The Vision (Chapter 3 )

Melinda awoke in the hospital, and there was a police officer next to her. "Miss Whalen." He said. "I understand you’ve had quite a shock. I’m very sorry for your loss."
"What loss?" Melinda whispered. Her throat felt dry. Visions flickered before her eyes.
She heard screaming, she turned the other way. She heard begging, but she was asleep. She saw a mangled dress… Cindy. "No…" It came out a whisper, but Melinda repeated it with force. "No!"

"Miss Whalen…" The officer took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair. "I understand that this is a hard time for you, your best friend is injured and missing." Melinda fell back against her bed. "But I have to ask you some questions. What happened that night?"
"We were drinking. A lot. More than we should have. By three-thirty I left, wasted. I couldn’t find Cindy. I was so drunk, that I found her keys on the sidewalk. I didn’t look around. I went to her Corvette, and fell asleep. Before I did I heard screaming. And… and I turned the other way." Melinda felt the tears spilling over her cheeks. "I let her die."

"No. No Miss Whalen. She isn’t dead. We have no body." The officer tried to comfort her. "There was blood yes. A dirty dress yes… but Cindy was very rich wasn’t she? What if it’s a kidnapping gone wrong?"
Melinda’s eyes snapped open. She felt weird. She looked to her left. She saw the man she’d danced with. He was glaring at the officer. "He’s wasting his time! He should be searching for her!" The officer didn’t see him, or hear him.
"Who are you?" She whispered.
"I’m officer Tain Long." The officer said. He took her hand.
She wasn’t looking at him though. ‘What in God’s name?’ Tain thought. "Are you okay?"
"My name is Richard Cast. Former Millbrook PD." Rich explained. "He’s wasting time."

Melinda felt strange. "Are you dead?" She asked.
"Yes." Rich said sadly. "But I’m here to help."
Melinda closed her eyes again. "We’ll start our search tomorrow. For now I’ll do the police work - you rest." Rich finished.

Melinda nodded, her heart feeling heavy. ‘When I find the person who killed Cindy - or took her or whatever - I’ll kill them myself.’

The Vision (Chapter 2)

Melinda examined herself in the full length mirror. She’d gone to Cindy’s house to prep. Of course, Cindy had lied about the hiking. In reality, it was a night out full of partying. Melinda didn't want to party, but she had Saturday off, so she let Cindy win this once.

"So Mike, Jack, Donny and Fran aren’t coming, are they?" Melinda said.
"Are you accusing me of lying?" Cindy fluffed her hair.
"No."

Cindy looked perfect in every single way. She had dark brown hair with blonde highlights. Her eyes were originally brown, but she wore contacts that were green so her eyes looked hazel. Her face was sculpted sharply, but with her pouting lips she pulled it off. Cindy applied some lip gloss and twirled in her dress.

She wore a sea foam green dress with a sweetheart neckline. There was a gray belt tying at her waist, and she wore a brown necklace and matching bracelet. Her shoes were gray pumps.

Like her house Cindy looked gorgeous. Melinda sifted through her own part of Cindy’s closet. It consisted of mostly darker clothes, because she liked the subtle effect of blacks. She slipped into a black dress on thin straps. It had a slight poof after the waistline which was accented by a black ribbon. Melinda didn’t wear heels, but she wore sparkly bold ballet flats.

She had dark brown hair that curled down to her shoulders. Her eyes were naturally a light gray. They were beautiful, deep and endless. Melinda’s skin was pale, which only accented her dark beauty.

"Alright let’s go!" Cindy said rather too loudly.

Melinda followed her having a pit feeling in her heart that something was going to go wrong. As she left the house she thought how unfair it was that Cindy had a large house like this, her student loans were all paid off by her parents, and that she owned a shiny new Corvette. For a brief second, she thought about if she’d been the one with all that money lying around.

She shook herself and followed Cindy into the car. "So what do wanna listen to?" Cindy asked.

"Silence." Melinda replied. She glared at her long fingernails. "I want to be in peace."
"What do you mean?" Cindy asked, but Melinda shook her head.

They pulled up at the bar and walked out. The bouncer let them inside after catching sight of Cindy’s rather provocative dress. At the club the pounding music surrounded Melinda. She lost sight of Cindy in the crowd, but she herself headed for the bar. She sat in the bright red bar stool and ordered an appletini. Someone moved to the seat next to her.

"Wanna dance?" He asked.

"Sure." Melinda said before she saw who it was. This man came to the cemetery every Wednesday. He appeared out of nowhere at two o’clock, then was gone by two ten. There was never any trace that he’d ever been there.

It was too late to deny his offer so she allowed herself to be pulled to the dance floor. Cindy made her way over with two drinks. She handed one to Melinda and stepped right where the man had been standing. Melinda gasped, but Cindy didn’t notice.

They twirled and danced, Melinda all the while confused at what had been going on. She drank the beer, and asked for another one. By two-thirty she was wasted. She fell into the arms of some man. He had a scar on his chin, a small jagged point. Melinda put her hands on his face and he flinched.

"Let’s dance," she shouted to him.

He looked startled, but allowed himself to be pulled around and jumping… until three thirty in the morning. Melinda walked out of the club, with double vision. She couldn’t find Cindy, but found her keys on the sidewalk. She picked them up and decided to sleep in the car.

As she drifted off she thought she heard screaming, but ignored it. She locked the doors and turned the other way.