The Hostile
Written by: Olivia
Written by: Olivia
About the Author:
Olivia Cyr is 13 years old and enjoys photographing nature during all seasons.
The pain of the wood seared though my skin, and that is when I realized I was going to die.
Let’s go back to when Arnold Smith commited suicide on April 29th 2017. The whole town was buzzing about it, and I was the reporter in charge of putting the story in the newspaper. Now let’s go even farther back to when my ex-husband, and I got divorced. It hit me like a rock when I decided to finally sign the divorce papers, and thinking about what it would do to our twin daughters, but we were not made for each other. There, now you know the story of my life, now let’s get back to that suicide.
A few days after the suicide my boss came in, and told me I was working the case. I really did not want to, since I did not think that it was a suicide. When I told my boss, he looked at me like I had three heads.
“Prove it,” he told me.
I didn’t realize that the weeks until the day that I thought I was going to die were counting down. As soon as my boss told me I was working this case, I called an old friend from college named Connor. He sometimes gives me information. He is a snitch, and that is how he gets all of this information. I asked him if he could ask his “people” if they knew anything about Arnold. After about two days, Conner came back and told me that I needed to run because the man that killed Arnold was looking for me.
“I knew it, you don’t jump feet first,”
Connor looked at me funny, “I think that you need to stay with someone. Hint, Hint your ex?!?!”
“What? Sorry, I did not think that Arnold commited suicide,”
“Wait a second, what? Their is no way I am staying with my ex! Are you crazy?”
“Bianca, you are in trouble. I know you want to prove that this is a murder, but the guy that killed Arnold is going to kill YOU first!”
Even though I did not want to believe Conner, I did for some reason. I muscled up all the courage that I had, and I called my ex. When he picked up the phone, I froze.”
“Hello?”
“Hey Bianca!” Josh told me excitedly.
“Hey… Josh, I need a favor.”
“What’s up?”
“Could I stay at your place for a few weeks or until I finish my story?” I ask him
“UHHH…”
“It’s complicated, I’ll tell you when I get there. Oh, and the girls are coming!” I tell him.
After I told the girls that we were staying at dad’s house, they were both over the moon excited. Amber was the daddy’s girl. When Josh and I were still together, they had a tradition that every Super Bowl they would make enough chicken wings for a small country, and just the two of them were allowed to eat them. It brought a smile to my face to think about those happy
“Thanks for bringing the girls Bianca!”
“Yeah I just… I do not think that the guy that committed suicide truly committed suicide, and my boss told me to go to a cops house. You were the first one he mentioned, so here we are”
“How long to do you think you will be here?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the next two weeks. Why?”
“Just wondering,”
When the girls and I first got here, they ran up to they’re room. Josh got the house from the divorce even though I had the most stable job. Any way, I went up to see them, and they had brought out a bunch of old toys, from when they were a baby. That was all they had for fun because they almost never got to see their dad. After we finished our dinner, I told the girls to go get in the bath.
“Why do you think that Arnold did not commit suicide?”
“You know how I became depressed soon after we divorced?”
“Yeah”
“I thought about commiting suicide more than I should have. When I researched suicide, it says that if you are going to jump off a building, you should jump head first”
“Ok, too much information”
“Sorry, anyway, Arnold “jumped” off feet first”
“Oh so you think he was pushed off”
“Yes”
As I tucked into bed (I made Josh sleep on the couch), I could feel my body falling into a coma of exhaustion.
When I woke up the next morning, Josh was in the kitchen making pancakes for the girls, and the sun was beaming on my face like a stage lamp.
“Hey, Bianc… Wow”
“What! I look like this when I get out of bed everyday. Gosh”
“Do you want pancakes?”
“No, I have to go into work”
“Bianca, you look tired”
“Thanks Boss”
“Sorry”
When I got to my desk there was a blue sticky note on my desk that read “throw away this note, and you will die.”
“Wow, funny guys”
I threw it in the trash.
“At lunch, I saw a bigger man watching me, but he was trying to make it look like he was not looking at me”
“Well maybe you were imagining things, B”
“Josh, I saw him”
“Fine, if you see him the rest of the week, tell me. I will stakeout”
“I saw him today”
“I saw him today”
“I saw him today”
“Ok all week, I will stakeout today”
“Ok, you have the mic in your ear?”
“Yep. Thanks for yelling”
“Alright, there he is Josh”
“The guy in all black, about 6’6?”
“Yep”
“Ok, if he looks like he might come over and try to sit with you or anything the code word is….”
“A fake cough yes I know Josh”
The man started to approach me ever so slightly so I got ready to leave, but then when I turned to walk back to my building he grabbed my arm.
“Hey”
“Get off of me creep! (fake cough)”
(fake cough) (fake cough)
In the most discreet way I could, I yelled “JOSH”
He had fallen asleep, and there was no one else on the patio because it was starting to rain.
Just like that, I was getting my mouth covered by this man's hand, and I was lights out.
When I woke up, the hole, or whatever I was seeing (everything was fuzzy), was dirty and abandoned.
“You are awake”
“What do you want? What is your name?”
“The name’s Chad, and I want to know what you know about the murder on Rivington Avenue,”
(I knew it was not a suicide!)
“Umm, I do not know much”
“LIAR”
“Chad, I do not know much, but I do know is that if you keep me here, and someone does find me you will be in a lot more trouble.
“That was an accident’’
“Well nobody knows that but me, If you let me go Chad I will be on your side for the trial”
“Why should I belive you? I killed a man, and made it look like a suicide. I can do it again, and maybe I could frame your husband!”
“Ch…”
The next thing I knew, the pain of the wood seared though my skin, and that is when I realized I was going to die.
“Well, Well. You’re awake!”
“How much longer is this going to last, Chad? What even happened on the rooftop?”
He started to tell me about how him, and Arnold were old high school friends. They had just gotten in touch about a month ago, and Arnold mentioned that he had drugs. Chad tried his best to say to, but it didn't work. They met on the rooftop to do the deal, but when Arnold added that he did not have the drugs, Chad snapped, and pushed him off the roof.
That night, Chad got a call from a unknown number. When he answered, he said it was for me! I was shocked at first, he was holding me captive! Why on Earth would he want to have people knowing what he sounded like? The cops might even be able to trace the call. But after Chad had held me captive for a few days I realized that he was not a bad guy, but a guy in a bad situation.
“Hello?”
“Hey Bianca, how are you?”
“Lovely, besides the fact that I am being kidnapped, and I don’t know where I am! How about you!?”
“Right… Sorry”
“Are you any closer to figuring out where the hell I am?!?!”
“Kind of, we had our forensic audio person disassemble the audios from our calls, and he heard things like a train, and birds”
“Alright, that narrows it down to about every fucking building in all of Georgia!”
“I know”
(Inaudible)
“What was that B?”
“BIANCA!!!”
Chad had took the phone out of my hand before he thought that I would give Josh to much information.
“What the hell Chad! I thought we decided that I could tell Josh where I was, and then I could try, and reduce your sentence!”
“Well I changed my mind”
That is when the tears started rolling down the side of my face. I could feel my face turn red, and it felt like the tears was lava.
“What the hell is wrong, Bianca?”
“Shut up Chad you are the one that kidnapped me you idiot”
“Yeah, think about that Chad”
(The next week)
Suddenly, the door slammed open in the living room, and someone yelled
“BIANCA!?”
(OMG he found me)
“JOSH”
As I stood up, a weight was lifted off my shoulders knowing that I was safe.
“How did you find me Josh?”
“Once we render the sound even more, you can hear Chad whispering in the background. When we put him through the books, it came up with his home address as well as that he had a outstanding warrant for get this murder!”
“What? I thought we did not have any leads for the Arnold case?”
“Wait, how did you know that Chad pushed him off?”
“When I was having my very nice stay in this crap shoot Chad told me what happened”
“OH”
“Yeahhhhh”
(Two months later)
“Alright girls, mommy has to go to a court to watch a case. I will be back, and be goood for the babysitter please”
“Ok mommy”
After Josh found me, Chad was charged with first degree murder as well as kidnapping, and attempted murder, and today was the day that he was going to be arranged in court.
Just as the jury was leaving to make a decision.
“Hey”
“Hey Josh, what are you doing here”
“Well, I thought since I put the bastard in jail I could at least see him go”
“Haha well thanks”
“Hey, I know this was a tough two months, but once this guy is final in jail, we can go back to the “normal” us”
“Yeah, about that, I was thinking about giving you weekends”
“Really”
“Yeah, you have done so much for the girls, and I think that I will give you weekends”
“That means a lot B, thanks”
“Alright, here comes the jury B”
When I stand up, I feel this other hand, and it was Josh’s
“Let’s do this”
“Has the jury come to a conclusion?”
“We have your honor”
“We fine defendant”
The adrenaline was rushing through my veins
“Guilty on all charges”
“Oh my god, oh my god Josh! He is going to jail!”
“Yeah I know B”
I could feel another weight being lifted off my shoulders.