CHAPTER SEVEN : Cover blown

"Do it"

I hear a female voice say from a close distance.

"Who… who's there?" I say I was still shaking,

She approaches me, "What are you waiting for, jump m you obviously don't have a whole life ahead of you"

I didn't know what to say, I'm confused, I kept standing near the edge of the bridge

"What is a little girl like you doing here, at this late hour of the night?"

"Says the boy trying to suicide"

"I'm not trying, I will do it. And don't try to stop me, I'm warning y….." and before I could finish, she climbed up to me and now she was standing at the opposite side of the guardrail, only holding it with one hand.

I say heedlessly, "Are you crazy?!", only then do I realize I was doing the same thing she did. And it hit me. That girl next to me was not trying to stop me, she stopped me.

I looked at her but I couldn't observe who she was, still, her bright blue eyes glowed within the foggy night.

"What are you doing up here, aren't your parents going to be worried?" I know who she is now.

"I don't know, maybe your same reason"

"You never told me your name"

She seems like she had no clue of what I was talking about, "I am Eren, from the pet store, we have met before you know when you …"

"Oh yes, I remember, my name is Alina"

"Nice to meet you, Alina"

"A very strange way to meet" she giggled

I chuckle and she started laughing, "What's wrong"

She smiles at me, stands up, and starts walking.

"I'll only go if you promise me two things"

I purr while my head began to think why she would think I wanted her gone.

Her eyes suddenly cast down, they were terrifying "You'll never come back to what you attempted to do. We'll never talk about this ever again"

I nod.

"Say it!"

"I promise!"

A few minutes later and she totally disappeared from my eyesight, she's weird.

{§____________________________________________________________________§}

HER: THEN

Selena called for me, uttering dinner was ready. It was my first day and I just finished organizing my clothes, it took time since Selena brought me new dresses, she even made me a hairdresser's appointment, she was trying so hard to be the perfect mother, she didn't know that humans are not made to be perfect, due to the simple fact that we're not machines. Maybe she knew and still chose to try.

At the dinner table, they sat facing each other while I sat at the head of it, everything smelled nice, there was a special tang in it.

"She's a great cook, I know" Patrick announced after spotted my open mouth like saliva was pouring out of it. We giggled a bit.

"We're not a religious family, but we do like to state what we're grateful for during every breakfast, since it's dinner let's hope for a better tomorrow then!" Said Selena, smiling as always. "Why don't you start, dear Alina?"

I cleared my throat and began "I hope that tomorrow will unfold good news rather than bad and I hope we'll all make it through the night"

"I hope tomorrow will be less work for everyone so that my crewmates could finally take some rest"

"I hope that my patient's appointment tomorrow will go smoothly, and hopefully she'll learn how to not complain about every single thing"

"Aren't you supposed to teach her how to do that?" I asked

"Well, over the past few months she made no progress, she has OCD and PTSD and NPD, it's a rare combination"

I whirred.

"Less talking, more eating, please. I'm starving!"

We laughed, talked about different subjects, I could feel how stressed they were to avoid mentioning anything related to my mother, it made me feel sick. They shouldn't.

"Tomorrow, I'll drive to your new school, don't worry I heard your classmates are friendly since you assigned for mostly AP classes"

"Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll be fine"

She didn't appear relieved so I added. "I have a therapist at home; I can never get stressed out!"

They laughed when Patrick added, «I have a therapist at home, and I'm stressed out all the time!"

"That's because you never listen to my professional advice"

It was my first family dinner ever. It's been a long time since I felt this warmth.

Selena showed me a collection of skincare products that she bought. Kissed me good night and before she left she said: "If you ever need my help, not as a" she hesitated "well, a mother, but a therapist, you know you can rely on me"

She then turned the lights off and closed the door behind her.

I fell asleep before I realized, maybe I was too tired to think of my plan, I'll make time to regret it after.

The next morning, Patrick was waiting for me in the car, it was a black jeep, probably a new one, and I don't know much about cars.

The school was bigger than what I envisioned.

One of the students took me on a tour, they had a library, over forty clubs, and vast grassland where students hang out or launch school parties. I didn't care; I wasn't here to stay anyways.

I introduced myself, and they didn't seem to care. I didn't expect such a thing.

I turned to face the window most of the time, avoiding every eye contact with whatever his name was, but he was quiet too.

He sat next to me at the lunch table, that's when I knew he had no friends too.

He didn't talk so I didn't too. I was too tired to think of something.

The following school days were the same, people staring at me like some sort of bacteria instead of an alien, they thought I was arrogant when I signed up for some AP classes.

I bet they just felt the need to feed their jealousy since they were stupid anyway.

{§____________________________________________________________________§}

There was no one in the house when she woke up, as usual. Her breakfast was ready, she had a glass of lemon juice with four ice cubes, and her habit was always to be specific.

Patrick was calling, she decided not to answer, only then she knew he would think something was wrong and the huge pile of questions will rain on her.

"You up kiddo?"

"Obviously"

"Good, I'll pick you up at nine from school; we need you here at the precinct»

"I don't mind, may I ask in what exactly?"

"You'll find out soon" he hung up on her.

Old man.

She thought.

In class, everyone stared at her when Patrick called for her after he nicely greeted the teacher and wished her a good day.

"Couldn't you go to the administration as normal people do?"

Why.

"Show off" she whispered before getting inside the car. The radio was loud and the weather was windy and the sky wasn't so bright, Alina hated it.

"What do you need me for?"

"We got an anonymous call from England claiming that they saw your mother's killer."

She leaned into the front to see his facial expression, in case he was joking. Her sense of humor was dark.

*Okay now I'm listening*

"Prank call? Probably not. England you say, what on earth would he be doing there after 6 years of the murder, but who called?"

"It's a she"

Eyes wide open, shocked with what he said. Now it made no sense at all.

"The call was located in Chester, England. We wanted to tie it up to you so we started looking."

"Did you find anything?"

"That's a question for you to answer» he pulled over, they were walking into the police station when he finally said

"We will put you through a lie detector test"

Well, that was a surprise. She hadn't thought things could get this far, she knew what they wanted to hear, and she was going to tell them.

"No, I won't. I'll answer your questions but not on a lie detector test"

He smiled; after all, he also knew what she was talking about. The case was coming to an end, he thought. Little did he know it was hitting a giant concrete wall?