Grace Mott

Mrs. Roskamp

8A, LA

12 February 2016

Journal Entry:312  

The Fall

 

Ever since I was little there has been one phrase that goes through my head day in and day out. “How to Commit the Perfect Murder.” I always chose the icicle, the weapon melts away.” Alice Sebold. That’s what I think about whenever I do anything. To be smart and cunning.  Every breath I breath, every move I make, I will always be three steps a head.  

The jump is a famous word around here and specific to this ward. The ward is completely closed off and there is only one way in and one way out, but they are not the same. The only way in is through the armored door and the barbed electrical fences. Only way out is death. Okay that is a little over dramatic. You do get released, but it takes its sweet time. Also you can wait until you’re 18 and then you are an adult. They will test to see how you do and if they feel it’s a bad idea they will send you to a different place. There have been five people in total that have jumped out their window and fallen to their death, or that’s at least how you see it but for people like us it means freedom.

His name was Jacob. He had gained his freedom and maybe a little bit of sanity, because he knew better than to stay here. He jumped from room 312. It was a regular suicide, trust me it happened a lot here.  

My name is Spencer. I have lived in this ward since I was six years old. I was put in here for the murder of Sarah Camilton and Peter Camilton, my parents. I don’t like to talk about it though. I have my reasons for killing them. My sister also died but not at my hands. She died to someone that I once trusted. So I was happy to hear that they have been here for a while. So that I can finally be at peace with my sister. I am actually one of the only sane people in here.

To be honest, Jacob didn’t have much. His family had all died in a car crash. He didn’t talk much so he didn’t have very many friends but he did have me. We were best friends, even before we were put in here. We went to the same school and were in the same class. Jacob and I are both sixteen.  

I will find out why he killed himself. I think I owe that much to him at least. I mean, they kept moving his release date up and up it makes no sense. Why would he kill himself right before he gets free. But then again he had been going through a hard time, or at least that’s what his private journal said. He kept the journal locked in his room. I decided on this and I go to sleep to the noise of the sirens of the cop cars singing their song as the cops call the coroner’s.

I get up with a slow creak. Jacob’s room is right next to mine so I push the door to his room open and stare at the emptiness that is his room. It wasn’t long until one of the nurses found me standing there and brought me to the head doctor. What a nuisance. I though as we arrived at the doctors room.

“I know how losing a friend can be really hard to take. I am here to help you through this.” The Doc. said in a really warm voice. Wow he is getting really good at making you feel at home, even though I know that he really doesn’t care. But still. He kept rambling on and on and I just thought of ways to get to set everything up. By the end of the “talking to” I had already made a plan and had put some suspects together. To be honest Jacob was a nice kid and didn’t have very many enemies. This might be more of a challenge than I thought. Well I guess you have to start somewhere right? So it looks like Max is first. I thanked the Doc. and when he wasn’t watching I took the key off his desk. I knew where it was because I had taken it a few times before. There were also two other things missing from his room but I’m sure he wouldn’t notice.

I thanked the Doc. and told him that it has been hard and I told him some sappy story from when I first came to the ward and felt alone. After twenty minutes I told him I felt better and thanked him again and left.

Max’s room is on the bottom floor next to the Doc’s office. The worst kids are put on the bottom floor so there is not as high as a chance for suicide. Also the kids that have murdered at least three people go there too. They even tried to stick me with those losers. Yeah like that was going to happen.

There are only six rooms on the main floor. The Doc’s office, two patient rooms, two nurses rooms and a quiet room. The quiet room is for when someone acts up and they feel it is necessary to isolate them. I’ve never been in there but I’ve heard that most people would rather die than go in there twice. The two patients on the bottom floor are Max and Graham. Max has bipolar depression and can get really violent for no reason. So my money’s on him. Graham killed his mother, father, sister and his girlfriend. His girlfriend actually was in here when she got killed. Her name was Olivia. They were a good couple but one day they got into a fight because Olivia would be leaving the ward soon and she thought it would be best to break it off, but he didn’t like that idea. During lunch when they were eating together. Graham walked right up to one of the guards, pulled out his gun, and shot her in the head. She was dead even before she hit the ground. That was the day that he got moved down to the main floor. There is a rumor going around that he is the devil in human form. The dude gives me the creeps and trust me that’s not very easy because I’ve killed and almost been killed several times.

I walked out of the Doc’s office and to Max’s room and knocked on the door. Do you remember how I said this dude can be scary, he is 4’2” and wear glasses so on first look he looks like your average nerd but I don’t recommend saying that to his face.

He opened the door.

“What do you want.” He said with his country accent.

“What were you doing the night that Jacob died?” I asked as quietly and nicely as I could in fear that he would try and kill me. But the thing he did next I wasn’t expecting.

“Hahaahaa. Man that’s. Hahaha.” I could see he was laughing so hard that tears were starting to form in his eyes. I balled my fist in anger. Geeze, he thinks that this is a laughing matter. What a jerk.

“Sorry man I didn’t mean to make you angry I just thought it was funny you thought it was me. I mean I’m on the bottom floor I have the most surveillance on me and my door locks at 7:00 every night so there is no way that I could have gotten back in, or even out for that matter. Sorry man but I agree that someone murdered him, I mean why would he jump when he was going to be released next week. It just doesn’t add up. Hey if you need any help ask me, Jacob was a good friend to me too.” With those last words he closed the door. I took out a pencil and a note pad and I crossed off the names Max and Graham.

Well that means fewer people, I guess that’s okay. There are now only three people left. The Nurse Jackie Roskamp, Tiana and Kaylee. The only reasons I think that it is Tiana and Kaylee is because both of them asked Jacob out but he turned them down saying that he isn’t that stupid. But I don’t blame him all the boyfriends they have ever had ended up missing or dead. Jackie is different. She had opportunity, means but I can’t seem to find a motive. I think it is Jackie is because she has access to every room and she has to bring medicine to every patient on our floor.

So I think I will talk to her first. Also she was the only person that actually saw Jacob jump. She was taking out the trash and saw him falling, she says that she saw someone else up there with him but to be honest I think that it was dark and she is getting up in years. But she is the only witness. The weird thing is that when the cops showed up she was upstairs from where he jumpt and not outside.

Well she will be at dinner in a few minutes so there is my chance. I almost ran to the mess hall. I grabbed a tray of whatever the repulsive food was this week and I sat down across from her.

She is a nice lady that has worked here since the day it opened. There is a rumor going around that she actually was a patient here once. But I don’t see it she is a sweet old lady. She used to only work here part time and she taught kindergarten. But then she got laid off when the school closed from an “accidental” fire.

But in the cases best interest I decided not to talk to her. Later that night she came to my room to bring my medicine. By then everything had been completed. I hid behind the curtain and taped a piece of rope to opposite ends of the room. It was low enough that you couldn’t see it. It also matched the floor nicely. I opened the window and waited. That’s how I did it.  

“Yeah I have no Idea what got into her. She was a kind person and she had a pure heart. We are all going to miss her. She was acting normally and then she just jumped.” Or at least that’s what I told the cops when they asked me about her death that had happened in my room. She knew too much and besides I needed someone to take the fall for Jacobs murder. This is how it all went down and how I always stayed three steps a head.

Then they asked about Jacob and I told them that we had been best friends and we still are. But that was a lie to throw them off my trail.

I let her find me outside Jacob’s room. That way the she and the Doc. would think only to comfort me and drop their guard around me. That way when I was talking the Doc it was almost too easy to steal rope, tape and a key to open the window. I also went around asking people their stories to find someone that I could pin the blame on. Because I know eventually with enough digging that they would find that Jacob’s death was a murder and this way I already solved it for them. I know that Jackie is hard set on finding the person that was in the room with Jacob. I made her death look like a suicide and I wrote a suicide note confessing to killing Jacob. I made it sound like it was too much for her to take so she took her life. It was all an accident. He was standing by the open window and she tried to pull him away but she ended up slipping and pushing him out.  How tragic.

Two weeks later.  

They have released me from the prison that is known as “Sunny Island Ward.” I am free and no one knows about my secret, that I killed Jacob and Jackie. No one will ever catch me because I am too fast and too smart. I, Spencer Camilton, will never take the fall. You may be wondering why I killed Jacob but the reason is actually the reason that he is in here, because he killed my sister. I had told him that I forgave him because it was an accident. A tragic car accident. He survived but she didn’t. I always felt bitter to him and I just snapped and I took revenge. But to be honest no one will remember about me or my life or how I got away with murder, but this journal is the only thing that will know. So for now and forever I say goodbye.

I could never be caught because no one will remember me, Spencer Camilton has died.

I jumped.