A COLD CASE

At first, I thought the saying, “Everything happens for a reason,” was one of the stupidest quotes ever. What reason could there possibly be for my parents getting murdered? What reason could there be for me to lose everything? What reason could there be for a serial killer to still be walking free while innocent people were buried underground? None. That was why I hated that quote. But then I met Chloe.

Chloe is the weirdest person I’ve ever met. She smiles even when she’s going through the worst moments of her life. She believes in karma, so she’s always helping everyone, even though she’s the one who needs help the most. If she hadn’t been there that day, I probably would’ve killed myself, and that would’ve been the end of my story. But she saved me. So maybe… maybe everything really does happen for a reason.

Chloe took me to her house. It was tiny. Really tiny. I honestly had no idea how someone could live there. “Why is your house so small?” I asked. She shrugged. “It’s a trend.” I stared at her, trying to figure out if she was joking.

She asked if I’d eaten. I shook my head. For a while now, I’d been starving myself as punishment. I blamed myself for my parents’ deaths. If I’d been stronger… maybe they’d still be alive. Without saying another word, Chloe placed a plate of food in front of me. “Eat,” she said. I ate every bite.

When we finished, she looked at me. “So… what happened?” I took a deep breath before telling her everything. I told her about my parents, about Xumi, and about Charlie Winston, the only police officer who believed me. “He promised he’d help me catch Xumi,” I said quietly. Chloe’s smile faded. “I’m sorry.” She hadn’t done anything wrong, so why was she apologising? She hugged me tightly and I felt really uncomfortable so I gently pulled away from her.“You said you’d help me,” I replied. “So come up with an idea.”

A grin spread across her face. “We’re going to the police station.” I blinked. “…What?” “We’re going to steal the files from your parents’ murder case.” “How are we supposed to do that?” “I’ve done it a few times before.” “You’ve stolen from a police station before?” “Not files,” she laughed. “Just… other things.” For some reason, I believed her.

The next morning, we headed to the police station. As soon as we arrived, something felt wrong. Officers were rushing in and out of the building while people stood outside whispering. Chloe stopped one of the officers. “Excuse me, what’s going on?” He let out a tired sigh. “One of our officers was murdered early this morning.” My heart dropped. “Who?” Chloe asked. “Charlie Winston.”

Everything around me went silent. Charlie. The one person who believed me. The one person who promised he’d help me find the truth. He was gone. “I… I can’t believe it,” I whispered. “Charlie… Charlie Winston is dead.” My chest tightened. “Now I really have no one by my side.” My fists clenched as anger replaced the shock. “How dare Xumi do this?”

Chloe looked at me with a disappointed expression before lightly hitting my back. “Hey.” I looked at her. “Did you forget you have me?” I stayed quiet. She smiled softly and held out her pinky. “We’re going to do this together. And I promise… no matter what happens, I’ll never abandon you.” I stared at her hand for a moment. A pinky promise? It sounded childish, but somehow, coming from Chloe, it felt serious. Slowly, I wrapped my pinky around hers. “…Okay.” She smiled. “Good. Now let’s go steal some files.” I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “You’re actually insane.” “And yet you’re still following me,” she replied.

Using the confusion surrounding Charlie’s death, we slipped unnoticed into the records room. Shelf after shelf was packed with old case files. We searched for what felt like forever until we finally found my parents’ case. Across the front were two words. COLD CASE. My fists tightened. They had given up. As I searched through the documents, I realised something even worse. I wasn’t the only victim. Five other children around my age had lost their families to Xumi. He wasn’t just a murderer. He was a serial killer.

We quietly left the station before anyone noticed us. I couldn’t hide my disappointment. Then Chloe suddenly smiled. “I’ve got an idea.” She held up the other case files. “These people lost their families because of Xumi too. We should find them.” “And do what?” I asked. “Ask them to help us catch him.” I rolled my eyes. “That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.”

Maybe it was because we were complete strangers. Maybe it was because normal people don’t agree to hunt down serial killers with two random teenagers. But Chloe didn’t care. She smiled like she already knew it would work. “We can’t give up,” she said. “The answers we’re looking for are out there somewhere.” I sighed. “Fine.” Once again, Chloe had somehow convinced me to do something completely ridiculous. But as much as I hated admitting it… today had actually been fun. Well… apart from Charlie dying.

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