Me and My Dearest, Forever.

It was raining outside, pouring actually, and a trench-coat wearing woman was slowly walking into a seemingly abandoned building. After going through the front door, the person flicked the light on and took off her shoes.
She began to unbutton the trench-coat, and eventually a white shirt was visible under it. After taking off the coat she started to walk deeper into the building. Even though the outside of the building was in a bad shape the inside was pretty kept and nice, but it was easy to look past the nicely painted walls and cozy furniture, and feel the dread in the air. The woman was unfazed by the disgusting feeling in the air and had now reached the door she was looking for.
She started to open the door, slowly at first, and then all the way, and then began to walk down. The stairs creaked as she descended into the basement. At the end of the stairs there was a door, and when she opened it a foul smell hit her. If someone asked her to describe the smell, she would answer "Death, despair, dread and sorrow," but she didn't really care, as she was used to the smell by now. The walls in the basement stained with paint, and about half way inside the room there was a table with a dark case.
She took out a small key from her front pocket and unlocked it. Inside, there was a beautiful dagger, with the text "Amore" crudely engraved into it's hilt. She picked it up and looked at it for a while, and then turned around and resumed walking. Now, finally, she arrived to her destination, the deepest part of the building. She took a deep breath, grabbed the door handle and opened the door. Inside there was a naked young lady lying in a fetal position. She was barely breathing, and appeared to be asleep. If the woman was to change her mind, it had to be now. She had taken to the lady away a few days ago, but it would be the first time ever she killed someone.
"Wakey wakey," the dagger wielding woman said in a kind and gentle voice, but high enough for the young lady to wake up from. She tried to answer, but she could not produce any voice, and just nodded slowly to show that she was awake. The woman that had the dagger showed the young lady the stiletto, and her face distorted into a lonely and sad smile.
The lady's whole body froze, and her face showed pure horror. As the dagger wielding woman came closer she felt naught but despair, and then she felt cold. "Bye bye," the woman said, just as kindly as before. That was the last thing she heard in her life.
The dagger wielding woman then took care of the body, left the room, and on her way out from the basement she made sure that her dagger was free from blood. She did this by cleaning it with water from a nearby sink, she put it back in it's case and left the basement, turned off the light and put her coat and shoes on. Then, she left the building, but it would not be the last time she was there.

Miranda was driving to work, thinking about everyday things, just like any other day. She was driving a red family car with a white interior.
"I need to pick up some painkillers after work," she thought, as she had a minor headache since a few days back. She arrived at her workplace, a private investigation firm. She was a field investigator, but right now it was just office work.
She opened the car door and began to walk towards the office. Since a few weeks earlier the company changed their car policy, and now you have to park in a car-park a few block away. She was walking in a calm pace, because she did not have a headache, and didn't want to upset her body. As she was walking against the office she noticed that the streets where unusually busy today, and how the sun made everything look so happy.
She arrived at the building, sighed and thought "Another day at the office". The gray brick building felt ominous even in the sunlight, and another headache began to emerge. The inside of the building was a nice contrast to the outside as it was painted with a cool green color and furnished with expensive furniture.
After walking past quite a few cubicles and offices she arrived at the door to her office. As she got inside she took of her coat and sat down at her desk. After sitting down she began to file papers. Filing was to her a easy process, "Case-files here and investigation reports over there". Today she actually enjoyed the mindlessness of paperwork, as it was easier on her head.
About twenty minutes passed without nothing happening, but then she heard a knock on the door. "Come on in" she said, quite cheerfully. The door opened and a woman that looked very stressed walked into the room. "Is there something I can do for you?" Miranda asked in concerned voice. The woman answered "You need to come quick" in a exhausted voice.
Miranda reacted by quickly saying "Jessica, you need to calm down, take a deep breath and tell me slowly." in a soothing tone. After calming down for about ten seconds, Jessica said " We've just received bad news, and we need you to come to the briefing". When Jessica was done talking Miranda nodded, stood up and waved her hand, signaling Jessica to go first.

After opening the door to the briefing room, Miranda saw the field team she was part of. It consisted of 3 people other than her, there was Jonathan Marsh, an ex-police officer and the one in charge of reporting our findings and investigations to the higher ups, so more or less the "leader", Andrew Kindlier, "an expert on criminal profiling and body trauma" (in his own words), Jessica Mercury, a intern that was tasked with things like taking notes and just fetch things, Miranda McVince. "So, what happened?" Miranda asked, in a interested but concerned voice. Andrew began to explain that "there has been a murder, and we got the job to investigate it." Understanding the situation, Miranda sat down and listened to their explanation. "They found the body in the field next to Greenarrow sports center , and the police was not able to find anything connecting to any of their investigations, so they forwarded it to us." Understanding the situation, Miranda asked "maybe we shall be on our way then?"
The rest of the team nodded.

Clair was sitting on the bus on her way to school, thinking on how to handle another day. It was not that she was unpopular, the opposite in fact, but she was "popular" with the wrong crowd. Because she always enjoyed wearing "guy" clothes, talked in a not so "feminine" way, and generally was seen as the tomboy, she was very popular with the women in her class. She actually thought it was strange, and actually a little cliché, because things like this only happens movies.
Even thought she did not really have anything against that, being popular is nice and so is having friends, being confessed to on a daily basis is very annoying and makes studying very hard.
After the bus stopped she got up from her seat and left it, and began to walk the rest of the way. For reasons she could not even conceive, the bus that she takes is located around 2 kilometers away from the school, and she arrived just in time for the first lesson most days.
After walking for a while she felt as she was watched, and began to feel uneasy, but kept walking. She felt a tap on her shoulder, turned around and all feelings of uneasiness washed away, because what was standing there was not a murderer, rapist or molester, but someone she knew very well. "Heya!" her friend yelled, in a tone and voice high enough to pierce diamonds. Acting shocked, Clair said "Oh! My! God! I missed you so much!" and hugged her friend. "Please don't scare me like that." Nodding, her friend clapped her shoulder and again said "So, what's happening? We haven't seen each other for like a week."
"I got down with a bad cold and needed a few days to recover, and just like that, it was weekend. Different from her normal happy and energetic face, her friend, nicknamed Kat (short for Kathrine), had a sulky face and was pouting. "Please call me next time, I could come over and take care of you." She said while blushing. Clair shrugged her shoulders and said "let's just go." She often felt that Kat acted very strange from time to time, and was often very clingy, but she didn't actually have anything against that, because at-least she knew that Kat would be her best friend and not a random admirer. Perhaps she was completely wrong, but she sometimes felt the same vibes from Kat as she do from the other girls, but she denied that possibility and kept living her life as usual. The school building was beginning to come into sight, and Kat said "let's hurry up, or we'll be late again.
Seeing that the gates hadn't closed yet was a big relief for both Clair and Kathrine, because that meant that they weren't late for class. According to Kat, today's first lesson was biology class, which Clair liked, because understanding the human body (and in turn, the human mind) is something she enjoys. But because they just started the class a few weeks ago, Kat hadn't come to like it yet, but she always appeared to have fun doing theoretical group studies together.
After opening the door, Kat ran to her seat while yelling "We're here first!". Even though Kat was quite a lot shorter than Clair, and acted the way she did, her grades where nearly highest in their class and she was very athletic. She thought about how they called her "tomboy" instead of Kat was very strange. After seeing Kat acting energetic again, Clair smiled and sat down next to Kat.
After chatting for about an hour about nothing and everything, the door began to open and their homeroom teacher opened the door.
"What are you two doing here?" She asked, shocked to see them there. Clearly confused, Clair asked "Are we supposed to be somewhere else?".
"You have a activity day today, you are supposed to be on the bus to city right now!" The teacher said, distressed that the students weren't where they were supposed to be. Smiling mischievously, Kat said "What are we going to do today then?" putting an emphasis on the "we" part.
Appearing to have figured out a solution for the problem, their teacher said "You two will just have to study in my office, I am going there to pick up a few things for my classes." Liking the idea, Clair and Kathrine began to pack their bags and started to walk behind the teacher.
"Here you are. Now, sit down and study diligently until it's lunchtime, I will come get you then." Showing her understanding with a nod, Clair took out a book and began to read, while Kat sat and studied biology homework. After a few hours had passed, Clair said "Kathrine... You knew that we had field trip today, right?" (She only used her full name when she was angry).
Nodding pitifully, Kat said "I wanted to catch up with you today, and I looked forward to you coming back a lot. So in the end i just forgot about it. I apologize, Seriously". Knowing that Kat meant it, Clair sighed a little and said "It's no problem" in an understanding voice. After a few seconds of silence Kat mumbled "I need to talk to you later today."

Miranda arrived at the scene. The area had been sealed off from the public by the police and the group was there alone.
After arriving, they all got to work at once. Their group was collectively specialized in body examination, so the first thing they did was to check if there was any unusual kind of trauma on the body.
"There is something strange about this body, but i can't quite put my finger on it." said Marsh, and he was right. Perhaps it was the eerie feeling you got from entering the field, or the kind of victim the murdered was, you really felt that it was different than usual.
Andrew was examining the body, and seemed intrigued by it. "She was killed quickly, by what appears to be repeated stab wounds to the neck. But what interests me is that she it looks like she was starved and abused atleast a few days before she was killed." After kneeling down in order to see better, she was hit by how crudely this was done. At first, it looked like it was done by some kind of serial killer, but it looked as if the murderer was an amateur. Probably calculating and smart, but still an amateur.
"Jonathan, we should get permission for an autopsy, I feel as if there is more to it than what we can see here." Knowing that Miranda was right, he signaled Jessica to call for permission.
After the ambulance arrived the scene, and emergency personnel had taken the body to the clinic, the group held a meeting in order to decide what to do next. Jonathan Marsh thought that the first thing they should to is to be present at the autopsy. Because the firm they worked for more or less acted as a "private police", they had contact with the police and other authorities relating to this. After hearing this, Jessica turned pale, because she could not stand the sight of gore, blood and death.
"Andrew, you are the expert here, perhaps you should contact the clinic and be present at the autopsy?" Marsh asked, but Andrew just sat there smiling and said "I am already on it" and showed them that he was in a conversation over the phone. Andrew was a crucial part of the team, always being proactive and thinking a far longer ahead than any other person.
"I've been allowed to be present during the autopsy, and I will have to be at the clinic in an hour." Andrew said while he was packing his notebook and pen.
Andrew had just been inside the clinic for twenty minutes before he got out, wearing a smile on his face big enough to smother anyone. "I think I just figured the murderers Modus Operandi[1]." Raising her hand, Jessica asked him: "Will this be gruesome?" Shaking his head, Andrew answered by saying "The implications might sound horrible, but the body isn't to different from normal stab victims, except for the case of dead of course." Hearing this, Miranda thought that you should not joke about the dead, and yelled "Andrew!" in order to shut him up. He shrugged and sat himself in the driver seat of the car.
While driving towards the office Andrew explained what he saw on the body. "She appeared to have been starved for about an unknown amount of time, and died swiftly by the stab wound" he said, slowly because he was focusing on driving more then talking. After thinking for a while, he resumed his explanation. "But what really intrigued me was the victims back... The perpetrator had carved some kind of strange rambling on her back."
"What did it say?" Marsh asked in a interested voice. "Well... What stood out most was sentence 'Leave her alone, she's mine,' which was carved in the middle of the back. Otherwise it was things like 'I want her' and other insane words and sentences."Jessica looked shocked, because she could not understand why someone would go so for in order to be with someone.
"Oh yeah, I need to call Clair before her school ends, just to tell her that I'm not able to pick her up after school." Miranda said before entering her office. Following her was Andrew, Marsh and Jessica. "We have a lot of paper work and speculating to do now." Marsh told them while Miranda was talking with Clair. They began with comparing notes. Miranda came back a few minutes later and said that "Clair will spend time after school with a friend." She picked up her notes from her bag and started helping them.
In the end many hours passed and it was night. Jessica had to leave because she was asked to babysit Clair for Miranda. Because she was nothing but an intern she did not have the same working hours as the rest. She knew the McVince family since earlier and was happy to babysit Clair for a few hours. In order to get to the McVince apartment she had to go through a narrow alley. She stopped in the middle of the alley because she felt something scary, and she was just about to turn around when she felt someone grab her around the neck with a knife. She began to cry and was about to beg for her life, but her neck was slit before she could utter a single word. Before she passed away completely, the killer bent over in order to show her face. It looked crazy, with hair dangling from her hair, but what stood out most was her eyes. They looked devoid of anything except sadness and uncontrolled emotions. After that, she passed away, without feeling a thing.

Because everyone else was gone the teacher let them leave early, and while the silent air around them was gone there still was an uncomfortable feeling, but Clair tried not to think to much about it. She was just about to Kat where they where going when her phone called. She told Kat that "It's mum", and stopped in order to talk easier. A few minutes later she closed the phone and they resumed walking. "What did she want" Kathrine asked, in a forced energetic voice. "She just wanted to tell me that she'll be home very late tonight and that Jessica will come and check up on me around eleven tonight."
"Who is Jessica?" Kat asked in a strangely sarcastic voice. "You should remember her right? You where visiting me three weeks ago while mum and her was in the kitchen cooking for some gathering at their firm." She looked as she remembered and then shrugged. "So where are we going?" Clair asked now that she wasn't interrupted by anything?"
"I was thinking that we could go out and eat. It will be my treat and apology, so you can't say no. You just follow me, we are soon there " She answered with her normal energetic voice.
After a quite long walk it turned out that Kat had lead them to a newly opened café that was located just a few blocks away from a now closed of building, and it looked quiet and nice. Kat opened the door and signaled Clair to walk in. After going inside, Clair noticed that the place was empty, and that there seemed to only be a single person that was working there.
While Clair was about to sit down in a place she liked, Kat told her that "I got us a private room, so you go on and sit down there while i order our food." Thinking this was just fine, Clair went inside the little room and found a place to sit down. After a while Kat came back and said "I've ordered our food, they will bring it in here in a while." Clair showed that she understood with a nod.
"What did you want to talk about?" Clair asked, but Kat just looked at her as if she did not know what she was talking about. In the end she answered with "Oh that! You don't have to care about it, I just said that just for the reason of saying something at all." Clair had a hard time believing it, but she thought that it would not lead to anywhere is she was to continue pressing the matter.
Their food arrived around twenty minutes later, and to Clairs suprise, it was actual food, and not some kind of dessert or sweet. Kat had ordered some kind of pasta dish for herself, and for Clair she ordered some kind of italian inspired steak. They began to eat without saying anything, and an air of calmness and silence.
After finishing their meals Kat began to speak with a mumbling tone . "Since a long time ago... I've kind of admired how easy you went through life, and how you made friends so easily." This chocked Clair, because she could not comprehend the meaning behind what she just said, and just said "I understand..." and nodded. "YOU DON´T UNDERSTAND!" Kat shouted, in a way that scared Clair. "You never understand! I will tell you something I never told anyone before. When I was younger... You know how I live alone nowadays right?" Clair nodded, listening closesly in order to understand. Kat continued slowly "I do not actually live ´alone´ in itself, rather I live the child protection service removed me from my parents because they where abusive and all that... Because the way my parents treated me I did have a very hard time making friends, actually you where my first real friend." Clair grew gloomy, but after looking at Kat, she saw that even though she talked about deep stuff like this. Kat continued "When I started at this school, I began to look at you with contempt. I did not like how you always was surrounded by friends, But after a while I saw that you tried to distance yourself from them and so I talked to you and became your friend. Eventually we became friends and then best friends. But I am tired of all the others! I want you all to myself." At the end there Clair got a little scared, but she took a deep breath and said "I think we should continue this talk somewhere else, your house is closest to here right? Let's go there." Kat nodded and laid they began to walk there in silence.
They walked for a little while and when they arrived at the door Kat took out her key and unlocked and opened the door. It was dark inside, but it smelled quite good and after Kat had turned on the lights Clair saw that it was nicely furnished. "Go ahead into the living room, I am going to get some soda" Kat said, in a once again strange voice. Clair went ahead and did just that, and while she sat down she wondered why Kat took such a long time. "Where are you? We where supposed to chat and talk about all kinds of things!" Clair yelled in order for Kat to hear her. She did not get an answer, and after a few minutes she began to stand up in order to search for her. When she stood straight she began to feel the same strange feeling that she did this morning when she felt that she was followed. She turned around in order to see what it was, but before anything she felt a big impact on hear neck, and then then world blackened around her. The last thing she saw was the deeply disturbed eyes of her best friend.

Miranda came home early the next day, angry that Jessica didn't call her, byt only slightly so because she trusted her and knew that nothing to bad would happen to Clair. As she approached the alley she was stopped by a police officer. "You're not allowed here, please turn around and bring up any complaints to him over there." Miranda did not hear anything, because she saw who was lying there, and she just stood there pale faced and could not even produce any sound. The officer began to speak once again in a sympathetic voice. "Miss... I understand that you might have known her, but you need to turn around to make room for other people." Not thinking, Miranda just nodded and started to walk in the opposite direction.
Miranda checked in at a small hotel located a few blocks away from her apartment. She was still in a daze. After sitting like that for a few minutes she came to, and was near hysterical. "Why didn't I ask them where my Clair is?!" she thought while walking around in her hotel room in a quick and incredibly frustrated way.
After sitting down for a while to think she suddenly realized that she perhaps should call her, so she picked up her phone and after putting in the number she hold her breath. "Hello? Who is this?" she heard a familiar, but still not of someone she knew, voice from the other side of the phone. "Hello? Is Clair there, I need to speak to her about something." She asked, still nervous, but not as much as before because she now thought that Clair was at a friends home. "Listen up! If you ever want to see your daughter again you need to bring her passport, her wallet and clothes to the abandoned building in the outskirts of town" the voice said, calmly but strangely emotional. Miranda of course thought this was a joke, why would anyone kidnap Clair, especially someone that sounded so young. "I am not kidding, I will hurt he and you if you do not do as I say" the voice continued. After saying that, Miranda could somehow understand that this was serious. Strangely, she did not react to it the same way that she reacted to the murder of Jessica, but she just sighed a sad sigh and said "I will come there in an hour."
She arrived at the building, and time wise it was something that most people would call "late morning," and Miranda was very nervous, but she persevered and knocked on the door. After waiting for a while the door opened and inside there was a young woman that covered her face with what seemed like scraps and pieces of the sweater Clair wore the day earlier. "Come on in" The young woman said with a polite and nearly cute voice, and Miranda obliged, because she felt very small and thought that if she did not do what the woman said Clair would be harmed. They walked for a while and stopped in front of what seemed to be the door to the basement. Under all the frustration and nervousness Miranda was a little impressed on how well kept the house was.
The woman began to speak as she searched for the key. "You know that fourteen year old that was reported missing a few day ago?" Miranda nodded, and feared what she thought would come up next. The woman continued: "I was the one that took her, and I killed her with a stab to the neck." Miranda was shocked that she could admit to it so easily, but tried to focus on listening and keep calm, but she was able to squeeze out a small "Why?" The woman unlocked the door and began to descend, but said that it was because "I have my own reasons, but let's just say that she was a threat against my one and only interest here in life." Satisfied with that answer, Miranda walked after her, and stopped just on the last step in order for the woman to unlock the door at the bottom.
The room was mostly empty, and there was only three things that she could identify in there. There was a table, a closed case on the table and next to the table there was a small wing chair with Clair in it. "CLAIR!" Miranda exclaimed, glad that she seemed unharmed. The loud noise woke Clair up, and because she was bound she could not move, but she mumbled a little, the only thing you could actually hear being "Mom" and "Kat." The woman locked the door behind her and told Miranda to put the things on the table, and then go to talk with Clair. When Clair was completely awake, the first thing she did after comprehending the situation was to tell her mother to "Watch out! It's all a trap!" This confused Miranda, because she thought that her daughter would be glad to see her. "Can you please explain what you mean with that?" Miranda asked her in a quiet voice. "It was Kat that did it all! She killed Anne from 2c, she killed Jessica when I was knocked out!" Miranda turned around to look at the woman that was revealed to be Kathrine. Standing behind her was not the normal Kathrine, but someone she could easiest describe as a "Emotionless, love-crazed maniac." Kathrine had sported the dagger, and Clair broke down and began to cry because she could not save her mother. Miranda held her arms up over her head in an attempt to defend herself. "I thought you said we you would not harm us!" she yelled, in an attempt to understand the situation. "I never said that... I said that Clair would go unharmed, but that was a lie to... I would never harm her to begin with." After hearing that, Miranda saw the quick stabbing motion against her, and then the world darkened around her and everything fell dark around her.
After killing Miranda, Kat dropped her dagger and looked at Clair, who was now crying loudly and a lot. "Hey... Calm down... All is fine now. We can be together without interference now." Kat said with the same cuteish voice that she used when Miranda came to see them. Because Kat began to speak, Clair looked up at her. Currently she looked near destroyed, her face wet from tears and her eyes red from crying. She still looked sad thought, and made a face similar to pouting. While looking at Kat, she noticed that Kat began to undress herself. Under all the clothes that Kat wore there was an old pyjamas that Clair had given her about a year ago. This only served to further Clairs knowledge that Kat was obsessed. Kat approached her and sat herself down in her lap, and then hugged her. "Everything will be fine. I am here to comfort you, just cry, I understand." Kat said while patting her head. Clair teared up again, but atleast she knew that she was not going to be killed.

Ten years ago a young woman named Clair dissapeared from her home, and her mother was found dead in an old abandoned building. When Clair dissapeared she was only fifteen years old. The police suspect that it may be a connection to her classmate Kathrine Mazon. They where known to be close to each other. Another person that was connected to her is Jessica Mercury, a friend to the family, but she was found killed in an alley in front of their apartment. Clair McVince is believed to be dead, but if you have any information proving the opposite please contact the authorities.

I enjoyed writing this, it was fun and I was able to stretch my imagination quite a lot. I took myself a long time to write this, but I really liked it because I love the english language and being able to write something like this is awesome in every perspective.
To be honest the first rough draft i made about this was very different from the finnished idea. After I've had written a small bit into chapter 2 the idea for this came up. The original idea was something like the character "Miranda" being the murderer and there not being any love or romance involved at all. The art of writing something like this is something like fantasy, you need to be able to stretch you imagination very far, because most people cannot even comprehend the situation that the characters find themself in, but I hope that I was able to write at least a story that is interesting to read, at least for a short story like this.

[1] Modus operandi, (plural Modi operandi) is latin and means something like "method of operation" and describes the method and habits of someone working, especially with criminals. In business, it refers to the way a company prefers to do business and interact with others. In english, this is often shortened to M.O. A suspects Modus operandi can help in a investigation in many ways.