𝑪𝑹𝒀 𝑴𝑬 𝑨 𝑹𝑰𝑽𝑬𝑹 (18+)

thirty-one • reprise

River.

They found another dead body this morning. This one more gruesome than the last. The mayor ordered an emergency town council meeting due to the obvious problem Meadowview had on its hands. There was a killer amongst us, one so quiet they were able to skirt by even the nosiest of residents. Hailey, Creed, the boy from Sater, and now...well, I didn't know her name. Nobody knew her name except the people involved. The mayor and the station decided to keep her identity a secret so when the news showed up with their vans and their cameras the undeniable panic was impenetrable.

Meadowview was a small town that went virtually unnoticed. It wasn't marked on the map since the split with Sater and residents lived peaceful separate lives away from the rest of the bustling world. That bustling world on the opposite side of the welcome sign was knocking now. Banging down doors and begging for answers no one had. Then the banging stopped. Suddenly and all at once. Someone had the pull to keep the mainstream media away, which was a mystery for later.

I waited on the steps of Parker's house debating on a knock. He kept up his end of the deal so it was only fair that I followed through with mine only I asked him to get my narcissistic boyfriend off my case. What Parker asked of me was—difficult. Tamera Gooding held pain near inconceivable. A case of grief I'd never seen before and while I hadn't dealt with much death personally I understood suffering. I knocked on the door, twice and waited for it to be opened. Part of me hoped no one would come so I could go home and hide in my bed but that wasn't possible because Parker opened the door a few seconds later.

"Part of me thought you weren't going to show up," he half smiled.

"We had a deal, can I come in?" I tilted my head to get a look into the house but he was too tall and his shoulders were too broad to see past.

"Yeah sure, she's in the living room. If you need me, I'll be upstairs."

He closed the door behind me and I felt the walls closing in. The air was stagnant and the pictures of Hailey on every wall gave me a shiver I couldn't contain. Ms. Tamera was far from the gossiping woman I'd known her as. Now she was staring at a wall almost completely still, expression blank.

I cleared my throat and announced my presence but that didn't matter. She couldn't acknowledge me even if she wanted to. She was trapped in her head, an endless loop of torment played warping her mind like a bad trip. I hate to say I'd been there before so I gave her the opportunity to free herself of that cycle before I tried to pull her out myself.

"River uh, what are you doing here?" She wiped her eyes and continued to stare at the wall.

"I just wanted to wish Hailey a happy birthday and to offer my condolences. I know asking if you're okay seems...trivial but are you?"

She laughed, "I've seen better days River."

I turned my head towards the wall.

"I know Park put you up to this. He can't even look at me, it doesn't surprise me he had to get someone to come and do his dirty work." For a moment I thought that this was a mistake. That I should've just apologized and excused myself for wasting her time and then she kept talking and I realized she needed someone to talk to. Parker wouldn't and I was starting to think that wasn't because he didn't love her. It became clear that he loved her too much and that's why he stayed away.

"He's worried about you," I answered back. She only shook her head.

"Every year I think I'm finally going to clear out her room and move on but how could I? I keep asking myself why. Every night when I close my eyes I see her and she asks me why. No one else is asking why. Not anymore," she looked at me with welled eyes, "How could I stop asking why River?"