4.

The following Monday at the school, wasn't easy for anyone there. The student's knew what happened, the staff knew, and the reporters who stood outside almost constantly, knew it too.

Claire Bennet was gone.

Jackie was a mess; Zach was no better.

Somehow in this situation, all sides of the popularity levels were affected.

Zach stood at his locker, watching as Claire's mother walked up to what used to be her daughter's. The woman looked like a ghost as she quietly stored her daughter's things away into a box the staff had gave her, and allowed Jackie to lead her to the cheerleaders locker room where her daughter's other locker was.

Zach looked down, holding his camera he put it on mute and pressed play on the video.

So many jumps, so many broken bones and blood loss.

'It's not possible,' Zach thought to himself, 'None of it is possible.'

Hardly anyone noticed the disappearance of one other student, Lori Trammel. Who skipped school that day to go to the police station.

Finally, she told her parent's what had happened to her and they were more than desperate to let her go and tell the police what she knew.

Lori waited outside in the lobby, she fidgeted around in her seat nervously until the female officer came to escort her to the interrogation room.

Lori watched enough crime shows to know where she was supposed to sit, facing the glass that everyone knew was made so people could watch you.

"So you think you know who killed Claire?" The woman asked.

Lori nodded, "I think it's better that I start from the beginning." She said. "Last March, I went to a party with some of my friends." She hesitated. "It was at one of the football player's houses and everyone there was drinking...soon enough, I was dizzy from drinking...and I got approached by one of the athletes..Brody Mitchell..." She looked away. "He said he'd help me upstairs so I could sleep off some of the alcohol..." Lori visibly shivered. "He- he locked the door...I didn't realize it...and when I layed down, he got on top of me...and-"

"That's enough, just answer a few questions for me okay." The officer said and Lori nodded.

"How old were you then?"

Lori thought for only a second, "15...I only just turned 16 this past June."

"How old do you think Brody is?"

Lori had to think for a few minutes, "We're two years apart in age...about this time...I think he might be-still seventeen..."

The officer nodded this time, "Now tell me why you think Brody's the one who did this."

Lori closed her eyes, "He was flirting with her at the Bonfire last night. Then, he led her away from everyone else...I think...he might have tried to do to her what he did to me...but maybe she fought him off...or...I don't know...just...if there is a chance I am right about Brody Mitchell then don't you want to follow up on it."

The officer watched as the teenager's eyes filled with tears. The woman leaned in to speak in barely a whisper to the young girl, "If what you're saying is true - and Brody did kill Claire, you do know you'll have to testify in front of a jury?"

Lori nodded frantically, "I should have told everyone when it happened to me, if I did...then maybe Claire wouldn't be-"

The officer nodded, "You shouldn't blame yourself Lori...it wasn't you who caused this."

Later that day, Brody Mitchell was pulled from class and he and his parents went to the station.

"This is ridiculous, why is my son here?" Mr. Mitchell asked.

"A witness came forward, apparently your boy was seen walking away from the bonfire the night of Claire's murder. We asked around and got the same basic information from the other students."

"So what, I didn't kill her." Brody said.

"That may be true, or you may be lying." The woman said. "I need to know what happened between you and Claire..."

"We made out." Brody admitted. "Then she just left."

"Just left?" The officers eyebrows were raised. "Where'd she go."

"I don't know - home...maybe she went off with that Zach kid..."

"Zach wasn't at the bonfire and he has an alibi." The male officer said.

"What more do you want from me?" Brody asked.

"Well...apparently, from a few statements we took from females in your school...you have a history for ignoring it when girls say no. After we heard from the first one, girls just started pooling in about how you either tried or you succeeded in forcing them."

"Forcing them!" Brody said outraged. "All those girls want is attention, you can't rape the willing and I did not kill Claire Bennet!"

"Then explain to me, what happened."

"Nothing."

The woman then pulled out a folder she had been holding the entire time. Laying each picture down on the table in front of the teen and his father.

"A couple cheerleaders took pictures, trying to commemorate their high school years I guess." She pointed down to one picture to where Brody and Claire were talking by the fire.

"This here." she points to another picture. "Shows you walking away with Claire." She looked at the boy. "We actually sent out a search team, they looked around and found two red cups that we know had alcohol in them."

Brody's father could only look at his son as the woman spoke. "Now we've already found one to have Claire's saliva on it. If we can just get a sample of your DNA, how likely do you think it is that it will be yours?"

"What does all this prove?" Brody asked. "I already admitted that we went off together, I already told you that we made out, and I definitely told you that she left."

"What it proves, is that you were not five feet from the very spot that Claire was killed. Her blood- was found all over the ground. We analyzed the ground, and found signs of a struggle."

"Brody," Mr. Mitchell spoke gruffly. "Did you kill that girl?"

"No- I. I didn't kill anyone." Brody denied. "Wh-what do you want me to say? We made out that's it, and the blood - maybe she came back on her own...maybe she met up with someone else! Just maybe, someone else pushed her head into that branch!"

The interrogation room was silent.

"What?" Brody asked.

The officer sighed. "I am really glad you said that."

"What?" Brody's father wondered.

She sighed again, "The thing about a branch being what killed her. It was never released to the public, the only ones to know about it are the ones involved in the case and her family..and of course...the one who killed her."

Brody could only stare.

"Brody Mitchell you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you..."

The trial flowed through, the Bennet family all stood to watch as Lorie and the rest of the girls told the Jury what they knew...it didn't take long for Brody to admit what he did.

On the day of Claire's funeral, everything was black and white. Nobody could do anything outside of cry or express condolences. Nobody could stand to talk about what had put her there.

Noah couldn't believe it himself. His daughter was dead. His daughter, the invincible girl.

He had seen the body...somehow she hadn't survived this accident.

The only person there who wouldn't let himself admit the death of the teenage girl was Zach. He went to the funeral, but he couldn't bring himself to stay long and left early.

He knew Claire couldn't be dead, it just wasn't impossible. Nobody would believe him however, because the idea of a girl healing at an accelerated rate the way Claire did, was just as impossible to everyone else.

To be continued...