Tales of The Unpredictable

Photos

"Okay Susie, you're gonna hold Evelina up to your face, yeah? That way, it'll look the perfect picture of a mother and daughter!" Nova always got the perfect shots. "Okay, I'll have those sent to you in a week, right Susie?" "Aw! You're amazing! And thanks for the price drop Nova, you're a star!" she blushed and said her goodbye to Susie and her baby. It was 5 o' clock, she'd go to the diner then head on home to organize the photographs. Nova packed her camera away and put the photos in her satchel.
"Righty right, let's get started," she said, sitting on her sofa, her dog Lady beside her. She brought out the photos. They look amazing, she thought to herself, not saying it aloud incase someone heard her brag, I'm really good at this. She'd taken a few of them in black and white, which made the photos look memorable, she took after her mother, creativeness always got the better of her, she knew all of the tricks in the book. Evelina was so cute, and Susie was a pretty, proud mother, Nova's best friend, she gave her a special deal for the photographs. Nova would often envy of Susie's lifestyle, but never showed it. Nova was a pretty girl as well, she was 21, fair brown hair and dark blue eyes, she had been asked on a billion dates off of boys that other girls would kill for, "Nah," she's say, "I'm not into boys, I'm too busy." but she knew it was her own fault, she had the option, and well, it was just tough that she didn't take it, but it never annoyed her, she loved her job more. She took one last look at the pictures, the smiles on the mother and daughter's faces brought the happiness in the black and white photo to life, which made Nova smile as well. She whistled, "Sasha, up!" she urged her Siberian Husky up the stairs. Nova hid under the quilt while Sasha got comfortable at the foot of the bed. "Night Sasha," she said, switching the bedside lamp off...*Ring* *Ring* *Ring* Nova was awoken by the phone ringing. But she couldn't be bothered getting out of the warm bed, but if it was a person looking for a few photo shots, she would waste no time moaning about getting up, but seriously? 3 AM? No one would call at that time, she drifted back to sleep.
Nova's alarm was too quiet for her deep dreams, so Sasha had taken it's place, "Right! Come on Sasha!" she groaned, stretching her arms, "I'm up!" she tramped downstairs and let Sasha outside for her morning duty, "Remember Sasha! Not on the marble stone! On
the-" she stopped when she saw that snobby neighbor of her's under her sunbed, she sat up angrily, "I will tell your landlord of that flea bad of your's, you're not supposed to-" Nova slid the door closed, "That woman should keep her pushed up nose out of everybody's business, geez." she was about to make an Ulster Fry when she walked past her satchel, she had to look again, it was a weird habit she had. She undid the button, shaking of excitement, when-there was nothing there. Yeah, the 12 photos were there, but only a grey background on each of them. "This can't be possible," she muttered, angry and upset, "what on earth happened?" with god as her witness, she remembered the delightful photos she had taken, what would she tell Susie? She decided to call her. She dialed 1471,
it would take her back to the last call, which was from Susie, the morning before when they were talking about the photo shoot. When, "The last caller called at 3.04 AM on Tuesday 7th May 2013. Press 3 to dial." what? 3.04 AM? But Susie had last called the last afternoon, anyway, she'd see who had called anyway. She waited until the beeping had passed, "Hello, this is Susie and Davis Lawchen's residence. Sorry if we can't take your call right now! We'll phone you back ASAP! Many thanks for understanding! Bye!" Nova shrugged and left a message, "Hey Susie! Um, yeah, I need to tell you something..." she explained everything and said sorry between every 5 words she said, "So, sorry again Susie, I'd be more than happy to take the pictures again, and you wouldn't have to pay. Thanks again and sorry! Just call me back when you get this." she pressed the red button and stopped the call.
Two days later, Nova was growing suspicious...No calls? No texts? No email? And not even a Facebook blog! She'd give it another two days, maybe Susie and Davis were having problems. But she didn't have to wait any longer than that when she finally got the phone call, "Hello?" Susie said, picking the phone up, "Hey Nova, is-is this a bad time to tell you-" "Davis, is that you? Are you crying?" she interrupted, and he was, "Uh, sorry Nova," he said, sniffing, "I don't know any other way I could say this, but.." Nova was a little worried, "Um Davis, you still with me?" the news he brought me was said as bland as it is written, "Susie's dead." she didn't know what to say. She stuttered a little, "W-w-w-what? How-how the heck!" she burst into tears, chocking on every word she said, "I'm, I'm so sorry Nova! I came home and-" "And what did you see?" she whispered, eager to hear what happened to her best friend, "Well, I came in from work at like, I dunno, 7 PM, and I called for her, she replied back and said she was in the bathroom. I knocked and she told me to come on in. Nova. Susie. She-she was drowning Evelina! My little baby. And Nova, she realized the shock on my face, but stared right through me, smiling. I tried to stop her Nova I did! I really did but I had to-" he stopped and breathed, and Nova was left hanging, "Davis, honey, what did you do? You didn't-" "Yes Nova, I killed her, but I didn't mean to. I got the mirror from above the sink and hit her on the head with it. When I realized that I'd done more damage than I intended to. But there was still Evelina, and she was dead, she was floating there, my little star. She had drowned. I cut myself with the blood-stained glass, trying to wake up from the nightmare." everything was silent. Nova was the first to break it, "And you phoned the police, right?" he sighed, "Yeah, they said I did the right thing. But, my life is over. I'm gonna kill myself. I thought I should tell you everything about- well, the holocaust." "But wait-wait Davis! I had something to tell you, you see- wait, there's no use now," she sighed, wiping a few tears, "What is it?" "Um, the pictures I took yesterday, for Susie and Evelina, I looked at them this morning, and they're not there. Well, the 6 shots are there, but they're not in the pictures. It's a bit useless now I guess. Oh my god," she said, taking in the news, "I can't believe it. Why did she do it Davis? Why?" she could tell he was shaking his head, "I have no idea, but she sure ruined my life. But that picture thing?" he said confused,
"Were they in it before?"
"Yes, it's weird right?"
"Yeah. Maybe it's because- ugh, got to go Nova-"
"Do you know something? Davis! Don't go! Please-"
the last thing she heard was a gunshot.
She stood there in aw. What the heck just happened, she thought, might as well end my own life. But she didn't. And clearly then, she understood everything about the picture. How when someone dies, so does the picture.