Her Name Was Scarlet Read online

  Fernanda Medina

  Her Name was Scarlet

  I want to dedicate this my sister Belen for being my goofy partner in crime. Also to Spencer Reid my love.

  Chapter 1: Misery Loves Company

  The same old routine of the day is starting. Being ambushed in a corner of the hallway while no one else is around. Becoming outnumbered five to one. How freakin’ sweet; they went out of their way to add two more members just for me… morons. “You got some nerve showing your face here at school.” says Alex Martinez with his black hair spike up so high that it makes him look like a porky pine. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I say while they still huddle over me like a football team does on the big match. “Don’t bullshit us!” says Brian from my math class. “You know what you’ve done. Everyone knows what you’ve done! You killed Juan and Drew!” That stupid rumor has been around for the past three weeks. “I didn’t kill anyone. Why would I kill them?” Everyone has been annoying me with this stupid rumor. Even the teachers are afraid of me. No one makes eye contact with me, and if I’m more than one foot close to them they step back and make lame excuses. “Isn’t it obvious why?” Alex says.

  “They teased you a little and you just couldn’t handle it just like the bitch that you are.” Teased? Exactly what is teased to them? Either they don’t know what those two actually did to me or they aren’t human at all. I’m really mad now and I guess it shows because by the time I look up at these morons Alex grabs me by the collar of my shirt and lifts me up, knocking my glasses off. “The police are stupid and think that you’re just an innocent little girl who isn’t even capable of hurting a fly. But we know the truth; you killed them! You’re the one! You’re the one who made them bleed to death and dump them in front of the school for the whole world to see!”Alex is really annoying me today; more than other days. “I told you, I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO THEM!” Just as he is holds his fist up someone comes into the hallway. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” We all turn around at the same time and see that it’s agent Michael Reid from the FBI that’s investigating the supposed murder of Juan and Drew. Alex finally puts me down after agent Reid eye balls him. Brian goes over to Alex, “Let’s get out of here.” He whispers. But before they all leave Alex stops when he is right by my side and whispers in my ear “This isn’t over.” I already knew that. I knew that since the first day I moved here. All the chills travel from my neck to my spine. Dealing with the pain in my throat and my shortness of breaths I quickly try to get out of there without dealing with agent Reid. “Wait” he says before I can even open the exit door. I stop and wait for what he’s about to say. “Are… are you okay?” He seems flustered while he says this. “I’m fine” I lie. Obviously I’m not fine. Ever since agent Reid and the other agents have come, the harassment has only increased, especially when it’s Alex’s harassment. He treats me like a toy. Since he’s miserable, he needs someone else to be even more miserable. His parents divorced when he was two years old, his stepfather never comes back unless he needs money (which he uses for gambling), and his mother is a workaholic who is afraid of being alone. No one knows where his real father is. He is pretty much miserable, and misery likes company.

  My breathing gets worse as I start getting flashbacks about the bullying that I’ve lived through my life. “Wait a moment.” Yells agent Reid but before he can take a step closer to me I run out the exit door. On my way to the convenience store I keep on wondering if the FBI agents are either really smart or just plain dumb. It’s obvious that they’re keeping an eye on me. The FBI agents stick out like sore thumbs compare to the people in this small town. You walk down the street and see these tall men that have serious looks to match their muscular appearance; almost like they popped out of a mafia movie. In the day they wear sunglasses and stay inside their car. The way you know that they’re following you is when they start their car. I wonder when they get tired of following me. I don’t do anything out of the ordinary. As soon as the bell rings and school is over, I walk my way home, go to the convenience store sometimes to buy a snack and a drink for the walk home, and stay home. Nothing more. Nothing less. Today is a really hot day. The weather man said that it wouldn’t be more than eighty-eight degrees. They always lie. Luckily the convenience store has a thermometer. It’s freakin’ ninety-two degrees. While I’m paying for my water bottle and an apple I see out the window agent Reid and his teammate agent Gabrielle Hernandez. They’re sweating as if they were blocks of ice left outside the street. Since I’ve been a bit rude to them I decide to grab a few more things.

  I get out of the store and head to their car. Before I knock on the window I can hear them complaining about the heat. When they hear the knock and see me they look completely shocked. What I would do for a picture of their faces right there at that moment. “Good after noon agent Hernandez, agent Reid.” I say as they just stare at me like their cover was blown. “Good afternoon Melinda. What can I do for you?” asks agent Hernandez. I hesitate to calm my nerves. “Oh, nothing. I just noticed that it’s a hot day today and that it must be tiring to be in a car just watching me twenty-four hours a day.” I tell them. They look baffled as I say this. “Anyways” I continue as I reach in the grocery bag. “I brought a cold bottle of Pepsi for you agent Hernandez. And a cold bottle of lemonade for you agent Reid.” The look on their faces when they received the drinks made it look like it was a gift from God or something. “Thank you.” They both say. Without a second to waste they swallow their cold drinks and let out a big “aahhh”. They look like small kids who just got a big piece of cake. As I start heading home someone yells “Wait!” I turn around and see agent Reid coming out of the car. He walks up to me and gets something out of his pocket. “Here” He says as he hands me my glasses. “You forgot them when you ran out.” Oh yeah… I forgot my glasses. “I don’t need them.” I tell him. “How come?” he asks all confused. “They’re broken.” I tell him. I guess he didn’t realize that one of the lenses broke. “Oh…. Sorry.” He says. He looks like a said puppy. “Don’t worry about it.” I say trying to reassure him. “I only need glasses for reading, my eyesight isn’t that bad. And I also have a spare at home.” It looks like I made him calm again. He seems relieved. “Here” He says as he hands me a card with a phone number. “If you ever need anything just call me whenever.” I shove the card in my pocket. “Okay. Thank you.” I tell him, although I don’t really mean it when I say “thank you”. These people are making my life even more badly than it was before. I still remember when he and the rest of the agents first came here, he was the most anxious. They all came in my class during second period. There was agent William Harrison , who was the leader of the group. He was tall, with nicely comb hair, and a serious face. He seems like he was in the navy. Agent Harrison would not take crap from anyone. He even made Brian shut up with just one look when he was acting like a total jackass. Then it was agent Emily Justices. She seemed like the honor student from the top private school of the group. She had short clean cut hair, and stood up straight with confidence. Agent Gabrielle Hernandez was next. He looked like a cool bad boy from a chick flick that all girls would fall for. He wore a jet black jacket that showed off his arm muscles. And last but not least, agent Michael Reid. You could tell that he was nervous, but also anxious. He introduced himself, talked about the situation and the buddy system. But most of the students spent more time just staring at him rather than listening to him. He looked more like a sophomore in college rather than a twenty-three year old FBI agent working in the BAU. That day is so vivid because that’s the day all the fingers in the school started pointing at me. But that day wasn’t the beginning.

  Chapter 2: The belief in a supernatural source of evil is
not necessary. Men alone are capable of every wickedness. – Joseph Conrad

  As soon as I come home I am greeted with a smashed mailbox, a door with red spray paint that read “MURDERER”, and a tree and roof covered with toilet paper. This isn’t what I was looking forward to after a long day in school. I go inside my house and get a big bucket filled with water and soap. I rolled up my sleeves and start scrubbing off the red message on the door with an old rag. I somehow managed to leave no trace of the word. Next, I went and picked up the mail off the floor and used a broom to sweep the broken pieces of the maliciously destroyed mailbox. When I finished getting all the pieces picked up, I started to wonder how I’m suppose to get all the toilet paper off my roof and tree. “What happened here?” I turn around to see that it’s Sam, my neighbor and probably only pure and kind person in the world I’m forced to live in. “Are you okay Melinda, did those brats do anything to you again?” He always worries about me. Sam is such a kind man. “I’m fine.” I tell him. “They just threw toilet paper all over here, it’s nothing. Really.” He obviously isn’t convinced. “Is that so… then what happened to your mailbox?” I don’t dare look at his face. He just lets out a breath and shakes his head. “I got a ladder in my garage.” He says while I stare at the big apple tree. “I’ll climb up and take out all the toilet paper. You go and get a big garbage bag, okay?” I look at him as if he were an angel. “Okay.” I tell him trying to fight back my tears. It takes us four hours to get all the toilet paper out. “Phew! That took longer than expected.” Sam says wiping off the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. He starts looking around my house as if a ghost is going to pop out of nowhere. “What’s wrong?” I ask him. He stops looking and asks me “Where’s the old hag?” I keep on wondering why he refers to Aunt Lauren as “old hag” when she just turned thirty-three. “Aunt Lauren and her boyfriend are going to stay in Las Vegas for a few weeks.” Sam doesn’t seem too happy. “And she just left you here alone?” Sam says. You can tell in his voice that he is seriously angry. “Basically.” I tell him. “Someone has to watch the house. And it’s not like she can take me with her.” Sam is really pissed. If you stare in his deep blue eyes long enough you can see a red fire blazing in them. “How can she possibly do that?! How can she leave you all alone at home?!” Sam screams. My throat is starting to get dry again. “It can’t be helped.” I tell him. I’m already used to Aunt Lauren leaving me home alone. She only let me stay with her because I’m her sister’s daughter. That’s all. But I don’t complain. It’s better than staying in an orphanage again.

  Sam lets out a breath that he was holding in. “Melinda.” I look up and stare at him. “Can you have dinner with me tonight?” he asks. I stare at him with confusion. “The only kinds of dinner I’ve had these couple of days were with business men that would laugh like hyenas that ate a bunch of dolphins. Plus, it gets kind of lonely eating dinner alone.” It does get lonely… and scary. Being the only one in a big house and getting scared of every sound that echoes on the empty walls. Sam stays there waiting for a response while I’m getting flashbacks of locking all the doors and windows and just huddling in a corner with my teddy bear. “You don’t want to?” he asks. “No!” I yell. “I don’t mean no… I mean yes... yes yes!” I tell him. “Well which is it? Yes or no?” Sam says chuckling. “It’s a yes. Definitely a yes.” I tell him running out of breath. “I would love to have dinner with you.” He seems surprised. “Ha…” ha? Did he just laugh? “Ha… hahahahaha!” What? Wait, why is he laughing? Did I say something weird? “Okay.” He says. “Come over at nine o’clock, got it?” Oh well. At least he’s smiling again. “Got it.” I tell him. “Mean while I’ll go and buy a bunch of food and make a feast. We’ll celebrate my new promotion and your acceptance to Harvard University.” He says.

  He goes off in his cool, bat-man like car with his sweet but cocky smile. That smile is always boosting up my energy. Now I have to get ready to have dinner with Sam. I wonder what I should wear. “How disgusting.” I turn around and see that it’s Alex with a baseball bat and his two sidekicks Brian and Jason. “Say Melinda…” Alex says. This isn’t good. “Everyone around here knows exactly what you did to Juan and Drew.” I can’t breathe. “So why not just confess already.” I’m scared. “… I …” I say trying to control my breathing and trying to get words to come out of my mouth. “I told you already… I didn’t … do …. anything.” I can’t think straight. My mind is going blank. But for some reason I can still see Alex’s face getting madder. “Liar.” What? Did he say something? “Liar…” he starts walking towards me. “LIAR!” Alex yells. Now I’m dead scared. I turn around to start running but Brian and Jason grab a hold of me before I can even try to escape. They both hold my arms and pin me to the ground. I start moving my whole body doing anything that can possibly make them let go of me. But it’s useless. I can’t shake them off. Alex starts walking towards us. His face looks like a demon looking at a helpless dove. He tightens his grip on the baseball bat and raises it in the air.

  I’m sorry Sam. I don’t think I can make it to dinner.

  Chapter 3: The healthy man does not torture others. Generally it is the tortured who turns into the tortures. – Carl Jung

  The weather man was wrong again. It’s raining really hard tonight. I don’t even know where I am. My body aches. My legs keep shaking with every step I take. I can’t even tell if I’m dripping blood or if water is just dripping off of me. There aren’t any cars stopping to check if I’m alright. Not that that’s a surprise. My stomach hurts too. I reach my pocket to see if I have my phone. I do. It’s eleven and I have twenty missed calls, all from Sam. I can’t possibly call him and tell him where I am. I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE I AM. And I definitely don’t want him to look at me like this. I put my hands in my pockets and feel something on one of them. Its Agent Reid’s number. I look at my phone. Two bars. I try to dial the numbers and control my shaking hands. After it rings for about what feels like five years someone finally picks up. “Hello?” a man says. I try to use all the oxygen I have left in me to speak. “He-hello?” I say. “I-is Agent Reid th-there?” My head is throbbing. “This is he. Is this Melinda?” he asks. “Yes it’s Melinda.” I tell him. “C-c-can you pick m-me up please?” I can’t breathe. “Melinda, are you all right?! What’s wrong?!” he says in a worry voice. I try to respond but I can’t get the words to get out of my mouth. “Where are you?!” he asks, although it feels more like a demand. My legs loose all their energy and I fall on my knees. “Melinda, stay where you are I’m coming to get you!” I can hear him tossing everything aside and running to get me. I try to use all my energy to crawl to a tree and I lean on it for support. “Melinda, are you still there?” he yells. I manage to get a sound come out of my mouth to let him know I’m still there. “Melinda you have to stay with me, okay? Do anything you can to let me know that you’re still there.” I can’t move. “Alouette, gentille Alouette. Alouette, je te plumerai ” a voice starts to sing. “What? What did you say Melinda?” I hear Agent Reid yell from the phone that I can barely keep a hold of. Someone is singing. Je te plumerai la tête”. Melinda is there someone else there?” Reid asks. “Alouette, gentille Alouette. Alouette, je te plumerai.” What a sweet voice, its giving me shivers all around my body but… I want to keep listening to it. “Don’t worry Melinda.” The sweet voice tells me. “It’ll soon be all over. For now you just need to go to sleep.” What will be over? “Who are you?” I ask. “It’s okay Melinda... Just sleep.” Then a big white light flashes next to me. “Melinda?!” Agent Reid yells from his car. He and two other agents come out of the car and run towards me. I turn to my side to try and see who was talking to me. But I still can see anything. My eyes are still blurred. “Sleep.” The voice tells me. “Melinda! Are you okay?! Melinda?! Look at me. Look at me! Its okay, it’s okay. I’m here. I’m here now. I’m going to take you the hospital.” I’m so tired. Reid picks me up. I want to escape from this world. I want it to be over. So I do as the
sweet voice told me to do. I sleep.

  Chapter 4: It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us. - Norman Maclean

  When I open my eyes I’m in a big white room. The first thought that I have in my head is that I’m dead. But reality destroys my illusion when I see I.V. tubes on my arms and me in a hospital gown. My body aches so much when I try to sit up. My body is covered in bandages head to toe. The only thing that isn’t bandage is my left eye. On the rest of my face have band aids all around it. Somehow I got myself able to sit. How did I even get here? I can’t remember anything. I can’t ask anyone what happened; I’m the only one in the room. It’s really bright outside. I think it’s already past noon. You would think that this room would at least have a clock. “What do you mean her aunt isn’t coming?!” some man outside my room screams. That really surprised me. I just had a mini heart attack. Who else is there? “I mean what I said.” Says another man. I think its Agent Harrison. This voice is deep and serious, so it must be Agent Harrison. “Harrison, Reid, I got the information on Melinda Jammer that you wanted.” Says a woman. I don’t know who she is. I think it might be another agent… Wait! What information about me? “Thank you D.J.”Agent Harrison says. Who’s DJ? “Melinda Jammer…” Agent Harrison starts. “Sixteen year old senior in high school; born May 25, 1996; has a scholarship to Harvard University; both parents murdered in 2001; lives with her mother’s sister. That’s it?” “That’s it, sir.” says D.J. I can tell this disappoints Harrison his voice goes softer and deeper. “No criminal records, no school complaint, anything?” “No sir. Straight A model student and star athlete. It seems she hasn’t done one bad thing her whole life. ” That’s not true. “But what I do know…” D.J. goes on. “Is that when she was five she witnessed her parent’s death and was later traumatized. She was hospitalized after the unsub found her hiding in the closet and tried to stab her to death. She was able to survive when the police came in the nick of time. She spent four years in an orphanage until her mother’s sister; Lauren Morgan took custody of her. All her teacher’s say that she rarely talks to anyone and has always done her work diligently. She is one of the fastest athletes in her school, but isn’t in any club. You need to be good at running, jumping, and climbing over stuff if you don’t want to get caught and beaten up. And if I’m in a club that will be just perfect timing for Alex since he’s in the soccer and baseball club. He’ll be able to get me no matter how good at running I might be. “Other than that …” D.J. continues “I got nothing.” YOUR WRONG! I KILLED MY PARENTS. I WATCH THEM BE KILLED IN FRONT OF ME. I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING. IT’S MY FAULT THEY DIED. THEY DIED BECAUSE OF ME! My head is aching. BEEP BEEP BEEP. I can’t breathe. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP. The stupid machine is getting on my nerves. The door slams open. “What’s going on in here?!” say a nurse rushing in. About three nurses and a doctor get in the room in less than five seconds. It’s really hot all of a sudden. My throat is getting dry again. I’m getting a massive headache. I’m clutching my chest with both of my hands. Everything is getting blurry. All I can hear is the doctor giving orders to the nurses. “What’s wrong with her?” asks Agent Harrison who somehow is standing next to the doctor without me noticing that he got in the room. “Her heart rate is getting high. Basically she is getting a panic attack.” Says the doctor. The nurses are holding my arms and legs down, which doesn’t do any good because it just brings flashbacks of what Juan and Drew did to me. I start screaming and throwing my arms and legs everywhere. “LET ME GO! DON’T TOUCH ME!” I scream to the nurses. “NO! NO!” Stop it. Stop it. Please stop. “Get a hold of her! Hold her tight!” orders the doctor to the nurses. “LEAVE ME ALONE! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!” It hurts. It hurts. I’m scared. I’m really scared. “Keep her still.” Says the doctor as he takes a needle and sticks it in my right arm.