silenced in the dark : a hunt for a killer begins.

I was abruptly awakened by a loud noise outside my window. "That must be my neighbor's cats," I thought to myself. I struggled to fall back asleep and ultimately gave up, turning on my bedside lamp. When I looked to the other side of the bed, I was surprised to find that Bella wasn't there. Now, you're probably wondering who Bella is. She and I have been married for five years, but we actually met as childhood friends. My father and her father were good friends, and when my father passed away, her father stepped in and looked after me as if I were his own son. At first, I just wanted to take Bella under my wing as a younger sister, but my heart had other ideas. We ended up dating and eventually getting married. By the way, my name is Michael. I reached under my pillow for my phone and saw that it was around 3am. My head was spinning, and I assumed it was due to something I had drank the night before. I quickly remembered attending Mr. Jones' farewell party, and assumed that I must have had something a little too strong. Despite my efforts to recall what had happened the night before, all of my memories were fuzzy. I do remember coming home to Bella, who was angry with me about something. We had a disagreement, and I ultimately went to bed without entirely resolving the issue. As I was trying to shake off my confusion, my phone started to vibrate in my hand. It had been about 20 minutes since I had woken up, and Bella still hadn't returned to our bedroom. I got out of bed and lightly knocked on our bathroom door, but received no response. That's when I started to panic. Bella is a sensitive and kind-hearted person. Knowing her as I do, I know that she is capable of hurting herself whenever she's feeling down or depressed. I once found her trying to hang herself in our garage. I hesitantly tried to open the bathroom door, but to my surprise, it wasn't locked. "Thank God," I thought to myself in relief. However, when I opened it, no one was inside. I started calling out her name; our house isn't large, so she should have been able to hear me. I searched everywhere in the house, from the spare room to the kitchen, and even checked the living room. But she was nowhere to be found. Where could she have gone? I began to worry even more. Bella isn't the type of person to leave without letting me know where she's gone. I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, but as I stood there contemplating where she could be, something struck me. There was a place I hadn't checked - the garage. I put down the glass and hurriedly ran to it, but her car wasn't there. I was at a loss. There was nothing left to do but try calling her again, but she still didn't answer. I was about to grab my keys and go search for her when I heard our garage door open. "It must be her," I thought to myself. I waited patiently in the bedroom for her to arrive, ready to apologize for whatever it was that had upset her the night before. And just like that, the door swung open, and there she was: my goddess. Without a second thought, I stood up to give her a hug, but then I noticed that she was covered in mud. I mean, I know it rained the night before, but how on earth did she end up like this? I froze in shock as she pushed past me and went straight to the bathroom. After about 45 minutes, Bella emerged from the bathroom. "What is it? Why are you sleeping?" she asked. "I wasn't feeling sleepy," I replied. She didn't say anything, and there was an awkward silence between us. I tried to cough to break the tension, but she wasn't even looking at me. I couldn't see her face as she was turned away from me, but it was evident that she wasn't sleeping. She was busy doing something on her phone. My mind was racing, and I didn't know whether to ask her where she had been or leave her alone. But my conscience wouldn't let me keep quiet. I found myself mumbling, "Where were you? I tried calling you, but you didn't answer." "Where I've been or what I was doing is none of your business," she retorted. "But you're my wife, your safety matters to me, and you should know that," I replied. "Why is it always about you? No one asked you where you were when you came home drunk yesterday! So stop trying to find out where I've been. I have friends and family, you know. Am I not allowed to see them?" she said, boiling with anger. At that moment, I knew that arguing with her was pointless. You can never truly know what a woman is thinking. I softly told her to let it go. "I trust you, and I know you'll never lie to me," I said. "But please, next time just leave me a message or a note so that I know you're okay." It was almost 5am, and I needed to get ready for work. I slowly got out of bed to head towards the bathroom when my phone suddenly rang. I turned back to answer it, although I was already feeling irritated and angry. "Hello?" I said. "May I please speak to Mr. Young?" asked the voice on the other end. It was the new helper at my mother's house - Rose. "This is Michael," I replied. "I'm calling regarding Madam. She...she...she..." Rose started to say before breaking down in tears. "What? What's happening? Where's my mother? Can I speak to her?" I asked impatiently, my nerves getting the better of me. "I can't..." Rose cried. "It's Madam. She's...she's dead." "What? What happened?" I asked, feeling words fail me. "I don't know. I found her in the kitchen with two gunshot wounds in her stomach, and her right hand is missing," Rose replied through bout after bout of crying. "Her hand is missing? Who killed her? Did you see anyone?" I wanted to ask more questions, but before I could, the line went dead. As soon as she hung up, I grabbed my car keys and rushed out of the house to head over to my mother's place. Bella was fast asleep, and I didn't have the chance to speak to her before leaving.