Halfway Gone

It didn’t take much for Kim to decide that she’d look in Rosie’s room for more evidence. After Ivy convinced Kim there was a high chance she’d find something in her best friend’s room, Kim made a plan to visit her best friend’s house on the weekend. Of course, when she’d told Nick about this, he wanted to come.

So when it was around two o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, Nick and Kim stepped onto the doorstep of the Fowlers, waiting for the other side to open. It only took two knocks when Mrs Fowler opened to door for the pair.

“Kimberley, Nicholas,” she said. “What a surprise to see you two again.” However the one in her voice suggested she wasn’t surprised to see them.

“We’re sorry to intrude, once again, Mrs Fowler,” Kim said. “We would have mentioned earlier but Nick and I think we left a couple of things in Rosie’s room.”

“Of course,” Mrs Fowler nodded once and stepped aside for the two teenagers to enter the house. “You know where her room is, so I don’t think I need to take you there.”

Kim guessed why Mrs Fowler didn’t want to lead the pair to her daughter’s room. She couldn’t bare to be near around anything that reminded her of her daughter. It was still too painful.

The two teenagers nodded and walked up the staircase and down the long hallway to Rosie’s room. As soon as they entered the room, Kim immediately began searching around her best friend’s room.

“I miss her so much,” Nick said, after a moment later.

Kim looked up and realized he was holding a photo of Rosie and himself that had been pinned on her pin board. The blonde approached Nick and looked down at the photo.

“I miss her too, Nick,” Kim said softly. “I know, she meant a great deal to both of us.”

She turned her neck to the side to search for something – anything that would help her solve the case, but before she could, she felt Nick’s large pair of hands turn her head towards him.

“There has to be something in here,” Kim mumbled, as she met his gaze.

To Kim, it seemed like a long amount of time staring at the perfect brown coloured eyes, as she felt his warm breath brush across her face. They were inches away from each other, and without even having to look, Kim could sense Nick slowly leaning closer and closer towards her by the second.

But she couldn’t do this. After all, Nick was Rosie’s, and not hers, and if she were to show him any sign of affection towards him, it would have been seen as betrayal towards Rosie. Kim could never do that – not after what happened to Rosie.

In response, Kim quickly jerked back, and raised her arms up in defense as Nick took a step back. “Nick, I can’t…” she said, dropping her arms by her side. “You’re hers.” She was referring to Rosie.

“Sorry,” he mumbled as he pocketed the picture. “I didn’t mean that.”

Kim quickly cocked her head to the side, and as she did, she suddenly spotted a peculiar piece of paper in the corner of the bedroom. She noticed the writing on the piece of paper was usual as the words were not written by hand. In fact, the letters were cut outs from newspapers that were put together on the piece of paper.

Kim felt her heart beat quickened as she approached the piece of paper, as she did, she felt Nick behind her, copying her actions. She picked up the piece of paper in the corner and noticed the many wrinkled lines sprawled across the paper. The piece had obviously been scrunched up, and most likely, flung across the room.

“A-A death threat?” Kim managed to choke out. “I thought those guys said they were after Mrs Fowler and not Rosie, or friends.”

Kim scrunched up her face, trying to make sense of it all. However, it didn’t. She couldn’t quite comprehend how the murderer could call up the Fowler’s household and threaten Mrs Fowler’s life, and then send a death threat to Rosie. It didn’t match up. By now, Kim’s head was spinning with confusion.

The blonde looked down at the piece of paper in her hand and read it again.

You’ll die. You and your friends.

“They’re liars,” Nick hissed angrily as he finished reading the note in Kim’s hand. “They’ll just murder anybody they see.” He clenched his hand into a fist.

Kim could understand how Nick was feeling. After all, he was in love with Rosie, and only found out that his girlfriend was being threatened with her life by someone else – a murderer.

“Those phone calls…” Kim paused for a moment wondering how to word the sentence. “Doesn’t that mean that the person who called me actually means what he’s saying?”

Nick shrugged, not knowing how to respond.

“Doesn’t it mean that our lives could be in danger too?” Kim said softly as she frowned in panic. “Nick, what if we die?”

Kim shook her head in distraught as Nick embraced an arm around the dark haired blonde as he pulled her closer towards him before making a soft hushing sound and speaking.

“We’re not going to die, Kim,” he promised. “I won’t let it happen.”