A Murder Of Our Own (Inevitable Darkness)

by Michael Thompson

  Kyra sat up in her room sitting on her bed. She didn’t know what else to say. She knew that the whole affair thing was driving her near insanity. She didn’t want to confront him on it and then seem idiotic when it was nothing in the first place but, at the same time she didn’t want to slip by as nothing. He has been disappearing and his mind seem to be set on something else but, due to the situation she catches him everything makes sense. She could never say he was in the wrong because, he had the evidence that he was there. She had one picture, and she couldn’t be sure that it was someone cheating because, she couldn’t have taken the picture herself and then later used it as a note to remember. One small thing didn’t make sense in all of this. Her car was totaled in the accident and then scrapped after all her belongings was removed from it. Why would a picture she had taken be in his car instead with the rest of her stuff? She began to realize that she didn’t take that picture. She opened her phone and looked in the call history. She hesitated at first to dial the number and instead left it alone again. She threw her phone at her dresser’s mirror that shattered upon impact. Her voice trembled with anger and her tears flowed with inner confusion. She was torn between what was a nightmare and what was reality.

  Evelyn stood looking at Christian with a tear flowing down her face and a fiery rage behind her eyes and into her soul. She felt inside that everything he said was true.

  “If you are so insightful then why don’t you know who paid me to have you lose?”

  “Because if I did know who it was, I would needed you at all. I need to tell me because this is going too far. We already have one good person dead do we really need two?”

  “If you were as good as a detective, like you think you are it’s the first that everyone would suspect. That is the person who paid me to do anything and everything to win this case.”

  Christian thought about and figured out who the person. It didn’t add up though. The car crashing that nearly ended Connor life was driven by a man according to Connor but everything else makes sense.

  Christian knock on the door of the Balmore resident. Her mother came to the door.

  “Oh, how may I help you today?” Mrs. Balmore said with complete sarcasm.

  “You can help me by telling me, why you hired my mother to do all within her power to have me lose this case?”

  “Because he used my daughter, and when she said no she killed her.”

  “You can’t be sure of that. You weren’t there that night to prove that.”

  “And neither can you. You were there when that son of a bitch sat in my face with a smile and then behind our back tried to get a free ride off of us. You were there listening to my daughter crying before she died when they were arguing. You were there when they found her body and you are not the mother who watched her get covered up. I don’t care what he said he did or didn’t do because to me he is a liar and now my daughter is dead and I don’t know what to believe now. I constantly wake up every day hoping that night was just a bad dream and every day I realize that it wasn’t. Now if you can tell me anyone else that killed my baby then I will do the best I can to forgive him, but until then I want him to suffer.” She softly closed the door with tears in her eye stifling her tears as she leaned against the door. She covered her face as she slid down devastated. Christian on the other side of the door walked away. He knows now of her reason why she hired Evelyn and he highly doubt that she had anything to do with the attempted vehicular homicide and vandalism to the bookstore. She was just a grieving mother wanting answers.

  Brian walks toward Lynn who was clearly upset. She asks him to sit down.

  “Don’t… Just sit.”

  He sat down confused.

  “What’s going on, why are you upset?”

  “I ran into your friend Evelyn earlier. We were talking and she told me about you. She said that you are a very successful man and you will do anything to win. She also said that I should be careful with people in success because their secrets will hurt you.”

  “Lynn she’s just…”

  “Shush. I just have one question for you. What are you hiding huh, because no person would just come out and say something like that without having a reason?”

  “She is trying to break us up, she just getting into your head.”

  “And why would she try to do something like that Brian?”

  “I don’t know.” Brian said.

  “Okay so let’s go back to the first. Why would she say something like that to me? What are you hiding from me?”

  “If I tell you I will lose you.”

  “Were you using me to win the case?”

  Brian sat quietly.

  “Answer me dammit. Were you using me for to win this case?”

  “Yes.” Brian said with his head hanging.

  She felt so sick to her stomach. Christian had warned her and she fell into Brian’s trap willingly. She sat down in the chair and stared into space. Brian got up to plead to her that those weren’t his attentions.

  “She made me do this. She threatened me and I had no choice.”

  “Get out of my house. I don’t ever want to see you again.” She spoke weakly.

  “Lynn please, I am sorry.”

  “I want you to get the hell out of my house!” She yelled at the top of her lungs with tears coming out of her eyes.

  Brian got up slowly. “I am so sorry.”

  “Just leave.” She said staring into blank space.

  Brian left out the door and walked in the rain.

  Christian had reached home and was tailgated by his landlord.

  “Christian. Look we need to talk.”

  Christian stopped and turned around.

  “Sure. What you want do you want to tell me?”

  The landlord didn’t say anything to him but extended his hand with a folded up paper.

  “What is this?” Christian said while opening it up.

  “This is your notice to leave the premises. You have two weeks to pack you things and find someone else to stay.”

  “You can’t do this. I need at least thirty days to find somewhere else to live.” Christian argued.

  “I’m sorry but I have been getting reports of stuff being thrown across the apartment and hitting the floor disturbing the others.”

  “I wasn’t even home. Someone broke into my house. I see no one reported that to you.”

  “I hope this don’t tarnish our friendship, Christian.” The landlord said.

  “Our friendship is not going to give me a place to sleep.”

  The landlord walked away and Christian went into his house. Christian climaxing to the peak of his inner rage began to destroy his own thing. He throw down his briefcase. He threw a bible his grandmother had gave him into his glass coffee table that broken into piece on contact. He pulled up the floor board and pulled out the whiskey and pour him a glass, drinking it as fast as he poured it. He looked at the paper that landlord had given to him. Marker bled through the paper showing him something he didn’t see before.

  “Like father, like son.” It read.

  Further enraged he grabbed the glass and threw it into a corner in his living room that ricocheted into dust. He grabbed the bottle whiskey and walked out into the rage storm that built up outside.

  Brian outside watched as Christian left the house with the liquor in his hands. He drove off heading home.

  Chapter X

  Kyra heard knocking at her door and went to answer it. She opened it and saw a drunken Christian on her door step.

  “Can I stay here? I have nowhere else to go.” He said looking down.

  Lightning broke the air with a loud crack.

  “Yes of course.” Kyra said turning to walk away.

  Christian took on step before tripping. Kyra caught him before he could face-plant into the ground. She yelled for Victor’s assistance.

  “Victor! Help me, please.”

  He came in puzzled on what was going on. He thought there was a burglar but i
nstead she seen Kyra cradling a pass-out drunk Christian.

  “Who is he?” Victor asked.

  “He is a friend. Just come and help me get him to the couch.”

  The two hoisted him onto his feet and walked him over step by step to the couch where he laid.

  “I have nowhere else to go. I have nothing anymore. They won.” He said with his eyes closed.

  “Who won? What happened?” Kyra asked.

  Christian caught them up on the events following his arrival, obviously intoxicated.

  “My mother was hired to make me lose the case. I didn’t comply so she had my home ransacked. Everything document that I had for the case was destroyed, but it was all things I could replace. Then as I started to piece everything together and everything started to make sense, I was evicted. I have two weeks to get all my stuff and find somewhere else to live. But it’s okay, I probably just go on to live with my vindictive mother who is doing everything within her power to annihilate me in this case and go through the painful cycle of being thrown out of my home again.” He took a sip from the bottle and swallowed. Kyra took the bottle from his hands.

  “I think you had enough to drink. Its fine you can stay here until you, find another place.” A question popped into Kyra’s head with no comprehensible reason. “Where is your father? Have you tried to stay with him?”

  Christian laughed masking his true emotion of sadness. “He is rotting in hell now. I watch him as his burn down his home and company and then burned alive.” His laughter de-escalated down to solemnness as he realize the gravity of seriousness of everything that was happening.

  “Are you okay?” Kyra seeing that his expression has changed.

  “No. No, I’m not.” Christian said. “I feel sick.” He ran to the bathroom and threw up all the contents of his stomach.

  Victor sat looking at Kyra and he walked away into the kitchen. Kyra followed wondering why he had a change in attitude.

  “What is your problem?”

  “My problem is you invited a complete stranger into our house without asking me.” Victor said grabbing a glass of water.

  “Oh, but it was okay for your sister to come crash on our couch and steal my jewelry.” She said.

  “She was family. That is different.”

  “How is it different Victor?” Kyra said with escalating anger at the edge of her voice. “He came in here with his skin basically saturated in liquor. I’d be afraid to light a match near him, plus he has just lost his father.”

  “How do you know he’s not lying?”

  “If you want to kick him out because you think he is liar then you go in there and you tell him can’t stay but you are not going to send me in there to look like the bad guy anymore because you feel that everyone can’t be trusted.” Kyra scoffed in disgust. She walked back to the living room and sat next to Christian as he sat up. Victor walked into the line of division between the living room and the kitchen.

  The sun rose again and Brian woke up with the crisp chill of dawn’s air. It had awakened him from his car. He began think of how his plan could have been bulletproof. He began to think of the possibility of the police being on his trail. He hasn’t heard about a lead on the accident though. Besides it wasn’t his car he crash. It was a car he had stolen, well borrowed to him. Now it’s probably being checked for prints and it will lead up to some random guy. No harm done, beside the fact that the woman he loved kicked him to the streets. He wondered why he didn’t go home right away. He looked around and saw liquor in the passenger seat. He discarded the bottles to the backseat and looked at his phone to see that it was almost time for him to have a meeting with a friend.

  “What the hell is your problem you manipulative…” He was interrupted.

  “You was going to cost everything because clearly was in love with her. So I took care of it.” Evelyn said as her room her manor.

  “She was also our only chance of winning the case. Now it’s a good chance she would step down and we would have to start a whole new trail.”

  “You’re a smart man, you find a way out. Just like your little stunt downtown.”

  “And what if I can’t find another way out of this? You made something impossible, when you could have just kept your mouth shut.” Brian said with the violence concealed within his fist.

  “Why would I do that? It would have been more just to watch you squirm. You need to quit lying to yourself Brian. You a fowl person.”

  Brian crunched down on his teeth with a force that made the veins bulge in his temples.

  “Looks like we have something in common.”

  Brian left knocking down a vase full of water with a single rose and slamming door that echoed.

  Victor came down stair to, see that Christian was feeding Lily her baby food. He didn’t acknowledge Christian’s being as he walked over to the refrigerator to get orange juice.

  “Good morning.” Christian said.

  Victor mumble a good morning as a response.

  “I want to tell you thank you again for letting me stay here on such short notice. I really appreciated.”

  “No problem.” Victor said nonchalantly. “What do you work as? Grocer, stocker?”

  “Actually I’m a criminal lawyer.”

  Victor’s mouth widen with surprise.

  “Yeah, I get that a lot. I have just begun my job with mostly just minor cases. I only had two that involved murder. This one and one in my past.”

  “Who won the first one?”

  “I did but it cause more bad than good. A murderer was put away but some night I think that it wasn’t worth it.”

  Kyra walked down doing much of the same the Victor did.

  “Hey guys. What you two doing up before me?” She said with a smile on her face.

  “He was just telling me a story about when he first became a lawyer.”

  “You were surprised weren’t you?” She asked Victor. “I told he was a genius.”

  “I see.”

  “Well I have to go back to my house to go get my book, so that they won’t get destroyed.” Christian said throwing on his jacket.

  “Do you want us to come with you? Just let me get dress and get my keys.”

  Victor followed Kyra up the stair and to their room where they prepared to get ready.

  Kyra walked back down the stairs about five minutes later to see the Christian had left. She walked into the kitchen and saw that he had vanished from thin air. She walked outside onto the porch to see that he was sitting on the first stair staring up at the sky. He looked back at Kyra and Victor as they stood ready to go.

  He smiled. “Ready?”

  They walked down the two steps and to the car where they drove into town to his apartment.

  Christian unlocked his door and they saw the destruction that the intruders left plus the shattered glass from Christian outburst of anger. He grabbed his textbooks and left the house unlocked with the keys on the counter.

  “Why are you leaving your keys here?” Kyra asked.

  “What’s the point? They got in without keys before. If they want any of my stuff they can feel free to take it because, one this case is over I am starting anew somewhere else.” He said as he walk down the stairs, turning towards her on the last step. The three walked out to the car and drove off.

  They drove pass the accident sight of Kyra. She felt nauseated and dizzy at the sight of the intersection. She remember everything as it played before her eyes.

  “Are you okay?” Christian asked Kyra.

  “Yeah, I just feel nauseous. I’ll be okay.

  They continued to drive on, not even second thinking Kyra sudden illness. It echoed in the back of their skull, ricocheting back to their attention but they ignored the questions needing to be asked. They assumed it was just the anxiety from the accident and their assumption would have been right.

  The two walked up the stair of their home while Christian walked into the living room. He was accompanied by Lily that was laughing
in her play pin. He hovered over her as he sat his textbooks down on the coffee table. He smiled as he watched her play with her rattles and blocks and laugh. He broke his trance turning around back to the coffee table back to his textbook that had a piece of paper sticking out of it. He flipped open to the page and found the paper was folded.

  Evelyn had come back to Christian’s house after she swindled a key from the landlord downstairs. She had gotten into his apartment and saw the destruction she had caused. She was appalled. She didn’t realize the severity of all that has happen. She stood frozen not even being able to breath. Her shock had faded and she had walked to a notepad that was on the counter in the kitchen. She wrote down a note and looked for a place to hide it in plain sight.

  “They are closer that you think. Have a wide eye and quit looking into a microscope.” The paper read. She sat it into the text book and left quickly awaiting the arrival of Christian.

  Christian read and echoed the note’s ending.

  “Have a wide eye, and quit looking into a microscope.”

  He knew that someone wanted him to win. The handwriting seem familiar but it was vague as the message. He looked in his textbooks and rippled through the pages that fluttered from front to back. He picked up the books and shook them throwing them aside, if they were checked. He found nothing and looked back down at the note.

  It was later now, in the breaking of dusk. The sun had just settled into the horizon and the air was cooling fast with the whipping winds of autumn. There was a knocking at Evelyn’s door. She griped with annoyance. So many people had, came to visit her for the scandal that has only just begun. But this was a new face, and she realized it as she opened the door.

  “I need to speak with you, now.” Victor said.

  Chapter XI

  She stood shock that Victor was there. Why would he have any reason, she haven’t seen him since he was a teenager.

  “Why are you back here? Haven’t done enough.”

  “I haven’t done anything.” Victor said.

  “You have ruined my marriage.”

  “No, you ruined the marriage yourself.” Victor said as he enter her home.