Murder on the Mountain

Ramona’s point of view

“Darius, hurry up!” I yelled up the stairs.

“Two seconds, Ramona, just grabbing my phone,” Darius yelled from the top of the stairs.

I rolled my eyes just as my phone went ping. I picked it up; it was from Charlotte: Are you coming or not? I thought that we were meant to be here at 11.

I typed back: We will be there in a bit, just waiting for Darius. I took my eyes of the screen to look up the stairs.

“Hurry up Darius,” I muttered under my breath.

I looked back up at my phone as it vibrated in my hand. Charlotte: Well tell him to hurry up. Simon’s getting cold! I laughed.

“What are you laughing at?” I turned around as Darius spoke. He was wearing his dark blue jeans with his black Nike pro trainers. His black T-shirt and brown leather jacket. It goes well with his warm brown hair and dark brown eyes.

“It's just that Simon’s getting cold as he’s waiting for us,” I replied.

“Simon? Isn’t he the smart one that gets every question right?” He looked at me.

“Yes,” I sighed. Even though Darius was older than me he didn’t have friends. That is why we were meeting up with some of my friends… that were his age.

“Right, you ready to go?”

“As ready as I'll ever be,” Darius said with a nervous laugh.

20 minutes later

We met Simon and Charlotte in the car park at the bottom of the overbearing mountain. The range was huge and imposing. The top of the mountain seemed to puncture the sky. It was a vibrant green at the bottom but as soon as it got about one third of the way up there was just ominous grey.

Darius’ point of view

They were beautiful. If I could, I would have stayed there forever. I spotted Ramona going to greet two people. These must be Charlotte and Simon. I was anxious, over thinking what I might say, but it was Charlotte that took the first step.

“Hi! You must be Darius, Ramona’s brother,” Charlotte says. She was beautiful. She had espresso brown, wavy hair that cascaded down her back. She blinked her unnervingly bright blue eyes that were highlighted perfectly against her ice white T-shirt. She was wearing black leggings that looked great with her silver Adidas shoes.

Ramona nudged me.

“You going to say something or continue to stare at her?” she whispered.

“Y... Yes, that’s me!” I say, slightly embarrassed.

Ramona’s point of view

I held back a laugh; Darius had a serious crush on Charlotte.

“If my calculations are correct, I would say that Darius is shy,” Simon smirked, coming over. He wss wearing his white science shirt that contrasted sharply with his short, curls of ginger. He winked his cat green eye.

“How... How did you know?” Darius asked, annoyed.

“Oh- easy. After all…you’re standing there with your hands together, cheeks are red and swinging from side to side like an over eager ape,” Simon said with a grin.

Darius opened his mouth to argue, but Charlotte got there first.

“Leave him alone Simon - we all know how smart you are without proving yourself,” Charlotte countered.

I was shocked when she said this - Charlotte never challenges anyone, but then I saw the look that she gave Darius. There was something that I had never seen before in her eyes. Warmth. Attraction. Interest. Love?

Darius obviously saw it too, and flushed. It was reciprocal. He returned the look. I laughed.

“What?” Darius and Charlotte said at the exact same time.

“I can tell,” I tease in a whispered, so that only Darius and Charlotte can hear.

“What do you mean?” Charlotte answered, only a little embarrassed.

“You know what I mean,” I said with a grin, looking from oneto another.

Darius opened his mouth to say something, but Simon interrupted him.

“Are we going on this mountain walk or not?!”

“Coming!” I yelled, as we begin walking towards him.

Darius’s view

I never knew that you could feel that way about someone until I met Charlotte. We walked after Ramona.

“You don’t have to feel embarrassed. I feel it too,” Charlotte whispered in my ear. I smiled at her and she smiled back with that look in her eyes that I have only ever seen her give me. We met up with the others and begin our climb.

30 minutes later

“Are we nearly there yet?” I asked, looking down behind me at the sheer drop.

“Aww are you a scaredy cat?” Simon asked laughingly.

“No I just am getting tired,” I lied, not wanting Charlotte to see how scared I actually was.

Charlotte looked at me sympathetically. She carefully climbed so that she was next to me.

“Don’t worry I am worried too about the drop. I don’t think that we should have come this way either,” Charlotte whispered.

I looked at her, thankful. She smiled back at me. I looked back to where Simon was, but he was gone….

“Hey guys where’s Simon?” I asked.

“I don’t know. He was there a minute ago, but then I turned away and looked back and he was gone,” Ramona replied with a worried look.

“He’s probably just out of our view,” Charlotte said. looking around, but I could tell that by the sound of her voice and of her look she did not believe what she was saying.

We continued up the mountain until we reached a flat spot and rested. By now, we had looked all around us and had not seen a sign of Simon. We sat in silence for a bit.

“I hope he’s ok,” Ramona said, breaking the silence.

Charlotte laughed.

“Knowing him, he can take care of himself. He’s smart enough.”

“Yea, you’re right. I just hope that he’ll be back soon,” sighed Ramona. I knew that she missed him, we all did, but this was just not like Ramona at all. There was something else going on.

“Anyway, why are you so worried about him anyway? He is always bragging about how smart he is,” Charlotte asked almost as though she could read my mind.

Ramona gulped.

“Well... You see...,” Ramona paused, thinking about what to say. “He promised that he’d do something as a surprise while we are on the mountains. That’s the only reason why I agreed to come up here.”

“That's odd because that’s why I agreed to come up here too… he said the exact same thing to me,” Charlotte said with a frown.

“So why am I up here then if he wanted to show you two whatever it is?” I asked, starting to feel as though this was just a scam and I wasn’t wanted here.

“I brought you because you’re my brother! And, well, it’s a little scary. Simon told me that you may as well come too,” Ramona said.

We stood there in silence. A few minutes later I smelled smoke. I opened my mouth to say something but there was no need; I could tell by the others’ faces that they could smell it too. Suddenly, we heard footsteps behind us and turned.

“Simon! Where have you been?” Ramona exclaimed as soon as he was in hearing distance.

“Quick! There's a fire in a cottage not too far away from here. We must go help if there’s people in there!” Simon yelled back, completely ignoring Ramona’s question.

We ran. We stopped when the cottage was in view. It was already charred and black. The fire had subsided. It was too late.

As I stopped beside Simon, I noticed a weird smell that I recognised instantly: oil! I looked around at the others to see if they could smell it, and sure enough they both were peering suspiciously at Simon. Ramona recognised it (after all our father works with an oil company and comes home every day stinking of it) but Charlotte, while seemed to recognise the smell, could not place it.

Ramona’s point of view

I recognised the smell very quickly and saw that Darius did too.

“Should we go check it out?” Simon asked, breaking my concentration.

I knew this was my chance to talk to the others.

“You go. We will check around the outside and make sure that you won’t hurt yourself. Call us if you find anything,” I replied, looking at Darius and Charlotte.

“Ok suit yourselves,” Simon said as he walked towards the cottage.

When I was sure that Simon was gone and out of range, I turned.

“You guys smelt that oil smell coming off Simon, right?” I asked, looking around just to triple check that Simon was not watching.

“Yeah. I did. That is not normal,” Darius replied.

I really wanted to reply and say: it is for dad. But I thought better of it as this was no time for jokes.

“Oil! I knew I recognised the smell from somewhere,” Charlotte said.

“So, what does it mean?” asked Darius.

We stood there.

“I have an idea which you're not going to like… but I need to check something before I go and say it,” I said, turning  and running towards the cottage.

But before I even got there, I heard a shout coming from the cottage.

“Guys! I found something!” yelled Simon.

“Ok, coming!” Charlotte yelled back.

Darius’ point of view

We ran towards the sound of Simon’s voice. When we were inside, I could not believe the state. Everywhere you looked there was just black. We continued running. As we got closer, I started to see a shape lying on the ground in front of him.

“It’s Ruby. She is dead!” Simon yelled with tears streaming down his face. “She must have been caught in the fire and couldn’t get out in time.”

Shock stabbed us. We stopped, frozen, motionless, emotionless in time.

We stood in silence looking down at who once was Ruby.

Then screaming.

“When I said ‘I hope you die’ I didn’t mean it. I was just annoyed at her for doing what she did,” Charlotte wailed, crying into her arms and shattering the silence.

Ramona wept and let Charlotte lean against her shoulder.

“Ramona. Can I talk to you for a minute, privately,” Simon said, wiping his face.

Ramona looked up, dazed.

“What? Why? Where do you want to talk?” Ramona looked at us in a way that told us: listen. Watch. Please.

I nodded.

“Just come. This room,” Simon answered, pointing to the room to his left, clearly not seeing the look or nod.

Ramona nodded and followed.

We waited until we were sure that Simon could not spot or hear us. We sneaked into the room and listened.

“What’s this about, Simon?” Ramona asked, tearful.

“I heard you guys talking before about how I smelt of oil,” Simon said, ignoring Ramona’s question.

“And...,” Ramona prompted.

“I know what your idea was, so that is why at that moment I called you all. You have come just a little too close to the truth,” Simon said, eyes darkening.

Ramona was silent.

“So. I must kill you. It is a shame really. I thought I only had to kill Ruby,” Simon said with a sly smile.

“You? What? Why?” Ramona was stunned.

He smiled wider.

“I killed her because that is what you and Charlotte wanted, silly. I do everything for you and Charlotte,” Simon replied.

Simon stepped towards Ramona.

Ramona’s point of view

“What are you doing?!” I screamed, already knowing what was about to happen.

Simon just continued approaching, ignoring my question.

He suddenly stopped, with one foot hovering above a plank. I instantly spotted why. There was a rope holding the plank that I could see attached all the way up to a couch above me, ready to drop.

I looked back to where Charlotte and Darius was hiding. I give them a look to say goodbye knowing that this was the last time I would see them.

I saw Darius giving me a look saying don’t do it! But I knew what I must do. I looked back at Simon just as he stepped onto the plank. The last thing that I saw was a coach falling on me.

Then nothing. The pure relief of darkness...

Darius’ point of view

I wanted to yell no…run to where my sister was and pull the coach off her….but I knew that I must stay hidden otherwise Ramona’s sacrifice would be for nothing.

“I have to finish this,” Simon muttered.

As soon as he left, we ran towards the open door. We escaped unharmed and ran down the mountain until the cottage was no longer in sight. We both collapsed in exhaustion and grief, not saying anything. Not knowing what to say.

As soon as my mind caught up I suddenly realised what I have just lost. Not even caring that Charlotte was there and could see me I started to weep deeply. The tears just kept coming. I didn’t even look up when I heard Charlotte coming towards me.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Charlotte said, her voice shaking.

“I... I never know that you could feel so much pain. It feels like my heart is being destroyed ” I sobbed, still not looking up.

“I know how you feel. Even though Ramona was not my actual sister she felt like one to me,” Charlotte said. I lookedup and see the tears streaming down her face too.

“She had so much to live for.”

I nodded, not able to say more. Charlotte sat down next to me. We sat there in silence for a moment, staring towards the horizon.

“I’ll miss her. I loved her. I never wanted her to die like this,” I say more tears streaming down my face, breaking the silence.

Charlotte looked at me with sadness in her eyes. She moved closer to me.

“I remember when she was first born. She was such a tiny thing always chasing me yelling “Brother, come back!” She was so excited when she went to school, and she would always come home smiling no matter if she had hurt herself. I always wished that one day I would have her enthusiasm,” I say laughing a little.

Charlotte smiled at me, she moved her hand into mine. We looked at each other, smiling. We looked back at the horizon for a bit. The sun was starting to set.

“We will always remember her, and she will always be with us,” she said, turning to look at me. I nodded, knowing just what she meant.

She sighed.

“We need to move before Simon finds us. We must go to the police station and tell them what Simon did. Then they can arrest him.”

She looked determined.

“But what if, when we tell the police, they don’t believe us…. and if they do, how will we find him again?” I asked, desperate.

“I recorded everything on my phone,”

She showed me.

“I also put a tracker on him,” she said with a grin.

“How? When?” I asked in awe.

“It was easy.”

I just smiled, not knowing what to say.

“Are we going?”

I nodded. We stood up and start heading down the mountain.

1 hour later

Me and Charlotte were standing outside the police station. We took a deep breath and stepped inside.

We walked towards the centre desk.

“We need to speak to one of your most senior officers. There has been a murder of two people by the same person.”

The lady just laughed. Me and Charlotte looked at each other in confusion.

“Ok, what sort of joke is this? There hasn’t been a murder in this town for years,” the lady finally said when she stopped laughing.

“We are serious. We have video footage.”

Charlotte thrusted the phone under the lady's eyes with the video playing.

She stopped laughing and her eyes widened. As soon as the video finished, she picked up the phone and called someone.

“Please come with me. The senior officer would like to see you.”

A short, serious man looked up from his desk.

“Hello, I am Detective Wilson. I heard about what happened and I would like to see this video of yours and you two to tell me everything.”

We did.

My mouth was dry though I knew that it was not because I was thirsty.

“I am very sorry to hear about your sister and friend. I will make sure that this man is treated as he deserves. I need you both to help.”

“Of course.”

“Ok then, we leave right away,” Fred said, standing and walking out of his office.

Fred appeared back with a few officers behind him. Even though they were not in plain view, I could see the bulky bits where they had their guns hidden. I hoped that it would not come to that.

We followed he tracker all the way to Simon. Weirdly enough, he was still at the cottage. I gulped as I remembered that somewhere in there was Ramona’s dead body.

Charlotte squeezed my hand.

We finally spotted Simon; he was sitting down looking around. Fred nodded at us.

We slowly walked out into the clearing. As Simon heard our footsteps he turned around. Tears were streaming down his face. I doubt they were real.

“I’m so sorry! Ramona is dead!”

He started walking towards us, his hands behind his back. I noticed a glint when the sun hit whatever he was holding.

I looked at Charlotte. I can tell that she has seen it too.

“We know that you killed Ramona, Simon. We were watching you secretly,” Charlotte said, looking serious.

“Oh really? Then you know why I did it. Meaning that I will need to kill you too,” Simon says, tears stopping.

He moved toward us. When he was inches away,  the police officers jump out.

“Freeze! Put your hands in the air!”

Simon was pinned to the floor.

“No! Let me go!” Simon yelled. He looked at me. His face twisted.

“I may be put in prison but I warn you I will escape. When walking down the street always look behind you,” he said, malevolently.

“Simon Phillips you are under arrest for the murders of Ruby Mill and Ramona Le Martin. You have the right to remain silent, but anything that you say, can and will be used against you in the court of law.”

Once they were all out of sight we walked towards the cottage. We stepped towards where Ramona’s body was. We stood there not saying anything for a while.

“Thank you for everything. We will never forget you Ramona,” Charlotte whispered, knowing what I was going to say. She looked at me. I just nodded, not being able to say anything.

Charlotte nodded too in understanding and grabbed my hand. We turned and walked down the path, down the steep incline, down the moutain which had borne witness to such atrocity, into the darkness.