21 Jump Street (Tom Hanson)

Murder at a Retail Store ⚠️

April 1990

Narrator's POV

Jasmine Athletics is a sport apparel retail store chain throughout North America. Their target demographic are athletes, so they sell workout gear and clothes for all sorts of sweaty pursuits. They're most popular for their yoga pants, as well as their comfortable bike shorts.

Heather Marks had been working as a manager at Jasmine Athletics for years. She had her blonde hair pulled back in a swaying high pony-tail, and she was showing off the newest yoga pant with brand new technology woven into the fabric where it is efficient at drying quickly and wicking away at sweat, while still staying soft and cool. Paired with white leg warmers and a bright colorblock purple and blue windbreaker, she was ready for the busy day.

With lemon slices bouncing in her iced water bottle, she walked through the outdoor Metropolis Shopping Plaza on a warm spring morning. The sun was shining, but it wasn't late enough in the day for the sun to have completely warmed up the entire city yet. The Plaza had many customers already roaming the grounds, waiting for stores to finally open for them.

Heather walked up to the large glass doors to prepare to open her store, however, she found that the front door was already unlocked. A little frown tilted her lips, because the door should still have been locked from the night before. She recalled that Lisa Scott was scheduled to close the night before, someone that Heather was very fond of due to her reliable nature and likability. It was hard for her to believe that she had forgotten.

Heather opened up the door and her eyes grew as wide as saucers at the mess she walked into. Fixtures had been toppled over, clothes were scattered all over the floor, expensive water bottles had been spiked to the ceramic floor and severely dented, hooks had been ripped out from the walls, and almost every mirror had been completely shattered. The entire store was a chaotic mess.

Heather immediately assumed that someone had broken into the store to trash the place, and knew that she was going to have to make a report and hopefully try to figure out how many items were stolen. Since this was located in an outdoor mall, she found it troubling that anyone could have walked off the street and into her store.

Trying to step around the horrific mess of her store, she tried to head to the back door where they have their back-stock, the restrooms, as well as all their offices and employee lockers. She opened the door and a little bell chimed. She took a few steps into the hallway before she froze in pure fear. The horror of what happened in the store seemed to have gotten physical, and escalated into extreme violence.

Heather was shaking as she looked down and she saw bloody footprints beneath her feet. She stood there, frozen. She couldn't even think, she was in so much shock. She nearly puked from the smell alone. It wasn't until she heard a small groan that she snapped back to the reality of the terrifying situation. She didn't even think to check out what that noise was, because she bolted to the front door.

Once Heather was out of the store, her mind was racing with what she saw and the horrific nature of what occurred in her store. The more she thought about it, the more the symptoms of shock began to leave her body. She began to hyperventilate, and she was pacing back and forth. She didn't know what to do. She knew that she had to call the authorities, but was not willing to go back into that store.

At that moment, Captain Adam Fuller was walking through the outdoor Plaza. He was on his way to his favorite shoe store to get a new pair of shoes before he had to report to work, and Jasmine Athletics was on his route. At first, he didn't pay much mind to Heather, until she turned around and he saw the look of terror on her distressed face.

Fuller approached her and calmly asked, "ma'am, are you all right?"

Heather had her hands laced together and against the back of her head to try to open her airway. Her face was pale and starting to get red again, and her eyes were filled with tears. "N-no. There—there's... um... someone broke in last night and there's something in my store. Someone is in the back."