Title: A Murder in the City 3000 by 12/23/16 By: Elizabeth Epilogue Genevieve (commonly referred to as Jenna) was a beautiful girl, doubted and unrecognized for her unique personality. On the surface, she was beautiful but intimidating, people knew there was more to her than what met the eye, but they were afraid of what lied underneath. One of the few people who let herself into Jenna’s heart was Alex, a small bundle of joy with dark curly hair and dimples that sat in her cheeks, which were ever so slightly spotted with freckles. Her eyes gleamed hazel, emphasized by her dark eyelashes that framed her irises. The only other person Jenna still held in her heart was her mother, a worried woman whose face was grazed with wrinkles, almost constantly showing concern for her only child, who also doubled as the mother’s only friend. They owned a cat, named Marcus, a small grey tabby with black stripes and spots embedded over the cat’s haggard fur coat. Chapter 1 On Sunday morning, midst of October in 2009, Alex, Jenna, and her mother sat at the dining table reading the Sunday paper (although Jenna and Alex weren’t actually reading the paper, they were fidgeting with each other hand’s under the table). Abruptly, Jenna’s mother dropped her “Best Mom” coffee mug, spilling the potent liquid over the faded purple carpet. Stunned, Jenna stares blankly at her mother waiting impatiently for an explanation. “Page 5..”, Jenna’s mom says, almost breathless. Alex flips over the untouched newspaper in front of her to a page that read “A Murder in the Boroughs of New York City”. The familiar sound of Jenna’s home city sparked flames of anxiety within her. Curiosity filled her mind with questions as she skimmed through the roughly printed paragraphs in hopes of a resolution, a stop to the murderer, but the article seemed to know little of the turn out to this situation. The only information of the murder was a description of the suspect. A white man, tall, six feet possibly, long, curly dirty blond hair, and black eyes. He was often seen carrying a black duffel bag, which held his weapons of choice apparently. “This can’t be happening. . . not again,” Jenna says with shock, remembering the vivid events that occurred five years ago when her dad seemingly disappeared, until she learned (from the news) about the murderer who had killed her father. Alex quickly comes into Jenna, wrapping her arms around her shaking body, as she strokes her silky jet black hair. “Don’t worry Genevieve, they can’t get us. You have me to protect you now,” Alex says, reassuringly, reminding Jenna of the unsafe circumstances she lived in years ago. Marcus rubs his face against Jenna’s leg, then her moms, and then Jenna’s calf again. Jenna delicately lifts up
Marcus, kissing his forehead before cradling him in her arms. The 12 year old cat brings back memories with her father, of Christmas morning when Jenna woke up to the feline present under the tree. They named the cat after the gift bearer, her dad. That evening, Jenna laid silently in her bed, looking up at the dirty ceiling, Alex laid in the opposite direction of her, with her eyes worriedly on Jenna. Jenna finally inhales and in her exhale she speaks, “You think it’s the same guy? You know, the murderer…”, her voice trailing off as she says the last word. “No no, the man who killed your father is gone Jenna, he was put in jail years ago!” “I know, I know, but I can’t help but think…”, Jenna said in a sigh. The room was quiet as Jenna continued to ponder. After moments of silence, Jenna thinks out loud, “You know I want to find him, the murderer, even if he isn’t the same guy. I have no respect for those who viciously take the lives away from innocent people, with families, dogs, friends, and jobs. It doesn’t make any sense, like… Why would someone do that? I don’t understand and the curiosity is burning me from the inside out, I want to understand. I want to know what goes through the mind of a murderer.” Alex glances at Jenna for a moment, worriedly. She’s quite shocked at Jenna’s sudden courage, and is afraid because she knows that Jenna has a determination to her that makes her act on her wild ideas. “I don’t understand either, Jenna, but I’m not willing to risk anything to find out, especially you. You know how worried your mother will get. You’re all we have,” Alex speaks softly, trying to calm the flames of curiosity within her girlfriend. “I wouldn’t be alone though, Alex. Like you said, I have you now. We could hunt him down together,” Jenna says, fearlessness glimmering in her piercing blue eyes, a smile growing with her ideas. “TOGETHER?! You want me to go with you, on your crazy made-up murder hunt? We’re not on Law and Order, it’s not realistic,” Alex says, compressing Jenna’s curiosity and ideas. “I know, I know Alex. But life seems so boring now, but we live in the Big Apple. We were born to take risks. It would be fun!”, Jenna says, convincingly. Alex inhales deeply, lowering her shoulders while tilting her head back, “It’s almost as if you're giving me no choice.” “Basically, like you’re going to let me go on this murderer hunt alone?”, Jenna flirts. “Ugh, you know I wouldn’t. I hate that I care about you so much. When would we go on this hunt, anyways?”, inquires Alex. Jenna looks at Alex, the determination sparkled in her eye more than ever, and she whispers, “Tomorrow night.” Chapter 2
“Soo-,” Alex breaks the silence of the bright saturday morning, clutching Jenna’s hands in her own. “What’s the plan for tonight?” “We’ll have to split up for the day, to lower suspicion. But at midnight, don’t be tired, come ready to explore, we’ll meet in front of Junior High on 16th Avenue, be there or be square,” Jenna says with a wink. Alex knew the exact location, for the first time they had met was in their teenage years. “Where would we go for the day, before midnight?” “It doesn’t matter, Alex. Go to the mall, get your nails done or something. I don’t know!”, Jenna speaks, almost ironically because of how unkempt Alex’s tomboy appearance was. “Yeah sure, sounds like a good idea,” says Alex through a smirk, looking down at her bitten cuticles and stubby nailbeds. ✽
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Glaring at the bright glowing words, “Angel Tips”, that hung above two sliding glass doors, Alex thinks to herself I can’t actually be doing this, but… it’s what Jenna told me to do, in order to pardon her unlikely behavior of treating herself, especially with a girly manicure. Upon walking into the heavily butyl acetate-smelling room, Alex’s deep hazel eyes skim over the colorful array of nailpolishes, sorted in ROYGBIV order, but mainly filled with colorful arrays of pinks and reds. The darker, purpley colors caught her eyes, but being the daring girl she is she settled for a delicate, rosy pink. The nail artist said it complimented her rosy complexion. It was an odd experience, to say the least, for Alex. She’s not used to being pampered, especially with something so trivial such as her fingertips. But, nonetheless, the still enjoyed the experience she had. And although it's unlikely that she’d yet again pay someone to paint her fingernails, at least she can say that she tried a professional manicure and she survived. Chapter 3 Waking up from a nap, Alex groggily turned over, almost instinctively flipping her phone to read the lit up screen which read, “11:51PM”. Gasping, Alex ripped the teal comforter from her body, sliding her legs off the edge of the queen sized mattress. She pulled black sweatpants over her lounging shorts, and a black hoodie over her Paramore tee. Finally, slipping on her black combat boots, she swiftly left the safety of her home, on her way to meet Jenna at the first stoplight on 16th Avenue. Walking hastily down 64th street, the clicking sounds of her boot heels hitting the sidewalk and the buzzing of taxis soothed Alex’s thoughts, for her mind was racing with possibilities for what the rest of the night would look like for her. She highly doubted that
anything quite eventful could happen in this night, but she couldn't help but worry that everything would go horribly wrong. As she approached Junior High, she checked the time again. 11:59PM. Phew, she thought, Right on time! Checking the surroundings, Jenna seemed absent from the situation. Alex began circling the building of her old junior high school, slightly reminiscing on her past of the good days when she walked the halls, holding hands with Jenna. Reminiscing of the times when she didn’t have to worry about the future, because all that mattered to a teenage girl living in the Big Apple was the present. But now all Alex could seem to do was worry. She checked the time again, 12:47AM. She sent yet another text to Jenna, but they didn’t seem to be going through. Every call Alex made to her girlfriend immediately went to voicemail. Her phone must have been off, for some reason. But why hadn’t Jenna contacted Alex if she wasn’t going to show up? Ditching was something that the Jenna Alex knew would never do, at least not without a simple text explaining the situation. Something was brutally wrong. Alex’s mind was racing with questions, Where is Jenna? What happened to her that she can’t contact me? Is she in need of help? What if she was captured? What if the murderer got her? What if he killed her? The voices in her head were screaming at her, she had to do something. Alex picked up her phone, 1:28AM it read, and began making her way back homethis time through backway alleys instead of exposed side walks. She thought that if she kept herself hidden, maybe she could find the murderer on her own. It seemed like a good idea in her head. Suddenly, as Alex approached the street she lived on, the sound of footsteps seemed to be getting louder and faster behind her. “JENNA?!”, Alex called out without thinking. She turned around to face a tall dark figure with curly, dirty blond hair who carried a black duffel bag. “Who?”, said the mysterious man, as he swiftly covered Alex’s mouth with a chloroform-soaked towel. Within seconds, without any muffled screams or resistance, the vulnerable girl fell forward into the arms of the murderer. Chapter 4 Alex opens her eyes to a new setting, she’s in a dark room, with a bright, flickering light hanging above her, and her body was strapped into a cold metal chair. She seemed to be in a basement of some sort, for it smelled staunchy and the floors were made of cracked slabs of concrete. She tried to scream the words “Hello?”, but a tight cloth tied around her mouth prevented her from doing so. The same footsteps that she heard approaching her not too long ago came from the darkness and into the light. She could see the man’s face clearly now, pale and ghostly, beaded with sweat, his soulless black eyes, and sweaty hair that stuck to his forehead which shone in the harsh lighting. Alex muffled a sentence, but the man just laughed at her inability to speak.
“Have something to say, darling?”, the man said teasingly, slipping the cloth off of Alex’s face. “Who are you? What did you do to Jenna?”, the scared girl said instantly, trying to find an answer to one of the many questions which raced through her pounding head. “My name is Travis Linkin. And I’m your worst nightmare. And I don’t know who this Jenna is you speak of, I’m assuming she’s your friend?”, the words he spoke sent chills down Alex’s spine. “Not just my friend, she’s my soulmate. And if you didn’t take her, who else could have? Why hasn’t she been answering my calls or texts?” “That’s the thing, silly girl, she’s probably at home right now, accidentally sleeping through the little ‘meeting’ you planned. Your psyche created this false illusion of insecurity, because you love her. Such a shame though, that you’re never going to live out the rest of your days with the love of your life,” the man said through a sigh. “W-what do you mean?”, Alex gasped. “Ahha ha ha ha-”, the man laughed evilly, “Did you really think you were safe? I’m a MURDERER? Duh!”. He pulled his hand out of his pocket, revealing a small handgun that he reloaded dramatically. “No, no, please! I want to have a family with her, with Jenna, and- and her mom, we’re so happy, please,” Alex pleaded, begging to earn some sympathy from the murderer. But the thing about murderers, is that they don’t hold sympathy. He raised the gun to her forehead, and pressed the cold metal up against her soft skin. “Why are you doing this?!”, Alex called out, praying for an answer; but it was too late. The murderer pulled the trigger, as the once living girl’s head vigorously shot back. Chapter 6 Meanwhile, Jenna sits on a hospital bed beside her mother, holding her hand. She had been diagnosed with stage four liver cancer years ago, but kept it a secret in hopes to protect her daughter. This illness was caused by years of alcohol abuse, which was also kept hidden from her child. Jenna woke up from a nap this evening to an unconscious mother, whom she promptly rushed to the nearest hospital. Without warning, the heart monitor started racing, and three nurses pushing a crash cart broke into the patient's room, calling “Code Blue”. “Push fifty of epi”, said one of the nurses. “Charge to three-hundred,” said another. “CLEAR!”, warned the last. When the mother’s body shook with the sudden jolt of electricity, the ECG monitor spiked for a second, then flat-lined again. “Charge five-hundred,” the nurse said. The mother’s seemingly lifeless body racked again, more violently this time, but the efforts to revive her failing heartbeat came to no avail.
“Stop-”, Jenna shouted, tears streaming down her eyes, “I’m her daughter, I’m her only relative. Where are the DNR contracts? I-I don’t want her to suffer.” The nurses stopped abruptly and pulled out a clipboard which held the Do Not Resuscitate papers. Jenna shakingly held the clipboard in her hands and warily signed the two sheets of paper. The nurses then turned off the ECG monitor and removed the tubing from the mother’s mouth. She released one last breath, and then she was gone. Jenna clutched the white hospital sheets enwrapping her mother’s cold body, and sobbed into them. She had nothing left, but Alex, or so she thought… Chapter 7 “ALEX!”, Jenna called throughout her empty apartment. I know I didn’t return her calls or texts, Jenna thought, but I thought she’d be understanding that my phone died while I was in the hospital with my mother… Jenna checked her phone, 4:12AM, she must be really mad at me since she’s staying out this late. She assumed that Alex, hurt because Jenna ditched their exploration date, went to a nearby bar to have a drink before returning home. She’ll be back by morning. The next morning, Jenna woke up alone in bed, an odd feeling she hadn’t known since before high school. The memories of last night’s living nightmare still haunted her, the emptiness she felt was due to the life-altering loss of her beloved mother. Instinctively she turns on the news, to learn about any incidents that occurred over the weekend. She grabs her phone, seeing a text from Alex which read, “Come and find me, at Junior High”. “The murder hunt continues, as an unidentified woman, probably around the age of 19, found dead with a bullet wound to the head,” informs the reporter inside the television. Jenna’s attention is quickly drawn to the screen. She drops her phone on the floor, shattering the screen, but she doesn’t care. She knows in her heart what had happened, what the murderer had actually done. She runs into her bedroom, reaches under her once shared bed and grabs her pistol, shoving it deep into her jean pocket. She runs to the old building, peaking around the side to see a tall young blond man smoking a cigarette. “I know who you are, Travis-,” Jenna says through her teeth, “You ruined everything for me. You took my family- my father and the love of my life. And you think you can just get away?” The man swirls his head in Jenna’s direction, standing up and facing her. He put out the butt of his cigarette with the palm of his hand, and threw the burnt out fag on the floor. Before he could get any closer, Jenna extended her arm, with the gun in her hand, and shot him in between his eyebrows. The blow struck him too the dead grass floor, where he lay lifeless. “I had a shot at being happy, but you left me with nothing,” Jenna speaks, raising the pistol to her own head. She inhales before pulling the trigger, which entered through the right side of her skull and exited through the left. She fell down, as her grip from the gun unhinged. Her life was over, but it had ended before she shot that bullet. It ended when her everything was killed.
About the Author Elizabeth des Ranleau lives in Edison, New Jersey, with her parents, ugly brother, cat, and rat. She loves animals so much that she has chosen the vegetarian lifestyle, soon-to-be vegan in her older age when she can support herself. She loves to learn new things, such as life-style skills and even school related skills like math, science, and history. She’s in the school marching band, as a flag twirler, since she was a former dancer (for thirteen years of her life to be exact). What she wants to do in her adult life is unknown, but she’s sure to do what she loves and love what she does.