Behind me

Chapter 9-The first victim

Finally, it was the weekend, and I was looking forward to working at the flower shop. With everything that had happened, I needed to focus on something. My boss showed up and asked how I was; he didn't know what had happened to me. I just said that I had been sick, and he was relieved that I was feeling better.

Shortly after that, Luna, one of my closest friends, came into the flower shop to visit me. Her face expressed concern as she asked me how I was. I couldn't hide my frustration, especially with myself for being caught off guard by the attacker on that terrifying night and for not being able to identify him. The feeling of vulnerability still lingered, and I blamed myself for not reacting more effectively.

Luna explained that, despite the initial fear, she was feeling safer now, especially because I had been there to support and protect her when we were trapped in that abandoned house. Just having each other during those difficult moments had brought her comfort and made her believe that everything would be okay. Knowing that we had each other to face that terrible situation gave us strength to overcome it and move forward.

I agreed with a smile and told her she was right. Knowing that we weren't facing this situation alone was comforting.

As Luna was about to leave, I asked her to wait for a moment. I picked some orange lilies and sunflowers, creating a bouquet and giving it to her, explaining that these flowers symbolized hope and optimism. Luna smiled, thanked me, and hugged me warmly before leaving.

Later, I went to the detective's office, but he wasn't there yet. I took advantage of the time alone to examine the board where the victims' photos were displayed, hoping to find a clue or memory that could aid in the investigation.

My attention was drawn to the faces of the victims, the dates, and the locations of the crimes. The first victim was Lucy, a 16-year-old girl with long, straight brown hair who had been found dead in her room, and to my surprise, she had lived in my village, Summerfield.

After a while, I felt somewhat overwhelmed by the sea of information. I used the time to clean and organize the space. During this task, when I opened one of the drawers, I found a book that piqued my curiosity.

It was a family photo album of the detective. Excited to learn more about his past, I started flipping through the album and saw pictures of him as a child, looking adorable. However, something seemed strange in the photos. In the early ones, he was with his parents, but in the middle of the album, his father was no longer present. Instead, there was another man and a girl.

The girl's face seemed familiar to me, and then I realized it was the first victim of the serial killer. At that exact moment, the detective appeared behind me, and my surprise made me scream. He asked if everything was okay, and I said yes, explaining to him what I had found.

He asked me to sit down and, with a serious expression, began to tell me his story.

John's childhood had certainly not been easy. His father was a cruel person who abused and mistreated his mother, causing physical and psychological suffering to the family. When he was eight years old, his father abandoned both him and his mother, leaving them to face a difficult life on their own.

Shortly after, John's mother fell in love with another man who had a two-year-old daughter named Lucy. From that moment, their lives became intertwined in a way that no one could have predicted, and they formed a family that, despite initial hardships, seemed to have found happiness together.

When the detective was only 14, a critical time in his life, his mother was diagnosed with cancer, casting a dark shadow over their family. Over the next three years, they faced the anguish and struggle that came with this relentless disease. It was a time of great pain for the detective as he watched his mother's health deteriorate before his eyes. She eventually passed away.