The Omniscrolls

  It was just two more days until Halloween. My daughter Cleo and my son Ryan were choosing their costumes. Cleo decided to go as a witch, while Ryan chose a demon costume. Seeing their faces light up made me miss the days I had that same excitement for the holiday; I wished I was a kid again. Even after we arrived home, they put the costumes on once again and were playing around the house for a little while. However, as it was getting late, I told them they needed to go to bed, and that otherwise, there would be no Halloween for them. They wished to sleep with their costumes on, and I didn’t see any harm in it. I kissed them goodnight and left the room.  Moments later, I heard a knock on the front door. I opened it expecting to see my husband George back from his official visit to another state, but there was no one there. He called me afterwards and told me he was running late; his car had broken down on the way, so he said he would stay at a nearby hotel and come the next m...

I was on my way home when I received a radio message of a murder on Gordon Street. By the time I arrived at the scene of the crime, my partner Angelo was standing by the side of the road. The look on his face made me hesitate to open my car door; a decade in homicide and I had never seen him like that. The second I walked up to him, I knew why. The crime scene was not what I expected, though, in my experience, it was hardly a term with a clear definition. Before me was the body of a young boy who couldn’t have been more than fourteen years old. My guts wrenched at the grizzly site as my head grew heavy. The child had several stab wounds all over his body. I turned around to walk away and catch my breath when I saw officer Rohini Charles struggling to prevent her tears from rolling down her cheeks. She was quick to wipe them off when she saw me. Being a female cop was tough enough as it is; she didn’t want to let herself look ‘weak’, even in front of a fellow female colleague. “Onella, ...

  I was woken up by a nightmare; one that recurred ever since gunmen took my mother’s life and made me an orphan. That day, new year’s eve, was the anniversary of my mother’s death. Every year, the nightmare came like clockwork—a reminder of what I had lost. My adoptive parents took me away from my country, but I still hadn't been able to move on. I simply couldn't, not until I had avenged my mother's death. I started inquiring about the case and John, a former police officer turned private detective, promised to help me. He was angry because he was the one in charge of the case at the time and the killers got away on a technicality. One day, John informed me of their whereabouts, and I decided it was time: time to seek justice for my mother—time to give them what they deserved. I booked a ticket last minute and flew to my homeland to find my mother's killers. John asked me not to go searching for them without him; he asked me to stay at his house so we could go togethe...

  Twelve years passed, and Mahone was transferred to another state as a captain. One day, he was having coffee at a restaurant when he saw a woman a couple of tables ahead of him with two of her friends. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember who she was. It was when she giggled at a joke that he recognised her. When they left the place, he followed them at a distance. After her friends got into their cars and left, the woman got into a bus. Mahone also hurried into the same bus and got off it when she did. After about a minute’s walk, she walked into a house; and after she shut the door, he walked up to it and rang the bell. The one who answered the door was Mary. She was shocked the moment she recognised him. “Officer Mahone! What’re you doing here?” she asked nervously. “Don’t worry, I’m not here on official business. Your secret is safe with me.” “What secret?” “Isn’t Helena inside?” That moment, Helena walked into the living room. “Are you here to arrest me?” “No, I’m n...