Blood Rust

BloodRust “Rachel! Get up! We’ve found a new lead to your parents’ death!” I heard someone slamming on my door. “What are you talking about?” I asked getting up from my bed. “Your parents! We’ve found a witness.” the officer shouted. “WHAT?!!” I asked apparently shocked. “He’s being interrogated at the M.D.P.D! Hurry up! I’ll take you there...”He said. I could sense his excitement at being involved in the case. “Okay. I’ll get ready.” I said walking to the mirror. I heard footsteps walking away. I looked at the mirror and sighed heavily and leaned my head against the bathroom wall. My parents had been found dead in a car crash. I couldn’t believe my ears when the police had arrived at my house. I could still remember the day it had happened. “Hello! Anyone there?? This is the M.D.P.D! Open the door please!” someone had tried knocking my door down. I ran towards the door and opened it. A man stood there showing his badge to me confirming that he was in the M.D.P.D. “What do you want?” I demanded. “Are you Miss. Rachel Todd?” he asked me. “Yeah.Why?” I asked him. “I have something to inform you. “He said. “What is it about?” I asked. “It’s about your parents. “He said. “I’m sorry but my parents aren’t here. They went-“I was interrupted rudely. “They are dead. Your parents are dead.” He said .I laughed and flicked off a strand of hair that flew into my face. “Really funny guys.” I joked. “We’re serious Rachel.” He looked at me with a sympathetic face. “What? You’re serious?” I asked. He nodded slowly and patted my shoulder but I brushed him off. “Wow. I-I don’t know-I mean-wow-oh my god. They’re gone” I covered my head and sat on the stone steps. “We can

arrange a therapist so you can meet her.” The officer said as he sat beside me. “No, I’m fine .I’m just shocked. What about my brother? Ryan?” I asked. “He’s in a coma. The doctors have confirmed that it’s very hard to heal him back.” he said. Since that day, I couldn’t sleep very well. They would haunt my dreams. I pulled on a sweatshirt and jeans that looked as if it was a hundred years old. I opened the door and walked to where the car was. Officer Carl was waiting and smiled when he saw me. “About time young lady. Get in the car.” He said. I’d grown onto him since he reminded me of my dad. “What’s his name?”I asked.“I wanted to wait for you to come.”he said.“Tell me the truth Adam!”I gave him quite a vicious glare that made him confess.“They let me off the case.Said it was none of my business.”he mumbled.I raised my eyebrow slightly. “Come to think about it, it isn’t your business...”I joked. “Hey,that really hurt you know.” he laughed clutching his heart. “Careful!Don’t ever play while you’re driving!” I scolded. “You started it..” He mumbled yet again. “Drive faster will you?I think I could drive better than you.” I said. “Oh yes,remember the time you broke the window?That shows how experienced you are.” he said sarcastically. “At least I didn’t leave the car keys in the car after locking it.” I defended. “And who told me they had the car keys with them I wonder.” he smirked and he pulled into the empty parking lot. “Fine, you win.” I sighed as I rolled my eyes at him. “Come on!” he said. Suddenly,I got an idea. “Lead the way.” I said gesturing towards the door. “Gladly.” he said walking towards the entrance. He opened the door and let me walk in first and I smiled slyly at him. “Uh-oh..why are you smiling?” he asked.

“Nothing. Bye, see you later.” I said. “Rachel what are you talking about??” he asked. “You’re not allowed in there are you?” I asked. “C’mon, I was just joking..” he said. “Very funny.See yah!” I waved disappearing into the room. I was pretty sure he let out a huge sigh before I walked into the room. “Miss Rachel?Where is Mr.Adam?” the officer asked. “He’s waiting in the car.Told me he wasn’t allowed inside.”I said. “This must be the first time he listened to me.I would have locked him up if he came in here.” he joked.I gave a smile at him and that made him remember something. “You look like your mother when you smile.I saw a video of her and your father recorded in the car before the accident..” his voice trailed away.Of course,there was a video recorder attached to their car!It was mum’s idea of humor.She said it would record all the fun times we had and then we could watch it together and laugh about it when we were all grown up.But they had left before I even turned 16. Ryan my brother was slowly recovering from his coma.I was proud of him because he had made a great effort and lived through a few months.I could feel a tear escaping as I tried to brush away memories that floted into my mind. “Miss Rachel?Are you okay? I’m sorry I reminded you of the tragedy..” I could feel the guilt in his voice. “It’s fine.Why am I here?”I asked rubbing my eyes childishly. “We found a witness who saw everything that happened.He wouldn’t explain anything to us unless he saw you.At least,that’s what he told me.”he continued. “Take me there.”I said bracing myself to hear how it all happened.I could imagine the man looking at my parents’s car crashing into the ditch and blood pooling around the car.I tightened my eyes and opened them again only to be staring at the officer.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”he asked kindly. “I’m fine.They just keep haunting me..Do you know what it’s like to lose someone valuable to you Mr..?” I asked. “I’m Mr.Reeves, the man in charge of the M.D.P.D.”he said. “Well,have you?”I asked again. “I ha-No,I have never lost someone valuable to me.Only criminals.”he said with a hoarse voice. “Right.Shall we go?”he asked again.I nodded and tried to focus on the future. We reached the interrogatio room without me having a memories.I walked in the room and sat facing Reeves and the witness. “First of all,let me introduce you to Rachel.Rachel,meet Mr.Gomez.Gomez,Rachel.”he pointed. “If you don’t mind Mr.Reeves,I would like to talk to Rachel alone.”he said. “No.The answer is no.There is nothing important that Rachel could know that I shouldn’t.”Reeves said folding his arms tightly. “Alright.This is exactly what I saw.Their car was moving at normal speed and suddenly it just overturned and crashed into the ditch.There was blood everywhere. I could imagine the situation. “That car just crashed!Someone help!There’s a car crash!!!”he was screaming. “Help! Someone!!”his voice was becoming hoarse.He ran over to the ditch and tried to climb down but it wasn’t possible.He had to call the police. “And I called the police and the ambulance.Then they found your brother and well you know the rest.”he said. “That’s all?”I asked.The man nodded and then looked at Reeves. “Thank you for that useful information.” Reeves said with sarcasm in his voice. “My pleasure to help you.”he said missing the sarcasm. “Can I go now?”he asked.When Reeeves nodded he got up and walked off. “You too Miss Rachel.”he said clearly meaning he was dismissing me. “Erm,can I ask you something?”I started slowly. “Yes?”he

asked. “Can I have those tapes from the car?”I asked.He smiled once more at me.”Yes but not yet.My team hasn’t finished analysing all of it.”he aid.I nodded slowly and walked towards the exit.Suddenly,I was pulled into a corner with a strong hand.It closed around my mouth. “Don’t shout.”I recognised Gomez. “What?”I asked through a muffled voice. “I want to tell you something.”he said. “What is it?”I asked. “Your parents were’nt involved in an accident.”he said. “What are you talking about?”I whispered. “They were murdered.I saw it all happen.They were driving the car and then a man came out of nowhere.They’re car swerved to a stop just in time.The man knocked on the window and your father opened it.The man pulled out a gun and started shooting.He opened the back door and got into the car.He drove it all the way to the ditch and pushed it into the ditch.”he explained. I was staring at him with my jaw wide open. “Why didn’t you tell Mr.Reeves?!They could work on the case and find the killer.”I said. “No way.You don’t understand.If anyone found out that I told the police your parents were murdered,the man would come after me.”he said. “But don’t you want to see the man responsible for my parents’s death behind bars or what?”I asked. “The answer is NO.Absolutely not.No way.”he said. “But why did you tell me?”I asked him. “I wanted you to know the truth.Promise me one thing.If I ever get murdered,please tell the police everything I told you,alright?”he said and vanished.I thought I had just imagined everything.I squezeed the thing in my pocket.I’ll find out soon enough. I walked to the car where Adam was sitting. “Well?How was it?” he asked. “Hmmph,fine..” I murmured. “C’mon!I know you recorded everything!”he said holding out his hand at me. “What?I would no such thing!” I gasped at him. “You didn’t?But I thought

you-You thought what?You thought that I was dishonest and selfish like you?”I interrupted hoping I sounded mad.He muttered something and continued driving.I began feeling guilty for scolding him like that.I pulled out the recorder and twiddled with it. “You know..I did record everything.I just wanted to see your reaction..”I began.There was an awkward silence in the air as he kept on driving. Suddenly,he began laughing loudly.I looked at him and started laughing as well.I just couldn’t control my face. “Come on,let’s hear your so called professional ‘recording’.”he said. I hit the big red button and it started playing.It was the same thing repeating again and again.Finally,the part where I was waiting for came.The conversation between me and Gomez started.Adam’s jaw was hanging wide open by the time the recorded stopped. “What?Your parents were murdered?!”he asked with a shocked face. “You know,you’re seriously taking this way worse than me..”I joked. “Rachel,this is no joke!We need to tell Reeves about this.Immediately!” he added. “You heard what he said!No telling Reeves,Adam.We need to find out who murdered my parents.”I said. “We?No way young lady!There’s no we in this!”he said. “Alright,I won’t involve you in this.Happy?”I asked feeling a wee bit disappointed. “No.I meant you are not going to be involved in this matter.It’s too dangerous.”he said. “So you wanna do something about it then??”I asked. “Yes.”he answered quickly. “No way.Not fair Adam!How come you can investigate and I can’t?”I argued. “Yes,now will you stop arguing?”he said.Suddenly an idea came to my thought. “Oh Adam..you’re not allowed to investigate are you?”I asked smiling.

“What?”he scoffed looking ridiculously...ridiculous I guess. “You told me yourself.”I said. “Alright fine let’s make a deal.”he said trying to negotiate with me. “Okay.You let me on this case and I’ll let you do the same.”I said. “No,no,no.How about you let me take care of this business and I let you drive the car?”he asked. “No deal.Sorry.”I said. He parked the car right at my front yard.I got out of the car and headed inside the house. “Well??What now?”he asked. “Just like waht I said.No deal.You take my deal or you take nothing.”I shrugged my shoulders hoping I sounded casual. “I’ll..think about it.”he said sighing as he drove away. I felt 100% sure that I would win. Honestly,I knew one way or other he’d have to give in.I suppose it’s in my nature to get whatever I wanted.I sighed loudly and went inside to make lunch for myself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beep.Beep.Beep.Beep.It kept beeping on and on.I groaned slightly as I tried to open my eyes.I looked at the clock by my bed.12:00 am sharp.What on earth could be beeping like this,I wondered.And then it struck me.I fixed an alarm on my door to stop the neighbours’s cat from entering my larder.But a cat couldn’t reach into the buttons to open my door.Only a human could do that.That could only mean that there was inturder in my house.Just then,I heard something crash in the kitchen and I knew I wasn’t the only one in my house... I tip toes across my room to the living room.The kitchen was a long way from the living room.I took my handphone and quickly ran into the ‘panic room’ which my parents built for our safety.I entered the code and locked it.Inside the room,I opened all the security cameras and started watching where the intruder might be waiting. Suddenly,all the cameras were turned off one by one.I quickly dialed Adam’s number. “Adam?Are you asleep?”I asked as he answered the phone. “No,I was busy searching for annoying people who wake other poeple in the middle of the night and ask them ‘are you asleep?’”he said sarcastically. “Adam,”I whispered, “someone’s in my house.” “What do you mean?Are you serious?”he asked edgily. “I’m serious.I’m safe in the panic room.But he turned off all the security cameras in the house so I don’t know who or where he is right now.”I said urgently. “You’re safe right?”he asked. “Yes.Get help quickly.”I said and hung up.My eyelid were slowly closing as I fought to keep them open.There was a soft tap on the door. “Adam?Is that you?”I asked.Fear gripped me when I realised it was the intruder. “Who are you and what do you want?”I shouted but realised he couldn’t hear me.I crouched in the corner as I waited for help to come.

“Rachel?Rachel?Are you alright?”I heard Adam’s voice. “I think she’s coming over.”someone said waving their hand around me.I had to laugh at that movement. “Are you trying to hypnotise me or something?”I asked with a hoarse voice. “Yeah and then send you to Pony World.”someone joked. “I’d rather die than go there.”I said shuddering.Everyone around me laughed aloud. I opened my eyes and tried to focus on Adam’s face.I looked around to see everything in white. “Am I dead?”I asked. “You’re close.The hospital.”Adam chuckled. “Why am I here?”I asked getting up and facing three men including Adam. “You cut your hand pretty bad.What were you trying to do?Kill yourself?”one the men asked. “You both are??”I asked raising my eyebrows. “Detective Conors and my assistant Dach Vinds.”he said pointing to the other man. “Hold on,did you say something about me cutting my hand?”I asked. “Yes.We found you outside the panic room with your hand in a bloody mess with a pot next to you.I think you crashed into the pot and cut yourself.”the man named Dach Vinds stated. “Right.How silly of me.”I said.The two men got up,shook hands with Adam,said ‘good day’ to me and left. “What’s bothering you Rachel?”he asked. “Adam,I did not cut myself.”I said slowly. “What are you trying to say?”he asked. “I was inside the panic room all night long.I think-k the intr-ruder had opened the panic room,cut me and left.”I concluded.I felt goosebumps. “What?”he asked. “Adam,the intruder just proved that nothing is going to stop him from killing me.He just gave me a warning.”I said. “Woah,slow down.What’s this nonsense about killing?”he asked. “I think this has got something to do with my parents.They were murdered and now he’s trying to kill me!”I shouted.Just then I felt really weak and fell onto the bed shaking all over.

CRASH!!!I fell down from the bed and groaned loudly.It was all a dream.There was no one who was trying to kill me.I took a deep breath and calmed down.It was one of those dreams I had when my parents were still alive.It showed me what would happen in the future.I thought I was some kind of phsycic at first but I realise that I was one of those people whose dreams became reality. I quickly got up and got dressed quickly. “Adam?”I asked. “Rachel?What do you want?”he asked. “Can you fetch me and send me to my aunt’s?”I asked. “Sure,I’ll come along right now.”he said before I hung up. I turned on the TV and settled on the couch.Suddenly,the newscaster popped up. “Ladies and gentlemen,we bring you breaking news.This girl,known as Rachel Todd is found guilty for murdering her parents.I turned it off and looked at my reflection on the TV screen.I could see my jaws hanging wide open.Me?Kill my parents?That was when a thought hit me.If they showed me on TV,they would probably be looking for me right now.Snap,I need to get outta here..fast,I thought. Just then,I could hear Adam’s car pulling into the front lawn.I just hoped Adam didn’t watch the news or heard the radio. “Hey Adam!”I waved.He walked towards me slowly.I hoped that he wouldn’t see through my acting. “Rachel,what are you standing there for??Let’s go.”he said.I walked with him to his car with my heart beating fast. “Adam,why don’t you just...buy a new car?”I asked with a disgusted face at his old broken-down,dented car. “What’s wrong with this??”he asked shrugging.”Oh nothing.It looks brand new.”I

interjected sarcastically.He rolled his eyes childishly and I had to laugh despite my being in trouble. We were driving in silence all the way to the main road.He turned into a corner and stopped. “Rachel,I-I heard the news this morning..”he started to say.I tried to pretend I didn’t understand what he was talking about. “So?”I asked. “Oh Rachel,stop pretending.I know you know the cops are looking for you.”he said. “Alright.But how can they accuse me of such a thing,Adam?Surely Reeves tried to do something??”I asked question after question. “Rachel,they found your fingerprint in the bonnet of your parents car.That’s where they also found the bomb.”he said. “Adam!It’s my parents car!Of course my fingerprint is there!”I exclaimed. “And Reeves is officially out of this case like me.”Adam said ignoring my answer. “So what do we do now?” I asked. “You have to understand that I have taken an oath to-capture all criminals,Rachel.I have no other choice...forgive me.”he said guiltily. “What?You’re going to arrest me?”I gasped. He turned in the key ignition and drove to the police station.He was about to turn right to go to the police station when he turned left. “Wha-?”I asked shocked.He took one look at my face and burst into laughter. “Rachel,I’m so much better than you when it comes to acting.”he said.When I realised I wasn’t going to be handed over to the cops,I laughed as well. “Okay Romeo,what do we do now?”I asked. “I’m going to send you to the airport right now.”he said. “Where-where am I going?”I asked. “Somewhere safe.Now we have to go to the hospital.”he added hurriedly. “Hospital?For what?”I asked. “We have to take your brother as well.”he said. “Ryan?But he’s still in a coma.”I shouted. “They can arrest him and blackmail you.”he said. “No way,Adam!Leave Ryan out of

this!”I said. “Fine!Then when everything goes wrong,don’t blame me!”he said waving his arms. “Adam,where am I going?”I asked again. “You’re going to Australia.”he said. “Australia?You’re actually serious?”I asked. “You were born in Australia weren’t you?”he asked. “Yeah,but that will be the first place they’ll look for me won’t they?”I asked. “Look,why do you hate Australia so much?”he asked. “I never did say I hated Australia.”I began but was interrupted by him again. “Well you’re acting like it’s a disgusting country.”he said. “Adam,my parents died in that country.Of course it’s disgusting to me!”I said. “Rachel,please do me this one favour alright?”he begged not taking his eyes off the road. “What about my clothes?I need money as well.”I whispered. “Everything is inside this bag.Thee’s clothes,food and all your bank accounts.You are to inherit your mother’s side of the fortune.All her properties are in this bag.Take care of it and don’t use your account until I tell you to.”he said. “So what do I use until then?”I asked. “I’m giving you my bank account for now.You can use mine all you want.Just don’t buy anything that will give you away.No female stuff alright?”he said.I gave him a loud snort. “Ugh,I hate making up let alone wasting other people’s money!”I replied. “Where will you go?”I asked feeling guilty. “I’m staying here,Rachel.I’ll be your lookout from hee.Everything’s going to be fine.I can promise you that.”he whispered slowly. “I hope so too.”I answered. We reached the airport soon enough.I took the bag Adam gave me and the ticket that he handed me over. “Be careful,Rachel.This is the address of the house that you will be staying in.It’s your house

now since your parents are no longer here.”he said getting out of the car. “Go on or you’ll miss you’re flight.”he said. I could feel tears stinging in my eyes. “How can I ever thak you Adam?” I asked with a hoarse voice. “You’ve already have by accompanying me Rachel.Now go.”he said. I could hear his voice trembling.I ran to him and gave him a big hug and wished I could never let go. “Do I have to go?”I asked crying. “Yes.I cannot bear to see you in jail,Rachel.Will you promise me to be a good girl and stay out of trouble?”he asked. “Yes dad.”I blurted out. “I’m-so-sorry..”I said. “It’s fine.Run along Rachel!I love you.”he said pulling me into a hug once more before letting go with a sigh. I waved at his figure before walking into the airport knowing my life would change forever....

‘Ladies and Gentlemen,please tighten your seatbelts,we are about to land.Thank you.’ The voice travelled throughout the whole plane.I took a deep breathe before turning off my laptop.This was it,I guess.The second time I was visiting Australia...only this time I was going alone... The plane landed in a couple of minutes as I walked down with the other flight passengers. I was one of the last to leave when I heard screams from the bathroom nearby.I opened the door and gave a loud scream that sounded inhuman for a moment.For right there in front of me was a woman’s body...and her hand was inside the sink.Her legs were decapitated and-I couldn’t bear to see anymore. I got out of the bathroom before a crowd started forming.They were all shouting for help and pointing at the bloody mess.The weird thing was that I heard a woman scream but surely a woman in pieces couldn’t scream... It must have been someone else.But who?Just as the cops came filing in,I quickly ran to look for a public phone.I dialed in Adam’s number and he picked it up. “Hello,Officer Adam.How may I help you?”I could hear his voice and noticed it sounded miserable. “Adam,it’s Rachel.I got off from the plane.”I said. “Did you cause any trouble?”he asked suddenly souding so lively. “No but..”I started to say. “What?You made any passenger lose themselves?”he joked. “You could say that.Only I didn’t make her lose her body parts..”I said. “What?Tell me later,mum.Not right now!I’ve got work to do.”he said leaving me puzzled. I hung up thinking what he had just said.Mum?What was that about?Then I realised someone must have walked inside his office while he was talking to me.He made it sound like I was his

mum.Sometimes I wondered what would happen if it were not his quick thinking.