Friday

6:00 am

Beep beep beep beep... Laura woke up earlier in the morning, with the sounds of her alarm clock ranging like hell on her bedside table. She stretched out her arm and turned it off. But she was feeling sluggish and sleepy. Like she did not sleep at all. She covered her face with her pillow and gave herself thirty more minutes. Before she got up from bed and fixed herself to go to school.

Suddenly, they were a knock on her bedroom door. She removed the pillow on her face, opened her eyes wide, and yawned, "Who is this?"

"Laura comes downstairs we need to talk," Michelle said with a restless voice.

Laura looked towards her door and asked, "Mum, is everything ok?"

"Come downstairs and I will tell you" and she left her bedroom door."

"What did I do wrong?" Laura mumbled to herself.

Laura did not want to waste any time. She quickly sat on the side of her bed, stretched her body, and wiggled her two feet. She put on her rainbow flip-flops and go straight to the bathroom. She opened the toothpaste cap, squeezed the toothpaste on her pink toothbrush, and started brushing her teeth.

After Laura brushed her teeth, she go straight downstairs. She was stunned to see his father sitting beside her mum on the couch, in his police uniform, and a man sitting opposite them in a fancy suit.

Because usually when Larry work the night shift, he came around eight or nine am. But, by the looks on their faces, Laura immediately felt there is something was wrong. She approached them like a turtle and her heart want to get out of her chest.

Larry looked to his right and saw Laura coming. He quickly said, "Oh, Laura, you are finally here. This is Detective Brown, he's here to ask you some questions."

Laura was baffled. She asked, "Detective? Dad, what is going on here?"

"Just sit down, Laura," Michelle soughed.

Laura anxiously sat on the couches in front of them, with a million thoughts was going on. She was trying to figure out, what is going on and what she did wrong.

"Good morning Laura," Detective Brown said with a calm voice.

"Good morning mister," Laura replied with her head nod slowly.

"Do you sleep well?"

"Umm, not so bad."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Detective Brown took a medium-sized notebook beside him on the couch and asked, "Do you know Zoe Bee?"

Laura was stunned by his question. She said, "Yes, I know her."

"Who is she for you?"

"She's my best friend."

"How long you two had been besties?"

"Since kindergarten."

"When was the last time you saw her or get contact with her?"

"Umm, yesterday after school. She gave me a ride home. Since then, I did not hear from her again."

"Did notice anything odd with her?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, she was showing signs of afraid of someone? Or did she mention anyone had been threatened her?"

Laura shook her head, "No, she did not. She was behaving like her usual self and she did mention anything about getting threatened.

"Yesterday after school, where did you two go?"

"Nowhere, she just gave me a ride home and she told me she is going straight home to study history. Because we have a test next Monday."

"Are you sure?"

Laura looked at him straight in the eyes and replied with a confident voice, "Yes, am very sure.”

Then realize Laura realized Detective Brown had been asked him too many questions about Zoe. She asked him, "Why did you ask me a bunch of questions about Zoe? Did someone happen to her?"

Detective Brown closed his notebook slowly and gave her parents a sad face.

Laura immediately took it as a yes. She asked them, "Tell the truth, what is going on here? And what happened to Zoe?"

Michelle started sobbing.

Laura looked at her mother with a sad face, "Mum, why you are crying?"

Michelle replied with a quivered voice, "Laura, we don't know how we will tell you this."

"Tell me what?"

Larry whispered, "Just tell her Michelle."

Michelle shook her head, "No Larry, I can't do it.

"Do you want to tell her?" Detective Brown asked them.

Laura was frustrated, they were talking like she was a giant wall. She stood up and shouted, "Tell me what? What is going on here?"

Michelle shouted, "Calm down Laura." She came beside her and made her sit beside her on the couch. She held her hands, took a deep breath, and said, "Laura, Zoe is gone."

Laura had no idea what her mother was talking about. She asked, "Gone? Gone where?"

"What I meant to say, honey. Zoe is death."

Laura felt someone play a recording on slow mode. But she did not believe a single word her mother told her. She whispered, "Mum, is this a joke? Because it's not funny."

Detective Brown said, "No Laura, what your mother told you, it's all true."

Laura was still confused. She asked him, "But-but, how did she die? What happened to her? Because she was perfectly fine yesterday."

"Umm..."

"Please tell me."

"Well, yesterday around 19:20, we receive a call from Mr. Bee and he told us they saw their daughter's lifeless body laid in the barn, covered in blood. When we arrived at the scene. Zoe had already passed away."

"Zoe hurt herself?"

"No Laura, she did not."

"So why she was covered in blood then?"

Detective Brown took a moment and said, "Well, her head had been badly smashed and her throat had been slashed."

Zoe opened her eyes wide and asked him with disbelief, "Wait a minute, what are you trying to tell me, Zoe had been murdered?"

Detective Brown nodded his head slowly, "Yes Laura, she does."

Her whole world crumbled around her. She began to scream and cry at the top of his lungs. Michelle wrapped her arms around her shoulder and tried to comfort her. She told Detective Brown to let her get some.

Detective Brown got up on the couch, gave Laura his cart number, and told her if she remembered anything that will help him solve the case much easier. Do not agitate to gave him a call.

Michelle took the cart in his hand and put it in a flowerpot on the sofa table.

"Shall we get going?" Charles asked Detective Brown.

Detective Brown replied, "Ok, let's go" and they made their way to the door.

Laura was still on the couch and crying with all her strength. She was angry with herself. Because she was not there to defend her.

She got up on the couch, ran to her room, and slammed the bedroom door.

Michelle knocked on her bedroom door, "Laura, let me in honey."

Charles wrapped his arms around her waist and said, "Let her have some space, honey. She needs time to digest the horrible news she just receive" and they left her bedroom door.

Laura slid her back with the door slowly, put her head on her pink fur carpet, and closed her eyes.