The Angel's Silence: Part Two

Rayna called the police, but they were no help at all. They said that the person would have to have been missing at least 24 hours before they would consider the person really missing. Dana, the mother, was becoming frantic.
"I just know that maniac killer got her. I should never have let her go to school."

Antanas, the father, said,
"Calm down. We do not know for sure where she is. She could very well be at her boyfriend’s house, and he lied to us knowing she would get into trouble. I am going to drive over there right now.
Rayna, do you have his address?"

Rayna was about to tell him Brent's address when suddenly she remembered that Maya had a cell phone with her.
She had not thought of that until just now.

She immediately grabbed the phone and dialed Maya's number. It rang three times before someone finally answered it. It was Maya.

"Hello?
Mom, is that you?"

"No."
Stated
Rayna.
"It's me.
Where are you?"

At this moment, the whole family breathed a sigh of relief.
She obviously was not dead.

"I told you to leave to alone, Rayna."
Shouted Maya

"Do you have anything what you have put us through tonight? We all thought you had been murdered by that killer."
Said Rayna

"Well, obviously I wasn't.
So, what do you want?"
Said Maya angrily

"I just wanted to make sure that you were Okay, and to apology for everything. You were right. Everything you said today was true. I am sorry. Please come home."
Pleaded Rayna

"What, just because you made some fake apology you expect me to just forgive you and come home? You have 17 years to make up to me. I can't just forgive you like that, and pretend none of it ever happened."
Said Maya

"You act like I physically tortured you for 17 years. All I have ever done was look after you. You should be thanking me. I am not saying that you should spend your every waking moment reading and studying. I care about you, and I care about your future. I do not want you to end up on the streets. Please, Maya. I am sick of fighting with you. Please, just come home."
Said a saddened Rayna

"I just need to be alone right now, Okay Rayna?
I will be all right. I am safe. Just give me a few days on my own, and I will come back home. I promise."

Just then, Dana reached to take the phone away from Rayna so that she could talk to Maya, but it was too late. She had already hung up.

"Well, what did she say?
Is she all right?
Where is she?
When is she coming home?"
Asked a concerned Dana

Rayna explained to her everything Maya had said before returning to her bedroom to study.

The next morning brought an uneasy feeling.
Dana and Antanas did not feel comfortable with Maya not being home.
Even though she claims she was safe, they could not know for sure.

Rayna knew that she was responsible for Maya not being there.
She wished there was some way she could convince her to come home, but she knew there was not.
The best thing she could do was to just leave her alone for a while.

She was on her way to school when she remembered Mr. Antonov.
Suddenly all thoughts of Maya were gone.
She never would admit it, but she was starting to develop a crush on the handsome professor.
She had studied extra hard to impress him.

***

Mrs. Abatescianni was trimming her roses when she accidentally dropped her cutters.
When she bent down to retrieve them, she discovered a horrifying scene.
Buried underneath tree branches were the decapitated remains of a woman.
The killer had struck again

The police were there immediately.
Mrs. Abatescianni was so shaken up that she could barely breathe and began hyperventilating.

This current victim had been murdered the exact same way as the previous ones had been.
Her head and 27 other parts were missing, and her body had been completely drained of blood.
Whoever did this was someone who knew the human body very well.

Antanas was on his way to work when Dana called to tell him the news.

"I seriously think we need to move away from here before one of our daughters becomes his next victim."
Said Dana

"We can't just pack up and leave. Just like that.
I love this place. I love everything about it.
I am happy here, and so are you. I know it.
You are just worried, and that is understandable, but you cannot just expect us to change everything just because there is some psycho on the lose. Rayna never leaves the house past sundown, and when Maya does, she is always with friends. I sincerely doubt the killer would kill someone with many witnesses. He or she obviously is not stupid to have killed 20 people and have yet to have been caught. He knows what he is doing, but so does our daughters.
He is killing more often now.
He is bound to be caught eventually.
I have to go now, Okay?
Everything will be fine, I promise you."

His words did little to comfort Dana.
She was beginning to think that he did not understand the seriousness of the situation.

***

It was time for Rayna's favorite class, the one with Mr. Antonov.
He comes in wearing a nice suit and tie. Carrying a briefcase.
Looking oh so professional.
As he walked in, he stared directly at Rayna.
That about gave her a heart attack.

She was never the type of person to become attracted to someone, but this time was different.

He spoke using such sophisticated words.

Maya's seat remained empty throughout the whole class.
Rayna had a feeling that she would not be there.

It was the end of class, and everyone received their papers with their grades.
Rayna was shocked to learn that she had gotten a very bad score on her paper.
"How could this be?"
She asked herself while getting ready to leave the room.
Just then, she heard an all too family voice say,
"Oh, Miss Alekseev."
Asked Mr. Antonov.

"Could I see you for a moment, please?
Oh, and close the door behind you."

Just a few moments earlier, Rayna would have died for an opportunity like this, but now she was just plain scared.
He clearly was a tough grader.

"Miss Alekseev. I must say that I was completely disappointed with the results of your latest tests.
Mrs. Neroni had told me that you were one of her best students.
However, these results are insulting.
What happened?"

Rayna did not really know what to say.
She had never spoken to him before.
She was afraid of sounding like an idiot in front of such a brilliant man.

"I--- I--- I am sorry, Mr. Antonov.
Stuttered Rayna

It is just that last night my sister disappeared, and with the killer still on the lose; my whole family has been on edge to say the least.
I was so concerned about her that I guess I did not study hard enough.
History has never been my best subject."

Rayna was so shy that she could barely stand.

"Listen, I am very sorry about your sister, and I hope that she returns home soon. Because you have a good reason to have done so poorly on this exam that I am willing to let you do it over again."

"Oh, thank you so much, sir."
Said Rayna.

"I won't disappoint you again."

School was over, and Rayna was walking home when she saw a large gathering nearby. She went to see what it was, and was shocked at what she saw.

(To Be Continued)