Diving into the Darkness
Chapter 1
Lilith walked through the crowd as her black hair glimmered in the light from the streetlamps. It had been such a long day and this was the first crime scene she’d been to because she had been filling out paperwork for her detective job at the San Diego Metropolitan Police Station but unknown to her this case would change the whole idea she had about the force she was now a part of. As she finally reached the already set up caution tape she felt something different at this scene, it was almost recognizable but she didn’t know what it was so she blocked it out not wanting to break the first rule as a detective, do not bring personal feelings onto the field.
As she ducked under the yellow police tape she let her dark brown eyes scan the scene. She looked around and spotted the body covered with a sheet, the red stains almost extinguishing the white that was once there as though it showed this wasn’t at all an innocent act. She walked over her heals clicking agents the wet ground as if it was trying to hold her back.
She knelt down beside it and smelled a familiar aroma, as she lifted the sheet it became more prominent. Her body shook as she stared at the girl below her. Officer Moore approached her,
“Ms. Sandar, we haven’t identified the body but the report looks as though she’s between the ages of 17-18 and she’s been dead for approximately 20 hours..” as he spoke Hanna stopped him.
She spoke quietly but hard, not once looking away from the girl, “I can identify her.. Her name is Amelie Sandar, she’s my 18 year old sister it was her birthday last week..”
She stopped her voice was shaking and she felt tears gather in her eyes, she had just talked to her sister the day before. Nothing could have prepared her for this; she’d been through the training year after year, learning about different cases and investigating murders of women, men, even children but looking at her own sister lying lifeless on the pavement wasn’t something she could have seen happening. She stood up not taking her eyes off Amelia's brown eyes that looked identical to her own.
“Has anyone found any evidence?” Lilith mumbled trying to hide the fact that her voice was breaking.
“We haven’t gotten anything yet, but we’re still looking. I’m positive there will be something soon though.” He stared at her now, she could feel his eyes watching her every movement.
She sighed and looked at him, “Okay, well get her to the morgue.. She..” she stumbled on her words, “We need to get an autopsy so we can know the cause of death.”.
He walked to the EMT and told them that they could take her now, they had all they needed. The two men walked over and lightly placed Amelia in the body bag and carried her to the ambulance. Hanna walked slowly around the scene taking in everything that she could see trying to find something, anything that would give her a clue to the killer but she only saw the trash cans full from the restaurant, the fence that kept her from the empty lot and the grass that had broken between the concrete of the old and empty ally.
When she was finally returned to the police station she sat in her chair she was thinking of every conversation she had with her sister. She tried to remember if she’d said anything about going anywhere, talking to anyone new or maybe just a slight comment about what she had planned for the weeks to come something could have put her into this position. Although she knew there had to be something that that she was missing, her subconscious was still trying to process the scene in her mind. All the images of her baby sister’s body ran through her head, the way her eyes looked as though they were staring at someone in the distance, her arms seeming as though they’d been pressed to the ground, and her face it was so pale. She’d seen the color gone from many people’s faces before but this wasn’t a random person it was someone she’d seen a million times, a girl that’s face would light up just because she was seeing someone that she had seen five minutes before, Amaya the happiest person she’d known. As she leaned forward in her chair and put her head in her hands as she heard the door open.
She looked up not taking her head out of her hands and saw Chief Keli looking at her, “Ms. Sandar, I know this was supposed to be your first case but I feel as though you may not benefit from working your own sisters murder. So I’m thinking about removing you for your own sanity.”, he said looking at her as though he knew exactly what she was feeling.
Lilith brought her head up and looked at him so he could actually view her face now, “Sir, I understand your concern but this is something I have to do or I will always regret not finding my sisters killer myself. Please sir, don’t take me off this case I know what I’m doing and I know I can do this. Please.”, she said almost whimpering, her eyes pleading to him.
He looked down for a moment as if he was contemplating what she had just said, finally he looked at her and spoke, “Ok Lilith, just know if I see this putting too much strain on you then I will take you off the case.”.
She nodded, “Yes sir, I understand.”, she said as he walked out of her office.
Once he left and she knew he was back in his office she got up and put her jacket back on, it felt as though a whole other weight had been put on her. Now she had to not only find the killer of her sister but she also had to make sure she didn’t kill herself doing it. She walked out of her door, as she passed her colleagues desks she could see all of them looking at her. When she finally reached the exit she slowly leaned onto the bar opening the door causing a cold breeze to hit her, her body shook as she walked outside.
The road seemed emptier then it had when she’d arrived back to the station. She stood for a moment as if she was taking in the fact that life was still going on even though one of the biggest parts of her life was gone. Hanna and Amelia were 8 years apart in age but they were beyond close spending anytime they could together and tell each other almost everything. As she stood there and thought about that suddenly she remembered that this wasn’t the first time she’d been in this exact spot, she remembered bringing her sister here but they were looking the opposite direction, looking at the station on Lilith’s first day.
*****************************************************************
“Lilith, is this really where you’re going to work?”, Amelia said kind of jumping as though she had been turned back into a five year old.
Lilith laughed at her “Yes, this is where I’m going to work from now on. Isn’t it nice?”, she said smiling and looking at Amelia.
Amelia looked up at the building in awe, “What exactly are you going to do here? Beat up bad guys? Oooh, maybe you’re going to go on secret ninja spy missions!” she said as she attempted doing a ninja kick but almost falling then fixing herself as if no one had seen it.
Lilith giggled then adjusted herself looking back at the building and smiled, “I love you Amelia.”
She giggled and looked at her, “I love you too.” she said as she leaned in and hugged her.
*****************************************************************
As this memory came back to her she looked to the ground. The rain was coming down on her so hard that even she didn’t realize how fast her own tears were flowing. Suddenly she realized that standing there and feeling sorry for herself wasn’t going to do anything, she stood up and adjusted herself and began walking back to the scene of the crime. This wasn’t going to go unsolved and she wasn’t going to be taken off the case either, this was her sister and her case and it was going to be solved.
As she ducked under the yellow police tape she let her dark brown eyes scan the scene. She looked around and spotted the body covered with a sheet, the red stains almost extinguishing the white that was once there as though it showed this wasn’t at all an innocent act. She walked over her heals clicking agents the wet ground as if it was trying to hold her back.
She knelt down beside it and smelled a familiar aroma, as she lifted the sheet it became more prominent. Her body shook as she stared at the girl below her. Officer Moore approached her,
“Ms. Sandar, we haven’t identified the body but the report looks as though she’s between the ages of 17-18 and she’s been dead for approximately 20 hours..” as he spoke Hanna stopped him.
She spoke quietly but hard, not once looking away from the girl, “I can identify her.. Her name is Amelie Sandar, she’s my 18 year old sister it was her birthday last week..”
She stopped her voice was shaking and she felt tears gather in her eyes, she had just talked to her sister the day before. Nothing could have prepared her for this; she’d been through the training year after year, learning about different cases and investigating murders of women, men, even children but looking at her own sister lying lifeless on the pavement wasn’t something she could have seen happening. She stood up not taking her eyes off Amelia's brown eyes that looked identical to her own.
“Has anyone found any evidence?” Lilith mumbled trying to hide the fact that her voice was breaking.
“We haven’t gotten anything yet, but we’re still looking. I’m positive there will be something soon though.” He stared at her now, she could feel his eyes watching her every movement.
She sighed and looked at him, “Okay, well get her to the morgue.. She..” she stumbled on her words, “We need to get an autopsy so we can know the cause of death.”.
He walked to the EMT and told them that they could take her now, they had all they needed. The two men walked over and lightly placed Amelia in the body bag and carried her to the ambulance. Hanna walked slowly around the scene taking in everything that she could see trying to find something, anything that would give her a clue to the killer but she only saw the trash cans full from the restaurant, the fence that kept her from the empty lot and the grass that had broken between the concrete of the old and empty ally.
When she was finally returned to the police station she sat in her chair she was thinking of every conversation she had with her sister. She tried to remember if she’d said anything about going anywhere, talking to anyone new or maybe just a slight comment about what she had planned for the weeks to come something could have put her into this position. Although she knew there had to be something that that she was missing, her subconscious was still trying to process the scene in her mind. All the images of her baby sister’s body ran through her head, the way her eyes looked as though they were staring at someone in the distance, her arms seeming as though they’d been pressed to the ground, and her face it was so pale. She’d seen the color gone from many people’s faces before but this wasn’t a random person it was someone she’d seen a million times, a girl that’s face would light up just because she was seeing someone that she had seen five minutes before, Amaya the happiest person she’d known. As she leaned forward in her chair and put her head in her hands as she heard the door open.
She looked up not taking her head out of her hands and saw Chief Keli looking at her, “Ms. Sandar, I know this was supposed to be your first case but I feel as though you may not benefit from working your own sisters murder. So I’m thinking about removing you for your own sanity.”, he said looking at her as though he knew exactly what she was feeling.
Lilith brought her head up and looked at him so he could actually view her face now, “Sir, I understand your concern but this is something I have to do or I will always regret not finding my sisters killer myself. Please sir, don’t take me off this case I know what I’m doing and I know I can do this. Please.”, she said almost whimpering, her eyes pleading to him.
He looked down for a moment as if he was contemplating what she had just said, finally he looked at her and spoke, “Ok Lilith, just know if I see this putting too much strain on you then I will take you off the case.”.
She nodded, “Yes sir, I understand.”, she said as he walked out of her office.
Once he left and she knew he was back in his office she got up and put her jacket back on, it felt as though a whole other weight had been put on her. Now she had to not only find the killer of her sister but she also had to make sure she didn’t kill herself doing it. She walked out of her door, as she passed her colleagues desks she could see all of them looking at her. When she finally reached the exit she slowly leaned onto the bar opening the door causing a cold breeze to hit her, her body shook as she walked outside.
The road seemed emptier then it had when she’d arrived back to the station. She stood for a moment as if she was taking in the fact that life was still going on even though one of the biggest parts of her life was gone. Hanna and Amelia were 8 years apart in age but they were beyond close spending anytime they could together and tell each other almost everything. As she stood there and thought about that suddenly she remembered that this wasn’t the first time she’d been in this exact spot, she remembered bringing her sister here but they were looking the opposite direction, looking at the station on Lilith’s first day.
*****************************************************************
“Lilith, is this really where you’re going to work?”, Amelia said kind of jumping as though she had been turned back into a five year old.
Lilith laughed at her “Yes, this is where I’m going to work from now on. Isn’t it nice?”, she said smiling and looking at Amelia.
Amelia looked up at the building in awe, “What exactly are you going to do here? Beat up bad guys? Oooh, maybe you’re going to go on secret ninja spy missions!” she said as she attempted doing a ninja kick but almost falling then fixing herself as if no one had seen it.
Lilith giggled then adjusted herself looking back at the building and smiled, “I love you Amelia.”
She giggled and looked at her, “I love you too.” she said as she leaned in and hugged her.
*****************************************************************
As this memory came back to her she looked to the ground. The rain was coming down on her so hard that even she didn’t realize how fast her own tears were flowing. Suddenly she realized that standing there and feeling sorry for herself wasn’t going to do anything, she stood up and adjusted herself and began walking back to the scene of the crime. This wasn’t going to go unsolved and she wasn’t going to be taken off the case either, this was her sister and her case and it was going to be solved.