This was the story of a lifetime, and it was all hers. Alexis Darwin stood in front of Rudy, the pudgy, middle aged editor of [i]The Weekly Chronicles[/i]. His icy blue eyes, set oddly into his wrinkled face, stared at her inquiringly as he waited for an answer. But Alexis couldn't form any kind of response, even though she wanted this story more then anything in the entire world. She wanted it so much that her body felt stiff as it anticipated the exposure that she could receive, given that she did a good job. Alexis looked at her boss, who sat back in his computer chair, round stomach bulging out, and stared at her. He raised a bushy, grey eyebrow at her in annoyance. "Darwin!" His impatient voice snapped. "Do you or do you not want to take on the Snow White story?" Yes, she really did want it. However, for some reason she felt wrong and she couldn't figure out why. Alexis pushed these unpleasant feelings away, a skill she had pretty much mastered already in her life, and nodded towards her boss. 

"Yes, I want it." She tried to make her voice light and carefree as she watched Rudy lean forward and rest his face in his hands. "Good. This case is big, really big, and lots of people are going to be curious about it." Alexis nodded, of course they already were. She had heard the whispers, seen the morbid interest in the eyes of everyone in town, including herself. "It's your job to give them what they want, make it informative, yet riveting. Use eloquence, write this as if it were not just news but an engrossing story. I want you to sell this." The continuous bobbing of Alexis' head was giving her a head ache. "Okay, perfect. I can do this, you won't be disappointed." Rudy's mouth twitched into a grim smile. "I better not be. This is all riding on you, Darwin." He paused, looking down at his worn out, leather watch. "You have a page in this week's issue, I want it on my desk by Friday." His voice was distracted, as he pulled himself out of the chair and started to gather his things. "I suggest you start now. Make it good." Alexis grinned, a real smile that had been a stranger to her face for so long. "I will. Thanks, Rudy." 

Once outside his office, she checked the time herself. It was nearing midday, a time where she would usually be taking a break and having lunch. Yet, she made a beeline for her small cubicle and opened up her old, beat up laptop. The thing certainly wasn't pretty, and it didn't always run well, but it got the job done. Nimbly, she created a new document and stared at the blank page. She was excited, sure, but also apprehensive. This wasn't just some bullshit story on a small scale town crisis, this was the recalling of the life, and of course the death, of a teenage girl. Alexis chewed on the delicate flesh of her lower lip as her fingers moved aimlessly above the keyboard. Where to start? How to start? Her mind reeled, she wanted facts, she wanted drama, she wanted something so shocking and captivating that would have people so horrified they would have to read it. To do that, she realized, she needed details.

Her twitching fingers that were waiting readily above the keyboard moved slowly towards the gleaming, black office phone. she had the numbers of all kinds of businesses written down and plastered to the wall so it took her no time at all to find that of the police stations. Punching the number into the phone she waited in silent suspense for someone to pick up. Three sharp rings later, a kindly sounding woman greeted her. "Hi. This is Alexis Darwin, reporter for The Weekly Chronicles. I'm calling to request an interview with the lead detectives on the Sierra Williams case. If you could get one of them on the phone that would be great." Alexis' free hand found a pen that was sitting, discarded, on her desk. Absently she started twirling it between her fingers, as she waited nervously and eagerly. 'This is it.' She thought. 'This is the big times, the real deal.' A small, pleased smile came over Alexis' face, while somewhere in the deepest corners of her mind something was trying to warn her that this was all more then it seemed.