Novaka Murders

This is a short murder mystery story about the murder of family members of the Novaka Family.

Marisha Hoag

Suspense Story

The Murders of Allice-mae Novaka

*Prologue: 1998*

She woke up in the middle of the night, eyes wide and frantic. It felt like someone was coming after her, chasing and mocking her like a cat toying with a mouse. No, it didn’t just feel like someone was there. She knew someone was there, just waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The little girl in bed was now fully awake, alert and searching the room for monsters lurking in the darkness. “Creek!” The little girl’s heart did a flip in her small chest. Then she sensed the presence of someone very near to her. She could almost feel cold icy breath creeping towards her. The Lady in Black was coming, coming to hurt her. 

The little girl pulled the covers tighter around her frail body, and hugged her knees to her chest. She thought maybe if she made herself smaller, the Lady in Black wouldn’t find her. Still, she wasn’t dumb. She knew she couldn’t hide from death. The girl’s eyes were very keen and attuned to the dark. A shadow moved in the shadows. The Lady in Black was coming, coming to murder her.

This wouldn’t happen. The little girl pushed down the fear, and terror, and panic that had been about to burst inside of her. She was going to cheat death. Without a moment of hesitation, she grabbed the hunting knife she stole from her father, switched the blade open, and leaped out of bed towards the silhouette of the Lady in Black. 

A sharp cry of pain rang out as the knife found it’s target with a sickening thunk. More moans followed as the knife stabbed the Lady in Black’s chest, stomach, and throat. Soon there was only silence. The little girl stuffed the Lady in Black into a secret chamber hidden in her room. (The whereabouts won’t be mentioned at the moment for it would give too much away.) Then, she sprinkled some special odor-eliminating power, which she herself had concocted, all over the body and slammed the door shut. A few minutes later after cleaning her mess up, the little girl was back in bed thinking how oddly wonderful it was the room was soundproof. The Lady in Black had come, come to her death.

Mariah G. Helmsing: Age 26

MISSING as of October 14th, 1998  

-Part One-

...And so the story begins: 2012

Twinkling sky blue eyes that seemed so full of life, stared up off the page from a poorly printed picture on the front cover of a newspaper. The young attractive boy in the photograph had cute choppy beach blonde hair, that was straight as a tree trunk that had been cut in half to make a log cabin. His smile was full of teeth so perfect they looked like they could be used in a ‘Crest 3D Whitestrips’ commercial. In fact, everything about him looked like it could sell something, but “Get yourself a hot new boyfriend: Join Jackie’s Online Dating Center” wasn’t what the big bold letters in the paper’s headline spelled out. Instead, the two words read, Teen Homicide.

Allice-mae Novaka (A-mae for short) read the heading above her cousin’s professionally shot senior year book photo. Teen Homicide. Teen Homicide. Teen Homicide. The words were beginning to make her head spin. Quickly, A-mae focused her vision to the small italic font under the picture of her murdered family member. 

James K. Novaka: age 18 

June 23rd 1994 - April 19th 2012 RIP 

This picture was taken only weeks earlier for the school yearbook. 

Photo taken by professional photographer Kathy Mavliyns

(Call 1800-999-PICS to book your photo shoot. We Make YOU Shine!)

Next, without any thought, A-mae began speedily reading the news journalist’s story on the murder incident. Her arms were shaking so badly, she could barely hold onto the flimsy light-weight newspaper in her petite hands. 

Cover Story: The Murder of James Novaka     

April 19th 2012

By: Ryan Dells   

James Kaiden Novaka was an 18 year old student from Elridge High school. He was a senior this year and was ready to attend a very prestigious school of the arts. Early this morning, his body was found washed up in a ditch of the St.Stells river by local kayakers. Most horrifyingly, James’s eyes (which he was best known for) seem to be missing from his corpse. This is just like what we found when his father, Drew Novaka was murdered back in summer of 1999 when James was only five. Both of Drew’s eyes were missing, along with his wedding finger and ring that were detached from his body and never found. So far, the eyes are the only known part of James that have been documented missing, but this could easily be the same man who murdered his father. 

James Novaka was the son of Scarlett Novaka and sister to Jada and Rima Novaka. He was also the cousin of Allice-mae Novaka. Lets hold this family in our hearts. Loss of a loved one can be so hard, as we all know. Also, we will not let the murderer get away with this. We will hunt him down and make him pay for his crimes. Let’s hope that Drew (Scarlett’s husband: murdered in 1999), Zarra(Allice-mae’s sister: murdered in 2002), Mikoto and Steffen(Allice-mae’s parents: missing in 2010), and now James Novaka (murdered in 2012) will rest in peace. Lets not forget to wish this seemingly unlucky Novaka family some good fortune. 

  ***P.S. For more info visit our online website*** 

A-mae just sat there for a while not moving a muscle. She couldn’t think straight. Then, all at once, it sank in. Like the rush of a title wave, she was suddenly overcome with extreme emotion. Tears splattered the newspaper making the cheep ink run in pools. She was full out crying in horrible little choked sobs. She tried to stop, but couldn’t do the impossible, and in her attempt to stop the tears she couldn’t breath properly. 

How could this be happening? First her uncle, then her little sister, followed by her parents, and now her cousin. They. Had. All. Been. Killed. No, murdered. A-mae thought about that day. Walking home, seeing blood pooling out around her sister’s corpse, screaming, no one being there, black empty holes where the eyes should have been, getting herself together enough to call the police, the police suspecting her mother and father, and then her mother and father going missing ten years later, and her ending up without anyone. 

However, crying and going into depression wasn’t going to solve any problems. 

A-mae knew this. With all her effort she picked herself up and wiped her eyes, then slowly walked to the bathroom. She looked horrible. Her makeup had smeared sending black streaks running down her face. So much for the “waterproof” mascara. I should have worn less eyes liner, she thought to herself. She went to the sink and after about three minutes of vigorously splashing water on her face, all the makeup had come off and her eyes looked less swollen. Just when she thought she’d gotten herself together she looked in the mirror, thought about her crappy life, and started choke crying again. That’s when the thought hit her.

A-mae grabbed her cell phone, cut the tears, and dialed a number. The phone rang for quite a while before a chilling, stony voice came through the line.

“Who is it?” A-mae immediately realized the voice of her cold Aunt Scarlett.

“A A-mae,” A-mae stammered,“I’m so sorry!” She burst into tears.

“About what?” Scarlett questioned.

A-mae stared in disbelief at the wall. She knew her aunt was hard as stone, but under hard circumstances even the hardest rock broke down right? Something was wrong. Why would her aunt be pretending not to know why she was calling? A sudden horrible thought flashed through her mind. What if her aunt had murdered her own son? Maybe that was why she was acting as if nothing was wrong, pretending that she hadn’t yet found out about his death. 

No! She thought to herself. You’re just being silly. Aunt Scarlett might be a bit uptight and scary, but she would never kill someone! Oh, A-mae you’re a horrible horrible person! Suspecting someone who had just lost their child in such a violent manner. “No parent ever expects to lose their child.” She remembered that quote from a movie about drunk driving she’d seen so many years ago in middle school. Aunt Scarlett had just lost her baby and was probably in shock, pretending it had never happened. Pretending it wasn’t...

“A-mae are you still there? For God sakes child. When an adult asks you a question you should be polite and answer, not make them wait around for decades! Start acting like the woman you are. You are not a child A-mae!” Scarlett’s rage frightened A-mae as it always did. She was quick with her reply.

“Y-yes Aunt Scarlett. I’m very s-sorry man, I-I mean Ma’am!” A-mae practically cried. 

“Just answer my question! What, besides being yourself are you sorry about girl?” Scarlett said in her normal crude voice she always used to put down A-mae. A-mae hated being treated like a child. I mean sure, she acted and looked like a little girl, but she was twenty years old and wasn’t a baby. She’d been forced to grow up fast when her parents suddenly went missing when she turned eighteen. By then she was legally an adult and was responsible to take care of herself. She’d had to quit her dreams of college and focus on getting a job and paying taxes. 

Stop! She told herself. If I keep going on, Scarlett will get upset about not answering her again! Plus, I have to help comfort her and the rest of the family. 

A-mae quickly answered in a meek voice,“I’m so sorry about your loss. I know how much you loved James, as did I and every one who knew him,” A-mae began to choke up, “I know how much grief you must be feeling right now, and if you need anything don’t be afraid to ask.” 

There was only silence on the other line for a while then Scarlett’s voice spoke very slowly in a raspy voice with little emotion,“I don’t need your help girl. You need to take care of yourself. However,” and she took a long pause,“Rima has been very distraught and neither I nor her older sister Jada can get her in better spirit. Maybe you could come over and try to cheer her up.”

A-mae wiped away the tears and replied quickly, “Yes of course Aunt Scarlett! I’ll be right over!” And with that she pressed the “end call” button on her cell and ran upstairs to get herself together. 

Her room smelled like roses and springtime, but underneath it was something that smelled faintly of rotting meat. Then she looked at the open window and remembered, it was trash day, and there was a dumpster right around the corned of her house. She turned to face the great elegant wooden door of her walk-in closet. She was about to open the door to change her outfit when she remembered, she didn’t have time to change. She had to rush over to her aunt and cousin’s house. So why had she come up to her room anyhow? In a moment she remembered. Her medicine! She quickly popped the cherry flavored Bi-polar Bear into her mouth, ran down the stairs, and sprinted out the front door.     

When she arrived at her aunt’s black victorian style house it seemed like someone had just died, which fit the situation. She knocked on the large black door three times. In a moment, someone came to the door. It was Jada, A-mae’s cousin. If you didn’t know who Jada was, you might mistake her for a witch. She had dark dyed black hair and purple eyes. Of-course this wasn’t her true eye color, they were contacts, but Jada kept them in at all times. She wore a black gothic dress that looked evil enough to scare away death itself. Jade refused to look at A-mae in the eyes. She didn’t even speak as she gestured A-mae into the creepy house. 

On the black couch sat Scarlett. Her back was straight as if she was wearing a steel corset (which she probably was) and she seemed to be staring at nothing. The moment A-mae entered the room, Scarlett whipped around as if someone had just walked in on her doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing. 

“Mother,” said Jada in her beautiful melodic voice,“Cousin Allice-mae has arrived” 

“I see,” Scarlett said turning back around,“Rima is in her room. I should think you know where to find it. Rima’s expecting you.”

A-mae turned to head up the stairs leading to the upper story where Rima’s room was. She was at the first step when Scarlett said without turning to face her, “Oh and one more thing, child. You are not permitted up into the attic. We have had some recent...  issues, and it’s not suitable for young people like yourself.”

“Yes Ma’am,” A-mae nodded. She was at the top of the steps, when a musical voice chided,“Be warned, Cousin Allice-mae. If Mother or I find that you’ve disobeyed our humble request, then you’ll find yourself somewhere very dark where the sun doesn’t shine.” 

A-mae stood at the top of the steps frozen with fear and dread. The she gulped a “Yes” and hurriedly knocked on Rima’s bedroom door. 

Very suddenly the door opened a crack making A-mae jump. Rima’s light blue eyes peered out from the small slit in the doorway. Rima seemed to let out a small sigh of relief. 

“Come in quickly!” Her young voice whispered, as the door opened just wide enough for A-mae’s slim body to slip through. Once inside, she felt safe. 

Stepping into Rima’s room felt like stepping into another world. In contrast to the cold dark elegance that was the rest of the Victorian house, her room was warm, bright, and slightly messy. Different piles of un-neatly stacked folders lay on top of a school desk and various clothes stuck out of lime green and electric blue drawers. The window was halfway open with the sun shining in. Rima’s queen-sized bed with the pink and black zebra stripes was made, but had a few wrinkles. The light pinky-purple wall was covered with various posters including the Justin Beiber “SOMEDAY” perfume that had the ugliest bottle A-mae had ever seen. She had to smile. This room was like any other young teenager’s, perfectly normal with an overall feeling of safety. The only thing that didn’t look bright and cheery was Rima herself. 

She sat in a bowl-shaped chair with her legs tucked between her arms. Rima’s fair skin looked more pale than usual and her eyes were red. Her long golden-blonde hair, which she usually wore in two high pigtails, was wrapped around her back and shoulders like a blanket. A-mae came over to sit by her.

“You okay?” She asked gently. For a little bit Rima didn’t reply, then she slowly shook her head.  

“Is there anything I can do to help you feel better? Do you want to talk?” A-mae questioned putting her arms around the little girl. Rima just sat there puffy eyed, staring straight ahead, then out of the blue she burst into tears and screaming. 

“They’re gonna kill me!” She wailed. Her body was shaking, and she was clinging on to A-mae so tight it was starting to hurt. A-mae herself was starting to feel a bit panicked. 

“Shhh, calm down, everything’s okay. Your safe with me. Just tell me what you mean by, ‘they’re gonna kill me’ okay?” A-mae pleaded trying her best to stay calm and convincing. She hugged the little girl tighter and made soothing noises. What was going on?

“T-th-the-they, they k-ki-kill-ed him!” Rima choked out between tears.

“Rima, tell what you mean, who killed who?” A-mae was starting to feel unsafe in the room, but she kept her anxiety down for the sake of the child in her arms.

“I c-cant t-tell you or e-else t-they will k-k-k-kill me!” Rima cried. That’s when A-mae heard the footsteps coming up the stairs. It sounded like two pairs of feet. Aunt Scarlett and Jada were coming. 

Rima stopped crying and froze. A-mae’s heart started pounding faster and faster. She felt like it would beat right out of her chest. She pictured her Aunt Scarlett and Jada walking in with a dull knife to murder Rima and herself. 

A-mae was frozen still with fear of her own family members. She had the sudden feeling that she knew Aunt Scarlett and Jada had murdered James. Her mind flew back to that night in 1999, when she’d accidentally overheard her parent’s private conversation. She’d been going to the bathroom late at night at age seven when she’d seen the light on in the living room when everyone was supposed to be asleep.

“Poor Scarlett,” said Mikoto, A-mae’s mother to Steffen, her father,“To think your brother would do such a thing! I don’t know what I’d do if I found out my son wasn’t really mine, but instead my husband’s girlfriend’s child, who she didn’t want!”

“I know,” her father replied sadly, “I honestly thought my brother was a better man, but Scarlett can be a bit distant and scary, even if you are her husband.”

“Yes, I suppose that’s true, but it’s still wrong! By the way, how does one have a child they think is their own for five years and find out that it really is someone else’s anyhow?” Asked A-mae’s mother in a surprised voice. 

“Well,” said A-mae’s father,“My brother Drew started cheating on Scarlett with this woman named Mariah Helmsing around the time Scarlett wanted a second child. Drew got them both pregnant within a few days of each other, so they were scheduled to give birth around the same time. You see however, Scarlett’s birth didn’t go so well. She had to have a C-section and the baby didn’t make it. On the other hand, Mariah’s baby was born strong and healthy, but after her baby’s birth she just left Drew and her child. The baby, was given to Drew, for he was the father. When Scarlett woke up from her C-section she was holding a new born baby boy in her arms. She suspected all had gone well as planned and had no reason to doubt the baby wasn’t hers. After all she didn’t know about Mariah and the baby took very strongly to Drew’s traits. And that’s how it all happened.”

Back then A-mae didn’t understand any of the story of course, being a seven year old, but her memory held strong, and she later learned the meaning of the conversation. After A-mae overheard this conversation, Drew had been found dead a few weeks later with his eyes gouged out. What better reason to murder your husband or fake son? A-mae thought for the first time she had a reason for Scarlett to be connected to James and Drew’s murder. At the moment she was frozen with fear and the murderer and Jada were coming closer and closer towards A-mae and Rima. 

In a split second A-mae’s muscles unfroze. She grabbed the shaking Rima and flung them both under the bed that had a high skirt. The footsteps grew louder and louder until they were right outside the door. Surprisingly they passes without the slightest hesitation. It sounded like they were heading up a ladder, to the “forbidden” attic.

Just as fast as they rolled under the bed, A-mae and Rima sprang out from under it, both breathing hard with a mixture of relief and concern. For some reason, Rima had completely stopped crying and just sat there on the floor like a stunned cat. 

“You okay?” A-mae asked as soon as she could find her voice again. 

Rima seemed to snap back into the moment and said with a quiet, matter-a-fact tone,“I’m fine. I just got a little spooked. I was home alone watching a scary movie last night about true crime, and this morning when I found out James was murdered I just got scared thinking about what could have happened to him. I’m absolutely fine now.”

A-mae didn’t know whether she could truly believe this. The last thing before that Rima had said, was that she couldn’t tell A-mae “who killed who, or else ‘they’ would kill her.” A-mae had the feeling something more than just a scary movie was involved. Rima herself had said that her mother and sister weren’t home last night, so what were they up to? A-mae remembered what she overheard years ago. Not only could her Aunt Scarlett have murdered her husband for cheating on her, but also have decided years later to kill the child (James) because he was a result of her late husband’s cheating. She may have also gotten her eldest daughter Jada, whom she trusted most, to help her pull off the murder. Then, when Rima suspected her mother and sister, they would have told her not to tell anyone, or they would kill her! This made perfect sense. Then a sudden thought hit her. 

“Rima,” she said calmly, “why won’t your mother and Jada let us up into the attic?” A-mae questioned cautiously. 

Rima said nothing for awhile, then she replied,“They say some animal died up there last night. Apparently it’s a mess, and they don’t want us to see.”

Some animal? More like someone. A-mae thought. 

“So,” she asked,“Why are your aunt, I mean mother and sister up there now?”

“To clean it up of course!” Rima said quickly

A-mae thought for a second, then she told Rima, “Hey, I need to talk to you about something, but whisper because no one else can hear it!”

“Oh don’t worry!” Rima smiled sweetly, “I thought you knew, this room’s soundproof.”

*1999*

Drew Quincy Novaka (Scarlett’s wife and father of Jada, James, and Rima) walked into the little girl’s room with a new paintbrush and paint. He began going up and down the white walls adding layers and layers of color. The day was perfect. The ice between he and Scarlett had finally broken and they were getting along perfectly. The sun was shining brighter than ever and the cherry trees were blooming, making the air sweet with natural perfume. 

By lunch time, Drew was done painting the walls in the room, and was ready to move onto the closet. He opened the door and looked around. The room seemed smaller on the inside than what it looked like from outside the house. That struck him as odd. Drew wasn’t used to being in this room even though he was related to the little girl. He started painting the insides of the closet when he saw what seemed like a crack running in a rectangular shape behind a rack of dresses. He realized it was a door. 

Slowly, Drew tried to pry the crack open. It wouldn’t budge, so he went to his tool kit and got the small pocket knife. Finally the door was loose enough to open. He got on his hands and knees, and opened the door with a loud “creak!” At that moment he came face to face with the corpse. It took him quite a bit of time to realize the pile of bones, and dried flesh was his “ex” Mariah Helmsing. He could tell by the tattered black dress he had bought her around her body. He slammed the door shut and came neck to knife with the little girl. 

He screamed, but the window and door were now shut thanks to the little girl, and of course the room was soundproof. The little girl was no longer as little, in fact, she was a year older. Her pretty little face with the blonde hair and blue eyes was the last thing he ever saw. He died with his eyes open. This troubled the little girl. She took the knife and gouged his eyes out of his body and put them in a jar. She also looked at his fancy golden wedding ring with the initials D.Q.N. on it and cut that finger off as well. 

Then, unlike with Mariah, she waited until night and dragged his body to the park behind her house making it look like he was killed there. After all, what would they think if he was murdered in his own house? The little girl looked sadly at her victim. If only he hadn’t been snoopy, he could still be alive. Oh well. The little girl walked back home and fell asleep in her newly painted room.

Drew Q. Novaka: Age 30 

MURDERED: July 26th 1999

* * * 

“Hello Miss Novaka, this is Officer Andy from the Elridge County Police Department or the ECPD. We have some very interesting news about your cousin James’s murder.” The young voice on the A-mae’s cell phone declared. 

“Yes, thank you. I have some news for you as well Andy and the ECPD. I would like to tell you that I and Rima Novaka -James’s younger sister, suspect Scarlett Novaka his mother, and possibly Jada Novaka, his older sister of James’s murder. We have quite a bit of evidence Sir.” A-mae replied. 

“Of course, miss. In the meantime however, I’m sorry to say, but we would like to ask you and your cousin Rima to come down to the department ASAP for questioning.” Andy replied plainly. 

“Of course officer, but may I ask you why?” A-mae asked full of wonder.

“Well you see,” he said with a pause as if he were scratching his head,“A blonde hair was found on James’s corpse, a long blonde hair that wasn’t his. This hair as I said before wasn’t his, but had similar DNA which means it belongs to someone in his family. Both you and Rima have long blonde hair and are related to James.”

“But-” A-mae started, but he cut her off. 

“We are also aware that Jada also has long blonde hair that has been dyed black. She will also be questioned. For now we just need you to cooperate with us so that we can find out who was the true killer.” With that, Andy said good-bye and hung up. 

“Well,” said A-mae, “looks like we have to take a ride down to the sheriff’s office.”

A-mae was almost terrified to leave Rima’s room and go downstairs and out to her car. She hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Rima in depth about suspecting Scarlett and Jada, but when she’d mildly brought it up, Rima didn’t defend her mother and older sister. A-mae was 99.987 percent sure that Jada and Aunt Scarlett were the murders. It had been quite a while since Jada had dyed her hair. Some of the hairs closest to her neck were beginning to grow out blonde. A-mae was positive it was Jada’s hair found on James’s corpse, and she was going to use that blonde hair to get her oldest cousin and aunt locked up for murder. 

It was past noon by the time A-mae and Rima entered the police station. They soon realized that they weren’t the only Novakas there. Jada and her mother sat in a separate room being questioned by various officers. Soon a man came to take A-mae and Rima into their own questioning room. Before they entered, A-mae heard two officers talking amongst themselves. 

“Poor Novaka family,” said the first,“this will be the 5th murdered member of the family. That is if you count A-mae’s parents Mikoto and Steffen who just “disappeared” and abandoned their only living daughter the day before she turned eighteen.”

“Shhh,” said the second,“She’s right there!” “Anyhow,” he said in a hushed whisper,“I don’t think you have to feel too much pity for that family. I heard the murderer is within the family. In fact, the entire family could be involved.” 

A-mae was glad to get into the soundproof questioning room. She couldn’t stand the gossip. She looked into a corner of the room and saw the camera. She knew they were being videotaped, and recorded. 

“So,” the inquirer asked,“Where were you guys last night and where were Scarlett and Jada?”

“I was at home last night watching a true crime movie,” Rima said in a shy small voice. 

“And I was out until 6:00 shopping at Whole Foods (I like to eat organic), and then went home to my house to read The Hunger Games for a young woman’s book club I’m involved with,” A-mae replied trying to sound calm and relaxed. Being here made her feel uneasy. 

“Rima Novaka, where were your mother Scarlett Novaka and your sister Jada Novaka last night?” the inquirer questioned in a very serious manor. 

“I can’t say exactly Mr. Police man. My mother and sister were out last night, but didn’t tell me where they were going.” Rima replied.

“And where was your brother?” He asked her

“He was supposed to be out with some friends working on a school project.” She stated.

“With which friends was he going to be with,” the inquirer asked.

“He was going to be with-” and then she paused,“I’m sorry I can’t remember.” She said softly. 

The officer nodded. Then he kept on asking more questions like, Did your brother have any enemies you can think of? Was there anything important to you mentioned before his death? Do you have an alibi? And lastly, who in your opinion do you think could have been responsible for James’s murder, and do you know of any evidence to prove it? 

By the time A-mae and Rima were ready to get back into the car and go home, it was 3:00pm and A-mae was tired. She pressed the button to unlock the car and opened the door. Sitting in her chair was a golden wedding ring covered in sparkling sapphires. It was quite beautiful. She picked it up wondering who’s it was and how they managed to get it in her car. Then, on the side she saw a small engraving. The letters held the initials D.Q.N.   

*2002*

Zarra Thailia Novaka (younger sister of A-mae) was walking home from school. It was a rainy day and Zarra hadn’t brought a rain coat or umbrella. How foolish of her. Today, it didn’t matter. Zarra had just moments ago been asked out by her long time crush. Everything was going to be prefect from now on, or so she thought. 

Zarra’s long black hair that resembled her father’s was flying into her face. She could barely see a thing. Just then, Zarra was pushed to the ground. She got to her hands and knees looked around, but didn’t see a thing. She must have tripped on something. “How clumsy of me,” she thought. Suddenly the sky seemed to grow dark like all the warmth and light just suddenly drained out of the world. It was later than she thought. She’d stayed late after school to help out the geo-club (which the boy she liked was in) without any hesitation. At that moment she was second guessing her decision.

Now, she felt all alone on the cold streets. “Don’t be afraid silly goose!” She tried to convince herself, “there’s nothing here to scare you!” She got up from the ground and stared down at her feet to see what tipped her. Big mistake. Laying there was a bone. It was too big to be any chicken leg or prime rib bone. No. This bone was human. 

Zarra didn’t even have time to scream. The little girl who was now Zarra’s age give or take a few years, had slit her throat and vocal cords. Zarra fell back again and was dead in less than a minute. Dark red blood that looked black in the shadows mixed with the rain on the sidewalk and was washed away. 

The little girl dragged the body to Zarra’s parents house silently opening the door. She left the corpse in a pool of blood in the doorway for a family member to find. She turned the body face up, cut out and put the eyes in a jar. Then she returned home and went to bed. Wow, she was getting good at this. Third time’s the charm!

Zarra T. Novaka age: 8

MURDERED: May 12th 2002   

* * *  

 

A-mae dropped the ring. This was her uncle’s wedding ring. The one that had gone missing along with his eyes, and left ring finger.  

“What’s wrong?” Asked Rima.

“Nothing,” A-mae said shakily,“Just found an old piece of jewelry.” Who could have put this in her car? The only one who had access to it was her and... Rima. 

“Hey, let’s go to your house, all right?” asked A-mae. 

“Okay, sure,” Rima replied.

A-mae’s heart was pounding. Rima was home alone last night, her room was soundproof, she had access to A-mae’s car, she was trying to get her mother and sister charged for a crime, and then, A-mae remembered, she was a wonderful actress. A-mae had always been in awe at how on stage, Rima could make you believe she was anything. 

A-mae knew going to a murderer’s house seemed a bit stupid, well more than a bit, but she just had to prove her theory. After all, it would just be that, a theory until she proved it. She had to get stone hard evidence. Before going to Rima’s house, she stopped to get Rima some ice cream. She had to keep Rima completely unaware of her suspicion. “Just act normal,”she told her self. 

When they got to Rima’s house it was quiet. Apparently Aunt Scarlett and Jada hadn’t gotten out of their questioning session yet. 

“What do you want to do?” Asked A-mae.

“We should play “hide and go seek!” You can be it,” suggested Rima with a smile.

“Sure! I’ll count to fifty with my eyes closed,” A-mae said enthusiastically. While searching for Rima she could also search for clues and proof. 

“No!” Rima cut in,“Count to one-hundred, and wear this bandana so you won’t peek!” Rima cut in. 

A-mae thought one hundred was a little long to count for, but she agreed to it. As soon as those hundred seconds were up, she could start her search. 

“Wait!” Rima said,“How about you count in my room so that you won’t be able to hear what room I’m in so it’s more fair?” Rima smiled. 

“Okay,” A-mae said. Didn’t Rima know this soundproof door could hear things from outside when you were inside just not from the outside in? That’s how A-mae heard the footsteps from outside. Whatever, she thought. Young girls were not the brightest little creatures. They walked up the stairs into Rima’s room. 

“Okay, now put on the bandana and start counting.” Rima smiled as she tied the bandana tight, then closed the door. 

A-mae started counting,“One, two, three, four, five, six...” and on. As she counted she could swear she could hear scuffling movement near her. Rima must be right outside the door. She kept counting until she got to,“Ninety-seven, ninety-eight...” and that’s when she felt it. The feeling of a presence right behind her back. As if someone was about to stab her between the shoulder blades with a knife. 

A-mae ripped the bandana off and looked around. There was nothing there.

“Ninety-nine, one hundred! Ready or not, here I come.” She shouted breathlessly.

A-mae started her search within the room. Looking under piles of clothes, papers, books, and even in the trash. She searched for anything that might be a clue. Then she moved onto the closet. She went through racks of shoes and found nothing. Then she pushed apart some dresses and saw what looked like a crack that made a small door. Allice-mae Novaka knew what was inside even before she pried the door open and found a scull. She slammed the door closed and called the cops. Right then the door clicked open and Rima walked in. 

“I got tired of waiting for you to find me,” she said with big blue eyes,“So I decided to come for you.”

-Part Three-

*2010* 

Mikoto Lillian Novaka and Steffen Dane Novaka were home at night resting. It had been eight years since the death of their youngest daughter. When they had arrived home on the evening of May 12th 2002, their house had been covered in crime scene tape and their older daughter A-mae, had been crying next to an officer who was trying to calm her down and make her feel better. They hadn’t been allowed to go home for a whole week and had been questioned numerous times. By the time it was all over no one could figure out who the killer was, and most people had suspected that the parents were the murders of their own child.

Back to the moment, Mikoto and Steffen were ready to fall a sleep when the little girl entered the room. She was now barely a little girl anymore and hugged both Mikoto and Steffen good night. Later, after the house was dark and silent, the little girl crept into Steffen and Mikoto’s room. In her hand she held a knife sharp as well yea, a razor. In a few seconds both Mikoto and Steffen had departed from this world.

The little girl disposed of them the same way she did Mariah. Only, she chose a different secret chamber. Last time her murder had been in a different house, and she didn’t feel like dragging the bodies to that house. So she put the corpses in a similar place, cleaned away any blood, and went to bed. 

Mikoto L. Novaka: Age 34

Steffen D. Novaka: Age 38

MISSING: as of September 3rd 2010    

* * *

The cops arrived and took a very shaken Rima to the sheriff’s office. She was still putting on an act like she didn’t know what was going on and that she was completely innocent. Maybe she thought that if she acted ignorant, then the police would pardon her crime. “Yeah right,” A-mae thought to herself. The police thanked A-mae and got an officer to escort her home. She thanked the officer and stepped into her house. She was exhausted by the time she got home. 

A-mae fixed herself a microwave dinner, and was so tired she felt like she could drop dead. A-mae walked upstairs into her nice homey room. She got into her purple nightgown, and was ready to climb into bed when she remembered something, she needed to get her slippers. She dragged herself over to her walk-in closet and opened the door. Then she went in to get her favorite bunny slippers. She couldn’t find them anywhere. She rummaged through all her shoes, and still couldn’t find them. Then she pushed back some robes and saw at the back of the wall a little crack that formed a door. Written in a red blood-like substance letters spelled out, Dedicated to Mikoto and Steffen. Love Allice-mae XD

*2012*

James Kaiden Novaka was piecing it together: The Novaka Family Murders. He suspected his cousin Allice-mae. She was a sweet girl, or so everyone thought. He knew there was something wrong with her. She always was taking those Bi-polar Bears to keep her mood in check, and she kept having amnesia when she woke up certain days. 

The murders hadn’t started just with the Novaka family members as everyone thought. They had started with his true mother, Mariah Helmsing when he was four. On the night she “disappeared” she had been going to visit his father Drew for the last time. (He figured this out with a journal of hers he found in his father’s stuff years later). That night, Allice-mae had been staying over to hang out with Jada, his older sister. A-mae was staying in the sound-proof room that was going to become Rima’s new room.

The day James’s father, Drew was murdered, Allice-mae just happened to be staying over at his house. She was staying in Rima’s room because Rima was over at a friend’s house. Drew was painting Rima’s room. The family hadn’t seen him after he entered the room to paint, and the next day he was found dead at the park. Lastly, it would have been easy for A-mae to kill her own sister and parents in theory. She could have snuck up on them without anyone suspecting. After all, who suspects their own daughter or sister of murder?

That night (April 18th 2012) James didn’t really go out to study with his friends. He went to A-mae’s house to spy on her. He crept into her house, silent as a stalker, waited for her to go downstairs then sunk into her room. James went right for the most obvious place to hide a body, the closet, and soon found the door. 

Right before he opened it A-mae came back into the house. She went from a calm average girl to a psychopath in seconds. She had no weapon with her, but came charging at him. He grabbed her hair and a few long blonde strands ripped out, but then she’d found her knife, and James was dead in an instant. She gouged out his eyes, and dumped his body into the river. Then she climbed in bed, took her Bi-polar Bears that in high quantities, erased her memories of the past few minutes, and went to bed. The next day Allice-mae Novaka woke up, read the news paper, and went out to find her cousin’s killer. 

James K. Novaka: age 18

MURDERED: April 19th 2010 

* * *

Allice-mae Novaka’s memories came back to her as they aways did when she re-discovered she was the true killer. She opened the door and found the bodies of her mother and father. In the corner was a jar full of rotting filmed over eyes. The newest ones stared at her twinkling blue. Allice-mae clicked the door shut and walked out of the closet now wearing her favorite slippers. “I think my next victim will be Jada,” she thought to herself, “I would like to have some violet eyes in my collection.” Then she took ten of her Bi-polar Bears, forgot the horror that was herself, and fell asleep thinking how glad she was that the murderer, Rima, was convicted and would be put to death for her crimes.     

*Epilogue: 2014*     

Beautiful, entrancing, witch-like violet eyes that seemed to stare into your soul, gazed up off the page from a poorly printed picture on the front cover of a newspaper. The young attractive girl in the photograph had dyed jet-black hair with flashy red streaks. It looked like the hair of a gothic-style vampire. Her red-lipped smile was so seductive, it looked like it could be used in a ‘Cover Girl Gone Bad Lipstick’ cosmetic ad. In fact, everything about her looked like she could rock runway, and photo-shoots, but “Small town girl Jada Novaka becomes a supermodel” wasn’t what the big bold letters in the paper’s headline spelled out. Instead, the two words read, Novaka Murdered.

     

         

   

     

 

Novaka Family Tree

Scarlett* < married to- DrewX <Brothers> SteffenX- married to > MikotoX

Children of Scarlett and Drew:           <Cousins>            Children of Steffen and Mikoto:   

Jada*P                                                      Allice-mae (A-mae)P 

JamesX (actually Drew & Mariah’s son)                          ZarraX

Rima*P

Mariah G. Helmsing (“Lady in Black”)X: True Mother of James, lover of Drew.

 

Key: 

X=dead (as of before epilogue) 

*=A-mae suspects of murder

P=police suspect of murder

Note of Understanding:

Allice-mae Novaka had always been a bit insane. When she was little and staying over at her cousin’s house, Mariah came into her room. A-mae freaked out, thinking Mariah was coming to kill her, and decided to murder Mariah before Mariah could kill her. A year later Drew found Mariah’s corpse. A-mae caught him in the act and committed the unplanned murder of her uncle. After that, she started going on a killing rampage of her entire family. The Bi-polar-bears in large amounts, erased her memory of the past few minutes, so for most of the time A-mae was a normal person. However, sometimes she got “triggered” into a murder. Also, Whenever she murdered someone, or found her corpses, she remembered her entire, terrifying past. As far as we know, her family members are her only victims. However, if you meet a girl named Allice-mae Novaka, take extreme caution. She is insane.   

Author's Note

reviews and such are always welcome :)