THE CIRCLE

Chapter 1

Tears sprang from her eyes as she clutched her brothers chest, blood smeared all over her clothes, her clothes reeked of soil dirt, she had too worry about her brothers dead state before she thought about how she got to the forest, her blank memory wasn't helping her, she had called the cops immediately, she knew her brother was dead he was placed in an awkward angle, a red mark she had never noticed before laid on his neck like a stamp, a circle was body imprinted on his skin, before she could ponder over it she heard sirens all over her house, she ran outside to them.

"Over here, he's dead" she stated, as they rushed in. They observed the state of the corpse and called 911, soon her brother was being wheeled out, two cops headed towards her.

"You need to come with us for questioning" they said as they glanced at her clothes. She nodded and attempted to go in before she was stopped.

"You need to come with us right away, your house is now a crime scene" the tall dark cop said. She nodded and followed them.

***

"Tyler Meyer is your brother and also your only guardian" Amy nodded.

She rubbed her hands which were sweaty from nervousness as the blonde cop interrogated her.

"Do you remember what happened last night, any voice, any strange person at the party, any scream" the blonde cop asked. Amy hesitated before she answered, she didn't know if she should tell them about the forest incident, probably not, she shook her head.

"I was drunk last night, I have no memories of what happened" she said. Amy saw the look of disbelief or pity in the blonde woman's eyes as she questioned her which made her shiver more.

"Was your brother involved in anything illegal"

"He was a detective" she said rolling her eyes. She couldn't imagine the all righteous Tyler involved in anything illegal.

The police woman sighed "this CCTV footage is all we could get from your house, Amy" she sighed before turning the laptop to her, the whole party was recorded, she watched the whole thing but didn't find anything suspicious, then there was the footage of her running into the house this morning, her eyes snapped up immediately, she saw the woman watching her every reaction.

"Amy, is that you" she asked. She nodded slowly.

"There's a footage of you coming into the house Amy, but none of you leaving, so where were you this morning?"

"I d-on't k-now" she replied, fear gripped her, as she was being asked the very questions she had avoided all day.

"It's like a whole footage is gone, there's no recording of last night, is there any one else that had access to the CCTV apart from you and your brother"

"No" she shook her head as tears moistened her eyes again.

"Amy, I know you just lost your brother, but you need to give us all the information we need to solve his murder, all the evidence points to you for now, your DNA was the only one found on his body". The tears finally sprang down on her cheeks as reality set in, her whole body shook, she trembled from the fact that she remembered nothing, what if she killed her brother, what if her drink was spiked with something that could have triggered her.

"Your neighbours were also questioned, they admitted that you and your brother argued a lot, did you get into a fight yesterday"

"I remember nothing from last night, I couldn't have killed him, he's my brother" she said as more tears flowed, yes the mark she remembered.

"He was killed brutally,I mean the murder was planned, there was also a mark on his neck when I saw him this morning" she added quickly.

"What mark Amy, his autopsy results are out, there were no such marks". Amy shook her head.

"There was, I saw it, I didn't kill my brother!" She shouted as the frustration overwhelmed her.

"I didn't kill him!, I didn't kill him!" She screamed and repeated it over and over again, it was as if she was trying to convince herself rather than the cop sitting before her. The cop looked at her with no emotions whatsoever.

"Amy, where were you this morning" she asked again, this time her voice firmer and serious devoid of any emotion.

"I woke up in the fo-rest, I don't know how I got there" she stuttered as she looked into the woman's eyes pleading for her to believe her.

"Amy, you will be detained here till we get any other leads, Mark take her away" the cop finally stated before motioning for another cop to take over. Amy just kept on shouting over and over again "I didn't kill him". No one listened to her. Her word just hung in the air.

***

She has been sitting in the cell for a couple of hours now, trying to remember, but the more she tried the more her head hurt, her blood sample had been taken for a drug test, the result would be out tomorrow, she sat looking at the peeled ceiling of the prison room before sleep enveloped her.

"Amy, how does it feel to be 18" her bestfriend Chloe asked her. Amy smiled as she took another shot of drink.

"I feel free and ready to explore the world" she replied with a mischievous glint in her eyes, Chloe laughed before pulling her away to the dance floor, they danced like crazy teenagers, bodies were pressing against each other, on any other day, Amy would have felt irritated but today she wanted to enjoy it as much as possible,she felt someone grind against her, she flexed her hips grinding back without even looking back, suddenly she felt large hands exploring her body, she gave in to the pleasure as he moved her hips back and forth against him, then she heard a deep husky familiar voice whisper to her "let's get out of here". She turned her head around but then she woke up.

"Damn" she shouted. She was so close, who could it be, she sat up deep in thoughts, she couldnt imagine killing her brother, yes he was overprotective, he even forced her to learn martial arts for no reason, he was detective just like her parents so he trained her on how to use guns too, yes they argued a lot since he was always against her wild ways, yet they loved each other dearly, after all, they only had each other, did they fight again, she let out a frustrated sigh and continued gazing at the ceiling until sleep enveloped her again.

****

Amy's POV

I woke up to sounds of water dropping, as my eyes embraced darkness I let out a frustrated sigh, why couldn't morning come faster so I could face reality, the sound of water increased, I looked through the iron bars but I couldn't even see, why was there a black out in a prison, seriously prisoners could escape, I could hear distant voices, I moved back to the farthest corner of my cell even if I couldn't see anything, but as I was moving, my back wasn't hitting the wall, it was as if there was no wall and the voices seemed to come nearer as I moved further, panic set in and fear gripped me, what was happening to me, I shut my eyes back maybe it was a dream, then the voices suddenly stopped, I opened my eyes slowly as I looked at my surroundings, I was in the forest and the moonlight was bright, the trees seemed to be whispering, I screamed, tears flowed down my eyes, if it was a dream let it end please, I pleaded and refused to open my eyes, I just blocked my ears as I sat down, I could feel the sandy ground instead of the marble floor of the prison, but I still held my eyes closed, I sat for what seemed like hours before I heard footsteps approaching, my body was shaking, more tears erupted, as I opened my eyes I screamed at the sight I saw, it was a tall figure, I couldn't make up the face but it had wings and a human form with green glowing eyes. I was terrified.

"Please leave me alone" I pleaded with the creature. It stood still staring at me for minutes, my legs trembled and I shivered from the night breeze.

"Amy Meyer, don't be scared, you are safer here" the creature said. I sat stunned at why this thing knew my name, I felt more scared.

"How do you know me" I asked.

"I know you because I've been watching you" it replied. Now this was definitely more scary.

"You have been wa-tch-ing me why"

"You intrigue me, but I know you didn't murder your brother, I can help you escape, just come with me"

No one had told me they believed I didn't kill Tyler, only this creature, could I trust him, No I don't even know him.

"How do you know that" I asked now I definitely sounded like I murdered him "I mean I still can't remember everything from last night" I added quickly.

"I know you didn't kill him because like I said I've been watching you"

"Then how did I get here last night"

"I brought you here". I looked at him stunned, I wanted to ask him what he meant when darkness enveloped me, I was back in my prison cell, everywhere was brighter now, the power was back but it was now morning, I wonder how long I spent in the forest, I saw a cop approaching my cell, he unlocked it and motioned for me to follow him which I quietly did. As we walked I thought of the creature I just saw, what was he, he definitely looked human but with wings. I need to see him again, who knew having a stalker could be useful, I snapped out of my thoughts as I heard a door open, I walked inside, I sighed in frustration, all the time they have been wasting investigating me they could have caught the murderer by now, I sat across two cops, I was sort of relieved they changed the cops.

"Amy your test results are out, you were tested drug positive, this drug is effective for those who want to let it all out, it could be their anger, frustration, zeal, this means if you and your brother had a slight argument last night, the drug will enhance you to do exactly what's in your mind, so Amy have you ever thought of killing your brother".

I kept quiet as confusion rose in me, this was too much for me to bear, I killed Tyler, why Amy, Yes I have had that thought once, when I was in fifth grade, Tyler caught me making out with Liam, his bestfriend, he beat him into a pup and threatened him never to set foot in our house again, I was angry because he treated me like a child, I was humiliated because Liam made fun of me in front of his friends behind Tyler's back, then I really wished for my parent and wanted Tyler gone.

"Amy" the cop snapped me out my thoughts. I stared at him dumbfounded.

"We can't detain you any longer, many kids at the party also tested positive to this drug, and none of your neighbours heard you arguing last night, we are sorry for the inconvenience especially since you just lost your brother, this investigation will be transferred to another unit and you can request for a private investigator". I stared at him in disbelief as relief flooded me but I couldn't bring myself to smile because my brother was brutally killed and his murderer is probably still out there.

" But we will have you on house arrest since we have no other leads, cops will be stationed at your house 24/7 to protect you as the real murderer might still be out there". I nodded, they probably still suspected me. They apologised again as they led me into the cops car to my house.

As we reached my house, I just stared it, it didn't really seem like home again, I shivered at the thought of entering but I had to because I'm very sure the house would have some answers, something the detectives probably skipped.