CAN YOU KEEP MY SECRET?

The night was peaceful and quiet as she sat on the worn-out camping chair. She had moved to the countryside to have some time for herself, a rest house she could go to. A small campfire was alive before her, embers flickering in the night. It enchanted her as she took a sip from her wine glass. She had kept the wine in her pantry, letting it age for almost five years from the time she had purchased it. In that moment, she could taste the sweet blend in her mouth, indicating that her patience had paid off. The thought of the wine brought her back to what had happened earlier that morning, an exhilarating and satisfying event. A task that would have been difficult for her to accomplish if it weren’t for the help of the previous town’s own policemen.

She had received a call from an old friend of hers, asking if she had seen her ex-fiance recently. Stating that she hadn’t, her friend went on to say that he had been missing for a day now and that his current girlfriend had called to as if ever anyone knew his whereabouts. It was only a few minutes that the said girlfriend had called that there was a statement released, saying that a message was found in the man’s car with his last words. Him missing was ruled out to be suicide but his girlfriend was convinced otherwise and wanted further investigation. The girlfriend pointed out that it wasn’t suicide but murder.

As the call went on, she heard a knock on her door. Briefly ending the call, she opened the door to see two of the town’s policemen standing before her. The first policeman, probably a senior policeman, showed her the picture of her ex-fiance. Oh, the irony! She just ended the call with her friend and now policemen show up on her doorsteps.

“We wanted to know if you had seen him recently. There is an investigation on going for his case. Although we don’t want to jump into conclusions, some evidences lead us to you. You’ve dated for over three years.”

“I’m not sure you would find what you’re looking for here. We haven’t talked since we broke up. He didn’t want me since he said I was way out of my mind. I didn’t bother to make amends to our relationship. He never wanted to anyway.”

“Do you mind us searching through?”

Unfazed, she moved over and let the policemen do their jobs. After all, she had just heard about the news from her friend. Walking back to her kitchen, she made her own morning coffee and some toast as the policemen wandered around. They didn’t ask her any questions until they finished scanning the house.

“Are those medications?” The younger policeman asked. White bottles with distinguishable labels were lined up in a shelf. She just nodded and bit off from her toast.

“What are they for?”

“Insomnia, anxiety, and some pills for anemia.”

Seeing nothing suspicious, they thanked her and handed her a number to call if ever she got some news about him. She nodded and tucked the note in her pocket as she placed her half empty mug of coffee in the sink. They left and on she went with her task for the day which needed a good amount of attention.

She walked into her room and pulled out a duffel bag. Starting with her undergarments, she shoved them in a rather unorganized manner. All the while she was busy stuffing her clothes into the bag, she hummed a soft tune. She was beyond excited for the things that had taken place and those that are still bound to occur.

From the drug that brings absolute sleep, especially mixed with alcohol. The unregistered and tampered gun used. The trap set for the ex-fiance to fall to and his last moments on earth. How he begged silently as the bullet hit his chest and his last words being incoherent. The unoccupied storage room, a perfect place to hide the body. The police visit and their phone number. How the phone tip of a body being seen being buried on an abandoned lot which resembles the ex-fiance. The news that no body was found. The lot being left behind, insignificant to the investigation. The body being buried there, a few hours after the policemen left seeing that there was no body. It would not be suspicious since the policemen had already checked that freshly dug soil, moving on with their investigation. The crackling of the firewood burning before her brought a mile on her face. She smiled as she remembered how the pieces of her plan fell into place perfectly.

“You can’t stop loving someone once you love them. You can’t just say that you have removed them from your heart. You lied to me so many times.” She remembered all the hurtful words he said. That she should be gone from his life and he never wanted to see her again. She could clearly see, in her memories how she begged for him to stay. For him to listen, to give her some more time. He never listened and he abandoned her. He left her out to die, with a broken heart and an unstable mind.

A bittersweet laugh rang out in the night and she took another sip from her wine. She wanted to kill him. She didn’t want him to be happy when she was miserable. He was hers and hers only, the thought repeating in her head. Yes, she might have been out of her mind as he said. She went crazy over him up to the point she became delusional, abusive and very much territorial. Them breaking up made her so upset that she had absolutely lost her mind. She killed him so that no one else could ever have him and she got away with it.

As if she knew you were reading this, a smirk replaced her smile and whispered in a hoarse voice, “Can you keep a secret?”