SHE

He Found Her

    One damp morning, in a suburban named Windermere in Orange County, Florida. Police's car came rushing with its turning blue and red siren wailing all over the place, disturbing the used to be quiet neighborhood.

    It was approaching a big, a two-story house with white paint painted on its walls and an orange-brownish, orchid carved door, each and every single cloth of the green window curtains were down, blocking every eye from seeing the view inside of the house. It has a very pleasing garden on its front yard, in the middle of it is an isle, a path from the street into the door step of the house, the garden was filled with full of orchids, as you imagined, it used to welcome every visitors to come, but now is different, the atmosphere was chilling to bare by the people there, as if when you step into there place you will immediately feel that there was a bothering event that took place there.

    Many people tried to look on what was going on as an old lady (aging around 80) was waiting to greet the two officers that came in response of her call, one woman and one man, both in their uniforms.    The old lady had a droopy eye, short permed gray hair, and was wearing an eye glass. With her worry-looking facial expression that even from a mile you can obviously notice, at the side of the street in where she was standing, in front of the big, white house, the old lady showed the officers the way to the door, they walk through the isle the connects the world to the home. She picked up a key from under a flower vase beside the door, an American habit of hiding their spare keys.

"Officers, I'm Lucinda, I'm the one who called you here" she introduced herself as she struggle to unlock the door with her shaking hands.

"My friend Martha had brought someone with her last night," they can hear her voice trembled as she speak when she tried to make eye contact with them "and by 6 in the morning, I woke up with her shouts, but I did not pay too much attention to it because I know she yells when she's disappointed," she successfully unlocked the door as she continue to talk "but I got worried when I called multiple times to her phone this mid noon and did not receive any answer from her, she does not do this kind of behavior, officers. I called because every Tuesday we go for golf at 4: 00 o'clock or so and she never cancels any of her golf appointments, no matter what the weather will be, but what bothers me the most was after she screamed, I saw a woman walk out from the house in the daybreak, after calling her I went to peek into her guest room, an I saw a lot of red stains from a person sleeping there, that is how I got really scared and call you."

    Before entering she knocked multiple times, then she had opened the door to let the cops in the house, in the middle of the living room where they saw a stair as lavish as the ballroom stairs you see in the moves except it goes one way only and a little bit smaller that fits exactly for a house.

"Maybe we should check on that bed your talking first." the officer suggested as they walk through the middle of the living room.

"I'll be on the kitchen, her voice was louder there, I'm sure because my bedroom was near at that area and that is why I saw the girl come out." Lucinda claimed

"I will come with you ma'am." the lady officer volunteered

"Martha, Martha are you in there?" Lucinda was calling out to her to just check but never heard an answer as both of the cops expected when they made an eye contact to each other.

    They had given each others' a designated room to look for the person they are looking for, then , Lucinda tried to peek at the kitchen and the lady officer was wandering her eyes in any area she could sight from where she was standing hoping to caught a person in her sight, just as the officer was half way on going up the stairs, Lucinda gave the atmosphere a bloodcurdling scream, and both cops were alarmed that something really terrible  really was wrong, and so they rushed to found the b****y corpse of the old lady, Martha Evans, the only resident staying in her home. The poor old woman was facing downwards after a blow in the head and multiple stabs in the body that were very visible to whoever will look at the deceased. Her skin just started to become pale, Lucinda could not believe what she saw and tried to face away the murdered body of her friend, but what surprised them the most was a young lady (age of 23), her face looks tired, she's wearing a decent white dress with its long length as it could reach her knees as if she came from a fairy tale seen in movies and rumored in mythologies, but she's so horrifying to look at with blood staining all over her white as a cloud dress, her black hair was glued together by the dried blood that covers her entire body, and her mouth was stuffed with luxurious breakfast served in the table as she devoured them like a beggar who had never been able to eat in years, her height was vague because she's sitting but she's clearly tall but she is not skinny, probably a mesomorph body type. She looks startled by the people looking at her, the air was too chilling for everybody to bear.

    In the  police office the lady was brought in, she was holding a board where her name is written and a mugshot was taken from her, after that she was asked to press her fingers in a black ink pad for finger print impression and the lady was brought at the interrogation room for an interrogation. The whole police station was in chaos but not known as a busy place, the interrogation room is quite and eerie for anyone to come in. The girl was sitting in a chair inside the interrogation room, although she's not resisting, she was still on handcuffs. She's neat and was bathed, but she looks timid and her mind and eyes were fixed to nowhere. Then a man (age of 27) opened the door and with heavy steps it came to pull a chair across the lady's seat, and as normal people do, sat on it. Looking like any typical men, he is tall, probably 6'2 but don't really have a fit body, he might be in the middle of being a mesomorph and ectomorph. He pulled out his small notebook which he took from his pocket in the chest inside his coat along with its pen and begun to ask questions to the lady with no sign of life in her face or any guiltiness across him.

    He tried to look at the lady by turning his head low "I'm Ronan Mills and I'm a detective, it's nice to see you?" he tried to ask for her name but she's still quiet

"Miss, on whoever you are, you have to tell me your name, you are being accused of murdering an old woman in her own house" he was being serious but concerned.

        A moment of silence came in, when Ronan tried to speak again the girl interfered his questioning

 "I didn't do it" it was finally a vice that he could hear from her, a voice as soft as a kid's voice that Ronan nearly missed

"What was that you said?"

" I said I didn't do it, I did not hurt her, I never did, I did not stab her,  I had never kill someone that day, I'm innocent with this bull crap !!!" she defended her self as pleading innocent, she got emotional by far and started to cry and angry

"Then how would you explain the blood, why would you eat instead of reporting it to us?" he argued calmly as he could

    Pleading and trying to defend her stand, she said "I swear I did not do it, I woke up with blood stains  all over my body, all over my dress and.. and.. she said she would cook for me, and... and.. that I should go down straight in to the kitchen when I wake up, but then I... I saw her lying dead on the floor and I just couldn't help myself from eating, I was starving" she sobs so hard and paused as she slowly added"besides I know, that even if I reported it no one would believe me because of that stupid blood on me" she pulled her cloths like a crazy person while she continue to cry and looked at Ronan with a scared face

"And I-I-I don't want to see cops, I don't want to involve with cops because of my step family murder that left trauma to me" her voice lowered

"Right" he said while confusion was so vivid in his expression "So what is your name?" he added

"Abbie....." she continue to sob as she wipe her face with her own hand while still holding the other because she still wasn't freed "Abbie Grace Dawson" the girl muttered

"Do you know this woman?" Ronan asked as he showed her smiling pictures of the deceased Martha Evans"Are you close with her? How long had you been together?"

"No, I don't, I only know her by name, she's just an acquaintance, to be honest to you she just found me half dead in the street the other night, not very far from where her house was." Abbie said while being stressed out and she still was wiping her face

"If not, then why are these major evidences pointing on you? What are your alibis? Where have you been at the time of the murder?" he was persistent to make her confess and answer

"I was just in the guest room, I was sleeping there the whole night until that morning I saw her lying dead" she's now pissed with him, like she was about to tell him to use his logical brain

"Welp, of course you would say that, where else would you be?" he was just being sarcastic about it until

"Why'd you ask then?" Abbie was being sarcastic too

"Okay, let's see, what happened to you, that it made you look like half dead, were you a beggar and she just felt pity towards you because you tried your best to lure her with your innocent aura and you just successfully succeed " Ronan said as he tried to provoke her

"NO!" Abbie shouted that her voiced echoed around the room and stood up, banged the table with her handcuffed hands trying to defend her self from the accusations "How dare you!"

"See as expected you wouldn't admit your wrong doings"

"Then what do you expect from an innocent person, claim that she did it?" Ronan feels embarrassment

"Hey, you don't have alibis, no witness, and evidence were on you, what do you expect from people who would investigate you?" He tried his best to stay calm and not be angry as he tries to avoid his childishness

"I was kidn*pped, you i***t !!!" she tried to catch air from slipping this words out of her mouth "I was kidn*pped, I tried to runaway from them I've been lost for days. She saw he, she helped me. Now tell me what motive do I have in trying to kill her, what would I get from that? And let's just say I have, then what are the odds of her picking me up from the sidewalk? What are the odds that she would help me despite knowing I'll kill her? I rarely visit Florida, believe me, so how in the world would I have grudge on a person that I have never met or never known before?" Ronan was very surprise to what he heard from her

"Repeat what you just said, what happened to you?" he commanded her thinking he made a wrong interpretation

"I'm not taking orders from people who don't believe me" Abbie said angrily

"I said repeat it, this might help you out !" Ronan was persistent to know he was not being rude but it sounded like one

"I said 'I was being kidnap, you i***t" Abbie was still furious at this moment

"Okay, could you just leave the i***t part" he said sarcastically while Abbie was looking at the floor pouting her lips out of anger

 "Tell me your whole story" Ronan asked

"What story?" Abbie said

"On how were you kidn*pped" Ronan expounded

"Why?" Abbie was still hesitant

"Why else not ?"

"I was a heir, my father was a CEO of a paper company it was enough to make me a ransom kidnap victim, my father left me a will before he died, he doesn't want her second wife to have his business, he knows she sucks at it, so he was waiting for me to age, my brother is the one I've been visiting here there are many person who knows I'm enough to be a money" she stated

"If you were kidn*pped, where did they brought you?" he still hasn't let his guard down

"I don't know, I visit Florida rarely, they just kidn*pped me because I'm reportedly rich, they brought me in this very stinky place, they talked about selling, p**********n and murder.....They couldn't get ahold of my brother, so he did not know I was gone, and they did not took money from us because I ran away from them, it's like an abandoned building in the forest, there were no doors, so no problem 'bout creaking sound, it was so dark I can't see so much, the moon only lit may way dimly, they did not saw me because some were sleeping and I went on the other side"

"Do you see landmarks can you see there?"

"Like what?"

"Anything"

"Ivies" she looked at him " a lot of ivies on the river banks, why?"

"Nothing that's all, so back to the murder and we'll fix your k********g case too"

"Can I see Jack"

"Excuse me, who?"

"Jack, My brother, call my brother and tell him to go get me a lawyer, a good one""

"Later, did you know that there's a lot of k********g around here?" Ronan informed her who is very low in enthusiasm

"No, I don't" she said

"I just thought that there might be a pattern and that your k********g is connected to other girls k********g to" he said

"What, like they are also for ransom kidnap too" she asked

"No, no, no...they are kidn*pped so they can be sell as a p********e, they they said something similar like that to you, did they ever mentioned things that are kind of related to that?" he said persistently

"Maybe, maybe there is, I heard a lot of women screaming, yelling, begging them to let them go, begging for help that is nowhere to be found. They also said that I'm a VIP so they put me in a different room apart from others, they also said that I can also be sold like them but I'm too pricey and that they would get more money that other, yes I remember, yes, I had a suspected that they sell woman too before, when I was still held captive back at that ugly place" she said being so excited about what she remembered

"Then tell me, how did you get out?" Ronan asked

"It was easy, I even wonder why. The knot they tied to my hands got loosen, so whenever they'll leave me alone I would loos it more, it was night when I untied it all, I peak through outside and notice that it was just an abandoned building in the forest so I went outside, because there were no doors, they were just so confident actually that they will see there captives running away from them, but they did not saw me" she said in disbelief of running away

"Okay, and that is how you met they lady?" he asked

"Yes, after a couple of hours from running away to those foolish guys."

"Also, I remember, Mrs. Evans told me last night"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    She flashback her memories when she was still at Martha's place, she was commenting about how huge her house is, why there are lots of unused things in there and how beautiful it was while sipping coffee and a cookie that Martha can only offer to here in the mean time because she hasn't been in the grocery store.

    Martha fixed her short brown hair in front of the mirror Martha told her that her that she use to have three kids, and she wanted them to experience a lavish life with a massive size of a house, but as they grew older they all got cold, two of them hates her so much that after marrying they only visit her at least once in two years, then the other daughter was the only one to visit her once a moth, everyone thinks she's  a horrible person and that nobody likes her.

    Martha escorted Abbie to her room after she had eaten, and she went to the grocery since she wanted to cook for Abbie first thing in the morning. Since it's still a little bit early she went to the store and Abbie drifted to sleep.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I think she means everyone in her neighborhood or family could kill her" Abbie said

"Is this information to mislead us?" Ronan suspected

"No.."

"Do you believed that you are being framed"

"Obviously"

    A creak from the door give the two a break, it made them look at the guy who was opening the door, he was big, tall and was wearing a suit similar to Ronan except that the color was gray. He entered and interrupted the two's conversation and gesture Ronan to come to him

"A moment please, my friend" the man said. Ronan looked at Abbie

"We are just going to go out a bit, maybe talk about your case, I will be back to ask you more questions" he assured her, Abbie just nods as if wanting him to go and leave her along in the silent interrogation room with no one to talk to.

Ronan stood up picked his notes and pen, in which he never use in taking down his notes because he was to immerse by her life story. Ronan walked out the room and once again Abbie was alone and timid.

    The door shut behind Ronan as she left Abbie in the room.

"So were you convince to her lonely, lonely story" his colleague teased him while holding his hand near his eyes, forming a fist and bringing it up and down, suggesting a crying baby gesture as they walk all the way to the corridor

"No, or maybe so" he defended but he lowered his guard

"WHAT!" his colleague freaked out after he heard his words "The hard to convince detective fall in an act of a very obvious suspect, this attituded is new, Ronan, this is just not you" he added

"No, it's not like that" he said in his defense

"Then what was that you said earlier?" his colleague said

"Let me think straight alright, I'm also confuse." he said

"Well, she might be a very good actress then, is she?" his colleague again, asked

"What, No,....I really don't know but all her reasons were forming truth." he said "Remember the other kidn*pped victim?" she asked him

"Yeah, yeah, I did." as he peel of a pack of burrito and got his mind pulled back once again "Wait, who do you mean? There's a lot of them." he said sarcastically

"Josh, could you just let down your burrito for a moment, I'm trying to bring up and explain a case here" Ronan said in a very pissed off way

"I'm sorry, I'm too hungry I never had eaten this morning" Josh excused

"Okay, then at least try to pay attention and listen. Remember the last girl who also too, got away from her kidnappers" he said to Josh's face and they both nod together like children explaining difficult things to him

"She also said that she got away from an abandoned building with no doors in the middle of the forest, except she's untied by her friend who was also with her." he deducted

"Yeah, okay, so how are they connected then?" Josh asked with confusion

"Were you paying attention to my interview to her behind the one-way mirror?" he asked

"I'm sorry, I didn't I wasn't there, they called me. Why was she kidn*pped?" Josh asked

"Yes, dumbass, yes, she was." Ronan said angrily while Josh was nodding with his half bitten burrito.

    They arrived near at the desk and they were greeted by a lady colleague's warm smile

"So, what happened back there, huh?' she asked

"Deception" Josh said. He made Ronan turned his neck towards his face, gazing with his two eyebrows nearly connecting to each other

"You, were deceived by a girl?" she said to tease him too

"No, I wasn't you two are not amazing today" Ronan turned his head to the lady officer

"You're the one who's not doing well, eh. Am I right, Quinn?" Josh asked their lady colleague

"Exactly" she replied while nodding her head

"What exactly did happened, huh?" Quinn asked 

"She's kidn*pped too, her statement even matched to the last girl who got away with the kidnap, she said exactly the right description of the place, that make me wonder if she really is telling the true?" He insisted 

"So you believe here then?" Quinn asked

"Maybe, in some ways" Ronan said

"Actually, me too I believe in her" Quinn said

"What you're convince too?" Josh said surprisingly as he chewed his last burrito and unwrap another one

 "How, in what way?" Ronan is now triggered 

"To tell you the truth, and you too stop eating burrito a lot." she said to Josh while he was just continuing to peel his burrito "Actually I heard your conversation, and that Ivy thing, that was true one of the victim saw Ivies in the riverbank too, she said it wasn't to visible until go get the right angle, So I think she's telling the truth" Quinn conspire

"But that doesn't make her innocent, right?" Josh asked with his mouth full

"Josh!" Quinn complained

"The foot prints does not really match, with her. The lady who reported, remember her Lucinda Wright, she also said that the way she walk is far too different that the way the criminal walk away from the house, when we tried to asked her " she said, this evidences makes the trio to wonder

"Why would she go back inside the house if she already got out?" Josh said while filling his mouth. Quinn and Ronan just looked at each other

"Maybe to trick us" Quinn said

Ronan was in deep thoughts and said "I don't think she's telling a lie, but I don't think that she's telling the truth either."