Scrawlers

I picked about twelve perfect flowers, then made my way back up, deciding against using my shortcut for the meantime. When I got there, she was already sitting up, blinking sleepily. As soon as she noticed me I held out the flowers awkwardly. "Good morning." She took them and gave me a sad smile. "Thank you." She then glanced out the window on her side. I looked, too, and couldn't help being shocked at the sight of police cars and lines around what had seemed to be such a great house. "I'd better go," she said suddenly.

I awoke the next morning feeling surprisingly refreshed, but the moment I saw Mina curled up across from me and remembered what had happened to her, I felt tired again. I flexed my foot, grateful for what she'd done for me in my time of need. I hated myself for not being able to do anything for her. Then, from my 'window' I spotted some wildflowers. 'I may as well do what I can,' I thought. I crept slowly toward the door and carefully made my way to the ground.

She'd heard a loud noise in the middle of the night. It was so loud, she couldn't get back to sleep and ran to her parents room. Then she realized the lights in a guest room were on. Without thinking, she turned the knob and tiptoed inside. Instead of seeing an intruder, which, she said, would have been ten times better, she saw her father's lifeless body, gun in hand. She'd watched enough drama films to know what had happened. She let out a scream, and the rest was a blur.

"Wake up," Mina said. I shot straight up and almost hit my head on the wooden post. "What?!" I demanded angrily. It was nighttime. I was tired. And she'd sneaked in without my permission. The moonlight shone through the tiny makeshift window, illuminating her face, and I realized she was crying. I shifted to helpful mode. "What's wrong?" A moment of silence. "Can we talk? I mean, can I talk? I just need to talk to someone. Please?" I blinked at her. Nodded. "Sure." And she told me about what had gone wrong in her perfectly huge mansion.