Greenwood Bay

4 | Walking in a Winter Wonderland

As winter slowly crept its way into Greenwood Bay, its icy grip tightening with each passing day, the once-vibrant landscape began to wither and fade. Leaves turned brittle and brown before drifting to the ground, blanketing the earth beneath a layer of frost. Yet, it wasn't just the weather that cast a pall over the town. With the shocking news of Samantha's murder echoing through the community, a palpable sense of unease settled over every aspect of daily life.

At high school, the once dazzling and fresh place had become tiresome and dreaded as the newly-installed security team seemed to have a personal vendetta against anything fun. Gone were the days of teenage rebellion; even the most innocuous acts of banter were swiftly quashed by the vigilant guards, who seem to possess an uncanny ability to sniff out trouble before it could brew. The only person who seemed to enjoy this new strict regime was Violet who had taken it upon herself to become somewhat of a mole against her classmates, snitching on anything she saw, much to the chagrin of the rest of the school.

Meanwhile, throughout the town, fear and paranoia spread like wildfire in the wake of the unsolved murder. Shops shuttered their doors prematurely, and curtains drawn tight as soon as night descended. The investigation, too, had reached a standstill. Only a few tidbits of information were certain: number one, blunt force trauma had killed Samantha and she was likely already dead before she fell from the school roof; two, the murder weapon was still undiscovered but only something long with something heavy on the end, like a golf club or lacrosse stick, could have dealt that killing blow: third, the killer was still at large which cast a shadow of doubt over the entire town. Despite exhaustive efforts, the police were met with dead ends at every turn, their search yielding nothing but frustration and unanswered questions. The school had been scoured and most sports equipment had been taken for forensics, much to the chagrin of gym teachers and coaches who were still in the midst or prepping for the start of the sports season. Of course, they'd all come back clean. The school's limited CCTV as it was had been down all of Saturday by no coincidence, so that put the time of death anywhere between halloween and the morning of the 2nd. The last piece of information of particular intrigue was the fact that Samantha had died wearing an old theatre costume from the schools drama department - an eerie detail that only added to the mystique surrounding her death. As speculation ran rampant and rumours abounded, one thing remained certain: in the chill of winters embrace, Greenwood Bay harbour secrets darker than the longest night.

Dakota recalled an afternoon in mid November, a memory etched into her mind like a scene from a noir film. Summoned from class juts like every other student had been, she found herself seated in the guidance counsellor's office across a surly-faced police officer who had probed her for every detail she remembered rom halloween. This would have been bad enough already if not for the fact her father, resplendent in his police uniform at the back of the room, added another layer of embarrassment to the already terrible exchange. Remembering the night was hard enough - what with the underage drinking - let alone with some gruelling officer who had somehow made Dakota feel like the murderer herself, her heart thumping in her throat and her constantly stumbling over her words. Somehow though, she had managed to recount that night: getting ready at Emily's, arriving at the party, drinking, dancing, and then stumbling home with Noah at 1am. Once she had begun speaking off all the underage drinking, her cheeks burned in mortification at hr fathers's stern gaze.. To tell the truth, Dakota was surprised she didn't get in trouble for the drinking underage but then again, were the really going to arrest half the school? Eventually, the officer had no more questions for her and though she was excused back to class, she couldn't shake the unease that lingered in the aftermath.

Back home, after her mother had so theatrically burst into the dorms and then picked her up from Mike's the day the murder was announced, Dakota had been grounded. The reason her mum gave was that it was for lying about what her plans were that night (even though she had never agreed that she had to stay at the dorms all night, but whatever) however Dakota suspected it had more to do with being able to keep Dakota at home until the killer was caught. Despite understanding her reasons to an extent, Dakota couldn't help being furious and so they weren't speaking. Her mum was being overdramatic and her dad not stepping in to say anything... well, he was a coward too. From never speaking a word at mealtimes and only responding in one word grunts to her dad while completely ignoring her mother, Dakota felt like Megan - the horror!