Read Corset Killer :: Turning the Table Sideways

Arela kept calling Valie's phone but it kept going to voicemail. Her heart was beating and aching as she watched Rosie, Liliy, and Alex knock at her door. No answer and no ringtone was heard from the inside. "It's been three days already, where could she be?", Alex mumbled as he looked around the house. It was odd, nothing was out of place, neat, just like Valie. The group left and began to ask around the neighborhood but, no one knew anything about the person living in that house. Even the old woman who lived just next door just said "What a quiet young lady". They felt lost as they felt there was no one else to turn to. Each felt immense guilt and fear about where their friend was, even worse, her parents didn't know either and no one wanted to tell them.

The school gave out an announcement the next day and reported Valie missing, however, every police present had the aura of not wanting to be bothered. There were already so many victims missing and theories of many more that went uncovered. Whispers could be heard from within the group of policemen, "To be honest, she shouldn't have been home alone". "We keep telling them not to go out alone, it's just more work for us". "That area has case after case of missing people, it's just a waste of time". "Probably just another runaway".

Lily overheard and she just stared as they spotted her. Each looked away or down, but she just kept on staring as they became uncomfortable. She sighed and walked away. She wasn't angry or upset with them. She knew they were useless in these types of cases, it felt like everyone kept disappearing and no one knew why, that included Valie. Lily rushed to her friends and she as each one looked exhausted. In times like these, Valie would know what to do.

Aria sat at her desk, playing with a pen as she tried to remember anything of use, but nothing came to mind. She knew what Valie liked and what she disliked, it was all so strange for Valie to go missing like this. She began to reminisce about the first time she met Valie. It was middle school, Aria was new in the area and enrolled late in the school year, she wanted to start making friends, but was anxiety written as she could feel people staring at her. Whispers and giggles could be heard as she made her way to the front of the class to introduce herself. Heart pounding, her eyes shifted trying to focus on something in that room, her palms sweating. She could almost feel people peeling away at her as they made mocking crying faces as she froze. She felt alone, she was alone, no one knew her and everyone knew each other. She felt like an outsider and she was about to make it worse by standing out. Her eyes began to water as she stared at the ground. Silence filled the room for what felt like an eternity, and then a loud crash was heard from the back of the room. All eyes scattered toward the noise as they saw a boy wailing in pain in the back corner of the classroom. "Alexander! What are you doing, are you okay?", the teacher exclaimed as the room erupted in laughter but also tried to help the poor boy up. "I was trying to get my pencil and my desk flipped", Alex whimpered as he made a silly wiggling motion with his arms. Aria quickly offered to take the boy to the nurse's office, he smiled and took her up on her offer.

As they walked arm in arm, she thanked him, even if it wasn't intentional, she was saved from the embarrassment that was about to erupt. " Don't mention it, it wasn't even my idea. My friend saw you were really nervous and she offered me a honeybun if I could create a distraction. So thank you, you just got me a free honey bun", his smile went wide as he imagined the prize he won.

As lunchtime approached Alex asked her to join him and his friends. She agreed. She followed him and as they entered the lunchroom, she imagined what Alex's friend looked like and why they would help her. As they were approaching the table they were going to sit at, Aria saw the prettiest girl with brown curls flash a smile toward her. "Is that the friend?", Aria asked. Alex shook his head, "Nah. The girl next to her". Aria shifted her head and it was odd. She didn't notice her until Alex pointed her out. It was as if she had no presence that she blended into the background. Aria didn't want to sound mean but the girl looked plain until she slowly looked up from her phone. Her eyes were so chilling, it was as if she saw through you as you did her. Dark like obsidian, it was as if she didn't have a pupil in her eye, just a dark abyss staring at you with a blank face. However, that quickly changed as she saw that plain girl's smile. A smile that said she accepted you completely, and immediately, she felt like she belonged.

The happy memory was quickly interrupted as a grating noise was heard approaching Arias's desk. Happy as could be with a smile stretching ear to ear, Elis approached her with the confidence of a person who won a million dollars, "Hey, why so sad today?".