Among The Flames

2

Taylor

A peaceful silence surrounded the three of us as we stared at the endless amount of papers and pictures among us. All of us looking through different documents and statements trying to find something that doesn't fit in with the others whether it was the official document statements and paper from workers of the departments or the eyewitness statements that were involved in those. Among the statements from bystanders that were collected by the detectives or officers, the three amigos started our own investigation of sorts. Recently we would go around the same area that something occurred and talk to people around the area easily stating that we were working on a class project about the cold case and wanted to get more insight of the topic from the actual people and not only through the opened case file.

Elijah figured out that something in the witness statements and alibi was wrong and the actually key to unlocking the unsolved case. So here we were going through everything, the old witness statements, official statements and even the new interviews conducted by us. Something in the details must have been tweaked slightly and made to seem insignificant but in reality it meant everything. In a pile of needles we needed to find the right one to finally connect everything together.

The three of us have been researching and scanning endless documents and statements since we left school, words were starting to blend and dance eloquently across the pages. It was well into the night and all 3 of us were starting to get frustrated and tired from the lack of being able to spot the slight difference or detail. A headache that had made its presence known hours ago and I was completely ignoring in the hopes it would figure out that I didn't have time for it's nonsense, it was only now making it more unbearable to look at anything else without splitting pain across my head. Turning away from the page I was looking through I softly put it in Holden's pile causing him to whip his head up in concern.

His eyes quickly scanning over me to see what was wrong before seeing my face was more tense from the throbbing pain and eyes more squinted from light sensitivity. Not hesitating he lifted his arm pulling me closer to him to lay my head on his lap with my head facing his torso to block out the light. "Close your eyes Tay, Eli and I aren't going anywhere.". Slowly nodding my head and closing my eyes I felt Holden wrap his arm around me to keep me in his embrace while going back to scanning the document in his other hand. A soft shuffle came closer to Holden and I before I heard Elijah sigh softly as he sat down right next to Holden where my legs were laying. The boy picking them up and placing them on his own lap before continuing to read as well, a sense of content surrounded us as we were in arms reach of one another.

Occasional murmurs were exchanged between the two boys in a hushed whisper to not worsen my headache before they both let out a sighs of exhaustion themselves. Words bled within one another to a point where it created a new language and statements merging into one complicated story that wouldn't be able to differentiate anything. Placing everything into one neat pile to look back at tomorrow with more energy and a clear mind, Elijah moved the papers and files back to the designated area where we keep everything related to cases we were working on. It wasn't long before Holden softly lifted me up bridal style with extra care of making sure my head was buried in his neck to block out the lights of the room once again before walking into my bedroom.

Gently placing me on the bed, his hand brushed the hair that had fallen in front of my eyes behind my ear as he bent down to my level. The darkness of the room made it slightly difficult to see him but I smiled at him nonetheless at the softness the boy shows. Holden rarely showed emotions to anyone but he was always open to Elijah and I, he cares about us and would do anything to make sure we were ok. As he spoke, he kept his voice low to not make the throbbing more painful then it already was "Do you need Eli and I to get you anything or do you want to just get some sleep?"