(12) = > (11)

The next morning was the most normal in a long time. Alice was up as first, preparing breakfast as she normally always would. Then their mom would be downstairs, setting the table and Jenice would be up as the last person and would eat her breakfast when the other women were halfway. And their father would be in jail. Such a normal morning was the morning they had today. This reduced the stress in the house automatically and greatly. The atmosphere was even happy. Everyone sat at the table with a smile, all chores were completed with a grin, everyone must have been very happy. It was as if everything went back to normal, as if there was no serial killer lurking around. And it certainly wouldn't be Arnold, the old flame of their mother. There were no gang wars and the neighbourhood was peaceful. Any kind of worry had ebbed away.  

Jenice took her bag and said: "I am going out." 
And she left the house, while Alice was doing the dishes and their mother was sweeping the floor with a broom. Jenice sighed happily as she left the house and she went to do her normal daily routine as she did before Arnold had visited their house. She walked to a particular wall, she stared at it and shook her head. It was her first time when she used graffiti and it showed. She placed her hand on it and sighed. She was going to cover it, but that would mean closure of a piece of her childhood. After a while she took her camera out and decided to a take a photograph of it. She smiled when she saw the photograph on her camera. She put it away proudly and took out some spraying cans. She shook the cans and started to make an updated version of the first graffiti she had done. Al had been walking casually in the neighbourhood and walked up to her because he had seen her. But he kept silent as she had headphones on maximum volume. He could understand the words that were sung by the artist that she was playing. He stood back so she wouldn't bump into him when she'd take a step back to see the overall piece of work she would have made up to then. He smiled as memories flooded his mind. He saw that she was covering up her first graffiti. That first graffiti, that one had made him bump into her. And that was the start of their undying friendship. He smiled as he saw that she was making an updated version of her first graffiti ever. He sat down somewhere and rested his head on his hand while he was watching her creating art. It took some time, but finally she was done. Jenice sighed happily and took off her headphones. She ran her hand through her hair and stared at the finished result. She smiled, she was content, it was a perfect update. She took out her camera again after putting the cans away and photographed her work.  
"You did very well." 
She turned around and saw Al, she smiled. 
"Thank you. How long have you been sitting here anyway?" 
"Quite long. I have almost seen everything in progress." 
"And you couldn't say hi?" 
"You wouldn't have heard it even if I did, with your music set on full volume." 
She chuckled. He got up and walked up to her. 
"You have improved so much in comparison to that first time." 
"I had a good teacher.", she smiled. 
He smiled back at her and put his arms around her and stared into her eyes. She looked up into his, a bit surprised by this action. He began to kiss her and she kissed back. 

Alice had been working in the house in the meanwhile. At first with her mother, but she left to go to work, so now Alice was working on her own. She was humming in the meantime, not noticing the doorbell ringing. After a while, when her song came to an end, she heard an eager ringing as somebody must be pushing the doorbell again and again.  
"I am coming!", she exclaimed. 
She ran to the door and opened it, to find a panicked John, who was completely pale. He rushed inside without saying anything at the door and began to walk back and forth in the living room. First she just watched him after closing the door, then she began to analyse his behaviour. She sat down on the couch and sat there silently watching him. When she saw that his concentration had diminuend, she said something: "John, is everything alright?"  
His face shot up in her direction. He shook his head slightly and took place beside her. 
"Another woman was murdered in the neighbourhood. Okay, now our neighbourhood would be save for a few weeks or months. But he's murdering faster, Alice. So he'll be faster here again. This can't keep going on. Why are the police such screw-ups? They can't do anything right.", he shook his head.  
Alice took his hand in hers and placed her head against his shoulder. He smiled slightly and put his arm around her pulling her close into and embrace. He kissed her head.  
"It just worries me. That's all, sweetheart. I wouldn't know what to do if something happens to you or your sister.", he stroked her hair gently.  
She put her arms around him and kissed his chin. He smiled softly and caressed her cheek.  
"I love you, Alice."

Since then John often stayed at the house where Alice and Jenice lived. He was worried for their lives and he wanted to stay close to them and if one of them would go out, he'd follow them like dog. Jenice thought this was annoying and John really wouldn't leave until she'd bump into Al. This he did every day. He slept in Alice's room and when she'd wake up, he'd wake up and he went to bed after the last person who would stay awake, which was mostly Jenice. Jenice would take her sister into one of their rooms and complain about John. Of course Alice defended John's behaviour even though she confessed that she also thought it was annoying for him to be like a dog, following them on the heels.  

In the meantime Al's gang and John's gang would have been following every step Arnold made. But Arnold never left the neighbourhood and women still succumbed to the serial killer. But how could that be, if the serial killer wasn't even there? Soon they all saw that Arnold wasn't a serial killer and John apologized to Gwen about calling Arnold a serial killer without hard evidence. Gwen was all smug and told him that she knew all along and that they should have listened to her wisdom. So they were back to the beginning. Who was the serial killer? Was it the mystery guy in that car they had seen right before the murder? Probably, this was the next suspect in their case.