BURIED

FOURTEEN

B E L L E

I decided to head to the café after leaving work. It squatted at one end of Downtown, which is, true to its word, Preyton's Downtown. You will find a beauty salon and a hardware store, a steakhouse called Ivan's, and a small library. You’ll also find a clothing store called AJ's Visuals. Teenagers loved AJ's; it was like a thrift store because of how cheap and good-looking their stuff are.

The last time I was on this street, I was stalked and almost stabbed to death by some psycho killer, but the sun is still out right now. I'd risk it for a cup of life (coffee).

Downtown was empty. No cars, no people. All the lampposts were papered with grainy photocopies of a girl. I slowed down, parking my car next to one of the lampposts, and peeled off one of the notices taped crookedly to a stop sign. It had “Missing” written at the top in bold letters that may have been filled in by a magic marker. The girl looked oddly familiar, dark-haired with a feral grin and tired eyes, the kind of girl who’d be described by teachers as a “handful.” I liked her. Eva Petrov.

Her face immediately flashed in my mind, reminding me of where I've seen her. She was Yuna's roommate; she had the same tired-looking eyes and expression from the time I've seen her. Rummaging into my purse, I grab my cellphone.

I hoped I’d call the Precinct's Police Department and be informed that she wasn't missing but had passed out in one of the bushes in the park or something. Or she’d gotten too high and lost her way home. But the department said that Eva was indeed missing and a detective from the department has already taken the case.

That's weird, that's suspicious

The station’s receptionist told me I could come and check their files if I wanted to—Yuna lived around here, and so did the girl Juliana and Eva. So I drove there.

The waiting room had tiny sofas and crime posters telling you to always call the police, which made me cringe. I sat in a yellow armchair, humming to distract myself. An air freshener plugged into a nearby outlet hissed out a plastic smell meant to remind me of country breezes.

A man in his uniform finally approached me after twenty minutes, telling me to follow him.

"I'm Officer Nathaniel," he introduced himself with a wide smile.

"Lieutenant Gabin, 11th Precinct," I said firmly.

"Oh" He said, trying to hide his shock. He probably thought I was some reporter or something. He led me to his office, which was probably the storeroom because of the huge pile of papers everywhere. He cleared the table, taking a few papers off and telling me to sit.

"Thanks."

He dusted his hands and took a seat opposite. This Precinct's Police Department was much smaller than ours.

"Sorry, the place is a bit messy," he apologized, looking at the shelf behind me. "You said you wanted to get more information about Eva?"

"Not just Eva. The three girls, Juliana, Yuna, and Eva, go to the same college,two are both missing and one was found dead. I haven't started working on the case, but this will be my first step."

"Oh yeah, the girl that was found dead, what was her name again?" he asked thoughtfully, rummaging through the files on his table.