Sophie’s Quest – Episode 3

Episode 3

 

Silence reigned in the air before Dylan spoke

 

“Who’re you,man?”

 

“Tony Parker. Does that name ring a bell?”

 

Dylan sprang up

 

“That’s right. Brielle Parker is my sister. My favourite sibling, even” The guy continued, smiling coldly at Dylan before returning his gaze to the rest of the group

 

“You killed Austin then?” Dylan spoke again, clenching his fists “Murderer!”

 

“Enough!” Jace interjected, placing his cup on the table before looking at Tony “It was just a silly dare,man. We didn’t know he’d actually do it”

 

Tony chuckled before leaning forward “A silly dare?. Y’all dared him to sleep with pretty,classy Brielle Parker huh?..then . make a video of it?” He looked around at all of them one after the other

 

“Good Lord” Mitchie muttered and rubbed her palms over her face. Her skin felt cold and she closed her eyes. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be. They’d been a happy group since junior high before

 

 

Emily brought Jace to the group. They’d all been interested in him. He was older,knew lots of things and had even gotten them a frat house. It used to be the frat house of Jace’s former frat group and when he’d tagged them all—Emily, Mitchie,Dylan, Austin and himself—a frat,it’d been cool. It’d felt more like a strong friendship for them all …All except Mitchie. She’d not been comfortable with the frat idea.. especially,with Jace in it. Everyone in the group knew–Jace was dangerous. It wasn’t even about the people that were invited to their frat parties ..or how those invitees smoke,drank and danced. The group always had fun at those frat parties so it wasn’t even about it. Jace himself,was just simply dangerous.

 

The scene of the second-to the-last frat party flashed through her mind. It’d been a fun and crazy evening. They’d visited the mall first in Jace’s car, where Emily and Mitchie had done a little shopping, before they’d headed to the frat house. They’d had lots of fun at the party and when it was time for the game, everyone had gathered in the kitchen

 

“Truth or Dare,Austin?” Jace had asked, smirking as he’d watched Austin

 

“Dare”

 

Everyone had laughed

 

“He finally chose dare” Mitchie laughed

 

“He never chooses dare” Someone else said, laughing too as Austin joined in

 

“For your first dare,Austin” Jace had started, leaning forward with the smirk still on his face “You’re going to get Brielle Parker. It’d be easy since she has this huge crush on you” A little laughter had sounded before Jace continued “Once you get her close enough,get her into your bed and make a video of it as evidence to us”

 

“No,man,no” Austin’s laughter sounded as he caught the camera Jace had thrown to him before throwing it over to Dylan “You do it”

 

“Nah. Jace would” Dylan countered, throwing the camera back to Jace

 

“The dare’s for you,Austin. It’s a bet now. If you succeed,you have my 10 bucks” Jace said, throwing the camera back to Austin

 

“And my 20 bucks” Someone in the little gathering said

 

“I put 15”

 

“10… Although I doubt he’d ever get Brielle. She’s a hard nut” The last voice had added and a few chuckled.

 

Mitchie drew her hands down her face and opened her eyes. She still didn’t want to believe it was Austin,but a week after that, Brielle had gotten raped and the video had been used by Jace as blackmail. She shuddered as she remembered the last frat party, where Austin had been stabbed. No one knew who it was…but surely, Brielle’s brother,Tony,must have sent the attackers that night.

 

“I wanna know who gave the dare” Tony’s voice sounded again as he stood. The calmness in his voice was chilly and even deadly as he took Jace’s cup and finished up the drink

 

“We all did” Jace spoke “It was more like a general bet”

 

“I see” Tony muttered,swiping his palm over his mouth as he dropped the cup “You four are going down”

 

“I wasn’t part of the damn bet!!” Emily screeched just as Tony reached the door. He turned to her and heaved a chuckle before looking around at the rest

 

“And I almost forgot. Heard there’s a Sophie Andrews at Mark-Bedders.. His sister. Can you ask her for a meet-up with me?. I’d like to make a video of that sort of thing too. You know what I’m talking about” He smirked at the group before exiting the store. No one spoke as Jace stood and suddenly smashed the cup to the floor. No one had dared to counter Jace’s perfect lie about who had given the dare because they all knew who Jace was. He ran his hands through his hair, looked at them all, before exiting the store too

 

 

 

……… SOPHIE ……..

 

 

 

I watched as Paul held some instruments for Doctor Ken as he examined Austin who was still in coma. Doctor Ken is Paul’s family doctor and somehow, he’d gotten him to treat Austin the night of the incident. During the few days before the attack,I’d already known something was amiss. I just didn’t know what..but I knew it had to do with the frat..and that it was something serious. Emily’s letter to Austin had helped confirm that and when I’d witnessed the attack,I’d known that whoever the attacker was had planned for Austin to die on the spot and wouldn’t want to know he was still alive. I had been drunk that night,but when I’d staggered and fell,then saw through my blurry eyes that it was Paul,I’d held him and cried as he raised me up

 

“Take him away” I’d slurred “Please…Help” I’d blacked out after that and had woken again in Paul’s place,with his doctor,Ken treating Austin’s injury in the room. Paul’s parents were unaware of what was going on in the room. Paul had later told me everything… saying he’d called the doctor who had luckily been around the area and had parked his car at the backyard to pick I, Austin and Paul up. It wasn’t safe for Austin to stay at Paul’s after the injury had been treated and so I’d suggested our basement, where no one goes to..and where Doctor Ken would come to check on him regularly.Kindly share out more interesting stories from generalloaded.com using the floating social media icon button at the bottom of the screen

 

 

“When will he be up?” I heard Paul ask

 

“That,I don’t know..but I do know he’s responding well to treatment” Doctor Ken replied as he replaced the old bandage around Austin’s stomach with a new one “I always feel like I’m in trouble for helping you guys in this. The cops are searching for this same person”

 

“People out there want him dead, doctor. I need to sort this all out”

 

“He needs a hospital environment, Sophie. It’s kinda funny that I’m treating someone in a basement” He chuckled while I and Paul joined in

 

“I know. Everything will be sorted out soon. You’ll see” I said as I reached out and picked up the brown book on the chair beside me,then smiled and ran my fingers over it. Who knew Austin had a diary?. I

 

 

would have laughed him to scorn if he were here. I paused and looked at the bed. Well… If he were here and awake. Most boys don’t keep diaries. It’s more like a girly thing..but Austin loved writing…and this diary stuff is funny but not much of a surprise. I don’t trust the cops even. I still have inquiries to make about Officer Wilson and his claim. Like Paul said, there’s something fishy there.

 

Soon,I was closing the front door after saying goodbye to Paul and Doctor Ken. Mom went out with Julie and they aren’t back yet. I grinned, looking at the cover of the diary once again before I hurriedly climbed up the stairs to my room. Once in,I jumped on the bed and opened the book. I turned to the first page and read

 

 

 

Today’s my birthday and it’s the best I’ve had since I can remember. I can’t believe Dylan got me a silly fluffy white bear!. That’s the silliest and funniest present I’ve ever received!. I’m soooo giving that to Sophie

 

 

 

I giggled as I turned to stare briefly at the white fluffy toy bear that Austin had given me. It still sat comfortably in between my pillows. I giggled again,then turned to the next page,and the next. They were mostly filled with irrelevant information. I kept flipping till I got to another interesting part

 

 

 

And Mitchie got her first heartbreak today. She says the guy’s a fresher at WSU. I wonder why she never told us about him till now

 

 

 

“Hmmm”

 

I made to turn to the next page when the sound of the doorbell echoed around the house. They’re back

 

“Coming!” I yelled and threw the diary into my school bag before leaving my room and heading downstairs

 

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NEXT MORNING…7:05 am

 

I flung my backpack over my shoulder and tied my shoe lace before heading downstairs

 

“Breakfast’s here, Sophie” I heard mom call from the dining as I made to enter the kitchen. Oh. Now that’s unusual. I can’t remember the last time we had breakfast together at the dining since dad left. I turned and headed for the dining. Drawing out a seat,I sat opposite to mom and took Julianna from her

 

“Baby girl” I cooed and Julie giggled, trying to draw my hair with her fingers. I placed her on my laps and put her empty feeding bottle into her mouth. Almost immediately, her hands went from my hair to the feeding bottle in her mouth and she began to play with it. I looked at mom. She looked different today.

 

 

For once,her hair was gathered up in a bun and she looked tidy–not at all like her usual untidy self. Her eyes were still puffy,but not much. Guilt washed all over me as I thought of my brother who was right there in the house. I should tell her,but I know mom. She wouldn’t let me say anything in her overwhelmed state and in less than three seconds,a few people would get to know about it. I wouldn’t want that when there’s still a lot of cobwebs to clear in this issue

 

“Eat up, Sophie. You’ll be late” She said, then smiled a little before scooping from her own plate of chicken pasta. I smiled back too, then looked down and ran my hand through Julie’s hair before I started to eat.

 

I arrived at school pretty late. I knew first lecture was already on by the time I entered the school’s compound. I paused in confusion as I noticed two police cars parked at the far end of the garage. I met Paul at the staircase and he quickly grabbed my hand,then led me back downstairs

 

“Paul?”

 

He didn’t answer and only stopped when we got to an empty classroom

 

“It’s Zoe” Paul finally spoke as we looked through the window. I recognized Officer Wilson who stood with his back to us. There was Officer Thomas who held a device,and then Officer Shelton who stood beside Zoe

 

“I’m sorry,Zoe” Officer Thomas was saying,closing the device “…but you’ve seen it yourself. Your fingerprints are all over the knife. This is not an arrest,Zoe. We just want you to answer a few questions”

 

“What?!” I asked,stunned as I glanced briefly at Paul. This makes no sense.

 

“Sophie” Paul called, trying to stop me as I walked into the classroom. Zoe’s fingers were in her mouth and I knew she was trying to stop herself from bursting into tears

 

“This has to be a mistake, Officer” I spoke. They all turned to me and Officer Wilson sighed

 

“There is no mistake here, Sophie” He spoke as he placed his hand on my shoulder “I understand that she’s your friend but we need to ask her a few questions. It’s not an arrest”

 

“No…Zoe… She can’t” I stopped as I realized I was making no reasonable sentence and I gulped. What’s happening?. It had been a boy who’d stabbed Austin. How’s Zoe involved in this?. I stood,rooted to the spot as Officer Wilson tapped me twice on the shoulder before leaving the classroom. I watched as Zoe followed,breathing hard. Her eyes were teary as she turned to look at me in a way that said she had no idea of what was going on. Once they were gone,I turned to Paul,then ran out of the classroom. This is crazy.

 

Paul ran after me and we both got outside just when Zoe was entering the car

 

“Officer Thomas!” Paul yelled out and I turned to look at him, wondering what he has to say as the cop stopped and turned. Officer Thomas is a senior cop;tall and well-built. Paul ran up to him and I followed

 

“I made a research when Sophie told me about the first time Officer Wilson visited her home to inform her that Zoe’s fingerprints were on the murder tool”

 

 

I looked at him. He did?. Officer Thomas folded his arms after tucking his small gun into his trouser pocket. He made to speak but Paul cut in

 

“I finally got my results last night. Officer Wilson is a suspect,Sir”

 

“Paul….”

 

“You have to trust me on this, Officer” Paul interrupted, still trying to catch his breath. I watched, still not understanding what Paul was up to,as he dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out a picture of Officer Wilson in a shirt and jeans. He stretched the picture to Officer Thomas

 

“Who’s that?” He asked and watched as the cop glanced at the picture

 

“It’s Wilson,of course”

 

“No” Paul shook his head and brought out another picture of Officer Wilson in his police uniform. I took the picture from Paul and looked at it, suddenly noticing a slight difference in the faces shown in the pictures. I let Officer Thomas take the second picture from me

 

“Who’s that one?” Paul asked again and Officer Thomas paused, glancing at the two pictures in confusion. I guess he too,was noticing the slight difference in the two faces. Paul took the first picture from him

 

“This, here,is Ben Logan…and that..is the Officer, Wilson Logan. Officer Wilson has a twin brother who happens to be Ben Logan. Found out Ben Logan is a gangster and drug dealer and has boys who works for him. I got to know that this same Ben Logan lives in Zoe’s street in the disguise of a lone, peaceful neighbour. I tried to connect the dots,Officer…and I came up with this. I don’t know why Austin Andrews was attacked yet,but I’m guessing that whoever had wanted him dead, had gone to Ben Logan for the job. Ben Logan had sent his boys instead who’d left the knife behind in a bid to escape from the cops who’d interrupted the party. Officer Wilson and the few other cops had found the knife in the backyard and once Ben Logan knew,he’d gone for his twin brother. Now,I think that either Officer Wilson had let Ben Logan have the knife,or Ben had stolen the knife and somehow,must have gotten it to unsuspecting Zoe in his street and then returned it to Officer Wilson’s” Paul stopped, seemingly out of breath after all the explanation.

 

Officer Thomas’ brows were deeply furrowed after Paul stopped speaking. He nodded very slowly, putting a finger to his chin in thoughts. He looked down at the two pictures again before tapping Paul on the shoulder

 

“I’ll look into this,Paul. You’ve done a very vital job here” He smiled proudly and then shook Paul’s hand

 

“One more thing, Officer” I cut in,after coming out from the shock of Paul’s discovery

 

“Yes, Sophie?” Officer Thomas smiled, tucking the pictures into his pocket

 

“I have Austin’s…body with me….In the basement of our house”

 

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TBC

 

SOPHIE’S QUEST

 

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By Tess