry?” My dad asked.

“Yes! I have cooked for all of us. Let us go and have dinner.”

“Yes, please! I am starving and I love Aunt Selene’s food.”

“Aww! Thanks, Liz, I have cooked enough food for you. You can have as much as you want.”

We all went towards the dining area and took our seats and mom brought all the dishes to the table while dad helped her to do the same. We started eating and soon were done with our dinner. I went ahead and helped mom to carry the dishes to the kitchen and washed them clean while the girls headed to my room to clean up and get changed and ready for bed. By the time I was done with dishes and came out of the room, I saw mom and dad still in the living area in front of the TV watching the news with a blank expression. I turned to see what was going on in the news and saw that there was another girl that went missing today evening. The girl was a high school student and had gone out in the evening at around 6.30 pm to get groceries and never came back. The identity of the girl was being said and when they flashed the picture of the girl and the name below read Aria. I felt the blood drain out of my face. This girl is one of my classmates. The grocery store that they are talking about is very close to the park we were in. And we girls were at the park when apparently she was kidnapped. It could have been one of us.

“It is getting late. You should go to your room and sleep.” I heard my dad say. I turned towards them and said, “She is from my class.” I saw them giving me a sad look and then look at each other. Then mom turned to look at me and said “Don’t worry, they will find her.” I just nodded to that and started walking towards my room. “Don’t stay up late. You have got school tomorrow” I heard my mom say behind me.

I opened the door to my room to see Rhys sitting on my bed while the other three were surrounding him. Nao was narrating a bedtime story while V was playing with his hair and occasionally pinching his cheeks. Liz was busy clicking Rhys’ pictures While Rhys was completely into listening to Nao’s story. Liz and V saw me walk inside and smiled at me. I walked towards the bathroom to get freshened up and ready for bed. As soon as I was done I stepped out to find only Liz and Nao sitting on my bed seeing something on their phones, while Rhys and V were missing. “Where did V go?” I asked

“Rhys was sleepy so she went out with him to get him to bed,” replied Nao.

“I see,” I said. Just then V stepped in and closed the door to the room and looked at us and asked “So what are we doing girls?”

“I don't know, you guys suggest,” said Liz

“Should we watch a movie and then go to sleep?”

“I guess that would be good” replied V while she walked to the bed and got into a comfortable position on the bed. I too took a seat on the bed near the edge and took a pillow on my lap and looked at them and asked “Do you guys know about the murders of girls?

All three looked at me at once and nodded. “That’s one of the reasons why we are here,” said Liz.

I nodded and then further asked, “Did you know one more girl went missing today evening?”

“WHAT?”