Run Rabbit Run Episode II

Michael Layford crouched beside Chloe's body. The police had already arrived and a crime scene investigation team were still examining the area. The medical examiner, Anabella Rose, a pretty woman with cropped dark hair and a slim figure was still checking the corpse.

"Find anything?" Michael asked
Anabella looked at him startled "Jeez, detective! I didn't see you there" she gasped
Michael tilted his head to one side "You're a little jumpy for a woman who works with the dead" he observed
Anabella rolled her eyes "This one's got me spooked" She admitted "Doesn't make any sense"
"How so?"
She pointed to the bloody stab wound in Chloe's stomach "This is the only place she was stabbed, the attacker didn't hit anything in her that would cause a quick death but the victim died almost instantly. It should have taken her a while to bleed out."
Michael knew why the girl had died so quickly, but it wasn't information that he was willing to share with just anyone, still, he needed to know how much information the medical examiner could get from the body so he pressed her further.
"What's your theory?"
Anabella shrugged "Not got much of one at the minute, a fast acting toxin or poison on the blade perhaps? We won't know until the post mortem is done though."
Michael nodded "You'll let me know what you find?"
"Sure" Anabella replied

Michael looked away from Chloe's body. In the distance, a few officers were trying to get rid of several onlookers, Michael had always wondered what it was about crime scenes and dead bodies that seemed to draw the general public and turn them into hoards of transfixed, gawking busybodies. Ironic that a scene of death attracted so much life.

Beside him, Anabella Rose turned Chloe's head.
"Damn flies" She sighed when several of the winged bugs flew out from beneath the corpse
Michael smiled at the flies, if he wasn't one hundred percent sure about who had killed Chloe before, he was now.
"Her attacker grabbed her from behind, looks like he ripped out some hair in the process" Anabella noted
Michael stood up and ran his fingers through his hair, the sun was making him sweat and he yearned for a cold shower. He decided he had seen all he needed to.
"I'll let you know about the post mortem" Anabella called after him as he walked away.

Michael climbed into his car, a sleek black porsche Cayman S and started the engine.
A few minutes later he was pulling up outside the home of one Jenna Atkins, the victim's best friend and the last known person to have seen Chloe before her murder.
He climbed out of the car, strolled up to Jenna's front door and knocked on it.
Jenna didn't take long to greet him. Her eyes were puffy and red, her grieving process already well underway.
"I'm Detective Michael Layford" He smiled "I'm investigating Chloe's murder and wondered if I could speak to you?"
Jenna nodded and stepped aside, granting him access.

They sat in the lounge, a large room with beige walls and bland furniture.
"I still can't believe she's gone." Jenna sniffed
"Do you know if Chloe had any enemies? Anyone who would want to hurt her?" Michael asked
"No, she's a good person. She's liked" Jenna replied
"You're sure. There isn't anyone? It's rare a person goes through life without someone taking a disliking to them" Michael pushed
Jenna looked at him for a moment in dibelief, then she repeated firmly "She's liked. She's made mistakes in the past but nothing that anyone would want kill her for"
"The mind of a killer is a strange thing" Michael insisted "People kill because of all sorts of things. Don't try to make sense of it"
Jenna said nothing
"So, still no enemies?" Michael asked
"How many times? No. No enemies"
Michael nodded. At first he had been under the impression that Chloe had no enemies too, but he never had to do much digging in deaths like these to uncover the truth. It had taken less time than he expected in Chloe's case, he had already gotten most of the story before he even saw the body.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a photograph of a lean, dark haired man.
"Do you recognise this person?" He asked, showing Jenna the photo
She looked at it quickly and sighed "This is Richard Malone. He wouldn't hurt Chloe"
"What makes you so sure?"
Jenna handed the photo back. "He's her boss. They get on well" She explained
"How well?"
"They were a couple" Jenna admitted
"And what about this woman" Michael said, producing another photo from his pocket, this time of a tall woman with black hair.
Jenna glanced at the photo and then glared at Michael but she didn't say anyhting
"Am I to understand by your silence that you don't recognise the woman in the photo?"
Still Jenna didn't speak
"Not to worry" Michael continued in an upbeat tone of voice "I can tell you who she is. This lady is Elsie Malone. Mr Malone's wife of nearly ten years. Now, Jenna, I'll ask you again, do you think Chloe had any enemies?"
"Fine. Richard is a rat but Elsie doesn't know about the two of them, I suppose though, if she had found out, she wouldn't have been Chloe's BFF." Jenna snapped "Happy now?"
Michael nodded "Thrilled, thank you"
"I don't like your tone detective" Jenna spat
Michael shrugged "Fortunately for me, that doesn't really matter" he said
"I'll be filing a complaint" Jenna informed him
Michael picked up the photographs and returned them to his pocket. Then he got to his feet and looked at Jenna "Feel free." he smiled "Though I don't recommend it. You see Jenna, I know what you are, what Chloe was, and if you were to upset me I could always send Chloe's enemy here before we get rid of it"
Jenna's skin quickly turned a sickly ashen colour "You think that's what this was? An order?" She spluttered
"I know it was." Michael nodded
"And you're on their side I take it?" Jenna frowned
"Actually, no. I'm not, but I'm not on your side either. I'm on our side. It's my job to send you all back where you came from"
Jenna's pupils grew larger and larger until her eyes were as black as night "I'm not going back" she growled
"You don't have much choice." Michael chuckled "You don't belong here. There are rules that allow you to stay but Chloe broke those rules and if you knew about it, which, let's be honest, you did, then you broke the rules too. For God's sake, you can put your eyes back right now though, a party trick like that doesn't scare me and I'm not here to collect just yet. Luckily for you Chloe's killer is a bigger threat to us than you are, but once that's sorted, I'll come and help you move back home... if you're still alive that is"
"I'll run" Jenna threatened
"Knock yourself out. I'll still find you" Micheal replied "Or something worse then me will. Anyway, pleasure meeting you. See you soon"
Jenna snarled, her mouth opened that little bit too wide and her teeth suddenly strectched into long pointed fangs, He nails grew quickly into claws and she stared dtraight at the detective.
"Don't be ridiculous" Michael sighed, he turned and walked out of the house back to his car.
It was only when he was driving away that he thought about Jenna.
"Fuckin' Demons" He sighed

"mum, my ticker's flipped again!"

Hello,

After "Run Rabbit Run" (my last blog entry, no idea where it came from by the way. But for someone who normally writes fantasy it was interesting to try a murder scene), I thought I'd write a little more about me.

Growing up in our house was a little different, for a time, it was not unusual to wake up and find a four foot oasis cross soaking in the bath tub. Mum is a florist and funeral flowers are just part of the job. I think most people would have thought we were slightly strange if they had walked into the house and seen the flower studded words of 'mum', 'dad', 'gran' or even a coffin spray lay in the hallway awaiting delivery and everyone keeping their eyes firmly on the dogs to make sure the flowers weren't stepped on. But for us it was normal and I suppose someone has to do it. When it comes to flowers, my mum is amazing and I have no idea how she does it. Being the daughter of a florist, people often think I too could whip up an arrangement or some sort of display but alas, my own creativity doesn't turn its hand to floristry all that well. That's definately mum's department (and I must admit it means that every year we have the best christmas tree and holly wreath on the street, even if I do say so myself!).

Aside from flowers, there was another unusual routine during my childhood that is still with us now. I was born with a condition called Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) which

"causes episodes of a fast heartbeat. Tachycardia means a fast heart rate. Supraventricular means coming from above the ventricle. During an episode of SVT, the heartbeat is not controlled by the SA node (the normal timer of the heart). Another part of the heart overrides this timer with faster impulses. The source or trigger of the impulse in an SVT is somewhere above (supra) the ventricles, but the impulse then spreads to the ventricles".

On average during an attack of SVT my heart rate would suddenly shoot up to 190-200+ beats per minute. Occasionally the shout of "MUM, my ticker's flipped again!" would ring throughout the house prompting me and mum to sit quietly and wait for the SVT attack to pass like the hospital had advised.

Mum spent a long time in hospital with me when I was really young and I must admit, I'm glad I don't remember it. The hospital eventually stopped my heart and used a defibrillator to re start it at a normal beat. We just thought it was a condition that I would have for life and that it wasn't particularly dangerous. Then, in November of 2010 I had an SVT attack that was different to the ones I was used to. When it started I was hit with a wave of dizziness that was so intense it nearly took me off my feet. My heart was racing at 180 beats a minute but the strength of my pulse was weak. SVT attacks start and stop really suddenly and without warning. Usually, for me it's painless but this time I felt like my chest was burning from the inside out. The chest pain stopped as soon as the attack stopped, but it was obvious that I needed to speak to a doctor and find out what was happening.

So off I went to the doctor who in turn sent me for an ECG (a test where they check your heart by sticking a ton of little pads to you and letting a machiene take a reading) at the hospital. When I got the results I was devastated. My SVT was not quite as harmless as we had been led to believe. It turned out that I had a form of the condition called Wolff parkinson white (WPW) syndrome and one of the possible effects of the condition was sudden death. I've learnt as much as I can about my condition since that day and the risk of sudden death is extreamly low but when you first get a diagnosis like that your immediate reaction is flat panic. I felt like I had been told I was going to die, and soon. I must admit it changed my responce to the SVT "attacks", armed with the knowledge that it could be deadly it does scare me now more than it ever has but when something like this is put on you, I guess you just have to get on with it. I really struggled to come to terms with my condition and sometimes I still do, that said I have such a healthy respect for people who are less fortunate than I am. I honestly don't know how those who are terminally ill cope. There are so many horrible, life threatening conditions out there that mine fades into irrelevance when compared against them and every day I'm grateful that I don't have something worse than WPW. 

But even with that in mind, I was still petrified. I was told that I would need an ablation (to put it simply it's a procedure where a proffessor inserts a tiny laser into the heart through the groin and neck and then destroys the small part of the heart where the problems lies thus irradicating the condition). I went in for the procedure and I don't think I have ever been so frightened in my life. I hate hospitals, I hate needles and the thought of having a 'procedure' just freaks me out. It just seems like such a huge deal to me. Anyway the first procedure was not particularly successful. I didn't respond well to the drugs they gave me which meant I sort of came round while they were still working on me. My SVT was going insane while they were trying to fix it which made life difficult for the proffessor working on me and eventually they had to call the whole thing quits because I was confused about what was happening and was in a lot of pain. 

I have to go back for another ablation that they will perform with me under a general anaesthetic so at the minute I'm still WPW sufferer. Having been ill with what I can only describe as the MOTHER OF ALL COLDS (seriously, It knocked me right off my feet!) recently, I've found that my heart rate is unsteady quite frequently and can only assume that somehow my body being run down is having a negative effect on my WPW.

I'm glad to say that I think I'm finally on the way out of that now though and hopefully it won't be much longer before my next ablation. In the meanwhile, we'll stick to the traditional medical terms when dealing with my condition....

MUM! MY TICKER'S FLIPPED AGAIN!!!

(obviously now we ring an ambulance and don't just wait for it to pass.. that would be silly)

Steph
x

sooooo ill!

Just wanted to log on and offer my apologies to anyone who was trying to follow this blog. I've been quite ill for the past week and a bit so I haven't been feeling up to posting but I'm getting there slowly. Hopefully I'll have another new post up tonight and can start getting this back on track.
Best wishes
Steph