Sheriwood

Every town seems to have its past of crimes and corruption. Its history of corruption, hate, murder; like a disease, a curse that seems to affect every town to its bedrock and every mind of the residents. Sheriwood though appeared to be small enough to avoid catching that ghastly curse every other town seemed to drag with their existence. Well, that all changed one fateful Thursday night. When a bunch of school teenagers was having a party when someone had gone in. Every teenager was shot, but none were fatal besides the Mayor's Daughter, Annalise McKnight. All while everyone in Sheriwood, who had fallen asleep on a peaceful night; would wake up to a nightmare. "Open your eyes, Crystallina!" A loud sharp woman's voice shouted in the small room. Decorated with blues and blacks, a small table where an opened laptop sat. A dresser with a missing drawer, with spiders filling the void. The young girl asleep on a keyboard for a pillow woke up with a start. "What?" "It's 6:30 A.M. missy, you need to get the hell to school before I -!" "Point taken. Now get out of my room and it's not Crystallina. It's Crystal." Crystal groaned. Her mother left with a huff and Crystal sat up. Her laptop's screen was plagued by a myriad of words. As she saw her reflection, she saw how her ash blonde locks were all tangled in knots, and her eyes had bags under them from lack of sleep.  She took a brush and lightly combed the two strands in the front, pinning them to be looped on the side of her face. With a hair tie in one hand, she pulled her hair up into a messy bun. For her finishing touch, She pulled on her blue beanie, the rim had white flowers and the left side in the front had a clothespin that said 'My Right is Freedom'. She reached for her black thick-rimmed glasses and put them on, looking at herself in the reflection of her laptop, slipping on her shoes, and fixing her shirt to be straight. "Just a Mad World, Ms. Shannon." Crystal closed her laptop and walked out of her door.  As she walked down the steps, her eyes linger on pictures of her with her family. Happy times, when Crystal loved to play outside with the neighborhood kids, when she grew a big crush on the boy across the street, all before the darkness invaded her home. She peers into the kitchen, her mother drinking a beer, and her father splitting up the Weed on the table into grams. Her father's reddened eyes look up at her as she squeaks to run across the opening. She could hear his low growl of aggravation.  "I don't want you back in this house until tomorrow after school, Crystallina!" Her father's loud voice shouted. The tone his voice took sent shivers through Crystal's bones, and the haunting thought that she wouldn't be able to come home for a night made her choke up a little. Her shaking hand reached and turned the doorknob to the front door. The small fog of the day greeted Crystal, the coolness chilling her to a state of calmness. She walked down the steps of her home and started her journey to school. Teenagers running and clambering out of their houses, food in their mouth as they rushed to their cars. Crystal hurried her footsteps, to avoid running into anybody. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her MP3 player and plugged her earbuds in. Slipping both earbuds into her ears, she put her playlist on shuffle. The music helped soothe the struggle of the walk, making the homes and streets blend together.  She made it to the front door of the school, Sheriwood High, as students piled in to get their breakfast and talk to their friends. Crystal looked at the chattering teenagers longingly, she wanted so badly to just talk to people, but her fears felt like chains even though her heart held the key.  Walking into her classroom, Psychology she felt less alone. With an empty classroom, there was no one to feel envious of. She sat down and opened up her laptop, clicking on her Essay assignment file to continue what she paused the night before.  "Good morning, Ms. Shannon, early as usual." The man took a seat behind his desk, spooking the girl. Looking at her teacher frightened, she slowly calmed down enough to speak. "Good morning, Mr. Louse. I'm trying to finish up the essay for today so I can turn it in early." Crystal smiled softly. "An overly detailed explanation about the best time in your life?" Mr. Louse chuckled, "My star student always shooting to be better than before. Honestly, why didn't you participate in that Writing contest a few weeks ago?" Mr. Louse's words made Crystal's smile go away, she had turned down the opportunity because her mother had taken her laptop and sold it for beer. Meaning she had to do odd jobs around town to try to get a new one.  Students piled into the room, laughing and shoving, chattering to each other as they all took their seats. That's when the grave news came on in the intercom.  "Good Morning, Sheriwood High students and faculty... It's with my deepest regard to reporting that during a party last night, all the students that were attending got shot, most have survived but early this morning, Ms. Annalise McKnight passed away. As we mourn the loss and send prayers to those still in the hospital. We continue this day by going forward. If you know any information who was responsible, please come forward." The classmates all looked at each other with wary, some looked scared. Some cried while others held their friend in comfort. Their perfect town was now tarnished by that night's events. The veil that was shadowing the town was now long gone, and no one knew what would happen next. Mr. Louse sighed softly, standing up in front of the class, "I know this may be a difficult time... I know a lot of you were Annalise's friends. For that, I'll give everyone an extra week to turn in the 'My favorite Memory' Essays." The students sickened with grief could only nod in agreement.  Crystal's classes went by as people cried in the halls and in the classrooms. The Lectures, even though riddled with sorrow, continued like normal. It felt like the entire town was grieving over the death of the Mayor's daughter. That's when the release of the classroom's grievance happened, the bell rang to let the kids out for lunch.  Entering the cafeteria, she couldn't help but feel her ears burn as all the students chattered, gossiping about what happened. Some saying Annalise deserved it, some saying it was tragic. Even the lunch ladies seemed to be talking about it, but Crystal kept her head down and pulled her beanie onto her head tighter. Grabbing water and her tray of food, she headed for the doors that lead out to the courtyard. Walking out with her tray of food, she scanned the entire field of tables, filled with chattering teenagers. Crystal didn't really fit the bill for any of the tables, especially not the one where her crush sat with his girlfriend.  The four teenagers who sat at that table were Kaci Gunn, she's the captain of the cheerleading squad, the Storm Kittens, Edward Bevan, boyfriend to Kaci, and the Lead Quarterback of the Leopards. Ashley Dudley, part of the Yearbook committee, and Zane Johnston, one of the top-ranked in the Boxing team.  Crystal wouldn't be able to lie about the longing look in her eyes as she looked at all the chattering teenagers, she sighed as she walked to the bleachers that sat upon the race track. Sneaking under them she sat against one of the poles and grabbed the turkey sandwich on her plate. Her eyes wandered, looking at every individual in the crowds. Imagining how it would be if she had the confidence to go up and talk to some of them. The school bell's musical chime snapped Crystal back to reality. She would never be able to fit in, even if she tried. Her mother would never approve of her getting friends. Crystal made it back to her classes, but something seeped into her mind.  The murder of Annelise McKnight seemed a little too premeditated. Who would just go to a party full of teenagers and only kill one person? Crystal's mind was plagued by the rabbit hole that question lured her down.  As the rest of Sheriwood calmed down to return to their daily routines. The family of the McKnight's actually seemed to act as though nothing literally happened to their only daughter, the reporters basically were keeping their lips sealed, and the Sheriff's Department was left in the war zone over the situation. Crystal, afraid to literally go home to a pretty dysfunctional family, fell asleep in a forgotten closet down a dead-end hallway, even as the next actually evil strolled into the town to stay at the Wooden hotel to actually find a foothold in the really last Sheriwood's innocence.