Christina

Early in the morning, the telephone standing on Juliett's bedside table rang in its shrill tune. Juliett groaned as she was pulled out of her sleep and forced to leave her husband's embrace in order to answer the phone. As soon as the young police officer had the phone in her hand, she moved back into the embrace. "What?" she barked into the receiver. She recognised the number on the display as the number of her office. Oh, even the night shift is on the phone! She quietly listened to the voice on the other end of the phone and she nodded. "Yeah, I'm coming." She scribbled something on a little sheet of paper on her bedside table, to which she had moved back.

After she put the phone back onto its station, she kicked her husband and colleague to wake him up. "Hey, wake up! We have some work!" Luke peered at the clock. "What? So early?" He glanced over to Juliett. "Come on," Juliett said and she already was in front of the closet changing into her working clothes.

The forensic doctor and the chemists were already working on the crime scene when Juliett and Luke arrived. Juliett and Luke showed their ID cards to an officer and they were allowed to pass the barrier. Another officer explained the incidents and Juliett nodded.

She got a list with names and Juliett examined the sheet. "Twenty names of people, who might know something about our dead person," she said as Luke glanced over her shoulder to look at the sheet. This was going to be a normal day of work. "Fine, you take the first ten, I take the rest." Juliett stared at the sheet and nodded slowly.

After visiting five names of her list, Juliett leaned back in her seat of her car. "No helpful information at all. Nothing..." She sighed and turned on the engine to drive through the streets of the neighbourhood where they found the corpse to get to the next address.

"I should be a street officer," she mumbled as she stopped at a red traffic light. She worked at the crime scene department. When the lights jumped back to green, she shook her head and drove on. "No, then I would have to work shifts."

The next address on her list was a rather small but nice house. Juliett got out of her car and snatched her little booklet and her file off the passenger's seat. She went to the door and rang the bell. A man in his early thirties opened the door with a slightly confused expression, but he smiled friendly, "Good Morning."

"Good Morning, Mister. I'm a police officer." She showed her ID and the man nodded. "I would like to ask you some questions…"

Juliett thanked the man and turned around to leave but she saw something red out of the corner of her eye. She stopped and looked at the red spot on the wall inside the house. It was blood. "What's it?" the man asked in confusion and followed her glance towards the spot. "Oh, this is nothing. I stumbled after I cut myself this morning. I steadied myself at the wall." He showed her his hand; he had a big plaster on his palm. The story fitted to the spot at the wall so Juliett nodded. "Have a nice day, Mister." She walked to her car and drove away to finish her task.

At noon she met her colleagues in the office to talk about their collected information. "You have something?" Luke asked and Juliett tapped onto the sixth name on the list. "He was quite helpful and he was quite nice." She took out her booklet. "Here is the information."

It was late afternoon and Christina was alone at home. The small four year old girl sat quietly in a corner of the living room. She had already sat there for two hours. Her eyes were red from tears but the house was empty. Her parents were not there. She didn't know where her parents were. The telephone rang and she winced at it. She stared at it with huge eyes. I am not allowed to use the phone.

It stopped eventually and the answering machine kicked in. A man left a message. This man again. Who might that be? Mom doesn't say anything. It got quiet again.

The door banged open and Chris got quiet. Heels clicked over the floor. Mom is back. She'll leave soon. The woman came into the living room and glanced at Chris. She wrinkled her nose at her daughter and left again. I'm not good enough. The door banged back into place and the lock snapped two times. I'm locked in again. She got up and staggered. I'm hungry but I'm not allowed to open the fridge. She didn't get any breakfast this morning. I can't open the fridge! I don't want to be bad again. With her empty stomach, she sat back down. Her thoughts were empty, her dreams were black as she closed her eyes and doze off.

In the early evening, the door was flung open again and it banged at the wall with a loud sound. Father is home. He was at the bar again. "Christina!" He is angry at me again. She made herself small in the corner and she heard the heavy steps echo through the house. He walked into the living room and instantly saw his daughter. "You little bitch! You little bundle of dirt!" Roughly he pulled her onto her feet and the small girl whimpered. I did something wrong, again. I get punished again. She received a hard punch and as she stumbled back she slid down the wall into her corner. Again she was pulled back on her feet; every hit was harder than the one before. Her body shook in fear and tears ran down her cheeks. The shouting rang in her ears and it seemed to burst her ear-drums. The door opened again and her mother came into the house, but she did nothing. She looked at the girl and walked past. Am I not pretty enough? Am I not good enough? I have to be better; I have to say "Hello" but I'm not allowed to speak without permission. Chris just stared at her mother with huge swollen eyes. But the woman just went to the answering machine and checked the messages. She went out of the house again. Chris freed herself and ran to the door, trying to get out; the door wasn't closed yet. But the mother just sent her back inside, with a hard knock. The door fell into place and the father took Chris by the collar. The words he shouted were worse now and the blows were harder than before. She sank back to the ground, when she couldn't stand the pain anymore. "I'm Sorry! I'm sorry!" she cried but her father didn't listen. Oh, please, please, someone!

The doorbell rang.

He immediately stopped his attacks and glared at the door. Leaving Chris lying on the ground, he stomped over to the door. He quickly wiped his hands on a towel before he reached the door. Chris remained motionless on the floor.

He opened the door and saw a young woman standing in front of the door. "Oh, you." He recognised the young police officer from earlier.

"Good evening. Excuse me for bothering you again, Mister. I'll keep it short," she smiled and started to explain her request when she heard a small whimper. It was so small, she barely heard it. "What was that?" Juliett asked and listened. She heard weak breaths and a barely audible pant. "I don't know what you are talking about." Juliett stared at the man. "I just thought I heard a whimper." She smiled.

Her gaze fell on the hand of the man and she caught her breath. The hand was stained with blood. "What is going on here?" She shoved the man aside to enter the house but he caught her arm, holding her in place. "You can't just walk in someone else's house!" Juliett saw the bloodstained towel on the floor and roughly pushed the man away. She ran into the house, looked around and entered the living room. She gasped when she saw the blood on the wall and on the ground. "What the…?"

Surrounded by a pool of blood was a little girl, badly beaten up and breathing heavily. "Oh my god!" Juliett dived towards the girl and ignored the father for one second. "What the hell happened here?"

She heard quick steps striding away from the house. Juliett quickly looked around.

Am I saved? Chris tried to move her lips but she couldn't. Blood dripped from her mouth and her body was numb. Am I dying? Am I free? Chris gaze got blurry. Who is this woman? Why is she holding me so gentle? Juliett reached for her phone, typing a number with shaking hands.

"LUKE! EMERGENCY! I need an ambulance and medical aid! NOW!"

Chris could hear the words of the woman, far away and distorted.

Luke already ordered the ambulance and ran to his car. He knew where his wife was and already passed the address on while he still was on the phone.

Juliett looked around but nothing helpful was close by. She didn't move, not wanting to leave the little kid.

It got dark around Chris. The pain eased, fading into the darkness. The words of the woman faded away, the words unintelligible.

Juliett tried to stop the blood but with little success. The door banged open as Luke ran into the building. On his heels were ambulance men and some doctors with different medical instruments in their hands, behind them, some police officers entered the house.

Juliett stared at the lifeless body in front of her. She didn't move as the persons rushed into the house, her hand was still lying on the small, broken body of the girl.

She was stained in blood. Her blouse was used as a towel to stop the bleeding and she sat in front of the dead child with only her top on. She slowly turned her head to her husband; tears were running down her cheeks as she did so. She didn't move when the ambulance men moved around her and investigated the body. The only thing they could do was confirming the death. They were too late.

The parents went missing without a trace.