Mia left her sister's presence to allow her to compose herself after the venomous words she poured.Though an accident had occured,Mia had been unaware of her sister's resentment towards her.It was as if she had been secretly bottling her emotions,and it had finally reached its boiling point.
Last year,when their parents were out on a wedding,Mia was left alone with her sister.She accidentally slipped off the staircase and collided into the glass vase which almost ended her life,as the glass got stuck in her throat.
Harper felt a lump in her throat,as she saw her sister's body on the floor.The same sister she had despised was the same one who laid before her;helpless. She frantically dialed the emergency number and her sister was whisked to the hospital.For the days and nights,Harper struggled with her sister and catered for her in her parents' absence.It had slipped her mind once,to take complete control of her sister's condition and make sure she died to win her parents' love.Yet,she had been blinded by her kindness that she ignored those feelings.
Mia gazed about the living room,where the atmosphere had finally settled into a tranquil calm.The television was now silent,her father immersed in his newspapers and her mother had stepped outside into the crisp afternoon air, leaving behind a faint scent of her peach perfume.For some inexplicable reason,Mia was now intuited that Harper's struggles had likely been the pillar for their parents' divorce.Abigail used to have it all,the perfect grades,perfect parents,perfect life and her flawless physical beauty with a slender,polished appearance. Her own witness to bullying of peers by the merciless bullies for their weight,had left her an indelible mark that had driven her to force her daughters to conform to the absurd beauty standards.It was simply due to her fear that her daughters would be bullied for their weight.
Abigail sat on the staircase outside,her eyes exploring the tiny droplets of rain that poured slowly from the sky.Toto relaxed on her laps and she found solace through his soft orange fur that calmed her nerves.She knew her marriage had already gone downhill and her daughters now had the lives they wanted,so it was now her turn to be happy and live for herself.After all,she was reliving her dreams through Indigo.
Mia strolled into her room and sat on the swivelling velvet plush chair by her desk,flipping through the folders and the photographs.She sat down and looked up at the ceiling for a moment.This case seemed to draw her in further.She had solved several cases before and written about numerous things that had made her proud of how bold she was.But then again,it seemed she had turned a blind eye to the other important situations,that was around her.
Mr.Johnson's words about the girl's case echoed in her ears nonstop.He had mentioned a raise and even said to use the death to her advantage,but would the death benefit only her or others?
She turned her gaze back to the two most important photographs before her.The first being a slender girl with a doll like face and the second of a dark,chubby,rounded face girl.She looked a lot fatter than her sister Harper. Her eyes went back to another picture in the brown folder,it was of the same slender faced girl but now,she wore an orange hoodie with a mask and her eyes looked red and sad.It was dated to a month earlier.
Behind the picture was the name of her guardians and their contacts behind.There was a crest at the back of the picture.
"Ashton International School." She read it aloud,before taking up her phone to look it up.The name seemed too familiar to her yet she had no idea where she heard it.
She looked up the name of the girl on Facebook,and noticed that several people had commented under the girl's picture.It said about her being dead and there were just 20% well-wishers.The rest were those who were criticizing her.
"She had plastic surgery.She wasn't born with natural beauty.It is such a shame she could not find the right doctor for her face."said one comment.
"I said it and always will.If you are ugly don't try to be beautiful.Just stay out of existence and she was right to obey my words."
Another one read....
"I know this girl.The fatty glutton in our neighborhood.Even her parents are scared of her.She died for the best."
Mia felt a pang of guilt in her heart reading it.They were all mean to her.That was when she knew how big this project was.But...where would she begin