"No! Please!" On all fours she begged, pleading for her life.

"I'm afraid that won't work" he said "You see, we've got no use for you anymore, and we certainly can't let you go running off and blabbing, can we?" he paused and leaned close to her face, which held an expression of pure disgust. Touching her chin, he continued "But I must admit", he said with a sadistic smile "it's been fun"

As he pulled away, his partner aimed his handgun and took a single shot.

"Let's go" He said, showing no emotion "Someone would have heard that"

Every breath she took felt like a knife through her heart. As she watched them run off, she said, with what she knew was her last breath, "I forgive you. And God will, too"

Young Girl Raped and Murdered

The burgundy-haired teen read the headline over and over again in disbelief. He didn't want to believe it; the thought of it alone tore him up inside. But it was true, and in the bottom of his heart, he knew it was.

There was a picture directly below those fateful words. Drake Parker recognized the honey blonde curls and beautiful, crystal blue eyes immediately. She had been a close friend of his since preschool.

It was just after 2 o'clock that morning when Drake received that terrible phone call. He normally wouldn't have bee awake at that hour, and it was pure chance that he had gone downstairs to get a drink at the time that the phone rang. He half wished that he had missed the call; it would have saved him 4 hours of pain. But the other half of him was glad that he was told by her parents instead of picking up the morning paper and finding out that she had been brutally raped and murdered.

Walter, Audrey, and Josh sat at the kitchen table. Megan was at school, where both Drake and Josh should have been, but stayed home considering the circumstances.

"I've never seen him like this" Audrey sighed as she looked over at her son. "He's heartbroken"

"Can you blame him?" Walter said sadly "He's had a lot pinned on him. I'd be heartbroken, too, if I were going through what he is"

"How long did you say they've been friends, mom?" Josh asked

"Oh, forever" Audrey told him "Since preschool"

"No wonder he's so upset" Josh said sadly "I can't stand to see him like this. I'm gonna go talk to him"

As Josh got up, Audrey opened her mouth to protest, but decided against it. Josh walked into the living room and sat down next to his brother.

"It's terrible what happened"

Drake gave a slight nod, but otherwise made no acknowledgment of his brother.

"Mom says you and her were friends since preschool"

"If you don't mind, I kind of want to be left alone for a while" Drake said meekly "You understand, right?"

Josh nodded "Yeah, I understand. But if you need to talk about it, you know where to find me"

Josh patted his brother on the back and got up. But just before he reached the kitchen, Drake spoke.

"It isn't fair" He said shakily

Josh returned to his brother

"How someone so innocent could be murdered" Drake continued, his eyes filling with tears "Someone as great as Nickki"

Drake stood up, clutching the newspaper in his hands

"No leads!" he said angrily as he threw the paper unto the floor

Tears were pouring down his face, which was heated red with anger.

"Whoever did this is gonna get away with it!"

Drake threw over the table, breaking two glasses and spilling root beer and cereal onto the carpet.

"No, Drake" Josh said, trying to keep calm "They won't get away. The police will find them"

"No, no they won't" Drake said, his voice shaking severly "Because I'm gonna find them first. And when I'm finished with them, there won't be anything left for the police."