Chapter I

Chapter I

"What do you mean you can't come?" I shouted into my phone, "We've been planning this for ages! I mean couldn't you have just let me know in advance? What the hell am I supposed to do now?" 

As usual, the only response I got back was deafening silence. I huffed and cut the phone, after realising that I wasn't going to get another reply from that bastard. The time's 9 pm so knowing that I wasn't going to be able to catch the late bus, I braced myself for the 45-minute walk back home. Well, 45 minutes if I was lucky and there wasn't still the crowd of kids lined outside Sephie's. To think I wore my best dress for this. That jerk didn't deserve a single ounce of my effort. I wouldn't even be surprised if he had ditched me for boy's night. Wouldn't be the first time that happened. 

Pulling out my phone, I scrolled aimlessly, only looking up to round a corner or cross the road. Even though I was pretty much chronically online, I wasn't looking for a death wish. I refuse to become one of those people who died after getting hit by a car because they are on their phones. I started to hurry the pace up after the sun started to set and the temperature dipped. Thinking I'd currently be on a date right now with my so-called boyfriend, I hadn't bothered to bring a thick coat. And, while that made my outfit look smoking hot, it also increased my chance of getting kidnapped or dying of hypothermia or both. I rubbed my arms and shuddered at the thought.

There's no way I could get kidnapped. I'd not even gone to prom yet and I was also way too pretty to die. At least not like that anyway! I was just approaching my neighbourhood when suddenly I heard a bang in the distance. God-fucking-dammit. This was like the thousandth time. I know that when my dad and I moved here a year and a half ago it was gonna be rough but I wasn't expecting to have to deal with a bunch of rival gangs always fighting each other. And I didn't think I'd be smack bang in the middle of it either. Talk about shitty luck. 

Hopefully, if I just moved along, kept my head down and acted completely oblivious to everything going on, I'd get home without a scratch. At least, that's what usually happens anyway. As long as I wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time, I'd get back to Dad. We could have rice and curry again or maybe if I'm lucky I could convince him to make his mouth-watering lasagna along with his first-class garlic bread. Just thinking about the salivating smell of the garlic smothered in butter as well as the delicious stringy cheese and soft pasta-ry heaven made my stomach grumble. I miss home. Doing all those dreadful exams made me realise how not-present I felt. Like I was there but not really there. 

Scurrying along, I darted my head about a few times and as I saw my familiar yet obnoxiously painted red door, I couldn't help but sigh in relief. I'd managed to make it back without a hitch. Opening my purse, I scrambled through it and picked out my key. Sighing again, I slid it into the hole and felt the familiar twist of the door unlocking. I grabbed the doorknob and swung the door open… and then… I screamed…

.

.

.

"Dad!" I shouted, "What… I don't understand… Are you okay?" Sitting there, hands in his head, blood squirted all over our dining room floor like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre was my father. I slammed the door shut and made my way over to him, trying to shake him out of his horrified trance. But all he did was look at me, his red, tear-stricken eyes distant and empty. A few yards behind him covered in a viscous puddle of blood lay our landlord's cold, dead body. I coughed, my eyes watering due to the pungent smell. Even though it was hard to breathe, I knew that I had to be strong, if not for myself then at least for my dad. 

"Dad…" I whispered, squeezing his arm softly, "It's okay. Everything's going to be okay… Let's find something to cover up… this… and then we'll head to bed okay? We'll sort this out in the morning when we've both gotten a good night's sleep…"

Nodding his head blankly, he let me trail him upstairs and gently put him into bed. He fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow and for a while, I had no idea what to do. Dad was usually the thinker and I was the doer but it seemed in this that our roles would have to switch. And then, there was the actual matter of disposal. It's one thing to be a true crime lover and discuss all how you'd (theoretically) get away with murder but doing it was a different story. 

Grabbing one of the dirty blankets littered around our house and filling up the mop bucket, I scrubbed at the bloodied spots in our living room hoping that I at least managed to do a decent job. Whilst I know this won't actually be effective, I'd rather focus on that tomorrow morning and at least not make it obvious that our landlord had been stabbed. Speaking of which, he was currently still sprawled across the floor. The anger still set in his features as well as his gaping mouth told me that this wasn't a merciless assault. He had come here to attack. I patted him down, seeing if I could find anything on him. Unsurprisingly, I found a Swiss army knife as well as his phone, his wallet and a wad of money. I flipped my bag upside down, removing the useless junk I'd bought for my date and stuffed the stuff inside. I'd check that out later but for now, I had to get rid of him.

I grabbed the shoulders of our landlord, grimacing as I felt the blood that had soaked through his shirt. I shoved open the cloakroom door, dragging Lennon along with me. Generally, as this area has a lot of criminal activity, people often call the police if a body's been missing for more than 24 hours so I had two choices. I could hide him in here somewhere and get up early tomorrow and dispose of him then or I could stay up until the middle of the night and plant his body somewhere else. 

Whilst both options seemed risky, at least with the second one, I had somewhat of an idea of what to do. But for the first one, I was stumped. First of all, there aren't lot of places where you could dispose of a body and, it's also more risky for me to get caught. I bit my lip and covered him with a beanbag, making sure he was completely out of sight. Then, grabbing my purse, I rushed upstairs and hid my purse under my mattress. 

I rummaged under my bed until I managed to find the energy drinks that I'd stored in case I need to sneak out. I didn't think that this was how I was going to use them, I was glad that they were still there anyway. I tiptoed across the landing trying not to wake dad up. He needed all the sleep he could get after what happened. I set down my stash of drinks and wrote up a quick note that said, Don't worry about this, dad. I'll sort it out. Love you always, Prim x and slipped it under his bedroom door. I didn't know that that would be that last time we spoke or saw each other. I didn't know that I was about to make a terrible mistake...