How to hide a body

Unwelcomed visitors

Who knew that one night could change your life? Who knew that the guilt of one action could tear you apart? Who knew that even though that action wasn't even your own that you'd want to take responsibility for it because it was the quickest way out?

Whilst that one action had been forgotten by Quinn in mere moments; the same could not be said of Tyler.

She was often associated with murder. The subject always followed closely behind her it was her shadow that she left whenever she went. It wasn't the shadow of someone smart, someone who had incredible achievements, or even someone who was brave enough to be kind even though the world had decided she didn't deserve kindness in return. It was the shadow of death. Death followed her around like a plague waiting for the moment she'd finally decide to snap. For the moment she'd decide to finally kill.

Because all children are obviously like their parents.

Maybe she was. She'd buried a body because she didn't want to take responsibility. Whoever that man was, he could've had a life and a family and she'd kept them for saying goodbye to someone they loved all because she was selfish.

Maybe they were smart to observe her every day, to keep track of her every move because the one moment they didn't; someone had to end up dead. Someone had to make their way into her apartment somehow and lay there dead.

They got in.

How?

But the door was closed...

... the windows!

She ran her hand over the window cill and tugged the latch undone, gritting her teeth at the screeching sound of the metal scraping against the ledge. Peering out the window, the morning's breeze brushed over her cheeks painting them red. The ends of her hair flickered slightly as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight. She cuddled her jacket closer to her as she pulled herself out of the window onto the metal stairs outside and watched from the hole in the metal grating as someone entered the alleyway. Squinting at the strangers, she moved further down the stairs to try and have a better look at their clothes. She had seen them from somewhere before. She carried on moving closer as she tried to make out the text on the back of their black jackets. Eyes widening, she finally realised and quickly tiptoed back up the stairs with the light patter of the grates following closely behind her. She clambered back through the window, skidded out of the living room and towards Quinn's room.

"Pack a light bag," she yelled as she peeped into the doorway of Quinn's room before disappearing into her own down the hallway. She flicked onto her lights, paying no attention to its slight flickering every few seconds, and pulled out a tattered purple backpack from underneath the chair in the corner of her room, throwing it onto her mattress on the floor before she shuffled through the clothes on the top of the chair, but only grabbed an old hoodie and some leggings to change into if they stopped. She shoved them into the bottom of her bag faltering as she caught her finger on the zip of her bag, causing her to yelp slightly and look up suddenly straight into the mirror perched against the chair. She looked from the blood now appearing at the bottom of her finger and back to the mirror.

"What's going?" Quinn asked from the corridor as she swung a small bag over her shoulder, "are you ok?"

"They're here. They know."

"You're joking," Quinn stated as she walked over to the blinds and separated them slightly with her index and forefinger, "I can't see anyone."

"That's because they're already inside," Tyler ran her finger over the corner of the mirror before she looked slightly to her right smirking at Quinn, "how do you feel about staging a murder?"

Quinn raised an eyebrow, "confident if what you're thinking doesn't involve anything stupid."

"Don't worry, you already used up all the stupid ideas yesterday."

"I'm going to ignore that," Quinn looked at her through the reflection in the mirror, "what's your plan?"

A wicked grin came across Tyler's face, "thought you'd never ask. We need to smash this glass," she nudged the mirror with her foot, "can you hold it for me?"

Quinn nodded and stood in front of Tyler with the mirror in her hands, hesitating when Tyler raised her fists. Tyler made eye contact with her, gesturing for her to holding it up. She looked away as Tyler's fist came in contact with the glass, spraying small shards across the floor. She winced as she punched it again with a greater force followed by a crack. She slowly peeled her eyes open and they widened as she took in the state of Tyler's hand.

Her knuckle had a stream of blood dripping down towards her arm, disappearing underneath her sleeve and her fingers had cuts littered across them, some deep some not, it was hard to tell with all of the blood. The top part of her middle finger was bent to the right slightly and was bruised a bit. Tyler took a few deep breaths and swallowed as she kept a seemingly unfazed face but as Quinn stared down at the flow she winced slightly and gazed down at her hands.

"That was stupid," Quinn stated as she glanced back at her hand watching in discomfort as a drop of blood dripped onto the floor.

Tyler rolled her eyes, "can you get a knife please."

"No," Quinn sputtered, "why the hell would I get you a knife? For you to stab yourself with it?"

"Of course I wouldn't. Look, if you're not going to get it I'll just get it myself," Tyler barged out of her room and towards the kitchen. She pulled the drawer open with her left hand and picked a knife up with the same hand.

"Tyler, don't you dare," Quinn yelled as she walked in to see Tyler raising the knife. But, instead of plunging it into her chest, she wiped her bloodied hand over it, smearing it with her blood, and shivered when the side of the knife knocked her middle finger. She bumped the drawer shut with her hip and shuffled out of the kitchen whilst holding the knife in her left hand.

She stopped outside the door of her room and waited for Quinn to catch up to her, "if there's even the slightest of chance that we can worm our way out of this then we've got to take it," she spoke over her shoulder, "maybe we could make them think that I was murdered too. You don't live here, so why would you be involved?"

"You're going to try and trick the police."

"What's one more trick to add to others?"