2

Thirty minutes. I've been sitting in this uncomfortable chair for thirty straight minutes. Great night, huh?? After that torture, they finally sent a detective to see me. "I thought I would never get to leave after sitting here for eternity." I joked to lighten the mood up a bit.

"Of course, they will send me to talk to you. How are you doing, Ellie?"

"Detective Kevin Taylor. Is it bad enough that I have to see you around the house?" I rolled my eyes. He put the files on the desk and leaned back in his chair for comfort. I can't do that.

"Tell me what happened before you even saw the ear?"

"Nothing; I was walking home from work like I normally do. That's when I saw the police lights in the air. So, I went to go and check it out. The body was lying there, still fresh. It grossed me out. I rushed to the trashcan to puke... that's when I saw the earring, but the ear was still attached to it."

"You didn't see anything else? Nothing suspicious?" Kevin said as he wrote the details in a notebook.

"No, that was it. I didn't see anybody around during that time. Now, are we done here?" I asked. Kevin chuckled while shaking his head. He explains that it was challenging to end. To know that I was telling the truth, he told me he would make up for this craziness. What happened tonight was unexpected, and I was the one that found something gross. Kevin leaned closer to my face. "Not in public, Kevin..." I said as my face turned red with embarrassment. I scooted back to where you heard a "thump." The chair got caught in something.

"Are you okay, Ells?"

Before saying something, a person lifts the back of the chair. "That sounded like it hurt... hope you didn't get injured." The stranger said with a blank stare.

"Yea-yeah, I'm fine,"

Kevin gave the guy a death stare while he walked away. That wasn't creepy at all and highly uncomfortable. The way he stared at me while helping made me feel dead inside. Kevin snapped me out of my thoughts to ask if I needed a ride home. Even though he was still working, he didn't mind taking me. I didn't decline his offer after what just happened. I need the company right now. Once we were done with the interview, Kevin escorted me to the car. "Interesting night, huh?" he said as he started the vehicle.

"You have no idea Kev.... dealing with electrical problems at work and now this. This is too much in one day."

"I can make it better, you know."

"Sure you can... when? You say that all the time but never commit to it." I looked out the window, breathed on it; I drew a heart. "You better keep this promise, though; I deserve this dinner."

"You deserve the world, Ellie."

"Then give me the world, Kev; if you can do that, I wouldn't bother you about dates all the time." I pouted cutely.

Smirking, he drove off. Kevin Taylor works for the police as a detective in the suburbs of Indiana. He moved in with me after losing his house. The rent there was too high. Since moving in, he constantly flirted with me. But he was too nervous to ask me out. He left a note on my bed talking about his feelings. Swooned by his affection, I gave him a chance, and now we are a thing. But this thing we have is a secret. Nobody knows. When driving up to the apartment building, the car suddenly got quiet. "You okay to walk in by yourself?" Kevin asked worryingly.

"I will be fine; you must return to work, right?"

"I have time to walk you in unless you are scared." He said in a mocking tone. But my face didn't crack a smile; I crossed my arms in fear.

"It's not a joking matter, Kev; a woman was killed there. Of course, I'm scared."

Unbuckling his seatbelt, Kevin faced me. "Don't be afraid, Ells; as long you stay on the busy streets and out of these alleyways, you will be safe."

"Just shaken up, that's all. But I will take your word for it, babe." I kissed him on the cheek and left the car. Waving goodbye, I enter the house. "EVAN! Are you home?!?!" yelling to see if I could get a response. Silence. Good, Evan is still out with Brandon. Getting settled in, I went straight to the kitchen for snacks. What to eat, what to eat. It took a minute to find something as we barely had food. Luckily, I found grapes. When shutting the door, my eyes made a horrifying figure. The only thing I could do was scream.

What the fuck is his problem!! Why is he always doing that!! "What in the fuck... I thought nobody was home; then your tiny quiet ass came out of nowhere. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Sorry, we were here but didn't hear you come in. Late night, huh?" Brandon said as he snatched a bottle of water from the cabinet.

"You don't know?" I sat down at the table, looking more puzzled than ever.

"What?"

"A woman was killed like a block down from here; I was at the police station for questioning."

"Holy shit... we wonder what happened since we saw the police hanging around the area. Damn, even this section isn't safe. Glad that you are okay." Brandon smiled as he walked away. Sighing deeply, I continue to munch on the grapes. After snacking, I got dressed for bed.

The following day, I woke up to Kevin's keys dropping on the wooden desk. "Could you be any louder than that?" I yawned as I stretched my body.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make that much noise. What time did you go to sleep?"

"We didn't get home until 12:34 am, so around one. When I came in, Brandon scared the crap out of me. I thought nobody was home until that midget showed up." I said. Laughing, Kevin slumped in my bed. I told his butt to get up and lie in his bed. Turning over, he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"If you are worried about your brother, then don't be. He's at work."

That's not the point. Being too tired to move, I laid back down to cuddle Kevin. "What do you want to do today?" I asked, but he was already asleep. Frustrated, I quickly got up and went to the bathroom. After doing my morning routine, I went to the living room to look at the plans for the tech rehearsal. Ugh!! Why does every light on the left stage have to be broken!! I told Levi to only mess with them once I correctly looked at them. Then section eight needs new wires!! What the fuck!! Henry got the money to fix it. But he is such a cheapskate.

Tossing my papers down on the table, I rubbed my hair together. I tried to collect myself. A buzzing sound went off on the seat next to me. "Hello?" I answered.

"Ells! Hey!"

"Nate, what's up?" I said.

"Heard that you got the day off. Want to hang?"

"I wish, but I have work to do. The crew needed to know about t–" I got interrupted.

"I'm coming over," Nate said in a cheerful voice. Nate Thomas is a good friend of mine. We met in our first year of college. He works as a dance teacher at the theater for musicals. Since this play isn't a musical, he helps backstage.

When I put down my phone, a knock echoed throughout the house. Like the sloth I am, I went to open it. "Were you around the corner? How did you get here so fast?" I questioned him.

He stated that he was already in the area and stopping by anyway. As he stepped in, he asked about the police tape near the apartments. Sighing, I told him what happened; Nate was shocked.

"Oooo, can we go and search the crime scene?" Nate playfully said.

Now, why would he want to do that?? I already saw enough excitement yesterday. However, he convinced me to join his fun with the famous pout. He takes my arm tightly and drags me outside. The place hasn't been touched, except the body is missing. The ground was painted with dry blood, the chalk was still visible, and the tape swung in the air.

"Being here is giving me the creeps." Nate shivered at the sight of the scene.

Is it giving him the creeps? He was the one that wanted to come here. Before I even knew it, Nate slipped under the police tapes and checked out the walls. Blood splatters were everywhere at the bottom. He asked about when it happened and how nobody saw it. That was my question as well. It must have happened as I was walking towards the building. As I said, the blood oozed out like jelly. But how did I not hear screaming as the victim was attacked?

Why am I even thinking about this?? I want to forget and relive it. I went towards the trashcan to find any other evidence of the ear. I know they did not dump it as there is still an investigation, so why does it look clean? There was no trace of blood anywhere. Quickly, I searched to see if I wasn't going insane. Nate saw my actions. "What the hell are you doing, raccoon?" He laughed.

I told him about the incident with the ear, and now everything is gone. He stopped his movements as his eyes opened wide. "The police wouldn't let them just toss the trash without their consent, right? The crime scene is still up and running. Someone must have cleaned it." He stated.

A voice rang out and called my name. I lifted myself out of the trashcan and fixed my clothes. Thank goodness it was only Kevin. Kevin? What was he doing here? He was in bed fast asleep, so why… he smiled and explained he got called in for an important matter. But his question was, why was I here?? 

"Nothing. Nate wanted to check out the scene, and I said why not. Anyways, how is that ear looking?" I said nervously. 

Kevin tilted his head in confusion until he realized what I said. "We took it in for an examination but had to cancel due to the ear being fake." He chuckled.

What the hell does he mean by "fake"?? It looked real to me last nig– wait, that would explain the lack of blood on both items. No wonder. Kevin situated himself as he talked about the victim having both ears at the time. They even thought it was real until a closer look. The ear showed this wax-like substance on it that made it shiny. Natural ears don't do that. Kevin patted my shoulder, telling me there was nothing to be scared about. 

Nothing to be scared about!! A woman was stabbed to death, and there's nothing to fear about!! What did he drink before he got up? Something like this happening in our neighborhood isn't normal. Kevin saw me having a panic attack and immediately went in for a hug. Doing my exercises, I looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. "Why were you going in today? You just got out of work?"

"Let's just say the victim's death was a suicide."

Wait, wait, wait– he tells me that her death was by choice?? There was no fucking way she ended up killing herself on an open street. No freaking way. My mind raced, trying to figure out what the fuck is going on!