Mind Escape

A Story by Bethany_Savy

“Mom, Dad, I’m home!” Cassie said as she walked through the front door. As usual she didn’t hear a response. The only greeting she got was that from her bulldog Baxter. He came charging down the stairs and tried to knock her down so that she would sit with him and pet him. This always made her laugh considering he was just a 10 pound puppy. She picked him up and carried him into the kitchen. There was mail sitting on the table and one of them was from her dream school, Yale. It was the big envelope, the one with all of the hopes and dreams. She screamed as she opened it. All of her studying had finally paid off. A full ride scholarship to Yale including books and room and board and a study abroad opportunity.

She ran downstairs to her room so that she could call Andrew, her best friend. She was so excited that she had someone to tell the good news to. The phone rang a few times and then his voicemail picked up.

“Hey y’all it’s me Andrew! Sorry I couldn’t pick up the phone in time; I’m busy working on a case with my Dad right now. Please leave me a message after the…” his voice was cut off by the “beep” meaning it was time to start the message. She loved how funny he was.

“Andy it’s me Cassie! Get over here quick! I have some amazing news, for once! Call me when you get this message!” She hung up and sat down on her bed. She wished that she had someone to talk to, besides Baxter. “It’s great that Andy has an awesome job and is able to help his dad out, but sometimes I wish he would be a kid. I mean, we never have time to hang out anymore.” She said to Baxter. He stood up on his back paws and licked her face. Cassie knew that even though Baxter wasn’t human and couldn’t answer her that he was listening. She couldn’t stop looking at the packet in her hands. “You did it girl! Way to go!” she whispered to herself. She was so proud of herself and she had all the right to be so. All her hard work had finally paid off.

“Cassie, come up stairs right away, there is work to be done!” an unfriendly voice called for her. It was that of her mother. Cassie decided to quickly hide the admission letter. If her parents saw it, they would be less than thrilled. They wanted her to stay home and work at the family store for the rest of her life. If they knew that she was going to be a journalist at an Ivy League school, they would not be happy. They would disown her. Their family did things untraditionally. The family store had been passed down from generation to generation. Since Cassie was an only child, it was her job to take over.

“I’m coming mother!” Cassie said and she went upstairs. On the way up she heard a door slam. She figured that her father was home and had a bad day at the store or something like that. Then she heard a scream and a thud. After that, there was silence.

She ran back downstairs and called 9-1-1.

“9-1-1, what is your emergency” a friendly voice said

“Someone just broke into my house and may have even killed my mother. They are upstairs and I am down here in the basement. Help me!” Cassie told the operator. She then told them their address.

“I am going to stay on the phone with you. Stay absolutely silent. If the person finds you, yell out as many descriptions as you can about them. Stay in the basement at all costs sweetie.”

And with that, the world went black.

By the time the cops got there, nothing seemed wrong. The girl’s mother was upstairs baking. There wasn’t a scratch on her. There were no signs of a break in. There was nothing missing. Nothing was broken or stolen at all. There were no traces of blood. Until they went into the basement. There lying in a pool of her own blood was Cassie. Next to her was a razor blade. And in her hand was a knife. Next to her was a note.

Dear cruel world,

Remember me? I am the victim to every stupid little game you played. You gave me false hope. I thought I was going to have a future. I was going to go to Yale and study to be a journalist. I had my portfolio for the first nine weeks done and everything. Seems like I had a good life didn’t it. Well that’s a lie. I was so lonely, I got bored of myself. So I decided to kill myself. Nothing too extravagant was lost, am I right?

To my parents, don’t cry mother, and father stay strong. Just have another daughter and name her ‘Cassie, The New and Improved Version 2.0’! I know you guys loved me but that doesn’t mean that you liked me. Just replace me and get it over with. Do things with her you never did with me as I was growing up. Things as simple as tucking her in at night and reading to her.

To the kids at school, are your jokes so funny now? Did I die from an overdose of studying? Nope. You jerks are partially to blame. Do you think that I can’t hear what you say about me when I walk down the hallway? You forget, I was Yale bound. All that I see in your future is you asking “would you like fries with that?” or “want to make it a super size?”

To Andrew, thank you for trying to help me and save me from myself but you are just a kid. Somewhere deep inside you must know that it was impossible to stop me from acing in such a way. You have been here for me since day one. I thank you for that. Please take care of Baxter for me. He really needs a good home to stay in. I couldn’t think of any other place that would feel more like home to anybody.

I hear sirens, time for the grand finale. I hope they don’t find me in time.

Bye y’all! See ya on the other side,

Love from,

Cassie XOXO

Chapter 2:

She had a hard life. I saw her sad more than I saw her happy. I was always there for her. I was the one who caught her when she fell. Every time she cried, I dried her tears. That didn’t make me love her any less. Though she had it rough, I know for a fact that this was not an act of suicide. It was a murder. They did this to her. She had nothing to do with this. I could tell. My father is a detective and I have more often than not helped him solve cases, ones similar to this one. The placement of the cuts was all wrong. She couldn’t have reached the back of her neck like that. She was right handed and there were scars along the right hand, very precise scars that traced her veins perfectly. I needed to know who killed her. I wouldn’t sleep at night until her killer was either behind bars or dead. There was only one way to find out who did it though. The truth lies within the mind of the beholder. All I had to do was go into her mind and watch what happened. I have done it many times before and it’s how dad has such a successful detective agency going.

I couldn’t stop staring at her corpse. Never had I seen so much beauty in one person, inside and out. She was nice to everyone she met, well except herself. She would always strive for perfection and beat herself down when she didn’t achieve it. She would ground herself as opposed to her parents doing it. If she got anything lower than an “A” on a test she would stay home and study for weeks. She studied more than anyone I know. She was bound for Yale in the fall. Her college orientation was in three weeks.

Things didn’t add up correctly. She had just called me with the news. I couldn’t get to the phone in time because I was working a case with his dad. She was bound for greatness. She just found out that what she had been working towards practically her whole life, something that was only a dream, was about to become a reality.

“Andrew what are you doing in there?” I heard the voice of my father yell. Normally he was all for me exploring the lab as long as I didn’t touch anything. He normally allowed me to work on cases with him but not this time. He said that I was too close to the, as he called her, “subject”. She’s more than a subject. She was my best friend. Or is it she is my best friend? I never know how to word these things.

“Sorry Dad,” I said apologetically, “I really am. Something just isn’t adding up here. I mean, look at the wounds. She couldn’t have done this herself. Someone else did it to her. I just wish I knew who it was”. I looked back down at her. There was never a more chilling sight.

The beautiful smile that she would fight to find was gone. It was replaced by an expression so plain it looked like the face a person makes in the army when they are being addressed. Her beautiful brown hair was normally up. She rarely wore it down. But for the funeral, her parents wanted it down. Her blue eyes were closed but I knew what they looked like. They looked as if the light had gone out inside her. I wondered what happened.

“Dad, if only I could read her mind, just one time. I could learn everything. We could find out who did it, and why, and how!” I said to him.

“Andrew, I know exactly what you are thinking but I will not allow it. It’s too risky. I don’t want to lose you. It’s bad enough that I had to watch Erin and Jack lose their baby girl. I couldn’t imagine losing a child of my own. I forbid you to do that. I almost lost you five times from that machine of yours. I am not about to take a chance just to solve some case.”

“Dad, she is more than just some case. If there is anybody who knows that it’s you. Please, let me go just one more time. I swear I will be careful. I will wear all the protective gear and everything. Even the jumpsuit and the helmet. Please Dad; I owe that at least to her.”

My dad looked at me, then looked down and Cassie. I knew exactly what he was thinking. “Be careful Andrew. Your mother is going to kill me if she finds out that I let you do this.” And with that, he turned around and left the room.

Chapter Three:

Chapter 3

THE RULES OF GOING INTO THE MINDS OF THE DECEASED

1) YOU ONLY HAVE 3 HOURS AT A TIME

a. HEAD BACK WHEN YOU HAVE 2 AND A HALF LEFT

b. KEEP A WATCH WITH YOU AT ALL TIME

2) NO CAMERAS, THE MACHINE WILL DOCUMENT EVERYTHING FOR YOU

3) THIS CAN ONLY BE DONE WITH ONE MURDER CASE AT A TIME, IF THERE IS MORE THAN ONE, HEAD BACK IMMEDIATELY OR ELSE THE MACHINE WILL MIX UP THE INFORMATION.

4) IF PEOPLE FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU ARE DOING, YOU COULD BE IN GRAVE DANGER. DO NOT BE SEEN

As I put on the suit to go into the machine, I couldn’t help but feel guilty. I wondered if I had answered the phone if things would have been different. If I answered the phone when she called, she might still be alive..

My dad came back in a few minutes later.

“Are you ready to go?” He asked me. To that, I nodded and stepped up to the platform. My father put one helmet on Cassie and the other on me. This connected their minds. It took some of the energy of the living energy and gave it to the dead. Then the room started spinning. Faster and faster. So fast, it felt like it wasn’t moving at all. My vision went blurry and I couldn’t see a thing. Then the spinning stopped.

There she was standing with an envelope in her hand. She was dialing her phone. “Come on, come on, pick up” she mumbled under her breath. “Andy it’s me Cassie! Get over here quick! I have some amazing news for once! Call me when you get this message!” I had heard those words so many times. I didn’t have the heart to delete that voicemail. I listened to it all the time.

Her mother asked her to come upstairs. “FREEZE” I yelled, forcing the memory to pause in its position. I had to be upstairs to know what happened. I only had 30 seconds before the memory started up again. I had no time to lose. I bolted up the steps and hid around a corner where I could see what was going on in the kitchen but couldn’t be seen myself. “CONTINUE”, I yelled.

“Are you positive that you want to go through with this? Wouldn’t it be easier to just let her go?” Her mother said.

“No, it’s too risky. We have to do this now or we will ruin you from the inside out. You have two options. Option A, we kill your daughter. Option B, we ruin the family business, beat you up so that you can never function properly again. You would just see the havoc your life has become.” A strange man said. He was bald and heavy set. It wasn’t the girl’s father. I suddenly realized who it was. It all made sense.

“Snap” I whispered. This told the machine to take a picture of the scene. All the people in the room were included in the picture; the sounds of their voices were taken for analyzing back in the lab. It could even get fingerprints at times.

“You’ve forced my hand.” Her mother said. With that she slammed the door, stomped her foot onto the ground and screamed bloody murder.

“Thank you for cooperating.” The man said. And he turned to go into the basement. There was a long scream followed by snaps and cracks. It was all too much I had to head back. “HOME” I yelled. This forced the machine to bring me back to reality.

My reality was about to become a nightmare however. When I got back, staring at me were three police officers pointing guns at me. I thought it was my dad pulling a joke at first, until I saw the look on his face.

“Andrew Jacobs, you are under arrest for the murder of Cassie Glen. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be assigned to you.”

Chapter Four

My whole world shattered in front of my eyes. I could not believe that they thought I committed the murder! She was my best friend. Why would I kill her?

As they put the handcuffs on me I realized what had happened. As stated in the rules, if there are multiple murders involved, you have to come back as soon as possible. Someone else was killed. She witnessed it.

They put me in the back of the police car and drove me to the station. No matter what they said to me, I replied with, “I want my lawyer present” or “I will not respond until my lawyer is present”. Since my dad is a detective, we have really good lawyers. They would help get me out.

“Young man,” an officer came to the cell and said, “You have been released by the mother of the victim. She said that you two were best friends and that you couldn’t possibly commit the murder. We called your father and he said that she could give you a ride home since she is here already there’s no point in your father coming down here.”

I wasn’t thinking straight because I thanked the officer, walked out to the front office and met with her. After I got in the car and we started driving, we had a little chat.

“Listen, Andy, I know about that little machine of yours. I know you know the truth of what happened to Cassie. Just know I saved you so you owe me now. Get it? Got it? Good!”

“Just let me know what actually happened first. I promise I won’t tell a soul.” While I said this, I silently dialed my father’s phone number. Now I know why he wanted me in that car.

“He had money, you know. His daughter was number one on the waiting list for Yale. I don’t know how he found out so fast that Cassie got in. He was going to ruin us if we didn’t give up Cassie’s spot to him. Cassie would have been miserable alive. So, in order to give the spot to his daughter and to have Cassie not live a life of pain, he killed her. We staged it so that it looked like a suicide. It seemed as though she killed herself. I knew about that machine of yours and knew that if there is more than one murder that information would get mixed up. Did you notice, your name was in the letter? Plus she had on the bracelet you gave her. And the t-shirt you guys tie-dyed together. We pretty much framed you to keep us safe. Thanks for allowing us to do that.”

“Who’s he?” I asked her.

“He? He who?” she responded, acting like she was stupid and didn’t understand a single word I said.

“THE MURDER!” I shouted. “What in God’s name is his name?”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Her mother said, gesturing to the back of the car. As I turned to look in the back of the car, I saw the same man from their house. The murder was in the car with me. How did I not notice him in the trunk of the van? He climbed over the seat and sat in the second row of seats

“YOU KILLED HER!” I said loud enough so that my dad could hear me on the other side of the phone. Then I yelled out every description that I could about him. Since the information from the machine was all screwed up, I had to do this by scratch.

“You 250 pound, balding, blue eyed, muscular, white t-shirt wearing, blue jean wearer with work boots murderer! There is a special place for people like you. Where the prisoners beg for ice water and burn for all of eternity.” I said it so fast that my dad would be the only one to understand it.

“They call me Jackson Layman.” He replied cracking his knuckles. Let’s see, how I can kill YOU!” Then I heard sirens.

Chapter Five

I woke up staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. There was a faint beeping in the background. It was steady. I had a splitting headache and couldn’t feel my arms.

“Oh good, you’re awake! A doctor said to me.” I tried to sit up “No, stay lying down. You lost a lot of blood when you were thrown out of the car.” He said. The beeping in the back sped up.

“I was what?” I said, or I at least tried to. My lips were so swollen they couldn’t move. I started to cry. What happened?

The doctor explained it all to me. Three weeks had past since I was in that car. I was out cold!

When I called my dad, he used GPS on my phone to track me down. He sent police officers all over the place to catch us. We were surrounded. When they realized that they couldn’t get away, Jackson Layman threw me out of the car and they sped off. Fortunately, Cassie’s mother is an animal lover. A squirrel crossed the road and she stopped for it, giving the officers enough time to catch up with them and shoot their tires so they could drive anywhere. They are both going to rot in jail for the rest of their lives.

As for me, well, once I am out of here, I am going to create a machine to bring people back to life somehow. There is something that I wanted to tell Cassie that I never had the guts to do. I love her