Halfway Gone

It didn’t come to much of a surprise to Kim when Nick wanted to come along when she’d told that she was going to visit the Fowlers later that night. The pair decided to meet up on the other side of the road of the Fowler’s house and enter in together, then maybe that way it wouldn’t feel so awkward.

Kim hadn’t told Nick the actual reason why she wanted to visit the Fowlers – besides the fact that she wanted to pay her respects to them – she hadn’t told him about her conversation with Ivy early that day at school.

When the pair arrived on the doorstep of the Fowler’s house, it wasn’t much of a surprise to Kim when she saw the state Rosie’s parents were in. Mrs Fowler’s eyes were red and puffy from crying non-stop, and Mr Fowler’s face was expressionless, but his eyes were filled with nothing but sadness.

“Mrs Fowler, Mr Fowler,” Kim spoke, addressing the couple. “Nick and I don’t mean to be rude and intrude on your privacy, we just wanted to see how you were.”

“Kimberley, Nick,” Mrs Fowler greeted, as she opened the door wider. “It’s alright. You were my daughter’s best friend, and you were her boyfriend, so I’m sure you both know how we feel right now – come in you two, and take a seat.”

“Thank you,” Kim smiled as she entered the house, and walked over to the luxurious, cream coloured sofa, that was facing another cream coloured sofa.

“How are you two kids holding up?” Mr Fowler asked, as he sat opposite the two teenagers.

“We’re fine,” Nick lied. “We’re dealing with tragedy our own way, I suppose.”

“We came here to talk to you about something – well I want to talk to you about something,” Kim said, jumping straight to the point why she was there. “It’s about… R-Rosie.” Finally, she’d managed to say her best friend’s name but it still pained a little to say it aloud.

“Sure, anything, Kim,” Mrs Fowler smiled warmly.

“This has been bugging me for a bit, but the day you and Mr Fowler went overseas for the business trip, she said you received a threat about a week before,” Kim lied. It was actually Ivy who’d told Kim about the anonymous caller. “I was just wondering if that was the reason you left for overseas.”

Mr Fowler let out a long sigh through his nose and placed his free hand over his wife’s hand that was already clasped around his. “Look, Kim,” he sighed quietly. “There are people out in this world that are crazy – that’ll do anything to take you down whether if it’s killing the people you love before they come to you. Now these people that called the house that night threatened my wife’s life so I thought I’d take her with me overseas, just to be sure.”

Confusion suddenly came over Kim, not understanding what the man had meant. “So you’re saying you perceived these threats as being real?”

Mr Fowler hesitated for a moment before he spoke. “Usually, people don’t mean them when they say it,” he explained. “I get them a lot since I’m a businessman – maybe there’s a dozen that want to hurt me. But I still wanted to be sure that my wife’s life was safe, and I guess this time they meant it by hurting Roseleigh instead.”

Nick shook his head not wanting to believe what he was hearing. “Rosie didn’t deserve such a spiteful death,” he frowned. “She was a good kid. I can’t imagine what happened before she left us.”

“We wished we could have taken Rosie with us,” Mrs Fowler frowned, as a tear began to roll down her cheek. “When we asked her if she wanted to come along with us, she told us she couldn’t afford to miss her Senior Year since she had exams to sit while we were overseas.”

Silence prevailed over the four of them, as the only sounds they could hear now was the soft sobs that was coming from Mrs Fowler, and soon enough, Kim felt a tear roll down her cheek, but she quickly wiped them away.

“You know Kim, my wife and I never thanked you for confirming our daughter’s body while we were out of town,” Mr Fowler said, as he wrapped an arm around his wife, comforting her. “We owe you.”

“Forget it, Mr Fowler,” Kim smiled. “Rosie was like a sister to me.”

“She spoke very highly of you,” Mrs Fowler sobbed. “I’m sorry, but maybe you should go. Look at me, I’m breaking down.”

Quickly, Nick and Kim realized that, that was their cue to leave to house, so they stood up, and followed the elderly couple to the front door.

“We’re sorry for your loss,” Nick said, before the two teenagers left the house.

As Kim followed Nick across the road, she knew one thing from tonight, that she finally had somewhere to start if she were to investigate Rosie’s death. And that was what she was going to do.