The House

IAN sat up in his bed with a throbbing headache. He held his hands to his head and winced at the hotness. He looked around and on his bedside table was a packet of aspirin tablets and a covered glass of water.

Madisyn must have kept those there, he thought.

At the thought of her, he tried to remember what had happened. He remembered talking to Rohan who told him she was interested in him, then drinking and coming back. He tried to remember what else, but nothing.

He shrugged and took the tablets. He stayed in bed for a while before going to the bathroom and dressing up. He checked the time, it was already afternoon. He got his keys and headed to Madisyn's room.

He knocked but there was no answer. He tried to open the door but it was locked. Then he checked his phone for any message and there was one from her.

*I'm not coming to the station now. I'll come later in the afternoon though. xMaddie.*

He rolled his eyes at the sight of her nickname. It was the one that Josh guy started calling her. He still didn't like the guy. It wasn't just the fact that he was the boyfriend of the girl that got murdered, it was something else, he didn't even know what the thing was, he just knew he didn't like him. Maybe it was how close he easily became to Madisyn who never let guys get close to her that quickly. What made Josh different?

He dismissed it and thought of calling Madisyn to know where she was. He went and almost dialled it.

But she said she'll come later, maybe she's making some findings, he thought.

He left and headed to the station to tell the sheriff what he and Madisyn discovered about Sidney.

He went in and knocked before entering. He met Robin laughing along with a woman. But the smile on his face soon turned sour upon seeing Ian.

The woman turned.

"Hello. I'm Ian, the detective.", he introduced stretching his hand forth. Ian noticed the woman share a look with Robin. She stood up.

"Hi, I'm Ana. So you're the detective. It's good to speak to you.", she said cheerfully.

"The detective. I guess I'm that popular huh.", he said and she chuckled.

"I work in the diner so I saw you, yesterday.",

"Oh yeah, we passed by. We were....", Ian was cut short by Robin who cleared his throat.

"I believe you wanted to see me.", Robin said pointedly.

"Oh, don't worry. You were laughing along with Ana here so I'll leave you to...",

"Oh, no detective. I don't want to be in the way of the law.", Ana said after glancing at Robin.

"The way of the law. Don't worry about that. Plus, you can call me Ia...",

"Ana and I are done discussing. So she's right.", Robin said sternly.

"Yes. Yes. Now excuse me.", she said and quickly left, carefully shutting the door.

Ian looked at her as she did before turning to sit and face Robin who was giving him a questioning look.

"Is there something she told you concerning the murder?", Ian asked.

"What we were discussing is something you wouldn't need to concern yourself with detective.", Robin said trying not to give his dislike away, but he was surprised when Ian smiled and leaned forward on the table.

"So, you have a soft spot for the waitress huh?", Ian asked but didn't give him time to reply. "Definitely. It's the first time I've seen you smile since I...",

"I remember clearly, Mr Peters said you were here to assist and not to bother me." Robin said abruptly. Ian narrowed his eyes but still kept his smile.

It was a quiet moment between the two before Ian sighed and leaned back on the chair.

"So we visited the school and had a chat with the gateman, one I know you didn't do, 'cause if you did, you would know that Sidney had lied about her whereabouts that night.", Ian said and Robin seemed interested.

"What did the gateman say?", Robin asked.

"He was at the school that night and he didn't see Sidney enter. She had left in the morning, probably to see Sarah, but she didn't come back and..."

"She could've gone back to Sarah's that evening. Thus, her necklace was found there. So she lied because she knew she couldn't tell us she was there because she wouldn't want to tell us why.", Robin said.

"Exactly.", Ian said.

Robin was thoughtful before he spoke.

"Okay, you and your partner should go and follow her. Find out something about her. That lie would surely not be the only one she has. You're good detectives right, so you should find something about her.", Robin said and Ian nodded before leaving.

Just as he opened the door, he turned around.

"And sheriff.", he started and Robin looked at him. "You should ask the waitress out. She seems interested in you", he said and left.

As he stepped out, his words reminded him of what Rohan had told him. He checked his watch, it was some minutes past four in the afternoon.

Where was Madisyn? She said she would come in the afternoon. Ian decided to call her but she didn't answer. What was she doing that she wouldn't answer?

He thought of going to find out about Sidney but he didn't want to do it without her. She was his partner, plus, it was always fun whenever she was around.

He thought to check back at the hotel to see if she dropped by when another thought popped in his head.

What if she was with that guy?

Some fury came over him as he thought about it. He decided to check the pub. They might be there.

》》》》》

Lisa stopped the car in front of her own house. She hadn't been there since the murder. She had slept at Robin's the night of the murder. Then she stayed with Hugh, who helped her get her stuff. And finally, she stayed with Raven after the burial.

Lisa didn't look at her house. Instead, she looked ahead at Sarah's, the house that haunted her dreams. She wondered how the room would be.

Would it have that homey feeling it had whenever Sarah would bake cookies and they would watch movies on Saturday nights?

"Lisa, you sure you wanna do this?", Pablo asked, stopping Lisa from her train of thoughts.

She realised she had been standing beside her car door looking at the house. She nodded slightly.

"Yeah, sure.", she said.

They were almost there when someone called out.

"Hey Lisa.", the person said and they both turned to see who it was.

It was an old man, and Lisa recognised him as Mr Darren. He lived two houses from her own.

"Lisa, it's been a long time. Would you fancy a cup of tea?", he asked. Lisa looked at Pablo who nodded, gesturing for her to go. "And you can come with the handsome young man.", he said.

They went along and found themselves in his house. It wasn't exactly like Lisa's. It was smaller. Mr Darren was the only one who lived in his house. He had a wife but she had passed on because of a terminal illness.

His daughter had gotten a scholarship two years after and was now in university. Though she would always send him money to take care of himself.

She had once offered for him to come and stay with her but he didn't want to leave his home town and even wanted her to come back once she was done.

"I haven't been seeing you around Lisa, did you travel?", he asked as he poured them tea even after Lisa had offered to do so herself.

"No, I'm staying at my friend's place.", she said.

"Hmm. I understand. After what happened, I suppose it would be hard to stay here.", he said and sat. "She was a nice woman. She would always check up on me, giving me those lovely cookies of hers. She would come every Sunday, giving me, as she called it, cookies for the week.", he said and chuckled to himself.

Lisa looked at her cup.

"I remember your face but unfortunately I don't know your name.", he said to Pablo.

"Pablo Louis.", he said.

"Oh, so you're Louis' son. That's nice. I knew I recognised your face. You look so much like your father. May he Rest In Peace. You know, your father and I were very good friends.", he said and started narrating some of his childhood antics with Pablo's father.

They chatted and the conversation stirred towards his childhood. But he returned to the original conversation.

"So Lisa, what brings you here? Are you moving back in?", he asked.

"Oh no, not yet.", she said and gave him a reassuring smile which he returned.

"But you're not going into that house, right? I advise you not to. The police agreed that I keep watching, you know if somebody comes.", he said.

"What? They told you to do that? What if it's the killer and they try to...",

"No son, I volunteered to. It's the least I can do for Sarah.", he said to Pablo.

"And has anyone come?", Lisa asked.

"Yes. That disgraceful woman.", he said.

"Who Sandra?", Lisa asked.

"No, Irene.", he said and both Lisa and Pablo gave a confused look.

"What would she want?", she asked.

"Probably to clear her trace.", the man said and Lisa's eyes widened and he continued. "She's my suspect and I believe she did it.", he said.

"What makes you suspicious of her?", Pablo asked.

"Oh, you didn't know. There was certainly bad blood between those two.", he said.

"Sarah had said she didn't like Irene but I think it was because of her numerous affairs. But why would Irene hate her?" Lisa said.

"Sarah once told me that she didn't like the fact that Irene was cheating so obviously and nobody was doing anything about it. She said she was gonna make Irene stop. Once, Irene even came over. I had just left her place. I stayed behind to see if I could hear anything but they were arguing and I couldn't make out what it was.", he said.

"I... we didn't know that. But thanks for letting us know. And for the tea.", Lisa said.

"Yes, you're welcome. Well, I shouldn't keep you long then.", he said.

"Thank you. I want to collect some stuff from my house, that's all.", she lied.

They bade him goodbye and left. After making sure Mr Darren or any other person was following them, they snuck into Sarah's house from the back door which, surprisingly, was unlocked.

The house was quiet and everything was unnaturally still. It looked eerie and was no longer as warm as when Sarah was here. It was rather... cold.

"Okay, we'll look for anything we can. You can check around here and I'll check the bedroom.", Pablo said. He knew Lisa had dreams so he didn't want her going there.

"Oh no. I'll check the bedroom.", she said.

"You sure... I mean I know you..."

"It's fine, don't worry.", she said and Pablo nodded before she left.

She walked towards the room, flashes of how that night surfaced but she pushed them down. She slowly opened the door. Her eyes went to that spot and for a moment she saw Sarah there. She blinked and the image was gone.

"You can do this, you can do this.", she muttered to herself and started searching. She checked the drawers for anything useful but nothing. She checked the bathroom but nothing.

She was about to give up when she suddenly remembered a time she had a sleepover with Sarah. Of course, they had many, but this one was different, it was after Sarah started dating Josh.

"Now that I'm dating him, I'm gonna keep tabs on my life.", Sarah said.

"What why, why now?", Lisa asked.

"So if we maybe go as far as having children I'll let them know. I want my children to know of their parent's relationship before marriage.", she said.

"So a diary, aren't you old for that.", Lisa said and she gasped.

"I am not old."

"For a diary yes.", Lisa said.

"You know what, the first thing I'll write is that I'm not too old and I'll talk a lot about you. And I'll hide it somewhere that even when I'm sleeping, you won't be able to get it.", Sarah said.

Lisa never thought about it and never bothered to remember up until now.

"Even when I'm sleeping you won't be able to get it."

And then it clicked. Under the mattress. Lisa raised the mattress and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a small notebook. That should be it.

She took it but something else caught her sight, a hairpin. She picked it up and it looked very familiar, she tried remembering who she had seen wearing it but the memory slipped away.

She put it in her pocket and arranged the room. She headed out and as she was about to tell Pablo what she had found, she heard footsteps.

She looked at Pablo and he gestured for her to hide behind the cushion as he hid behind another. The person also came from the back door and was conversing with someone on the phone.

"Fine, I'm just gonna check even though I assure you there's nothing there to point you out... You're really bitchy you know. I've done a clean sweep of the room and the house twice now I don't know why you're the scared one, no one's ever gonna suspect you. Now bye.", the person said and turned around.

That was when Lisa was able to have a glimpse, but the person she saw made her eyes widen in shock.

Sidney Callister.

I don't know if you guys hate cliffhangers...who am I kidding everyone does including me. But I'm so sorry, this was inevitable. Though, if it makes you feel any better I'm also on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens next. :D

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SJ💝