I can't be the murderer.

An entry I wanted to submit for a writing competition but I overshot by 80%.

Oh well I give up. J Unlimited writing is nice. 

I can't be the murderer. 

“Laurina, please do not do that!” I growled at that girl angrily.

“Linda, she killed Mother!” The girl bitterly barked.

“That doesn’t give you the right to kill her Laurina! No!” I shouted.

I opened my eyes; sweat seeped through my clothes and my heart thumped hard and quick. I heaved a sign of relief. It was just a dream.

*

The temptation to kill Jessica, the woman who indirectly caused Mother’s death two years ago, was definitely not resistible. I hated Jessica. She was the splinter to my thumb, the blister to my toes and the monstrous ache in my back. She despised both of us and her hate towards us was immeasurable.

Jessica was my stepmother.

Father left Mother for Jessica. Mother was enraged, fell into depression and eventually passed on as a very unhappy woman. There was nothing we could do. Jessica was our new mother. However, she treated us as her personal maids. Father couldn’t care less. He believed every lie she told and our cries for help were ignored. Home was jail. It was a place for people like us who lived day by day hoping and wishing we could get out of this hellhole and finally smell freedom. That day never did come for my sister Laurina. She was undernourished and just like my mother, she left this world, leaving me all alone forever and forever.

*

Jessica died today. Murdered, she was countlessly stabbed from top to toe and disgustingly dismembered by her murderer. I was over the moon. My freedom, my life, a life I can finally live. The police came to investigate this case, interrogated all her acquaintances. When it came to me, they asked where I had been the night before. This question was easy. I was home the whole time, it was the holidays and I was never allowed to go out. I also slept exceptionally earlier and I dreamt of my deceased sister. Officer Sam narrowed his eyes at me and they pierced through mine. I was intimidated but I was innocent. There is nothing I can hide. He continued questioning me again while lowering his spectacles down the bridge of his crooked nose so he could take a better look at me and smiled. 

“I believe you, you’re just a child. Murdering is seemingly impossible for you.” He patted me on the head before continuing, “However if you sense anything suspicious, let me know immediately, Linda.”  He winked and I escorted him out of my house.

After Officer Sam left, I sat on my sofa thinking of who hated my stepmother so much that he had to even dismember her. Suddenly my head was overwhelmed with pain and I fainted on the sofa.

*

“Well, did I do a good job? How did you like Jessica’s new look?” a familiar voice questioned me.

“No, Laurina no! Tell me you did not kill Jessica please. How did you even kill her? You are no longer a human!” I choked on my words.

“I did kill her. I have my ways but you cannot know. Ignorance is bliss. You’re free now. You can now do the things I always wanted to do. Go Linda go. Explore the world and tell me the next time you dream of me.” Laurina calmly replied and she vanished.

I woke up crying. Laurina can’t possibly be the murderer. She was such a sweet sister and couldn’t even bear to kill an ant. Murdering Jessica was beyond her limits.

*

The police came again to search for more evidence.  Apparently there was no break-ins and Father was overseas so he could not have managed to kill her. She was killed around midnight and the security camera in our car park showed that no one foreign came to our house. The knife did not have any fingerprints too.

I was the only one at home. I was the prime suspect.

All evidence pointed to me. However Officer Sam refused to accept the fact. I was the little sweet innocent fourteen years old in his eyes. In fact, he pitied me that both my mothers had passed on. They wanted to arrest me but he did not allow that. He wanted to find out more and he stood to his assumption that it could not have been me. There is more to Jessica’s death that meets the eye.

I did not mention my dream to me. It was not possible at all. A dead person couldn’t have possibly killed. 

Officer Sam arrived the next morning. He looked at me sadly and sighed. “Kid, I’m sorry I have to bring you in. The higher-ups ordered me to.”

I inhaled loudly and wanted confidence that might float in the air to be absorbed by me.  “Officer Sam, I have something to confess.”

His eyes widened. “No you did not kill her Linda.”

I nod and mumbled, “I am not sure but I do know who killed Jessica.”

*

Officer Sam heard my story and started shaking his head. He slammed the table and looked at me in the eye fiercely, “Kid, this is not possible, don’t lie to me so you can get out of this mess.”

“I did not kill her! You have to believe me!” I screamed in agony. I told him because I thought he would have believed me. Surprisingly, he deemed my statement illogical. I believed it was not true too but I just wanted to tell him what I knew.

“Listen, you are staying here.” He looked away and walked out of the room. I could see his disappointment.

*

He came back with another man. This young man was bespectacled and dressed in a suit. 

“Linda, this is Patric. He is our psychologist and is here to give you some tests.” Officer Sam bluntly said and left the room.

My face flushed. “I am not mad!” I shouted angrily and threw my cup of water at the door he just closed.

I reluctantly did some tests with Patric. I told him everything form the start and he just nod, smiled and jotted down some notes.  He also tried making me sleep with his little watch and I snoozed off on my table.

*

“Is this guy trying to take advantage of my sister?” I heard a growl.

*

I woke up with water splashed on me. I was holding a pen about to stab Patric. I shook my head and lowered my hand.

“What was I doing?” I looked around and my teeth clattered. My thoughts were everywhere. I tried to kill Patric, I must be the one who killed Jessica. I dropped to the floor and started crying. I do not want to be a monster but I am one.

Patric squatted next to me. “I diagnose you with split personality.  Your sister is dead and you think of her too much so you took over her character and your subconscious mind assumed that you’re her.”

“But my sister is not a murderer. She’ll never be.” I muttered.

“Linda listen, you hated Jessica and when you had inherited your sister’s character, your mind instantly reminded you that you are incapable of murdering. Hence you pushed the hatred to Laurina’s character.”

I shook my head in disbelief. I pulled my hair and bit my lips till they bled. Tears flowed like a waterfall. Officer Sam barged into the room. “Linda please stop crying you did not commit murder. Your psychological state caused this.” He gently told me. I looked at my shaking hands. These hands were capable of killing. I need to get rid of them desperately. I put all my fingers in my mouth and started biting them. Officer Sam and Patric had to force my hands out of my mouth. My hands were bleeding and I screamed. I suddenly remembered these bloody hands holding a knife stabbing Jessica and her blood continuously flowing out. I could hear her cries and my evil laughter. I put my hands over my ears and started to bang my head against the wall. “Stop! Stop! Stop!” My head was bleeding as well. Officer Sam and Patric pulled me away and tied me to my chair where I could not hurt myself. I looked aimlessly at the ceiling. My so-called freedom is gone. Hello jail.

Just then Father entered the room and saw me tied. He glared at Officer Sam and Patric and angrily ordered them to untie me. By then I had cooled down. I clenched my fists and my eyes wandered around the room.  Father insisted Officer Sam and Patric leave the room so he could have some time with me. Just as they left, Father frowned angrily and demanded an explanation on why I killed Jessica. I refused to look at him in the eye. He grabbed my face, squeezed my cheeks and made me look at him in the eye. My beady eyes stared into his before closing. I did not want to see my Father. He was still siding Jessica and I was his daughter. I needed moral support not another questioning.

Father sighed and crossed his arms. He told me I was better off dead, wasn’t worth a lawyer’s fee and should rot in jail where he will never ever visit me. I snarled and stood up. “You were never there for me in the past. Now does not make any difference to me.”

He slapped me.

“I don’t have a father.” I mocked him while holding on to my burning cheek.

He then cornered me and started strangling me. “This is what you get for killing my Jessica!” He shouted.

I was choking. Thankfully Officer Sam came in and forced Father’s hands off me. He was going to charge Father for attempted murder. I snickered at Father. “You’re not worth a lawyer’s fee too. Rot in jail, Dad.”

*

I was not jailed but Father was sentenced to five years. Officer Sam decided to become my foster father and I had to undergo counseling from Patric . When he deemed me as mentally fit, I was so happy and hugged him tightly. Laurina was out of my life. I finally got rid of her character along with my sins. I was seventeen when he said I was free from my mental jail.  These three years with Patric were the best years of my life. I fell madly in love with him. Although he was ten years older than me, he felt the same way too. We started dating. I became a normal person going back to school intending to grow up to be a psychologist too. I wanted to be like Patric, my rescuer, my lover.

*

I am forty-seven now. I have never seen Father again since he came out of jail. My foster father has passed on and Laurina has murdered Patric. He cheated on me with another woman, Jessy. Laurina is back with my evilness... 

Hope you enjoyed the story thought its rubbish! Glad I'm done before 2am! :)

Alina