Shattered Reflections (busy editing)

Chapter 4

Melancholy polluted the town of Arbington like sweltering, industrial factories. Funerals weren't a common occurrence in the small, peaceful town. The only time someone passed away was due to old age or the not so frequent car accident. And even then it was a big deal. People in Arbington are close, everyone knows everyone. Everyone might not like everyone, but if someone was in pain, everyone felt their pain and sympathised with them.

Kate Williams was put to rest not long after Dylan. Though most of the girls at Arbington High didn't take much of a liking to her, not a single senior girl didn't attend the funeral. The town of Arbington was starting to cause an uproar. Much to the dismay of Kate's parents, people lined up outside the church, holding boards and pleading for the killer to be stopped.

The people of Arbington were enraged when it was announced that they indeed had a prime suspect but he was let go on the grounds of inconclusive evidence, which evidently meant the killer could still be out there. Everyone was wondering if they would be next. The police were under constant pressure from the local press, hounding them about not doing their job and not keeping the people of Arbington safe. But this was something that the Sheriff and his team never had to deal with. Having lived in Arbington his whole life he was used to the occasional DUI and vandalism. He had never worked a murder case. Especially not one that was so hard to crack. Not only was this a murder, but everyone knew there was a serial killer on the loose. And whoever it was, they were smart. Having little to no evidence, the police had nothing that they could release to the press. They had no answers for the people of Arbington. Their safety was questionable. And with three teenagers dead, the Sheriff started to grow agitated. Angry parents and fellow students bombarding the police with questions. But they had no answers. And they weren't sure if they were going to get them anytime soon.

The Adler sisters drove to school in silence. Everyone was tired of talking about the murders, but talking about anything else just didn't feel right. It felt like moving on and no one was ready to do that. Guilt arose inside anyones gut if they felt a shred of excitement or happiness. Hazel fiddled anxiously with the rosary wrapped around her neck. Their parents had always taught them about the word of God, and that prayer could get you through anything. Arbington was a religious town in general, but it seemed that people were starting to lose their faith. They had attended more funerals in the past two weeks than they had attended church sermons.

"Stop fidgeting," Addison said, finally breaking the ice, "It keeps on distracting me from the road."

"Sorry." Hazel said quietly and thats when she knew these murders were effecting her sister. Not much could get Hazel down. She was always the preppy, positive one in the family, the one that could get anyone out of a bad mood.

"Are you okay?" Addison asked as she pulled into Arbington High's parking lot and.

Her sister looked to her and muttered, "yeah I'm fine." But she could she in her eyes that she wasn't. She was scared. Every student was scared that they might me next. Clearly the killer was targeting them.

"It'll be fine Hazel. This will soon blow over, it's just temporary." Addison said, "Now come no let's not be late for class. With everything going on we forget how important school is. If we want to get out of this place we have to get into good schools."

"That's easy for you to say," She said, "You're a senior, I'm stuck here for two more years."

The sisters went their separate ways to their lockers and didn't seem to talk much for the rest of the day. Celeste seemed to be the only one who wasn't tired of bringing up the murders. At lunch time she told Addison about all of these different theories that she had and pondered away.