Louisa

"I can't believe you made me move here," Louisa said, turning towards her mother. "I'm just going to be known as the new girl or the dead girl's cousin."

Out of the corner of Louisa's eye she saw her mother's face pull tight into a frown. She drove their Mini Clubman into their new homes driveway and parked before turning towards her.

"I know this is the last thing you want to be doing, but I have to be here to help your aunt out. If I could trust you enough to stay alone for a bit I would have let you stay back in Chesley, though last time I went away you threw a party and got yourself arrested," Louisa's mom, Grace Lucan, said turning the keys and pulling them from the ignition. Grace turned towards her only daughter. "I love you Lou, but you were on the thin ice back home. You'll make new friends here and it'll work out."

"I don't want new friends," Louisa muttered before getting out. She opened the back door of the car and pulled out her suitcase filled with the only clothes she could fit in before the rush move. The wheels made a clunk-clunk noise as Louisa rolled it up the coble stone path.

The sun beat down over Louisa and she regretted wearing her heavy sweater. When she left her small Canadian home town the weather was chilly and the wind was blowing. Lakewood still felt like mid-summer. At the door Louisa kicked off her shoes before making her way up the stairs to unpack her room. Once inside she placed the bag on her couch before face planting into the bed. She curled her knees up close to her chest, Louisa felt the tiredness creeping up on her. The drive from Chesley, Ontario to Lakewood had taken a full twenty-four hours; excluding sleeping at the cheap motel.

"Louisa doll, your aunt is here. I have dinner on the table so you can come down whenever but right now I am going over to help with the funeral arrangements," Grace whispered, she leaned away from her half-awake daughter before exiting the room.

Louisa looked over to see that her digital clock had been set up on the table beside her bed, it read six-thirty pm. Sitting up she felt the heat drain from the side she was sleeping on. After a quick stretch and rub to her eyes she stood and slowly made her way down to the kitchen. The wooden steps felt cool on her feet and the tile of the kitchen even colder. The kitchen was to the back of the house, it took up the whole back area so a dining table could fit in as well. The pale green walls and white cupboards kept the room light enough that Louisa only needed to turn on the light above the sink.

The pizza sitting on the table still was warm to the touch and smelled heavily of melted cheese. Louisa grabbed another slice before heading through the arch towards the couch in the living room. Plopping herself down she flicked through the channels and landed on the local news station. Camera men and a reporter were outside her aunt's house.

"After the death of high school student, Nina Patterson, the authorities will be on high alert. Everyone is asked to be aware of their surroundings and if you see any suspicious activity…call it in. I'm Melissa Woo, back to you Ron," the reporter recited off a teleprompter. The TV flashed a few pictures of Nina with her friends and one of her and Louisa from a few years back.

"What did you do Nina, who did you hurt enough to make them kill you," Louisa asked out loud to the empty house.

BEEP

Louisa looked down towards the seat cushion where her cellphone sat. Striking right to open it up, Louisa choked on air at what popped up. It was a GIF of Nina laying tummy down in her pool and a person wearing a mask standing just in view. Blood flowed from her cousins back and mixed with the water.

Throwing the phone back down she ran from the back door to the front just to double check they were all locked. She rushed back to the living room to grab her phone before hurrying back to her new bedroom. Slamming the door shut she huddled beneath her blankets. Tears streaked her face as the shock of losing her cousin turned to realization. Louisa held her knees close to her as she laid down again. Lou watched the clock change from eight to nine, at the eleven-thirty mark she heard her mother come in and call a goodnight to her. Louisa drifted off as the night rolled into morning.