Clocks Without Hands

### Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Whenever Tyler Lyons sees a picture of someone who has been or will be murdered, she has a vision of their killer. First, she sees a clock without hands, and then the killer's face is brought to light. No one has ever believed that she possesses such a gift, so when a serial killer is loose in her town, it is up to her to prove his guilt. Her gift places her under police scrutiny, and so she starts her investigation while on run from the authorities. Through crazy escape plans and the help of a boy named Jacob, Tyler will discover shocking secrets about the residents in her town, and attempt to change the fate of the killer's future victims.

Complete Chapters 13 Rating 4.7 ( 95 reviews ) Age Rating 16+ {"language":"en","storyId":184924,"genres":[{"name":"Mystery","path":"/genres/mystery"},{"name":"Thriller","path":"/genres/thriller"}],"authorName":"Erica","authorPath":"/erica9","status":"complete","lastUpdatedAt":1512927382,"chaptersCount":13,"rating":4.702127659574468,"reviewsCount":95,"ageRating":"16+"} Chapter 1 I was eight years old when I attended my first funeral. Thirteen days before, I had been at my best friend Cindy Morris’ house for a sleepover. The details of that evening are still just a blur. I can’t remember when I finally fell asleep, but the image I saw when I awoke still remains ingrained in my memory. Cindy lay next to me, her lifeless eyes glazed over. The carpet was stained a deep red that almost reached my sleeping bag. Her parents came running into the room before I even realized that I had starting screaming. They collapsed onto the floor, no doubt in shock at the sight before them. The silence was replaced by heartbreaking sobs as I noticed the glint of a knife reflected onto the ceiling, the blade edged deep in Cindy’s side. I remembered something that my parents had always told me: to call the police if I was ever in trouble. Looking towards her parent’s tear-stricken faces, I knew it was up to me to get help. I pushed my blankets aside and walked calmly out her bedroom door. A sense of nausea overwhelmed me, so I took the stairs one step at a time towards the kitchen, inhaling slow deep breaths and holding the railing to steady my wavering footfalls. My vision was becoming blurrier by the second as I grasped the receiver. I listened to the small click as my tiny fingers found each button. Sobs were coming in waves from Cindy’s bedroom.

Before I knew it, the house was crawling with blue uniforms. Yellow crime scene tape lined the edges of the Morriss’ lawn, and hordes of people crowded around to gaze at the commotion. Paramedics guided me towards a big white truck, and I covered my face from the blinding lights. One of the paramedics, a tall brunette woman leaned down towards me. Her soft eyes had a hint of kindness in them.

“What’s your name, honey?” she asked. I stared back at her, temporarily unable to speak. Another paramedic swung open the truck doors to reveal a space filled with needles and intimidating machines. I gulped, turning back to focus on the woman’s eyes.

“I’m Ty… Tyler,” I stammered. “Ty... Ty... Tyler Ly...Lyons.” A police officer near us began to write on his notepad. Suddenly, I could hear my parent’s concerned voices in the distance. The police officer met them at the tape, holding one hand out to keep them from entering the scene.

“Is this your daughter?” he asked. Both of them nodded quickly, and he immediately led them to a quiet corner of the lawn. They kept looking back at me, their faces growing more concerned with each part of his lips.

I had to stay in the hospital for a couple days after that. Doctors, police, and detectives prodded me with questions, but I could never remember anything from that night, even after my dizzy state had faded.

“We know that she was drugged. We assume that whoever killed Cindy came in after Tyler was long passed out,” a voice echoed from the hallway. I recognized it as the same police officer who had stood by me at the ambulance.

“Who would do such a thing?” my mom cried. “And why did they only harm Cindy?” I noticed that she couldn’t bring herself to say the word kill.

“We are doing everything we can to find out,” he assured her.

Cindy’s funeral was where I had my first vision. Her murderer had not been found, but the entire town had their own theories. Suspicion had fallen on her mom, dad, and even me. My parents had kept me in the house since my stay in the hospital, claiming I needed to rest, but I guessed that they just wanted to shelter me from the horrid rumors. They had widely debated whether to even take me to her funeral, but Dr. Draycott, the grief counselor that the hospital had mandated that I see, had convinced them that it might help me accept that the she was never coming back. The first thing I noticed when I stepped into the church was the empty white coffin in the center of the room. On a small easel, I could just barely make out the outline of a picture frame. Cindy’s body was still at the coroner’s office being examined for possible clues. I shuddered, trying to erase that image from my mind. Sensing my distress, my mom grabbed my hand and squeezed it as we took our seats. I could feel many eyes on the back of my head, and the sound of whispers was just audible underneath the sweet melodic music playing from the front.

“Do you really think she did it?” one voice questioned. “I mean, the girl is only eight years old.”

“Well,” another voice responded. “With the kind of violence kids see these days in video games, you just never know. I’m surprised her parents actually had the audacity to bring her here.” At that, my mom whirled around, too angry to find the words to speak. Her eyes were shooting daggers at the couple, and the two quickly got up to sit in another pew. I knew that she was about to follow them, but she was stopped by the announcement that the ceremony was about to start. She took her seat, flattening her skirt as the priest began to pray. Many of his words went over my head, and my eyes drifted towards the lightly colored stained glass present around the building. I noticed that Jesus was depicted in the center of one window, and hoped that Cindy was safe with him. I smiled at the thought of her wrapped in his arms, and felt a single tear trickle down my cheek. Suddenly, everyone around me began to sing, and I quickly snapped my attention back to the front. Now, the frame that had been covered by a black tarp was uncovered to unveil a picture of Cindy playing in her backyard. She stood in her favorite pink sweatshirt, kicking at the fall leaves with her boots. A big smile was plastered across her sweet innocent face. Looking at the picture, my vision began to go black around the edges. I took a deep breath to try and calm myself, but the darkness remained. My heart thumped loudly in my chest, and a tingling sensation crashed over my entire body. I was suddenly plunged into complete darkness. I thrashed my arms and legs around wildly, but my body didn’t move an inch. A light appeared that illuminated two hands holding an antique wall clock. Each number was represented by roman numerals in black lettering against the brown rustic surface. The clock’s hands were completely missing. There was just a small hole in the middle, charred at the edges with ash lining the interior. The figure holding the clock stepped forward fully into the light. I recognized him as Charlie Matthews, Cindy’s babysitter that often watched us when her parents went out for a date night. To me, there had always been something off about him. He had always secluded himself to watch TV, telling us that he didn’t care what we did. Anytime we asked him a question, he would quickly tell us to leave him alone. The two of us had made speaking to him into a game, seeing which one of us could get him to utter the most words. We now locked eyes, his completely devoid of any emotion. Neither one of us moved for several seconds. We just stared at each other, completely frozen in time. Then my vision started brightening, and his body slowly faded. I began to recognize the church pews and stained glass windows around me once again. Everyone around me was completely focused on the ceremony, taking no note of my panicked demeanor. I drew in short breaths, trying to make sense of what I had just seen. I stood up, looking around at the faces now peering at me curiously. I didn’t even hear my parents pleas for me to sit down as I stepped out of the pew.

“Charlie,” I mumbled. “Charlie, Charlie, Charlie.” The priest stopped speaking mid-sentence, and I realized that my shrill screams had cut through the air. Every eye was on me, and it was dead silent. I turned and ran for the doors, knocking against the big chalice of holy water by the edge of the doorframe. The loud crash interrupted the deafening silence, and the holy water sprayed onto the floor, making it difficult for anyone to follow me quickly. I bolted outside, and made a run for the woods beside the church. The frantic voices faded behind me. With each step, I tried to shake Charlie’s face from my mind. I’m not sure how far I ran before I finally reached the edge of the trees and came to a gravel road. The sky was now darkening, serving as a constant reminder of what I had experienced in the church. I began to wander along the rough gravel with Charlie’s emotionless eyes still at the forefront of my thoughts.

It had taken the police nearly two hours to find me. Sirens screaming, I was surrounded by cop cars not even one minute of being spotted by a cruiser. Men and women in uniforms stood at a distance while two paramedics slowly approached me. I ignored their words, but allowed myself to be guided into the ambulance. They helped me breathe through the oxygen mask as the weight of what I had just done came crashing down. How could I have interrupted Cindy’s funeral like that? And why did I see Charlie? Did my vision mean something?

It took me several hours to finally explain my experience to the doctors, officers, and my parents. Dr. Draycott had dropped everything to come see me. He chalked my vision down to just a panic attack as a result of my grief. Something in my gut told me that this wasn’t the case. The police were very interested to hear of what I saw, and were convinced that I was remembering something from the night of Cindy’s death. They left promptly to determine if Charlie was the missing piece of the puzzle. I was becoming hysterical trying to explain to Dr. Draycott that my vision was much more than just a panic attack or a memory. I thought that the universe had revealed to me Cindy’s killer. Dr. Draycott decided that I needed to stay in the psych ward for a few days to be monitored. Those few days turned into over six months because I was adamant in my theory. Only when I pretended to believe his words was I allowed to finally go home. During my stay in the hospital, the police had proved that Charlie Matthews had in fact murdered Cindy. He had babysat for her the night before, and had laced the cup that he knew was my favorite with a drug to make me sleep. He hadn’t killed her that night because he didn’t want the suspicion to immediately fall on him. His confession revealed that he had found out that Josh Morris, Cindy’s dad, had been stealing money from his own company to provide for his family. Charlie had then blackmailed Mr. Morris, demanding a cut of the money in exchange for not telling the police. After Mr. Morris became tired of paying Charlie, he vowed not to steal any more money. Charlie’s anger led him to want to hurt Mr. Morris in the worst way imaginable: the loss of a child. Already having a key, Charlie had snuck upstairs while the house was asleep and stabbed Cindy in cold blood.

Every time I looked at a picture of Cindy I had the same vision. I constantly saw that clock and Charlie’s face, even though he was paying for his crime in federal prison. It wasn’t until sophomore year in high school that I had a vision while looking at a picture of someone who wasn’t Cindy. My criminology teacher, Mr. Thomas, had laid out a plethora of pictures in front of each table group.

“These are pictures of people who were murdered that we are going to analyze today,” he stated. The rest of his words didn’t register as I peered at the first portrait. Looking at the young woman, I felt my vision begin to go a little fuzzy. I tried to take deep breaths, but I knew that nothing I could do would stop this from happening when I felt the familiar tingling throughout my body. A small light appeared, illuminating the old clock with no hands in someone’s arms. A woman I didn’t recognize stepped into the light. She had a distinct birthmark across her left cheek. We locked eyes for a moment, then she disappeared with the light. My classmates around me came into focus. None of them seemed alarmed at my state of mind, and so I gathered up the courage to look at the other images. I was met with the same exact visions, each one highlighting a different person clutching the clock.

“Ok, now let’s look at who murdered which person,” Mr. Thomas began. His monotone voice made it seem as if he was bored with the subject, but personally I was anything but bored. With a press of his clicker, he started the slideshow. “This woman here murdered the lady in the first picture.” I gasped. Staring right back at me was the woman from my first vision. She had the same exact birthmark smeared across her left cheek.

“Tyler, hello!” Mr. Thomas shouted. “Are you even listening?” The truth was that I hadn’t heard a single word he had said. I stood, gathering the pictures laid out before me and stuffing them into my bag. “Tyler, where do you think you are going?”

“I’m sorry, I’ve gotta go,” I muttered, sprinting out the door. I was halfway down the hallway before I heard Mr. Thomas’ voice calling after me from the doorway, but I ignored him. I threw myself onto my bike and pedaled home quickly. Desperate to reach my computer, I barely noticed how close the cars whizzed by me as I rode. Upon finally arriving at my house, I threw open my front door and pounded up the stairs. My backpack bounced against my legs with each step. The computer hummed quietly beneath my heavy footfalls. I reached my desk, grabbing the pictures from my backpack. I turned the first picture over to read the name of the victim and her murderer. My fingers raced across the keys as I searched for the case details. Sure enough, the woman with the birthmark had shot the other woman because her husband had had an affair with her. I could still remember each face from my visions in the classroom vividly, and so I searched up the cases on card at a time. My astonishment grew as each face from my vision matched the murderer in the online case details. I leaned back in my chair, pondering how the fact that I had been right about my visions all along.

“Tyler!” my mom screamed suddenly from downstairs. “Where are you?” I quickly cleared my search history and put away the pictures before she reached my doorway. “What are you doing? Are you okay? The school called and said you ran out of criminology class.” I watched as she frowned slightly, worry etched across her face.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said. “I…” I paused, not wanting to add to her worry anymore. “We were talking about murder cases, and I guess I just missed Cindy a little bit extra today. I’m really sorry.” She wrapped me into a hug.

“Oh sweetie, I’m so sorry. I know how hard that class must be for you. You can definitely switch out if you want.”

“Ok, but I am going to have to tell Dr. Draycott about this. He’s going to want to speak with you.” I held back a groan, knowing it would be a little harder to convince Dr. Draycott that I was all right. At the first mention of my visions returning, I worried he would want me to stay in the psych ward again, and who knew how long I would waste away in those hospital robes. There was no way that I was going back there. Being able to see a victim’s murderer was an amazing gift, but I was convinced that for the time-being I was going to have to keep it to myself.

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### Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Pulling up to the school, I immediately noticed the massive group of students crowding the lawn. They laughed and hugged each other as if they had been friends their entire lives.

“Do you want me to walk you in?” my mom asked. I laughed, grabbing my bag and throwing the car door ajar.

“No, I think I’ll manage.” I strode up to the glass doors, and was greeted by a woman who appeared to be the secretary.

“You must be Tyler Lyons,” she started. “I’m Ms. Wiley. I’ll be showing you around today.” We walked past the office where she picked up a blue schedule from the front desk. We took the school one hallway at a time as she tried to explain to me where everything was situated. I was only half listening, trying my best to take in everything around me. Kids pushed past us on either side as the bell chimed throughout the school. We stopped in front of a single doorway, and Ms. Wiley smiled down at me.

“Here’s your first class. I hope you have a great day! And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask!” With that, she was down the hallway and around the corner, leaving me standing alone by the doorframe with her chipper tone reverberating through my mind. I sighed, adjusted my backpack on my shoulders, and stepped inside. Thirty heads immediately turned to face me.

“Hi… I’m Tyler,” I muttered, unsure if my words had reached their ears. A man in a dark suit stepped forward.

“Welcome, Tyler. I’m Mr. B. You must be our new student.” I nodded. “Take any seat you like.” I scanned the room for an empty chair, and found one beside a group of cheerleaders, dressed head to toe in their uniforms. They smiled sweetly at me as I sat down, but I couldn’t tell if it was genuine or not. One girl sat in the front of the group, appearing to be the center of attention. She had beach blonde hair that reached just past her shoulders and sparkling blue eyes that reminded me of the ocean.

“Hello, are you even listening to me?” I quickly snapped to attention, realizing that the girl was speaking to me. “ Like I said, I’m Justice Parker.” She pointed to the girls around her. “This is Mandy, Rachel, Hannah, and Lily.”

“Justice, I’m trying to read the syllabus. Could you please not talk over me?” Mr. B whined. Judging from his tone, I could tell that Mr. B wasn’t the biggest fan of Justice or her friends. Justice laughed, whipping her long hair against the chair as she turned around. Throughout the remainder of the class, her and the other girls texted each other underneath their desks. I tried to focus on Mr. B’s words, but their constant giggling made it hard to concentrate on anything. At the sound of the bell, all five girls were out the door. Once again, I was left to my own devices. Justice was the only one of my classmates that had bothered to utter a word in my direction, and I had hoped that she would be able to help me find my next class.

I was eventually able to find each of my classrooms simply by wandering the vast hallways. The rest of the morning was just a blur as teacher’s recited their syllabi. None of my other classmates tried to start a conversation with me, obviously too wrapped up in the drama of their own cliques.

I walked slowly into the cafeteria, scanning the room for any familiar face.

“Over here, Taylor!” Justice yelled, waving her arms wildly above her head. Relieved, I strode over to her and grabbed an empty seat.

“It’s Tyler,” I said. She frowned, obviously not a fan of being corrected.

“My bad. Anyway, tell us about yourself! Where did you move from?” I wondered why such a popular girl had taken such an interest in me.

“Oh, I transferred from Scottsdale High,” I replied.

“That’s cool. What do you like to do?” I tried to think of what Justice and her friends did in their freetime.

“Umm, I love going shopping and getting my nails done.” She smiled over at the other girls. I placed my hands under the table, hoping that she wouldn’t notice the chipped dark paint sitting atop my long uneven nails.

“Justice, should I invite Tyler to my party tonight?” Mandy asked, looking at her expectantly.

“Yes! Tyler, do you want to come to Mandy’s party tonight? A bunch of people from school will be there.”

“Sure,” I replied, doing my best to hide my excitement. My parents and Dr. Draycott would be extremely pleased to learn that I had made friends so quickly.

“Cool, I’ll give you my number.” She snatched my already unlocked phone out of my hand and began typing. She then passed my phone around for the other girls to put their numbers in as well. “Mandy will text you the details.”

“Thanks,” I replied, following them out of the cafeteria as the bell rang.

My very last class of the day was located in the back corner of the school. The sign on the door read “AP Physics.” I walked through the doorway, and stopped dead in my tracks. The name “Mrs. Morris” was sketched onto the whiteboard. While the lady sitting behind the desk wasn’t Cindy’s mom, a sense of guilt still overwhelmed me. I was reminded of how I had ruined her funeral after I had my first vision, and how her parent’s lives were now permanently shattered. Mr. Morris had fled the country before he could be arrested for embezzlement, and hadn’t been seen or heard from since the day of the funeral. Mrs. Morris stayed alone in their house, too depressed to come outside often. Even more so, I thought back to that awful night and wished that I hadn’t drank from that laced cup. Maybe then I would have been awake when Charlie came creeping into the house, and I could have done something to save Cindy from his knife. A boy suddenly appeared in my line of sight, snapping me out of my deep thoughts.

“Hello? Are you okay?” he asked. I turned to find the entire class’ eyes locked on me. I took a long deep breath, trying to find my voice to convince him that I was just fine.

“Yes. I’m Tyler Lyons. I’m new here this year.” Content with my answer, he took his seat. Relief flooded over me. I knew that my facade of a perfectly normal teenager could come crumbling down at any moment. All it would take was a simple Google search to reveal bits and pieces of my past, despite how much the my parents had threatened to sue the media for revealing details about a minor. My heartbeat slowed as my classmates turned their attention away from me. Mrs. Morris now stood in front of the class, and I tried desperately to push Cindy to the back of my mind. I tried to focus on Mrs. Morris’ distinct features as she spoke, because she looked nothing like Cindy’s mom. She had curly red hair and pale skin that made her seem as if she hadn’t gone outside in ages. I resolved to call her Mrs. M. so that coming to her class everyday would seem a little easier.

“How was your first day?” my dad asked as I walked into the house. “Were the kids nice?”

“Mostly,” I replied. “I got invited to a party at this girl Mandy’s house. Can I go?” A look of surprise flashed across his face.

“Really? That’s wonderful! Alison, come here! Tyler got invited to a party!” My mom emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her soiled apron.

“Wow, it sounds like you had a great first day,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess it was pretty good. Can I go change?”

“Sure, honey. But then I want to hear all about your day. I made cookies for you.” I bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Looking at my closet, I wondered what girls wore to parties like these. I had never been invited to one at my old school. I studied the items in my closet, and eventually selected a short blue lace dress. I grabbed my cream colored sandals and met my parents by the kitchen table. I took them through my day, but purposely left out the fact that one of my teachers was named Mrs. Morris. I knew they would worry that hearing that name everyday might upset me.

After dinner, I drove my car to Mandy’s house. Pulling up in my gray Nissan, I studied the scene before me. The sound of blasting music was audible even through my closed windows. A few people stood on the lawn, deep in conversation. I figured most of the other people would be inside, so I walked past them and up to the front door. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to knock or just walk in. I just stood on the porch for a moment, staring at the brass doorknob. The blaring music was deafening now, loud enough that I wasn’t sure that I would be able to hear anyone if they spoke to me. Suddenly, the door swung open before me. Lily appeared in front of me, twirling her hair between her fingers.

“Hey Tyler!”, she breathed. “I’m so glad you could make it!” She grabbed my hand and dragged me inside. I tried to force a smile, suddenly extremely intimidated by the big crowds. Lily dragged me over to where Mandy and Justice stood. Mandy was gesturing wildly which suggested that she was very angry. Justice let out a big groan and stormed away.

“Hey, Tyler’s here!” Lily yelled, trying to be heard over the loud music. Mandy jumped at the sound of her voice, obviously very distraught. She couldn’t even force a smile at me as she brushed past us and ran after Justice.

“Hmmm, I wonder what that was about,” Lily pondered. We looked down the hallway, both girls had ran outside in an instant. While we looked, a tan skinned boy beside us grabbed Lily’s hand, and I guessed he was her boyfriend. He began to lead her out to the pool, leaving me standing in the front hallway alone. Lily hadn’t even looked back at me as the two walked away. I looked around at the sea of unfamiliar faces.

“Tyler, is that you?” I turned to see the boy that had spoken to me doing Mrs. Morris’ class. “Are you alright?” Annoyed that he kept asking if I was okay, I frowned hard at him.

“Yes, I’m fine! Will you stop asking?” I scoffed. He looked insulted by the tone of my voice.

“Geez, I’m sorry,” he said sarcastically. “I didn’t realize that I was annoying you so much.” With that, he wheeled around and started in the other direction. I realized as he stormed away that I had annoyed one of the few people that had made an effort to be friendly to me. I ran to catch up with him, pushing through the crowd of people that had formed between us. Someone’s drink sloshed onto my arm as I elbowed my way through.

“Hey, wait up. I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” I started. He looked at me for a moment, pondering whether or not to accept my apology. “I never got your name in class today.” He smiled.

“I’m Jacob Woods.” He noticed that my arm was dripping wet, and grabbed a paper towel from a nearby table. “Here.”

“Thx,” I said. He watched me take the paper towel and dry my arm.

“So, who did you come to this party with?”

“Justice and her friends invited me, but they’re nowhere in sight now.”

“Really?” he laughed. “I didn’t peg you for the cheerleader type.”

“Oh, I’m definitely not,” I admitted. “They were just the first girls to talk to me.” We were interrupted by the shrill scream of police sirens. A sense of panic overwhelmed me. Jacob studied my face.

“What, do you have a record or something?” he joked. “Oh, I know! You’re on probation!” I didn’t react to his comments. Instead, I ran to the front window and peeled back the curtain. Blue lights danced around the lawn, and a couple police officers were climbing out of their cars. I turned back to Jacob.

“What’s the fastest way out of here?” There was no way that I wanted to come face to face with another police officer again if I didn’t have to. They reminded me too much of Cindy and my visions.

“Geez, you aren’t kidding. Ok, let’s just follow the crowds.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me through the back door. We hopped the fence and cowered behind the neighbor’s bushes.”Where’s your car?” I gulped, realizing that it was right in front of Mandy’s house.

“Right by all of the police cars.”

“Well, most of the officers are probably inside the house by now. We can probably sneak past the cars.” With that, he was up, hopping the fence into the neighbor’s side yard. “Come on!” I followed him, and we peered around the edge of the house. Two police officers stood on the front porch, facing the house. “We can totally make it!” He grabbed my hand and started running, dragging me along beside him. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. At the sound of movement, we plunged ourselves behind an oak tree, out of the officers’ line of sight. “Ok, ready? We only have a little bit left to go.” I took a deep breath and took off running, dragging him behind me this time. We reached my car and threw ourselves into our seats. One of the officers had turned around now and was peering at my car from the porch. I hoped he couldn’t read my license plates as I put the car into drive and punched the gas.

“Wow, I didn’t know you could run that fast!” Jacob laughed.

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me,” I retorted, and immediately regretted it. He didn’t seem to notice though, already explaining to me how to get to his car a few blocks away. I pulled up in front of his old white pickup truck.

“Next time I need to make a fast getaway I know who to call,” he grinned. I smiled back at him, letting go of all the tension that had built up inside me in the last few minutes. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” I watched him climb into his truck, and waved to him as he pulled away.

The next morning, I was awoken by the smell of burnt bacon. My dad had never been the best cook, but I wondered how hard it was to fry bacon.

“Tyler, come on down,” my dad called. I pushed my covers aside, and strode toward the kitchen. A news anchor’s voice stopped me dead in my tracks.

“Justice Parker didn’t return home last night after attending a party at her best friend’s house. The police are asking everyone to call this number if they have any information concerning her whereabouts.” Nine digits flashed across the screen, and then Justice’s sparking blue eyes were looking into mine. My vision began to go dark at the edges and I felt my stomach turn, afraid of what this meant. When I was plunged into complete darkness, I tried desperately to wake myself up. A tall man stepped forward, with dark brown hair and piercing green eyes. His sturdy hands were wrapped around the handless clock. Specks of light started to line my sight, and just like that my vision was over. The pit in my stomach remained, because I was now certain that Justice was either dead or would be soon.

“I’m not hungry,” I yelled to my dad. He came from the kitchen before I could bolt back upstairs.

“Are you sure? I made a five star meal!” I forced myself to laugh, taking my backpack off of the hook beside me.

“Yeah, I forgot I had something to do at school this morning. I’m really late.”

“Ok, kiddo. Have a great day.” He kissed me on the forehead and watched me saunter over to my car. My hands were shaking as I pulled open the driver door. My dad disappeared from the door frame, and I let out a big sigh.

“Should I tell anyone what I had seen, and risk being sent back to the hospital?” I asked myself, thinking out loud. The police were already actively searching for Justice, and me telling them that I knew she was going to die would only bring more attention onto me. I could give them the description of the man that I had seen, but they wouldn’t believe that I had seen him in a vision, and suspicion would be cast in my direction. I resolved to think that someone else must have seen something that night, and hoped that Justice would be found before the unthinkable happened.

Lily, Rachel, and Hannah sat at their usual lunch table in the middle of the cafeteria. Mandy was nowhere to be seen. I guessed that she was probably at home answering the cops’ questions. Her house was the last place Justice was seen, and with no other leads, the police had made it their top crime scene.

“Over here, Tyler!” Rachel shouted. The entire cafeteria went silent at the voice of one of Justice’s friends. Jacob and I made eye contact from across the cafeteria, and he waved to me to come sit with him. I hesitated, looking at the distress written all over the three girls faces. I needed to know if they knew anything about Justice’s disappearance,, and abandoning them now would extinguish any chance I had of remaining friends with them. Jacob frowned as I gave him an apologetic wave and sat with Justice’s friends.

“Where would she have gone?” Rachel asked, picking at the corn on her blue tray.

“I don’t know, but I did hear her and Mandy having a huge argument before she left,” replied Lily.

“Did you see anything, Tyler?” Hannah questioned. I was afraid they could sense my guilt as I looked back at them.

“No, just Mandy and her arguing like Lily said.”

“Did the police come to question you?” Rachel asked. “They came to question us.” Relief flooded over me as I realized that the police didn’t know that I was at that party. Being connected to one murder in my lifetime was enough for me, and I wasn’t sure that I could handle another.

“No, they must not have realized that I was there, but I don’t have anything of value to add to their investigation anyway. I saw the same things you guys did.” As I spoke, I noticed a tall man stride through the cafeteria doors. He eyed us from across the room, and approached the table. His eyes were puffy to indicate that he had been crying. His voice cracked when he spoke.

“Mandy, Rachel, Hannah, Lily,” he began. Either he didn’t know my name yet or he just didn’t notice me.

“That’s Eric Parker,” Mandy whispered to me. “Justice’s dad.”

“Mr. Parker!” Lily exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to check in and see if you knew anything or remembered anything. Please, I miss my girl so much.” Tears were streaming down his face.

“ I’m really sorry. We don’t have any new information, Mr. Parker. We are putting together a search party for her tonight. We’re gonna check all of her favorite spots, like the mall, nail salon, and the drive-in movie.” She turned to me. “You can ride with me if you want,” Lily offered. I wondered why they would check those places for Justice. Obviously, she hadn’t just disappeared to go have some fun. She was in serious trouble, but I didn’t argue with their logic.

“Sure, anything I can do to help out,” I responded.

“Good, I’ll pick you up at seven, and I really hope we can find her, Mr. Parker. I felt like the words “before it’s too late” were hanging in the air.

“Thank you, girls. I just want to see Justice home safe.” Mr. Parker said between sobs.

We must have driven around for over two hours, checking places Lily thought Justice might be. Discouraged, she suggested we drive by Mandy’s to see if there was anything else we could do to help. Cop cars lined her entire block, and yellow crime scene tape roped off her entire lawn. It reminded me of Cindy’s house about eight years ago, and I tried to push that thought to the back of my mind. Lily got out of the car and ran up to the tape where Hannah and Rachel were already standing.

“Excuse me, ladies. I’m going to need you to take a step back,” a police officer called out. The sight of his blue uniform with a gun holster strapped to his belt sent shivers down my spine.

“We were Justice’s friends,” I snapped back, surprised to hear myself responding to him. “We are just trying to see if we can help.” The police officer frowned and motioned to another officer off to the side. He whispered something to her, then turned back to us.

“You,” he said, pointing to me. “Wait here. The rest of you can leave. We’ve got this under control.” He retreated into the house, and the girls gave me puzzled looks.

“What did you do?” asked Hannah.

“I really don’t know,” I whispered. I could feel myself starting to shake as they walked back to their cars, turning around to give me puzzled looks every couple of steps. The woman police officer stood glaring at me, appearing ready to spring into action at any moment. I swallowed hard when the officer that had snapped at me emerged from the house with a detective. His name tag read “Detective Roberts.” He had a shiny bald head that reflected the light of the moon as he walked. He took my hand in a firm handshake.

“Hi, I’m Detective Roberts. I heard that you are a friend of Justice’s. What’s your name?”

“I’m Tyler. You know you can’t talk to me without my parents present. Should I call them?” My voice wavered when I talked. I was careful not to tell him my last name so that he couldn’t look me up in his system. Then he would see that I had spent time in a mental hospital for claiming I had visions surrounding my best friend’s murder, and I would have to answer a plethora of questions again. Suspicion would be cast in my direction, and there was no way I could escape that a second time.

“No, no, no. That won’t be necessary. I just have one question for you.”

“Ok,” I said, a bit of hesitation present in my voice.

“Why is it that you spoke about Justice in the past tense, as if you knew she wasn’t coming back?” A lump formed in my throat as I realized my mistake.

“Oh, that’s my bad. I didn’t mean to speak like that,” I replied, trying to sound as unconcerned as possible, as if it was truly just an honest mistake.

“Interesting..” he remarked. He tapped his pen against his notepad, appearing to be deep in thought. I glanced out at the street to see that Lily was still sitting in her car waiting for me.

“Can I go? I’ve really got to get home for dinner.”

“Sure, but what was your name again?”

“And your last name?” I panicked, dreading what would happen when he found out about my past. I sputtered the first name that came to mind.

“Thank you, Tyler. I’ll contact you from the school if I need anything else.” I walked over to Lily’s car, trying to appear as calm as possible.

“What did they want?” Lily asked.

“Oh, they were just wondering why I talked about her in the past tense, but I assured them that it was just an accident. She made a face as I spoke, and I realized that referring to the fact that Justice could be dead was making her visibly upset.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” I tried, but the damage was done. ’I’m sure Justice is okay.” She didn’t respond. Instead, she just stared straight ahead at the road and pretended to be focused on driving.

Laying in bed that night, I realized how stupid it was of me to give the detective a fake name. If the police went to the school to find me, they would discover that Tyler Brown didn’t exist. Unfortunately, the name Tyler would ring a bell with the office staff because I was their newest student. All they had to do was pull up my ID picture to identify me, and then the police would know that I had given them a fake name. This would place me under more suspicion than ever before. How was I supposed to explain why I had lied to them? I tried to think of a possible explanation, but came up with nothing.

I spent the entire next day of school in constant fear. I jumped at the slightest movement, worried that it was someone coming to pull me out of class to be questioned. As the day came to an end, I realized that no one was coming for me. Hopefully they had moved on to their next lead, and were close to finding her killer.

“Tyler!” I startled at the sound of Jacob’s voice. “I drove past Mandy’s house yesterday and saw you talking to the police. You looked pretty spooked. Is everything okay?” I laughed.

“Why is it that every time you start a conversation with me it always begins with you asking if I’m okay?” He looked down shyly at his feet.

“I guess I just care about you is all.”

“Fair enough. How about we study for that physics quiz we have tomorrow together? He could sense my hesitation. “Come on, I think you need to get your mind off of Justice’s case, and I’ve seen you in class. Your mind is always a million miles away when Mrs. Morris is talking. We can meet at the coffee shop by the square.”

“Ok, sure,” I resolved, only because he was completely right. I never learned a bit of physics in Mrs. Morris’ class because her name served as a constant reminder of everything that I wanted to hide from the kids at my new school.

I stepped up to the front door of the coffee shop. The aroma of chocolate and caramel hung in the air. Once I was inside, I gazed around the small shop, looking for Jacob. He sat in the far corner, already intently studying.

“Hey”, I grinned. He jumped out of his seat.

“Do you want anything to drink?” I peered up at the small chalkboard that served as a menu.

“Sure, I’ll take a coffee frappucino.” He sauntered over to the counter, money in hand. I took my seat, and stared at the physics problems that he had laid out for me. The sea of equations seemed overwhelming, and I had no idea how to use any of them.

“One coffee frappucino,” he beamed at me.

“Thank you.” He quickly grabbed his pencil and got ready to work. I stared hard at his deep brown eyes. His thin gray T-shirt hugged his body while he wrote.

“Hello? What did you get for the first one?” My paper sat on the table, completely blank.

“Ummm, yeah I might need a little help with that one.” He pushed his paper across the table.

“All you have to do is plug it into this equation.”

“Oh, yeah. Got it.” I scribbled down some work underneath the problem, and we moved onto the next one. Each question went the same as the last as he had to explain to me how to do every question.

“I guess I really don’t pay attention in class,” I joked.

“Well, that’s one thing I do know about you,” he laughed, referring back to the conversation we had had the other night. “But tell me more about yourself. I feel like I don’t really know you that well. I mean, besides the fact that you like to run from the police.” He laughed at his own joke. I tried to pretend like his comment didn’t strike a nerve with me. I wracked my brain for something to tell him. “Nothing?” he asked.

“I moved here from another city,” I blurted. “Charlesville.” I realized as I spoke that my lie conflicted with what I had told Justice’s friends, and hoped that Jacob didn’t know them that well.

“That’s cool.” He looked at me intently, waiting for me to go on. The ding of my phone interrupted us. I looked down to see a news alert. The headline read the words I had been dreading: “Missing Teen’s Body Found.” I felt all of the air escape me at once.

“What? What is it?” Jacob asked, looking concerned. I shoved my phone across the table, not able to find the words to tell him that Justice was really dead. All of the color drained from his face.

“I… I should probably go,” I stuttered. “Justice’s friends might need some help.” I didn’t even wait for him to respond before making a dash for my car. I fumbled for the keys in my purse, dropping them onto the sidewalk. People milled about around me, completely unaware that my world was crumbling around me. Why hadn’t I come forward? Wouldn’t all of the consequences of my honesty been worth it if I had saved Justice’s life? I snatched my keys up from the ground and peeled out of the parking lot. I weaved in between cars, ignoring the bleats of people’s horns that were thrown my way. I parked in my driveway and raced up to my room. The bedroom door slammed behind me as my guilt began to weigh me down even more. Could I really have done something to prevent Justice’s death?

“Tyler, stop it,” I uttered to myself. “It’s too late now. She’s dead, and there’s nothing more you can do about it.” I thought about coming forward with the description of the man I had seen. Maybe that would help the police catch the killer, and her family could get some closure. Then I thought back to the many months I had spent in the hospital, and determined that I was never going back there. Telling the police was way too risky. I would just have to trust that they would find whoever had done this.

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