Prologue
Yasmine lay upon her bed, her palms dug into her eyes while shakily exhaling. Slowly sitting upwards, she lazily stood and slowly crept downstairs in hope of not waking her parents, yet was unable to avoid the small creaks from each step she took.
The chopping board remained in the same spot it’d been left hours ago, the missing pieces of furniture from the house never went unnoticed by visitors. Her father insisted on selling anything and everything to ensure they had enough money for their ‘needs’, well, his needs.
Sighing, the blonde gazed at her reflection in the oven, the red streaks in her hair added a certain spice that she almost found a tad bit of infatuation from. Yasmine tore her eyes away from the oven door, grabbing the last apple from the fruit bowl and rinsing it under cold water.
The faint voices from the radio played in the background, only catching her attention when a breaking news report came up. In a swift motion, Yasmine had her hand on the volume dial and was turning it up.
“The body of a young Jane Doe has recently been reported by a by-passer, the young girl was found beside Stanmore Park. No ID, wallet, or keys were found with her; her hair colour is blonde, and her eye colour is blue, and paramedics believe her to be from fourteen to sixteen years old. Police will not be giving more details about the incident until they have more information and encourage citizens to stay at home. If you know who this lady may be, please do not hesitate to contact the police or go to your nearest police station. Back to you, Jay.”
The faint voice of the news reporter died down again as Yasmine turn the volume back down on the radio and pushed down the antenna.
Yasmine shrugged her shoulders, thinking nothing of it. She took a seat on the armchair and stared at the wall where the television used to be - Yasmine recalls her father saying how it going towards her college funds. Although after checking her account, she had less money than she had before.
She was well aware of her father’s issues with stealing and drinking. Yasmine had tried to confront him before, that’s where she got her scar from. She took a bite of her apple, trying not to think of what happened that day.
The phone rang.
Yasmine rushed to the phone in hope of her father not waking up and coming downstairs, otherwise, she’d have to face his wrath. She picked up the phone and held it up to her ear, turning the rotary dial in an attempt to calm herself down.
The hysterical cries of Maya were heard on the other side of the phone, Yasmine was immediately alert and asked in a loud whisper.
“Maya? What’s going on, why are you crying?!” It almost sounded more like an interrogation, Yasmine had her brows furrowed in concern for her friend.
“I-It’s Ch-Chloe, her mom c-called my mom telling her tha-that her body was found in a ditch.” Maya wailed on the other side of the phone, her voice becoming higher at the end of her sentence.
Yasmine stood in the centre of her kitchen, unable to respond. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell agape, she couldn’t believe it.
