Spell Broken

9 - The Crime Scene

The next day Mom had dropped me off at Madam Mara's house.

She didn't want me coming back here by myself but I told her that I would wait until Amber got here to go in.

I sat on the front steps, in the same spot as that day a week ago. When the cop Ike had questioned me and all I wanted was to go home.

My stomach rolls as I sit waiting. I didn't want to be back here. I didn't want to see if the inside was the same. The place that I had loved to spend time at had become a place that I never wanted to step foot into again.

A blue sedan pulls up and sits there for a moment before the passenger door swings open and Amber steps out. Her blond hair is up in a ponytail and she wears a black off the shoulder top and light blue skinny jeans.

She waves to me before turning back to the car and saying something to the driver. As she's talking the back passenger door opens and Neo climbs out.

His black hair sits like a mop on his head. All messy and sticking up all over the place. He wears a grey hoodie and when he slams the door shut he shoves his hands in the pocket.

Amber closes the door and bounds over to where I sit. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Are you ready?" she asks. Her shadow hangs over me and her head blocks the sun making her face seem darker than it is.

"Yeah. Is he helping?" I ask, pointing at Neo.

Amber shakes her head. "He's only here until Fox comes."

"You hang out with Fox?" I ask, looking at Neo as he sits beside me.

"Not really. He's just picking me up for soccer practice."

"Oh... cool."

He shrugs and puts earbuds in. "Have fun." But it doesn't sound like he means it.

I nod and stand up. "You too."

But he doesn't acknowledge my words.

"Keys?" Amber asks. She stands by the door and holds out her hands as if expecting something.

I dig around in my pockets and when I find them I toss them to her. "Here."

She catches them and unlocks the door. She peeks in and then back at me. "Wow! This place is amazing."

I nod. It was amazing. When everything was in its place it was like I was teleported to a different world. Like everything sparkled. Like everything was magic.

I pause at the door and take a deep breath.

I don't know if the cops cleaned anything up or if they left everything as it was. I don't want to see the blood or the ransacked hall.

When the cops told me that we would have to get the files they told us not to go anywhere near the room where it happened. To not touch anything on the first floor and to not go past any yellow tape.

I don't know why they told us these things. I never want to walk into that room ever again.

I push the door open further and step in.

It's almost like how it was that day.

Some items are still scattered on the floor, but some are gone or picked up and moved onto the little table in the hall. The trial of blood has been cleaned up, but the rug still has dark stains where it had been.

The mirror that hung on the wall for so many years is gone. Leaving a clean piece of wallpaper in the shape of it, surrounded by the dirty wallpaper that hadn't been hidden for years.