You may have noticed that I deleted a lot of my stories. Most of them were deleted because they had nothing to do with the categories they were in, but the actors and actresses of the characters they played. They weren't that great, so I was thinking of deleting them anyways. Other stories that I was working on got deleted because I lost interest in them and had writer's block on all of them. I will continue the Bandslam fanfic called "Miracle Out of Love" and I'm also working on this one, so I'll go back and forth between the two to update. I hope you guys like this one, even though it's tragic and very sad. It's kind of based on JonBenet Ramsey and her murder. If none of you know her story go to www dot jonbenet-ramsey dot com and you'll read a little about it.
MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN
CHAPTER 1: FINDING ELIZABETH
Sharpay let out a rack of sobs, running into hers and Troy's room. She had three pages of paper in her hands, which were trembling. Tears were streaming down her face and was hysterical, due to the two and a half page letter she'd found on the bottom step of their staircase. Sharpay quickly ran to the bed and shook Troy.
"Wake up!" Sharpay said. "Troy, wake up!"
Troy groaned a little, but he sat up and looked at Sharpay. "What's wrong? What's going on?"
"It's Elizabeth! She's not in her room! She's not anywhere!"
"Calm down, Jules, I'm sure she's fine."
"She was kidnapped! The letter, it says it right here, it says they have her and if we fail to give them $118,000 they're gonna behead her!" Sharpay said as a rack of sobs escaped her throat.
"What?" Troy asked, taking the note from her. He read it quickly but thoroughly, and tears filled his eyes as he ran his hand through his hair, standing up from the bed. "Go check on Logan, make sure he's still in his room. I'll call the police."
Sharpay sobbed as Troy left the room and she walked out of their bedroom, down the hall. She held her stomach, feeling a bit queasy as she approached hers and Zeke's (they had him shortly after high school graduation) nine-year-old son's bedroom door. She stayed still for a few seconds and turned the doorknob, slowly pushing the door open. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that he was sprawled out on his bed.
Typical Logan, just like Zeke, she thought to herself. Sharpay walked over to him and she picked his blanket up from the floor, draping it over him. She noticed his eyes open and they looked at each other for a few seconds.
"Why are you crying?" Logan asked.
Sharpay smiled and shook her head. "No reason, Honey. Go back to sleep; it's still early."
"Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine. Go back to sleep," she said, kissing his forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too. Tell Lizzie to stay out of my room."
"What?"
"She opened my door last night and then closed it."
"Did she say anything?"
"No."
"Did you see her?"
"No, but she's the only one that wakes up in the middle of the night."
"Oh… Okay… Go to sleep. I'll be downstairs," Sharpay said, walking to the door. She let out a small breath and she closed his door, before making her way downstairs. She ran her hand through her hair and she found Troy in the living room, hanging up the phone. "He's fine. What did the police say?"
"They said they're on their way with a detective. I'm going to call Gabriella, see if she can come over to keep Logan entertained when he wakes up."
"Call Taylor and Chad. And Kelsi and Ryan."
"Alright. You sit down, I don't want you getting too worked up," Troy said, picking up the phone again.
"Yeah, you're right… Sitting down isn't going to make me worry about my baby girl missing," Sharpay said, sitting down.
Troy sighed and ignored the sarcasm as he dialed Gabriella's number. "Just try to stay calm, okay? For Logan. For Lizzie."
"I'll try, but I'm not promising anybody anything."
"Hello?" Gabriella asked.
"Gabriella, it's Troy," Troy said.
"Yeah, I totally didn't recognize your name flashing on my screen."
"Funny. Listen, I need you to come over. We need you to keep Logan entertained and occupied when he wakes up."
"It has to be right now? It's 7:00 in the morning, Troy."
"It's important. I'll explain when you get here, just get here and fast," Troy said, hanging up the phone and turning it on again.
Sharpay sighed and she closed her eyes, running her hand over her stomach.
"Are you okay?" he asked, dialing Chad's number.
"Yeah, I just… I'm nauseas. I just wish I'd puke and get it done and over with."
"How long has this been going on?"
"A few days."
"Maybe you're—hey, Chad," Troy said.
"What the hell, dude? It's too early for phone calls," Chad said.
"Sharpay woke up this morning and found a ransom note saying someone kidnapped Elizabeth."
"We're on our way over."
Less than thirty minutes later, three policemen, a female detective, Chad, Taylor, Ryan, Kelsi, and Gabriella had shown up almost at the same time. Logan woke up during Sharpay's breakdown to Ryan, so Gabriella was sitting on the couch with him in her lap while Sharpay and Troy were talking to the detective.
"So, Mrs. Bolton; you woke up and found the letter first thing?" Detective Barnett asked.
Sharpay nodded. "Yes. I came downstairs to get a head start for the morning and get a design done for my fashion line, and I found the note on the last step of the staircase; it keeps replaying itself in my head."
"Alright. You checked to see if Elizabeth was in her room?"
"Yes. I checked everywhere. Her bedroom, the play room, the attic, all of her favorite places. I checked in the backyard."
"Do you have a pool?"
"Yes, but I looked there when I first went outside because she likes to sit on the edge and pretend she's a mermaid."
"Does Elizabeth have a playhouse?"
"Yes, but I checked. She wasn't there, she wasn't anywhere."
Detective Barnett nodded, writing a few things down on a notepad. "Mrs. Bolton, you have a son from a previous relationship, correct?"
"Yes; Logan."
"Did you check in his room when you were checking in the house?"
"Not right away. After I showed the note to Troy, I went to check on Logan and he was asleep, but Elizabeth wasn't in there, otherwise you wouldn't be here."
"I understand you're frustrated, Mrs. Bolton, and I'm sorry about the interrogation, but it's just regulation and precautionary questions."
"I know, I… I'm just… Scared. I'm being threatened my baby girl's life. The note said she'll be beheaded if we don't hand over the $118,000 they're demanding."
"Does that number mean anything to you?"
"It's the amount Troy's Christmas bonus is."
"Alright. I have more questions, but how about you relax? Eat something, drink something, sit down and just try to have a normal couple of hours with your friends. I'll talk to your husband for a little bit and then I'll come back to you."
Sharpay nodded and she ran her hand through her hair, sitting next to Gabriella on the couch. She bit on her nails, until she felt someone's hand pull hers out of her mouth.
"Mommy, don't bite your nails; they'll be jagged," Logan said.
Sharpay chuckled a little. "I'm sorry, Mommy's just nervous…"
"About Lizzie?"
"Yeah…"
"Where is she? Is she okay?"
"I don't know, Honey…"
Logan changed places from Gabriella's lap to Sharpay's and he leaned against her, laying his head down on her shoulder. "Mommy?"
"What, Baby?" Sharpay asked, running her hand through Logan's hair.
"Is Lizzie dead?"
Sharpay stiffened and she stayed that way for a few seconds. She looked at Logan and shook her head, kissing his forehead. "No, Baby. She's not dead… She's just hiding."
"Why are the cops here?"
"To help us find her."
---
Troy watched Sharpay talk to Logan intently, and he turned his attention to Detective Barnett when she approached him.
"Mr. Bolton, you're absolutely sure you checked every part of this house?" she asked.
"Well, not every single part, we have a basement that has several rooms, but Elizabeth never goes down there," Troy said.
"There's a first time for everything. I'd like you and Mr. Danforth to check the basement, every single room slowly, carefully, and thoroughly, to make sure you don't miss anything. Can you do that?"
Troy nodded. "Yeah, sure. Of course."
"If you don't find anything there, check anywhere else that has multiple rooms as well."
"Alright. Chad? Let's go."
Troy and Chad walked into the basement, turning on lights as they went. Troy walked past three windows, but Chad noticed a corner of the middle window was missing a chunk of glass.
"Troy," Chad said. "You see this?" he asked, gesturing to the window.
"What?" Troy asked, looking at him. "Oh, I did that last summer. Locked myself out of the house."
Chad nodded and followed Troy, double checking every room he went into. He went ahead of Troy and walked to the door of the boiler room. He opened the door and turned on the light, his heart stopping and his blood feeling cold as soon as he turned on the light. He saw his six-year-old niece laying on the floor, with her hands tied above her head, a rope tied around her neck, with a sheet over her torso. He let out a sudden sob and ran over to her, taking the sheet off of her and untying her hands.
"Troy, I found her!" Chad shouted.
Just as Troy rushed to the doorway, Chad rushed past him with his little girl in his arms, her own arms still in the air. He ran after Chad and followed him to the hallway.
"Detective Barnett!" Troy shouted.
Detective Barnett ran into the hall just as Chad laid Elizabeth's body down on the floor. She stared for a few seconds and looked at Troy. "Go call 9-1-1, Mr. Bolton."
Troy stared at Elizabeth and then looked at Detective Barnett.
"Go call 9-1-1," she repeated.
As Troy ran out of the hall, Chad picked up Elizabeth's body again and walked into the den, carefully laying her down on the floor. He took off his jacket and laid it over Elizabeth, covering her face, letting out a sob. He stayed still and quiet until he heard Sharpay's shrilling scream and he stood up, backing away from Elizabeth's body.
Seconds later, Sharpay ran into the room and she knelt next to Elizabeth, throwing Chad's jacket off of her, and she sobbed, leaning down and resting her head on Elizabeth's head. "No, please no!" she shouted. "Bring her back! Bring her back; please bring her back!"
"Jules…" Troy said, softly.
"Jesus, please… You raised Lazarus from the dead, please raise my baby!"
Troy let out a sob and he ran his hand through his hair, looking away from Elizabeth, trying to focus on something else. While his wife screamed and sobbed over their dead baby girl, he tried to drown out his guilt.
So, what did you think? I know this was an extremely tragic scene, but I wasn't as descriptive as I could have been with the finding of little Elizabeth's body. I figured it'd just make it sickening (as if it isn't already) to describe a six-year-old's dead body. Let me know what you think.
Oh, btw: Jesus really did raise Lazarus from the dead. I thought it was an interesting thing to add in there. Patsy Ramsey (JonBenet's mother) said that herself, and it's also in all of the movies that were made based on JonBenet's murder, so I figured that would be interesting to put in there.