Among the Dead

Alex

I left a note on the kitchen counter for my brothers, telling them I was just going to drop Alice and Violet off, which was partially true. Mara's house was a good three minutes away, so we didn't have much time to sit and think about what we might see. Chills ran up and down my spine as we pulled into her driveway.
We stepped from my car, and I took a minute to sniff the air. There was no sign of decomposing body around. If I remember correctly, she was attacked around 10:15 last night. That would put her at a good 13 hours since decomposition. Around the time the body would start smelling, especially outside. If she were dead, that is.
If she were dead.
We slowly made our way to her front door. I tried to open it, but it was locked. I looked through her window, and it set ice to my blood. He house looked so empty, cold, and....dead.
The back door!
"Mara had her party in the backyard, her back door is probably unlocked! Let's go!" I said, running around her side yard.
The second we entered the back yard, we looked for her body. It was gone. Mara's body wasn't on the ground where it was the previous night. She was either safe and sleeping upstairs, in her bed, or she was safe and sleeping somewhere in an unmarked grave. I prayed to God for the former.
I took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly and smoothly.
"Okay...let's go upstairs and see if...maybe she's up there."
"Alex, I don't have a good feeling about this..." Alice whispered.
"I know, I know. Me neither....but we gotta think positive. Alright? Think positive."
Think positive.
We tip toed up her basement steps, and onto the main floor.
"Mara?"
No answer.
Think positive.
We slowly walked up the steps to the dark hallway of the second floor. It was so eerily quiet, I could hear the blood pumping through my ears.
Think positive.
We approached her door. I left my hand on the door knob, knowing that this moment would determine Mara's fate. I swallowed harder than necessary, and opened the door.
Think positive.
Mara was gone.

»•« »•«

"Pick up your phone, Mara! Dammit, pick it up!" I begged, running out the basement door. I spun around in a circle frantically, running my fingers through my hair.
But then...I heard it. The noise so devastating, I wish I hadn't called Mara a second time. A noise so awful, my heart sank, my stomach dropped, and my blood ran cold.
DingDingDing DingDingDing
Slowly, I turned on the spot towards the sound.
"Grab your revolver," I choked towards Alice. Tears had started to spill over.
I took my keys, and put them between each of my fingers, creating a dangerous touch to my fist. We were about to enter the woods where Mara was attacked to retrieve her phone, and I wasn't taking any chances.
We all crept slowly and cautiously towards the wood, my eyes shooting in every direction to make sure we were safe. I saw Mara's phone light up, and I walked over to it and picked it up.
Mara never went anywhere without her phone.
"What...what are we gonna do?" Alice asked.
"We gotta call the cops. Report a missing person," I answered.
"What are they gonna do? For all we know, Mara is dead. She was viciously attacked by that-"
"They'll do something. They have to." I said, dialing 911.
"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"
"Hi, I'd like to report a missing person," I said into the phone, swallowing the lump in my throat.
"Okay, hon, where are you?"
I told her the address, and she reassured me that help would be on the way. I thanked her and hung up.
"Now what?" Alice asked as I stood up.
"Now....we wait."

»•« »•«

Ten minutes later, a Cincinnati police cab pulled up, and a young, black police officer came out. I waved him over, and he sauntered towards us, holding his utility belt.
"Good morning, ladies. I am Officer Mills. Now will you please be kind enough to answer some questions I have for you, that would be much obliged," the police officer named Mills said.
"Yeah, I uh...I'll talk. Mara Maloney, the girl who's gone missing threw a graduation party last night-"
"Was there drinking involved?" Mills asked, writing in his note pad.
I sighed. "Yeah, there was. But I didn't drink anything! I promise! I'm a responsible driver! Take an alcohol test! Take a lie detector test! Do anything-"
"Okay, okay, Miss..."
"Alexandra. Call me Alex. And just Alex."
"Okay, just Alex. I'm not concerned with who was drinking and who wasn't last night. At least...not yet," he said with a jocular smile.
I glared at him. "Well I'm glad this is a damn joke to you, but if you don't mind, would you be so kind as to do your job! There's a missing girl!"
"Hey, I was just being nice. I know how scared we cops make you feel. Now...can you tell me what Miss Maloney looks like?"
I sighed, knowing I was probably being a bitch. But I become a bitch when I'm scared.
"She's got straight brown hair. Big blue eyes. She's really tall. She's 6, 1. The last we saw her wearing was a reddish-purple tank top and jean shorts," Violet interjected. "Oh, and she always wears this ruby ring on her right hand. It's her birthstone. I've never seen her take it off."
"Okay, and can you explain to me what exactly happened at the party?" Mills asked, his eyes still on the notepad.
We explained everything, and in great detail. Right to the second he arrived.
There was something very very odd with Officer Mills. As we explained the attack, he seemed to tense up more and more, and his eyes grew weary. He tried to cover it up, but he was doing a terrible job at it. He knew something about what happened that we didn't, and I was willing to do anything to find out what.
"Okay!" Mills said, clicking his pen closed, and sliding it and his notepad into his shirt pocket. "It has not been 24 hours since she's been gone. But since you say she was attacked, and swear on your lives that you were 100% clean last night," Mills looked at me, and gave me a warm, playful smile. "I will send out a search party. Are her parents home?"
"No. They're on a business trip. She was home alone," I answered.
"Okay, well we'll give them a call, and keep in touch with them for whatever we find. But I would like to keep in touch with you, just Alex, so I can update you on whatever we find, as well."
"Yeah, sure," I replied, feeling agitated.
I wrote my number down on a piece of paper and handed it to the cop.
"Make sure those calls stay professional," I remarked, noticing the way he kept smiling at me.
"Always," he replied. He tipped his hat, and said, "Have a good day, ladies," before climbing back up towards his car.
"Wait!" I called out, running towards him. He turned around to face me, and smiled once again.
I held Mara's cell phone out to him, knowing that what I was doing could get me into a lot of trouble.
"What is this?" he asked, the smile fading.
"It's Mara's cell phone. We found it in the woods," I answered.
"Why didn't you mention this earlier?" he asked, reaching out to take it. I pulled my had back, and away from him.
"One piece of evidence for one confession." I stated, daringly.
"You're a devious one, aren't you?" Mills said, studying me. "You know this could get you into a lot of trouble. You're lucky I like you so much."
"I know," I said, to the fact that I could get into trouble. "But as Mara's best friend, I need to know."
"....What do you want to know?" Mills asked.
"I need to know about the attacks." I demanded, watching Mills get very uncomfortable. "Yes, attacks, plural. I know she wasn't the only one to get attacked by one of those things. She couldn't be. Not with the way you reacted when we explained it. Tell me what you know."
Mills looked at me, thinking long and hard. Finally, he spoke up.
"This is the sixth cannibalistic attack we've had in the past couple days. We don't know what's going on, if it's some sort of new drug that's going around, or if it's that bath salts stuff, we don't know. But we've got private investigators out all over the place looking at it. We've got it all under control, Alex. You don't need to worry."
"Thank you, so much, officer!" I said gratefully, handing the phone over.
Mills smiled at me again, and tipped his hat once more.
I waved the twins over, and they followed, a confused look spread across both of their faces.
"What was that about?" Violet asked.
"I asked him what he knew about the attacks based on the way he reacted to our explanation of Mara," I explained, "and he said that this is the sixth cannibalistic attack they've had in the past couple days."
Vi and Alice looked at each other.
"What's going on?" Alice asked, looking extremely nervous.
I shook my head. "I have no clue."