Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 34

By the end of the week, Vivian was exhausted. It wasn’t that school was proving to be too difficult, but she just wasn’t used to talking so much.

Miriam and her had stuck together the rest of the week, even exchanging phone numbers to keep in touch after school; not that they texted much, but just having a friend to share her number with was something Vivian hadn’t had before. Not that she knew what was considered worth sending in text to another person. Homework questions? What was there to even talk about outside of school topics?

Vivian decided to just not send any texts until receiving one first; that way she could just respond to whatever was sent instead of worrying about all this nonsense.

Last period of the day on Friday proved to be interesting in a way that wasn’t part of the curriculum. The teacher, a young woman in the second trimester of pregnancy, was struck with horrendous morning sickness — though why it was called ‘morning’ sickness when it could hit in the afternoon was anyone’s guess. She grabbed the class trash can and, heaving loud enough that half the class had to work at not gagging themselves, ran from the room, leaving the students wondering what was going to happen now.

Did this mean they had a study period? Would they be let out early? Was there a substitute teacher available to take her place?

The chatter in the class had reached its peak when the principal, an older gentleman in a grey suit and peacock blue tie, entered the room. “Silence!” He ordered, voice carrying over the students’ and bringing the silence he’d demanded. “As Mrs. Quinn is currently unable to continue the class, I’ve decided to let you all leave early.” a loud whoop went through the room that was silenced by an annoyed look from the principal, “Cheering because your teacher is ill? Perhaps I should stay for the remainder of class and see what other bad habits you’ve learned.”

“Sorry, sir.”

“Won’t happen again, sir.”

“It’s just so sunny outside, sir!”

“Sir, you know it’s not about her being ill!”

More excuses bombarded the principal before he raised a hand, silencing them again. “Don’t let it happen again. You are dismissed.”

The class managed to hold back their cheers this time, waiting until the door closed behind the well dressed man before the air was filled with another whoop of excitement.

In less than two minutes the room was empty, the students eager to get an early start on the weekend.

Vivian, though happy to have a slightly shorter day than planned, had no plans for the weekend and getting out of school early made no difference to her in the least.

After taking what she needed from her locker, she stood up and left the school, stopping just outside the front door and frowning. Gilbert wasn’t waiting for her yet. *Of course he’s not here; how would he know we got out early? I’ll just text him to come now.*

Pulling out her phone, Vivian hesitated, wondering if she was supposed to also tell Samuel her last class of the day had been let out early. She’d planned on going home without any stops in between, so did it matter? Her plans hadn’t changed, after all, just the timing.

“Hey there, Vivian.”

Startled from her thoughts, Vivian whipped her head up to see a woman looking at her from the school’s gates. Without meaning to, Vivian had slowly wandered towards them as she debated what to do and came in range so the woman could strike up a conversation. *How does she know my name…?*

The woman was tall and well dressed; a blue-grey blazer over a white button up shirt and beige slacks. It was a little odd to see sneakers on the feet of someone otherwise fashionably dressed, but Vivian wasn’t about to comment on it when her own shoes were fuddy-duddies.

“Hi,” Vivian finally said after taking the time to size up the woman.

“My name is Amelia Mersey.”

“Okay.” This Amelia already knew Vivian’s name, so there was little else to say in response to the introduction.

“I’m a detective with the RCMP,” Amelia continued, a smile spreading over her face as her eyes, a piercing blue, squinted in the afternoon sun. Vivian wanted to tell the woman to just put on the sunglasses resting atop her head where dirty blond hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail, but again decided to keep her mouth shut about things that didn’t matter.

What did matter was how a detective had been waiting for her after getting out of school unexpectedly early. Warning bells were ringing like crazy but Vivian showed none of it on her face.

Chances were good this was about her mother, but being ambushed just outside the school made things feel shady.

As Vivian wasn’t saying anything, the detective continued speaking. “How are you settling in to your new digs?”

New digs? Was this woman trying to fit in with the current slang? If so, she missed the mark by a mile — mainly because Vivian had no idea what was in and what was old news. “It’s fine,” she finally answered, scrambling for something else to say to make this detective go away. “I just got out of school, so I’m going home now. Bye.”

“Wait a second, Vivian,” said the detective as she reached out but didn’t allow her hand to touch Vivian, as if at the last second she decided it was a bad idea. “I just want to talk to you a bit, that’s all. Your circumstances are still an ongoing investigation, and I’d like the chance to ask you a few questions.”

“About what?”

“Well, your life, really. How you’re doing, what you’ve been up to… Those kind of questions. Is that alright?”

Vivian inclined her head a little, wondering if the woman was an idiot or thought she was special. It was well documented that Vivian wouldn’t speak about her younger years with anyone, so why would this detective think things would be different this time?

What a waste of time.

“Everything on the matter is already in the file,” Vivian replied, trying to keep her tone nonchalant when she was feeling frustrated and annoyed.

“Yes, I know, but a few new things have come up since and we’ve found a new angle to investigate.”

Now this picked both her curiosity and anxiety. What had they found? What was it telling them?

*Shit*, she thought to herself as a frown creased her brow. The detective knew exactly what to say to get Vivian’s undivided attention, and the girl was not happy about this.

If Vivian did the smart thing, she’d walk away from Detective Mersey; unfortunately, her worry over what might have been found threw caution to the wind. “Okay, what do you want to ask?”