❝ It's always in front of our eyes,
only we act so oblivious to it. ❞

. . .

(Make sure to read the previous chapter first)

The blazing fire is setting in the vast sky, like a rage to burn down everything. The puddle roadside is soaking with glinting rays.

Natalie is on complete bed rest now, her half side is numb. She tries to sit up back, then she realises— running after the tanky tanned girl, then the fire blast & she blacked out. The white pallets of the wall, without no window, and the attached tube on her left arm, it can be a hospital room— she wondered.

The door opens, a middle aged man walks in. It must be the doctor, she thinks.

"Hello, Natalie. I'm Dr. Freed—  I see you've gained consciousness. Nothing to worry, you have a concussion. Good lords! Your teammate arrived on time," he says while checking the vitals.

Natalie can only nod at him, meaning she heard him. Even though she tried to open her mouth before, it felt dry; husky.

"Here, here— have some water. Since
you're unconscious for a while in the spot, the smoke plays with the vocal cords of yours, you'll be fine," Dr. Freed added.

She gulps down the water in a second, gosh— she actually needed it. Meanwhile Xavier walks in the room. He & Dr. Freed have some discussion in the further corner of the room, Dr. Freed gives him a pat on the back & walks out.

"It's good to see you, we're damn worried. If it weren't Shaley, who would have reached there —" Xavier trailed off. He must be beating his mind for sure, but it's not. One for all, all for one— that's how their team works.

"It's okay," Natalie replied, feeling the dampy water on her throat; she's feeling slightly better now. "We didn't know that kid could be so perilous." It's a wonder how a kid can be so calculated & aware of their surroundings. And she used it again to fight back, Natalie thought.

"Where were you?" Natalie asks him, if he's the head of their team; there must be something addressed, to wither him back.

"I guess we found something. The girl mentioned by you— according to the sketch as well, there's a case about her," finding her bewildered gaze he continues, "I've talked with Officer Frederick, so he searched about this in the nearby stations. Looks like she's a daughter of Richard Murray, named Anna. But the surprising thing is, Richard lives in a remote area of the northern side alone. Nothing really significant there, someone has played with the information to delude us," he deemed. There must be something missing.

"So, we've to meet Richard in order to find out about Anna & her statistics," Natalie finishes his thoughts.

"Yup, suit yourself," Xavier walks out with that note.

*

Two girls are playing hide & seek in the lakeside. The tree leaves are rustling with the wind. There's not a heavyweight of blazing saddles. It's a serene place often for your thoughts to settle down.

Danielle shouts to find her friend. Her friend said she would be here by the lakeside if they can't find each other in five minutes. Danielle waited for longer than usual behind the bushes, there are some stones too.

Danielle thought to pick up the stones but she didn't after changing her mind.

The water is looking green now, by the lazy rays; faltering down in the depth — it's looking like pure heaven. Such a charismatic scene! The birds are chirping, creating a sweet melody to the ears. Before Danielle could think what's happening —a hard push stumbled her steps, and she fell into the lake.

Danielle was a beginner in swimming but the water was deeper than it seems. It's pulling her down from upstream. Danielle tried her best, gasping for air before she slipped under ground— her friend's face appeared in front of her.

She's looking gruesome, blood is oozing from both the sides of her mouth. She's laughing horrendously.

Everything went dark after that.

*

It's been a while, Natalie is feeling better. Surprisingly no murder cases in these days. Either way that murderer has stopped the killing, or waiting to make a move while no one's watching. Currently they're at the porch of Richard's house. Nothing fancy, a courtyard & some broken plants; it seems no one is taking care of them.

Or maybe actually no one is there, Natalie thought. Only Xavier was going to come here but Natalie insisted on coming.

So, they're here waiting patiently for Richard to open the door. One bell, two bells, no signs. Just before they thought no one was actually there. The door opened, and a figure appeared. Not too old, he must be in his 40's now — Natalie's sharp gaze is stealing glances from him.

"Sorry, how may I help you?" The man asks.

"Are you Richard Murray?" Xavier asks instead of answering.

The man nods at him.

"Sorry for the inconveniences. We came here, without any further notice. We just want to talk with you, about your daughter Anna," Xavier said.

Hearing the name, Richard takes a surprise gasp. So he knows her;  they conjured. "If you please—" Xaiver trails off. "Yeah, sure come in," Richard takes a step back to let them enter the house.

The interior of the house is glimmering, only if you put a light on it. But taking the appearance, it looks like Richard prefers darkness more. Some old antique pieces in the showcase, a chandelier above on the rooftop, some paintings on the wall; combative. Nothing else, no family pictures.

Richard ushers them to take a seat on the sofa behind the dining table. They silently did. "Would you like to drink something? Tea or Rum?" Richard asks them politely. They shake their heads in a negative way.

And then Richard starts, "I know why you guys are here today. Hearing the name even after years, it gives me a chill." They are bemused now. He continues, "Anna isn't my daughter exactly. I. .  and my wife adopted her from an orphanage five years ago. Her real name is Esther. My son needed a sibling, my wife couldn't conceive after having him due to having medical complications," Richard has a sad gleam in his eyes now.

He absentmindedly goes from there & returns back with a picture & said, "Esther was all we could have as a daughter. She used to stay quiet most of the time. We thought maybe she's a reserved girl. But she got along with Josh, my son. They used to do everything together. One day, Josh's friends came here and he refused to play with Anna aliàs Esther that day. She got angry. We thought it's a normal sibling fight," he sniffed back his tears.

"But we're so wrong, gradually her behaviour started to change. She started to drift from her reality, used to do odd things. Dressed up like a woman and so on. I was working in my office, and one day I got a call from my wife that Josh hadn't returned yet. He went with Anna to the lakeside. It used to be her favourite place," Richard couldn't control anymore. Big fat tears are rolling down in his boney face. Xavier offers some tissue.

He takes them & passes a grateful teary-smile and continues, "It was very unlikely for Josh. He used to return to the house before dusk. Therefore, I got worried too. I left my work & hurried on my way to come here. I didn't know what was awaiting me. When I opened the door, I saw my wife lying dead on the floor. She's brutally stabbed on her stomach. There I saw, Anna's clothes were stained. And she's smiling looking down at my wife."

"Wh-en Anna saw me, she's laughing horrendously and explained how she killed Josh on the lakeside. Turns out, my wife found out the truth, so she'd to kill her as well. And she said, ''Now we can live happily together."

Richard takes a deep breath, "Somehow I managed to fly from there. After a proper investigation, I found out —Anna isn't a 9 years old kid. She's a woman of 35 years old. She's an unknown hormone which is halting her growing hormone, and something against dwarfism. So, she looks like a kid. She changes her attire & disguises herself every time," Richard looks remorseful now.

"Esther has abandoned issues with bipolar disorder. We didn't know about that much since she always changes her foster homes. No one really knows about her. In the two years of my wife & Josh's death, the officers had managed to capture her. After that I left my house & I'm living on the remote side. Esther snatched my everything," he concludes.

Natalie is putting two & two together now. So, that girl is Anna aliàs Esther. And she's the one killing everyone. And the wet clothes—

"Xavier, we need to go somewhere. I guess I know where we can find the last clue," Natalie eagerly said.

Even though Xavier can't fathom much, they saunter their way from Richard's house & but not before they thanked him for the resources.

*

It's almost dusk now, the reddish glow is enchanting the sky. Somewhat an ominous look, as if something bad will happen. They're at the lakeside now. How could they forget? It's the easiest way from any parks, because in the shortcut — the path leads here. Esther must be here, Natalie thought.

There's a strange thing with the lake water. People say it changes its colour, according to the atmosphere. No wonder they're not wrong. The beautiful green water is out of sight now. It's slowly turning out as black to match the griming atmosphere.

"I'm looking on the other side, you stay here," Xavier said to Natalie.

Natalie is wandering in the lakeside, suddenly she hears a whimpering sound towards the end of the lake. She looks over there. A horrific grunts escaped from her mouth.

There's the tanned girl— but this time she's looking more like Kacey. Her daughter! It's Kacey's dress. Her dress is torn in between, her hair is in mess. Solemnly dark stains on her face. She has a bloody smile, then another minute she's leaving a whimpering sound, "Mommy!"

Natalie couldn't get much time to combat with her thoughts, her motherly instinct kicks off. She hurries to go on the last side of the lake, even though shuddering breaths are escaping; her toes are getting hurt with the marble stone but she doesn't care. She needs to save her daughter, she couldn't last time. She needs to, yeah she needs to!

Natalie's daughter Kacey was seven years old. She died due to leukaemia two years ago, partially she's the reason why Natalie & her partner Archer are separated today. They were so lost in their own grief, they forgot they needed to heal together from this scar.

Natalie's breathing of air, creating a ghostly fog in front of her vision. Before she can take her daughter from the near side, she's pushed through the black flashing. Natalie is gasping for air, with her anxiety she forgets, she needs to swim back to the shore. Natalie thought this is the end, long splashes of water: is making their way into Natalie's lungs.

Before she could black out, something hard pulls her off back. She can finally breathe but her breathing is still loud.

"Natalie, look at me," Xavier grabs her chin.

"Xavier, my daughter—" Natalie couldn't complete her sentence.

"Bullshit! It's Esther. She's tricking with your mind to delude you as Kacey is back," before Xavier can say further he noticed— Esther is coming with a big rock.

Just when Esther is about to hit him, Xaiver kicks her in the leg. She fell into the ground & hit her head, putting her as unconscious & the rock is oscillating in the lake water with a loud thump.

"She will be taken to the officers. Hopefully no any murder," Xavier said to Natalie. Natalie closes her eyes in exhaustion.

*

The sun is weathering out with its uttermost blessings today; which helps to give a light to enlighten the darkness — today it's been a burn on the back side.

"Right, forth the back— Hi! I'm new here," a tanky tanned skin girl chimes.

"Oh!" the other girl adds.

"Will you like to go with me to the lakeside?"

━━━━━━━━━

It's long, so I'd to split the chapters, first time in this genre. Is it so too rushed up or seeming lame?