The Terror Next Door (Based on a True Story)

19)The Murders

"You're the one that I want" by Lo Fang
(If you're looking for creepy music, check out this song!)
***

Somehow, someway, weeks passed by without further incidents. There was no more stalking, no more scary attic noises, and no more seeing Blake Bradshaw at school or lurking around the corner. Mr. Bradshaw had not been joking regarding his son going to live with him. Blake was not seen or heard from ever since his father's declaration. Sophia wanted to feel relief but felt none. It didn't matter where she went or how much time passed, she inwardly felt that somewhere somehow, Blake Bradshaw was planning something. As if she was a proverbial seal trapped on a large rock, Sophia felt Blake was the shark swimming dormant in wait.

Sophia's family slowly adapted to moving on from past events. Slowly and surely, all objects and picture frames her mother had packed away started to be taken out of boxes and put back in their proper spaces. As Sophia's broken fingers and ribs healed nicely, it was as if everyone else in her life was slowly forgetting how she came upon those horrible injuries in the first place. Mr. and Mrs. Summers became occupied with things such as Sophia's emergency room bills as well as other financial issues. The older Summers children were preoccupied with their own lives in regard to working, school, and even their dating lives. In a way it rattled Sophia horribly that there was no longer anyone but her thinking of Blake Bradshaw and what he could be planning. Everyone seemed to be forgetting of the inexplicable evil he was capable of creating.
***
One morning Sophia was startled awake. She could overhear angry voices coming from the kitchen. Her sister Annie stayed fast asleep, unperturbed by the noise. Sophia made her hobbled way on her crutches to see what the commotion was about. The angry voices quickly morphed into quiet whispers. To her vast surprise, Sophia found her older sister Alex was arguing with their parents. It was obvious from the body language everyone was providing this was a tense conversation. In the young woman's left hand there was a newspaper article. In her right-hand, Alex was grasping a small bulletin board. Sophia could not see what it was that was pinned to the board. Whatever it was, Alex had just been showing her parents. "You will NOT show that to your sister!" Mr. Summers snarled, oblivious that Sophia was right behind him.
"Why not?" Alex shot back angrily. "She has a right to know!"
"Are you kidding me?" Mrs. Summers seethed in her own whisper. "You honestly think that's a good thing to show your sister when she is still recovering from her fall??"
"There it is again!" Alex hissed in her own whisper. "You say fall as in it wasn't attempted murder!"
Mr. Summers looked irate. "We have no proof it was Blake Bradshaw who committed the crime-"
"Oh stop being a good little boy and parroting what the police told us!" Alex interrupted with an eye-roll. The young woman seemed to immediately realize that was inappropriate to say to her parent for she blushed.

"You will NOT speak that way to your father!"
Alex looked sheepish next. "C'mon guys, just look at the timeline! It matches up, I swear it does!"
"And what?" Mr. Summers demanded quietly. "You think a fifteen-year-old boy raped and murdered two women from the state of Illinois?"
Sophia paled from the doorway. Her stomach dropped while her throat tightened up. This discussion was about Blake Bradshaw, there was no doubt about it. The teenager made sure not to make one sound to alert anyone of her presence. For a split second, Sophia saw Alex's eyes find her immediately. The teenager could not tell if Alex truly saw her because the young woman looked away and continued talking regardless. "Look, it's crazy, I know. But the news literally just identified the dead girl. It's in the papers! I don't find it a coincidence the night this Lauren went missing was the SAME night Sophie was nearly killed."

"And what is your hypothesis?" demanded Mr. Summers in a heated whisper. "That before Blake Bradshaw tried to kill your sister he went joyriding and found a new victim instead?"
"Maybe," Alex simply shrugged. "Or maybe he killed this girl at the beginning of the day and then gained enough confidence to move onto the victim he really wanted-"
"I think your imagination has finally gotten the best of you," snickered Mr. Summers in interruption. "You should stick to writing stories instead of playing detective."
"Don't patronize me," Alex shot back angrily. Her dark hair was swept up in a messy bun. Her pale face held dark circles under her eyes. Both provided the impression the young woman hadn't slept the night before. "Blake has all the markings of a wannabe serial killer! He's smart, he's charming, and he kills animals in his spare time-"
"You have no idea if those dead animals were killed by Blake-"
"Ah ha!" Alex announced, placing her bulletin board under her father's nose. "Look at this clipping I dug up online! Two weeks ago, a graveyard of animals was found in Lyon's park. A graveyard consisting of a small dog, multiple cats, squirrels, and birds. And, Lyon's park is a mere three blocks away from the Bradshaw's front door!"
Mr. Summers squinted as he read the clipping. He soon stared at his daughter with his eyebrow raised. "You do realize this article says that the Illinois wildlife center believes a den of coyotes is roaming the town, right?"
Alex rolled her eyes dramatically. "What are they going to say? A psychotic teenager is butchering neighborhood animals and burying them in the city park? Get real, dad." She scoffed.
"That's great, she thinks I'M the crazy one," said Mr. Summers to his wife.

"You WILL get rid of this and not tell your sister," Mrs. Summers scolded her eldest child. Her whispering continued. "I want this thrown out ASAP." Looking as if she knew she in a losing battle, Alex seemed to be choosing her next words very carefully. She didn't dare look to her direction, but what happened next proved that Alex new Sophia was eavesdropping. Alex started to speak for what felt like was Sophia's benefit alone. "Two young women between the ages of fourteen and seventeen are dead. They had the same height, hair, and eyes as Sophia. She looks identical to the dead girls when you look the girls up on the internet. Yeah, they're from around different towns of Illinois, but they were raped and murdered. Police haven't caught the person responsible. I think Blake did it."
Mrs. Summers looked at her husband and then her eldest child before sighing heavily. "I know that boy is crazy, but to say h-he..." she looked away helplessly, unable to finish the words.

"We need to move," said Alex weakly. "We need to move before something else happens."
"There haven't been any incidents since he moved out of his mother's house," huffed Mr. Summers. "For all we know his father moved him to the next town over-"
"Or he moved him to the next block over," balked Alex in interruption. "You don't know where he's living. Hell, you don't know if he's still living right next door and Dan Bradshaw was lying!"
"Keep your voice down," chastised Mr. Summers. "I highly doubt that boy is secretly living next door or that he's merely a block away, quit dramatizing."
Looking fed up with her father's continuing disbelief, Alex scowled. "I hope you're right, dad. I really, really do. Because if I'm right, that means if Blake has his way again, the worst thing that could happen to Sophia isn't being chased by a truck." As if to elaborate her point, the oldest Summers child held up her newspaper clipping describing horrific murders. As Sophia crept away from the doorway and slowly made her way back to her bedroom, her face was paling, and goosebumps tickled her arm. She knew she would not be able to fall back asleep. She even felt she would have trouble falling asleep for future nights. It was because Sophia strongly felt her sister's theory was right.