Suicide She Wrote

          Three in the morning.  Silence settled like a blanket over the house.  Downstairs, the front door creaked softly.  Tubby, the family's half pug half mastiff waddled to the hallway to see what had made the disturbance.  When he spotted who was there, he gave a happy wag of his short stubby tail and plodded back to the couch.  After all - nothing wrong with a friend coming to visit.

            A moment later, the stairs creaked.  A click.  The door was in sight - just a few more steps.  Noiselessly turning the knob, the silhouette slipped inside the room with all the grace of an assassin.

            "Get up and don't make a sound," a familiar gruff voice whispered into the ear of the sleeping girl.  The cold hard barrel of his gun chased away any remaining cobwebs of sleep.  Fear turned her body to ice.  "You have ten minutes to write a suicide note to your family.  Make it believable - I'll be checking it.  Once you finish you're comin' with me.  Try anything and I kill your family.  Got it?"  After a quick nod, the masked man grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and shoved her towards her desk.  She had ten minutes to tell her family goodbye.  With a defiant gleam in her eyes, she grabbed a pen and began what she feared was to be her last composition.  Hours later, her alarm sounded insistently with no one there to turn it off.

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            Her mom stared at the note in disbelief - tears coursed down her face as she read.  What had she done wrong as a mother?  Why?  She pinched herself as if it were merely a nightmare from which she could wake.  If only it were...

A while later, police arrived and began surveying the scene.  The policeman in charge gave a quick survey of the front lawn.  Two distressed parents, a blank-faced sister engrossed in her sister's letter, and an agitated family dog - the typical reaction to a suicide case.  They had to find the body before anything was official, but divers were already searching the rivers and police were combing the numerous fields in the area.

"I see it!" yelled Sarah.  The officer broke from his thoughts and turned to see the victim's sister waving the baggie with the note in it.  Her eyes burned with a fire that dared him to disagree.  She jumped up and pointed insistently at the small tear-stained scrap of paper. "My sister did NOT commit suicide!"

With a sad sigh, he walked over.  It was the same in all such cases.  There was always denial, always someone who didn't want to accept the sad truth.  He would humor her though - it was the least he could do for the poor girl.

"Look, just LOOK!" Sarah seemed almost frantic now.  And so he read again - perhaps he had missed something.

Mom.  Tubby.  Sarah.  Daddy. Noone clever ever figured out what was going on.  I'm sorry - I just couldn't take it anymore.  I had to end it.  It doesn't mean I don't love you.

Don't worry much.  Pack my things up and give them to goodwill.  By now, I'm long gone.  I'm sorry.

Hope ye all keep safe.  I will see you again someday.

                                  -Arianna-

"It's a pattern!  Look - she spells something at the beginning of each paragraph.  Take the first letter of the first word, the second letter of the next, and so on.  It spells murder!  The second paragraph spells dock.  The third - help!!"  Upon finishing, she felt the eyes of all in attendance upon her.  "GO DO SOMETHING!!!" she screamed with frustration.

            As though awoken from a stupor, five police cars and one family vehicle sped off for the docks.  Would they make it?

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            The smell of dirty laundry hit Arianna's nose like a hammer.  Memories of the night before surfaced as she realized her movements were hindered by ropes.  Her kidnapper had left as soon as he'd dragged her in and wrenched her wrists and ankles together.  Her left shoulder still hurt where he had thrown her against the cement wall.  Disbelief settled over her - how could he have done this?  She'd trusted him.  Hanging her head a bit, Arianna felt a cold tear trail down her face.  What would she do now?  Honestly, what could she do now?  As if to answer her thoughts, the ropes around her ankles caught on something sharp.  With new hope, she pushed her feet forward  - if she could cut the rope, she might have a chance at escaping.  Just as the last of the frayed rope snapped, she heard the far-away blaring of sirens.  Had they decoded her message - were they coming for her?  She was momentarily blinded as the door to the washroom burst open.

            "Why are the police coming?!" he grabbed her by the shirt collar and slammed her against the wall.  He hadn't been expecting her feet to be untied.  With a grunt, she wrenched herself away from him and knocked him off balance.  The door was open and her legs were free...

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            "Where could she be?" Sarah contemplated out loud.  Her parents were talking in hushed voices as the police searched up and down the docks.  Looking around, Sarah spotted Arianna's ex-boyfriend's house and began the trek up the hill to talk to him.  Cameron was in college now and probably wouldn't even be home, but it was worth a try.

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            The sound of broken glass tinkling behind her gave warning that she was being chased.  How would she get out with her hands still tied behind her back?  Her only hope was to have the police somehow see her in a window.  It was a long shot, but it was all she had.  Ten feet to the window.  Five.  All of a sudden, she felt a heavy hand bring her to the ground.  Memory of their last day as a couple flashed though her mind.  A similar situation.  He had wanted to take things farther - she wasn't ready.  When he had tried to pin her down and force the issue, she gave him a black eye and ran.  She should have told someone.  Now it was too late.

            Within a few seconds, Cameron had her pinned uncomfortably beneath him.  Looking at her with rage and lust in his eyes, he snarled "I'm gonna finish what I should've a long time ago."  The fear must have shown in her eyes because he gave a feral grin and began to undo her belt.  A knock on the door stopped him dead in his tracks.

            Thinking quickly, Arianna screamed for all she was worth.  Cameron made a wild leap to lock the door, but too late.  There stood her sister Sarah - cold fury burning in her eyes.  Shouts below at the docks signaled that someone had noticed their predicament.  Cameron dove for the table on his right and picked up the same gun he had used to threaten Arianna.  He pointed it at Sarah and cocked it.

            BOOM!!  The resounding gunshot seemed to last an eternity.  The body crumpled to the floor with a quiet thud.  A few seconds later a hushed voice spoke.  "I'm glad I followed you".  A young man in a blue uniform stood in the doorway, gun still in hand.  Cameron's body now sprawled across the floor.  The hardwood was quickly pooling with blood.

            Yellow tape, blue uniforms, and flashing lights soon flooded the scene.  Cameron was rushed away in an ambulance.  An oversized blanket covered Arianna, her sister, and parents as she finally told them everything...