“I don’t know,” He said. “Just thought we both needed a break from the house and our daughter. Maybe one day she get a break with us just enjoy some fresh air.”
“That sounds nice.”
They pulled over to a daycare center to pick up Lily.
“I’ll be right back.” Victor said as he opened up the car door to get out. He walked around, went to the door and entered the building. Kyra patiently waiting on him to come out with their daughter. Victor came out but not alone. A woman follow holding a baby boy, smiling and laughing with Victor. Kyra cracked her window only to hear the ending of the conversation.
“Talk to you later, Victor.”
Victor walked to the car back seat of the passenger side and strapped in Lily. Kyra stared with shock because she began to realize that she was the same woman from the picture before.
“Who is she, Victor?” Kyra asked.
“Just a friend of mines, I met when I took Lily out that one day.”
Kyra mood changed and with that her expression as they drove off home. She tried to keep the heat burning through voice-box, down because she had some many question she just kept relaying in her head. It infuriated her, and she just thought of attacking him, viciously with her words, but not in front of Lily. What type of example would she set? She knew that babies were like a tape recorder. Record, repeat, record, repeat. So she just sat cutting her teeth into a fine powder with her jaw.
Brian had nearly drank himself to death. It was just the dawning of dusk and he had nothing better to do. He had been anticipating for the police to come knocking at his door, about his assault but not one siren cracked the silence of air in his still home. He looked at the clock that ticked loudly to him with each passing second. He thought to bandage the damage he had caused but he knew there was no recovery. He began tapping his finger on his glass and then sat it down with a loss in appetite. He stood up, and made a perfect left face to the door. He walked with his vision beginning to blur and distort. He twist the door knob to his study’s door and walked into the hallway. He staggered as he approached the door running into obstacles like the table and coat rack. After a few seconds he made it to the door and outside to the street. He walked up to the car and tried to open the door. He was so intoxicated, that he failed to realize that he was using his house key to open up his car. He gave up quickly walking down the street, dodging the occasional car in the roads. They yelled at him with harsh criticism. He walked away unaffected by their words. Soon enough he stopped in front of Lynn’s home. His eyes began to water as he walked up her walk way. He reached the door and with a quick outburst of anger broke the glass next to her door. He stuck his hand through the newly made hole and unlocked the deadbolt. He walked in his hand bloodied with powdered fragments glass in his wound. After a few minutes he began to realize Lynn wasn’t home. He just walked into the living room waiting for her to come.
Lynn had come a few moments later. She had worn a disguise so that no one could spot her easily. Her mother had dropped her off touching her cheek as a few stray tears ran down her face.
“In the end, things will get better. I promise.” She said. “Save those tear for another struggle.”
Lynn nodded her head with agreement. “I’m okay.”
She took a deep breath and got out of the car. She pulled out her keys and turned towards her house. She walked up her drive way and got herself prepared to unlocked her door when she heard the grainy sound of glass being rubbed on the ground below. Her eye glanced over at the translucent threshold window and saw that it was broken. She opened her door and went to a table sitting not too far from the door. She opened up the drawer and pulled out a large kitchen knife. She travelled to the living room to find Brian passed out on the couch. She didn’t bother to wake him instead she sat the knife on a lamp table next to the couch. She notice that his hands was cut and walked into her bathroom to grab her first aid kit. She wrapped it in ACE bandages and left him alone. She tossed a blanket over him as he slept and patched her window with cardboard and duct tape till morning. She walked upstairs and almost instantaneously fell asleep.
Kyra had went upstairs as soon as the door opened to their apartment. Victor realized that her mood has changed.
“Why are you going upstairs so soon?” Victor said.
Kyra had stopped and turned at him.
“I am just tired, I’m going to bed.”
Victor laughed as Kyra continued to walk away. She stopped again as he began to talk.
“Even when I am doing right you are always find a way…” He stopped.
“Find a way to do what?” Kyra said turned fully to walk back down the stairs.
“You will always find a way to make what I’m doing for us a bad thing. Your attitude changed as soon as you seen me talking to my friend. Now you’re act like a jealous brat.”
“Maybe I wouldn’t be acting like a jealous brat, if you would quit lying to me.” Kyra said nothing more.
“What are you talking about? I haven’t lied to you.”
Kyra walked away to her bedroom. Victor followed.
“What are you talking about?”
Kyra pulled out the photo. “Why did you have this hidden in your car? Didn’t want me to find out about her sooner, huh?” She said. “You need to tell me who she really is.”
“She is nothing but a friend.”
“Bull!” She exclaimed. “You really think I’m an idiot. Who took the picture, Victor?” Kyra asked.
“I don’t know.”
“How don’t you know who took the picture when it was in your car?” She asked screaming.
“She gave me the picture so that I could get her number.”
“Why do you need her number? I am your wife, I am right here. Why can’t you talk to me?” Kyra said on the edge of crying.
“Because of situations like this! Because you like to have this imaginary world where everyone is sneaking around doing something. I can’t go outside to breath without you thinking that I am doing something wrong. You are impossible to sit down and to have a conversation with because in order for us to be on the same page I have to be on the same page.” Victor said. “She is no one but a friend. I don’t have anything to hide.”
Victor walked out of the room. Kyra sat in quiet while all the thoughts in her heard went blank and the tears just stopped. She didn’t feel the urge to feel angry anymore because what was her reason for being mad. She felt drained all of the energy and went to her bathroom to clean her face.
Christian still sat in the basement where he had sat up. He couldn’t hear the argument because he had headphones listening to tape recording of cases with some similarity to his current. The argument was muffled and undetectable. He could have assumed it was just a loud discussion between the two. Christian listened in on the cases and didn’t find anything worth using that would seem redundant. He took off his headphones to hear the heavy footsteps of someone coming down the stairs. He turned around and looked at a disheveled Victor.
“I’ll get out of your way. I was just trying to finish my cases.”
Victor didn’t respond and instead walked to another room that was done in the basement and slammed the door.
Christian continued to pack up his things with confusion on display. He began to walk up the stairs and into the living room. Very shady. Victor mood has been strange, at least directed toward him. He had an unexplainable dislike for Christian. He didn’t fret instead began to read his college textbooks over to uncover something he could use. He shined with a smile of triumph.
The house had cooled and the winds picked up outside, wiping around the crisp autumn air. Everyone sat in the kitchen and prepared dinner. Lily sat in her high chair eating dry cereal O’s from her little table top. Kyra cooked and Victor was still missing in his hiding place. Christian read on but then he spoke.
“Were you two having an argument earlier?” He asked still having his face in the book. He closed it and sat on top of the tabl
e.
“You heard?” Kyra said while she cooked.
“Not really. I had headphones on, it muffled all the noise.”
“Oh. So how did you figure all that it was an argument?” Kyra said making each individual plate one for her, one for Christian with one left over she filled.
“Because everyone is acting differently. Even the baby seem to pick on the abruption of the calming flow. She’s just quiet. Not laughing like usually.”
Kyra stopped to walk towards the table to sit out the plates. She felt Lily’s head.
“Maybe she doesn’t feel well.”
“You think he is cheating on you?” He asked.
“Why would you think that?” Kyra said.
There was a brief pause before he spoke again.
“Because I’ve seen this all before. I also learned this in my social sciences course in college.” He lifted his fork from the table. “Him always being gone and you having a problem with it shows that you are scared of the separation. You are afraid that he is going to leave but you try to hang on, to keep everything together.” He stared passed Kyra and looked at the plate that was made on the counter. An idle tear streamed down her face and her hand came up and swiped it away.
“So, I’m not crazy. I’m not the only that sees this.” She spoke dropping her fork onto her glass plate. “Should I be scared? She I worry that he is going to leave me?
Christian didn’t answer but Kyra already knew that his silence spoke more words than him just simply saying yes. She was crushed but there was no more tears streaming down her face. She just stared at the table, motionlessly.
She spoke once more, but briefly. “He has already left me.”
She walk over to the sink dumping her whole plate of food down the garbage disposal. She clicked on the switch pureeing it into to liquefied nothingness and flushing it down the pipes with water. She grabbed his plate and sat it in the refrigerator. Christian just stood by watching her do this in her trance state. He was afraid that there was nothing he could say that would change her mind. Instead he looked at a picture that was of them when they first was married.
“That couple in the picture look happy.” Christian spoke. Kyra didn’t comply. “All these picture show something different than what you think. Maybe you should go with that thought.”
Kyra paused like his words had moved her but she had turned around and looked at him.
“I won’t change my mind until he gives me a reason to believe he is not deceitful. Until I can figure all of this out. I may not know what to think but I know what not to think. I am not going to sit here with a smile on my face and believe that everything is alright. I made that mistake in the beginning and now I am correcting myself for the better.”
Christian sat shaken by those words. It was as Kyra wasn’t there anymore. It seemed that a dark cloud hung over her head and that was the only thing keeping even the slightest bit of sane. The crazy remained her eyes and it frightened Christian because he wasn’t sure of what he was capable of doing next. Her hand was clinched against the counter she leaned on as tight as a vice and if her grip was any tighter, the ceramic would have come off in sharp pieces.
Victor sat down stair in his room still, listening. The baby monitor didn’t sit too far from the kitchen and picked up the whole conversation from the passage way leading into the living room and the front door. He sat staring into blank space sipping from a glass of Christian’s whiskey. Slowly stirring it with the glass between each sip. His eyes seem to hard gotten a lot darker when one of the light bulbs had went out. Shadows casted from his head blackened out his eyes as he sat drinking down the remainder of whiskey left in the glass.
Part II
Chapter XIII
The day was new the case began in favor of Christian but something was very unusual happened. The air was filled with smoke but it was like there was a fire. The sweet smell of summer was in the air but it was dead center of fall. Kyra awakened looking out the window seeing a translucent film of smoke arise from their backyard grill.
Christian walked out with Kyra to see a glee filled, Victor and Lily sitting waiting for the meat to finish cooking on the grill. They smiled with welcoming intentions. Kyra smiled back but Christian felt like something out of the ordinary was taking place. It was like his smile made him sick to his stomach, simply nauseated. He still smiled along to not bring any suspicions that anything could be wrong.
“Good morning. Isn’t it such a nice day to be out?” He asked.
“Yes, it is.” Christian said. “We could have sworn, that you were mad at us yesterday?”
Victor face changed slightly and then went back to his grin.
“It’s silly to hold grudges. Sometimes you have to let things go—and most times it’s for the better.” Victor said as he stood up.
That was almost like self-incrimination, like his words was telling on him as he spoke. He gave it away that something was wrong with the whole “changed overnight skit”, he had concocted. Christian didn’t feel his presence was going to make lighter of the situation and instead walked into the house.
He walked into the kitchen and looked the cabinets, grabbing a glass. He glided over to the refrigerator and pulled out the orange juice. Kyra walked in laughing.
“Why aren’t you outside,” She said. “The one day that it’s beautiful you want to come inside.”
“I am not really an indoor person.” Christian said.
She saw right through his lie.
“The first time I was beginning to meet you, you were outside just to relax.” Kyra paused. “What’s really going?”
Victor walked in and silence rushed into the house along with the gentle breeze.
“Nothing is wrong.” Christian said as he walk away into the living room.
“Are coming back out?” Victor asked.
Kyra turned and faced him. “What’s going on?” She said.
Victor dismissed it with the same answer Christian gave before, nothing. “Are you coming back out?” He added. Kyra nodded her head and followed back to the backyard.
Christian walked down to the basement and looked down at some notes he had left down. He didn’t realize that he did, or if he did at all. He had a hunch that some foul play was at stake so he went back to investigate. He walked in the room that Victor was in the night before. He walked in and saw nothing but everything that would be in a common home office. Computer, desk, a few papers and notes scatted about, on the table. One thing stood out of place while Christian inched inside of the room, his bottle of whiskey. His eyes widen as he came to the realization that it had belong to him. In disbelief that he had stolen from him he sits the bottle down and looked closer at the documents on the desk. Some where the notes that he had taken on the case and the others weren’t document at all. As he look a chill struck his spine. The other papers were printed pictures of Christian as he entered in the town hall, and the day of Connor’s attempted assassination.
The door creaked opened wider and Christian froze before turning around. Victor stood with his spatula in head staring into Christian eye, coldly.
“What the hell is this?” Christian asked holding the pictures. “You are stalking me now?”
“You have yourself caught in something that no one what to be caught in. I’m giving you a fair chance to leave while you still can.” Victor said emotionlessly.
“Leave?” Christian said mockingly. “You think because you came down here, with your speech and blank stare that I am just going to stop doing my job?” He paused taking a few steps towards him look even more deeply into his eyes. “You don’t scare me.”
Victor voiced lowered. “This is a game you don’t know how to play. You have no idea what you are doing.”
“Well, this is a game, I am willing to play. And in the end I will win this game! Because we are all put here to live or die and I will leave me, and no one is going to get in my way of me living my life.”
Christian walked away b
rushing beside him. Victor smiled and laughed as he walked up the stair.
“Get ready, because this I going to be one hell of a ride.” Victor said.
“Can’t wait.” Christian said as he turned closing the door of the basement.
Brian had woke up with Lynn sitting in a chair with a knife resting on her lap while she sipped from a cup.
“Where am I?” Brian said waking up slowly. “How did you end up here?”
“I was hoping you could tell me that?” Lynn said as she stood sitting her cup down on the table. “I was wondering why did you came back here.” She grasped on to the knife holding like she was ready to kill.
“Why do you have a knife?” Brian asked.
“As a precautionary measure. I might need to use it. Now why are you here?”
Brian had no answer at first. Lynn stood awaiting an answer.
“Here’s a better question, why? Why would you send me through all this trouble? Why would you come into my home and act like you were good but instead just use me? What would be one good reason for me not to call the police?” She drove the knife into the table with one blow. “Give me a good reason why should kill you?”
“Because there is enough pain already.” He spoke with his head down. “There is enough damaged caused as is. In never meant for this all to happen.”
Lynn released the handle of the knife. “Then why did you let it?” She asked as she turned in sit down.
“I couldn’t stop it.” There was a brief silence. “I wish I could.”
“What was stopping you?” Lynn said. “Nothing stopped you from telling me.”
“I didn’t want you to sucked, into the loop that I was. Once you are in the circle there is only one way out.”
Lynn sat listening to his story. She began to believe him.
“I am sorry this all had to happen the way it did. This is a very dangerous game we are all playing. We have to make each move carefully to the very end.” Brian said stifling his tears.
A Murder Of Our Own (Inevitable Darkness) Page 9