by Kelly Oram
Almost as if the fates were mocking us, the doorbell rang then, and guess who was standing on our porch? “So, if he’s here right now,” I whispered to Angela as we peeked out the window, “does that make me his next victim?”
Angela looked both confused and worried. “I don’t get it, what’s he doing here?” she whispered back.
“You guys,” Seth called out in a flat voice. “I can see your shadows through the curtain.”
Angela and I jumped away from the window, plastering our backs against the front door. “What do we do?” I asked. “Do we let him in?”
“I guess. I mean a real girlfriend would,” Angela mused.
“Do you think Detective Pierce is out there watching him? He wouldn’t let anything happen to us. Maybe we should let him in.”
“Ellie!” Seth called out, pounding on the door again. “I’m not leaving until we talk.”
“He sounds angry,” I said.
“Ellie, please?”
“Actually, he sounds desperate,” Angela said. Her face filled with sympathy and I cringed. She’d not yet been exposed to vulnerable Seth, and it seemed she was just as susceptible to him as I was, because before I could say anything she opened the door.
“Hi Seth,” she started to say, but he stormed right past her, locked the door behind him, and then turned to me.
I backed up until I ran into the wall.
“Were you just never going to speak to me again?” he asked.
That was pretty much the plan. “I’m sorry,” I said with no further explanation. What was I supposed to say? I hate that I’m in love with you, and being around you hurts too much? Even now, as he stood there silently begging me to accept him, my heart and my head were raging a war inside me.
He started to come toward me and in a surprise move Angela stepped to my side, clasping my hand. “She just needed some time, Seth.”
I was impressed by the confidence she displayed. Her protective front made Seth stop, and I was finally able to muster up some courage. Keep him happy, I reminded myself. He can’t know we suspect him. “Do you want to stay for a little while?”
“Yes.”
I glanced at my sister. She looked wary, but she was leaving the decision up to me. “Come on in, then,” I said with a sigh. “We were just watching TV.”
Seth brushed his fingers against mine as I walked past him. Why did his touch have to be so electric? It sent a current through me, making it impossible for me to break the connection. I looked helplessly at Seth and then gave him what he wanted—my hand.
“Can’t we go up to your room or something?” he asked me in a low voice. His eyes darted to Angela. “You and I have some unfinished business, and I was kind of hoping for a little privacy.”
Unfinished business? I swallowed hard. Maybe I’m his redhead of choice tonight after all. “Um.”
“So, Seth, what are your plans this evening? Anything fun?” Angela said, coming to my rescue. She herded us into the TV room before Seth could talk me into going upstairs.
“It’s Saturday. Ellie is my only plan for the night. The amount of fun we have is up to her,” Seth answered, glaring at my sister with contempt. “And you, apparently.”
Angela and I exchanged a startled look. I tried to sit in my dad’s easy chair, but I’d given Seth my hand and he was not about to relinquish it. He tugged me down to the couch with him. “Are you okay?” he asked when I stiffened at his side.
I nodded quickly, but Seth looked like he didn’t believe me. In an attempt to convince him I pulled my feet up underneath me and leaned against him. Bingo. Seth immediately forgot about everything except the fact that I was snuggling with him. He forgot about our “unfinished business” and resolved himself to a long night of watching TV.
Two reruns of The Simpsons and an episode of House later, I started to doubt Detective Pierce’s promise that this would all be over soon. Seth obviously wasn’t planning on going anywhere or killing anyone tonight. I was going to be stuck being his girlfriend forever. Of course, as I sat there next to him and he lightly massaged the back of my neck, relaxing me into a state of semi-consciousness, I figured there were worse things.
I must have drifted off, because I was startled awake by my sister’s gasp. “What is it?” I asked, blushing as I lifted my head off Seth’s shoulder. Luckily there was no drool.
Seth didn’t let me sit up. “It’s nothing,” he whispered, pulling me back against him. “Go back to sleep.”
“Ellie, look!” Angela said, but it didn’t matter—I’d already seen it.
The eleven o’clock news was on and I was looking at the face of a redhead. But it wasn’t just any redhead. I recognized her instantly as one of the pictures in Seth’s closet. “There was another murder?” I gasped. “Tonight?”
I looked at Angela. She was just as astonished as I was.
“It wasn’t from tonight,” Seth said, interrupting our silent conversation. We both looked at him and waited for him to explain.
“Haven’t you guys seen the news at all the past couple days?”
“I guess not,” Angela said after thinking about it. “Not since our parents left. They’re the news junkies.”
“Why?” I asked.
“They found her last week,” Seth said, pointing to the screen. “But only identified her as one of the Saturday Night victims yesterday,”
“Yesterday?” Angela and I asked together.
“Fifteen-year-old Jennifer McConnelly from Wayne, Michigan,” Seth recited. “Washed up on shore of the Detroit River Wildlife Refuge last week. They think she was dumped near the river and got washed away in that big storm we had.”
“She died two weeks ago?” Angela asked. “The night of that big storm?”
When Seth nodded, Angela looked at me with wide eyes, but I was missing whatever it was she was trying to tell me with that look.
“How come it took them a week to identify her?” I asked.
Seth smirked. “Think about it. It took them a week to find her. She wasn’t in the best condition.”
“Ew.”
“Plus, with the animals in the refuge? I’m surprised they were able to confirm her a Saturday Night victim at all. I bet the Slasher was quite unhappy when she wasn’t found.”
“You almost sound like you were unhappy about it,” I grumbled.
I received a glare from Angela, but Seth just shrugged. “It was driving me crazy,” he admitted. “It doesn’t make sense for a serial killer to break pattern. And then there was no murder last Saturday either. I don’t like it.” Seth frowned and pulled me into his arms, squeezing me protectively. “Now that they’ve found Jennifer, I’m sure there will be another victim tomorrow.”
Okay, so maybe that squeeze wasn’t so protective. Maybe he was just getting antsy for Angela to leave the room so he could kill me already.
“Ellie,” Angela said, clearing her throat. She was looking at me with crazy eyes. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out what was suddenly going on with her, so when she said, “Do you still have those black clips I let you borrow? My hair is driving me crazy,” I didn’t question the idiocy of her statement.
I’m sure Seth knew I hadn’t borrowed any hair clips from Angela—you’d have to be a moron not to guess that—but I didn’t care. Angela was freaking out about something, and I was too curious not to find out what she wanted to tell me, so I said, “Uh, yeah. Let me show you where they are.”
Seth really didn’t want to let me get up, so I said, “I’ll be right back,” and brushed my lips against his. That brief kiss offered up spontaneously by me made him smile so big I realized just how affection-starved he was. Wow, I suck. The kiss had the desired effect, though. He let me get up without questioning whether or not I was going to run and hide. He was so distracted that I don’t even think he questioned the lie. I should try that more often.
Angela stopped at the base of the stairs. After glancing back to make sure Seth hadn’t followed us, I turned t
o her. “What is it?”
Angela glanced back, too. The coast was still clear. “Ellie,” she squeaked with excitement. “We have to go call Detective Pierce!”
“What? Why?”
“We have to tell him the news about Seth.”
I was totally confused. “What news?”
“Don’t you get it?”
“Um, no?”
“Seth didn’t do it!”
“What?”
“That girl was killed two weeks ago,” Angela said as if that should explain everything.
“And?”
“The night of the big storm?”
“Still not getting it.”
Angela rolled her eyes. “The night Seth spent with you.”
It was so simple that I still didn’t understand. My sister was highly disappointed in my mental capacity at the moment. “If he was with you all night, then he couldn’t have killed that girl,” she said. “He’s not the Slasher. And if he’s not the Slasher, then that means he didn’t hurt Travis either. He’s been telling you the truth!”
“But if he didn’t go after Travis, who did?”
Not that this wasn’t great news, but I’d just started accepting the horrific truth, and now I was just supposed to unbelieve it?
“Who cares?” Angela said. “The only thing Seth is guilty of is being a hottie. You can be his girlfriend now. Like, for real. It’s okay to love him.”
“I don’t know. What about the pictures, and the—”
“He’s a weird crime buff, like you said. Who knows? Ellie, he was with you all night and somewhere all the way across town a girl was murdered. It couldn’t have been him. Detective Pierce said the guy who attacked Travis was no doubt the Slasher. Travis must have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“But—”
“You said yourself, Seth keeps telling you he didn’t touch Travis. And lets be honest, Seth seems like the kind of guy who wouldn’t have a problem admitting if he had gone after Travis. He’s telling the truth. He has to be. That dead girl proves it!”
“But it doesn’t make sense,” I argued.
“Sure it does. You’re just being a chicken because Seth said he loves you.”
“I’m not a chicken.”
“You’re totally a chicken. I’m going to go upstairs to call Detective Pierce right now and tell him the good news. You go back in there and spend some time with your weird-but-not-totally-psychotic boyfriend.”
“You’re going to leave me alone with him?” I couldn’t help my sudden panic.
“See? Chicken. You’ll be fine, I promise.”
I sighed. Maybe I had such a hard time believing Seth’s innocence because I wanted it so badly. There’s just no way it could be that easy. “You’re really that sure he’s not going to try and kill me the second you disappear?”
“Have I ever steered you in the wrong direction before?” Angela said, turning me to face the family room where Seth was waiting for me. When I said the word “Dave,” she rolled her eyes and gave me a little push. I stumbled into the other room and bumped into something solid and very teenage boy like.
“Everything okay in here?” Seth asked suddenly.
I screamed, of course. Well, he’d startled the living daylights out of me. The way Seth can creep up on a person is unsettling.
Angela smiled more brightly at Seth than I’d ever seen her smile at anyone. “Everything’s fine. I just didn’t realize how tired I was. I think I’m gonna call it quits for the night.” She threw me a sarcastic smile and said, “I’ve got some boys to go call or something. Think you can handle ‘Ellie Watch’ the rest of the night?”
Seth nodded dumbly, like he still didn’t understand what was going on, because the thought that she could be leaving us alone was impossible. I have to admit, it was rather adorable.
“Good. I’m out,” Angela said, and then wandered up the stairs.
When we heard her bedroom door shut Seth turned to me, stunned. “Is she really gone? I didn’t think she trusted me enough to leave us alone.”
No way was I going to explain Angela’s sudden change of heart. “I told you Angela’s fickle,” I said, telling myself I had nothing to be scared of.
“I didn’t think you trusted me, either.”
All the playfulness was gone from Seth’s voice and it made me feel like a jerk. I hadn’t trusted him. When I didn’t say anything right away he asked, “Why did you run from me? Why haven’t you spoken to me in three days? Why won’t you even look at me right now?”
I hadn’t realized I was staring at my feet. I met his gaze then, and wished I hadn’t. Ugh, that face. Why did he have to look at me like that? Freaking Bambi couldn’t make me feel worse if I’d been the one to shoot his mom.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I wished I could find more of my voice, but at least with it shaking the way it was Seth could tell how much I meant what I said.
“What did I do wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said quickly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” If you didn’t kill anyone, then you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. “I’m the one who keeps screwing up. I’m a sucky girlfriend.”
Seth studied me and either decided that I was telling the truth, or I wasn’t going to give up the truth. “You’re forgiven,” he eventually said.
Then, in a move so fast it knocked the breath from me, Seth scooped me up and had me pinned beneath him on the couch. “You owe me a makeout session.” I swear that boy is made of pheromones. “And this time—” He was too distracted by my lips to finish his sentence.
I had to turn my head away from his kisses in order to speak. “This time?” I asked.
Seth leaned up and grinned like the devil. “This time there’s nobody to stop us. Your parents are gone. Your sister doesn’t care anymore. I even explained to my aunt that you guys were home alone and needed someone to stay with you, so I don’t have to leave this time. You are mine tonight, and I don’t even need an alibi.”
I shuddered at the way he’d called me his. It was so possessive, but in an infuriatingly sexy way that made me want to submit. For a second I did—I got lost in his kiss. Until something clicked into place in the back of my brain.
“Your alibi!” I gasped.
“What?”
“You left!” I scrambled to a sitting position, struggling to push Seth off me. “Last time you were here, you didn’t stay with me the entire time. You left!”
Seth looked all kinds of confused. I suppose I couldn’t blame him. “Yeah?” he said, unsure why I was freaking out. “To talk to my aunt, remember? But I don’t have to this time.” He started with the kissing again and had a hard time stopping enough to say, “I won’t leave you tonight, Ellie.”
Seth continued to kiss me, but I could no longer kiss him back—my head was reeling. I’d been asleep for hours that night. He said he’d only been gone for an hour, but really, he could have left at any point. He had plenty of time to sneak out, kill someone, wash away the evidence, and sneak back in my room after sunrise. The one thing that made my sister so sure he was innocent—his alibi—was one giant black hole.
Seth tried to lay me back down again, but I wouldn’t let him. “Seth, wait,” I said, starting to panic.
I turned my head to the side, but that didn’t stop Seth. His lips grazed my cheek and then went for my ear. “Kiss me, Ellie,” he demanded softly. “Before I go crazy.”
I shivered. “Oh, no. Not the sexy voice. That’s not fair!”
Seth ignored me. “Just kissing,” he said, bringing his mouth back to mine. “Nothing else. I promise. You can handle just kissing.”
Seth proceeded to pull out my ponytail so that he could tangle his fingers in my hair. He was going to win this battle. He was a serial killer and I was going to give in to him. I wanted to give in to him. I’m as psychotic as he is.
“I love you, Ellie. Do you have any idea what that feels like?”
Yes.
�
�I need you to kiss me. Right now.”
Oh, for crap’s sake. I kissed him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. After all, he was a killer with a taste for redheads—maybe there was no tomorrow for me. Oh well. If he kills me tonight, at least I’ll die happy.
The kissing stopped instantly. I opened my eyes to figure out what happened and found Seth eying me cautiously. “What did you just say?”
I frowned. Had I just said something?
“What did you mean, ‘if he kills you tonight you’ll die happy?’ If who kills you? Me?”
Oops. Curse my stupid brain! “Uh…” Now I’m dead for sure. “I don’t know what you mean. I didn’t say anything.”
“Ellie.” Anger flashed in Seth’s eyes and he pulled my hands off his neck. “Don’t lie to me. I heard you loud and clear. What did you mean?”
“Nothing,” I snapped, my temper flaring in response to his. “And if you’re gonna get crabby, then you can leave.”
“I don’t think so. Not until you talk to me.”
I jumped off the couch and Seth was on his feet with his hand locked around my wrist before I could even think of running. “Let go of me.”
He didn’t. “Explain,” he ordered. “Now.”
“Screw you.”
I pulled away, and when Seth still didn’t let me go I balled up my free fist and swung as hard as I could.
I don’t think Seth believed I’d ever actually hit him. Or maybe he thought I couldn’t. That’s the only explanation for the fact that he didn’t duck fast enough, and the look of surprise on his face when I clocked him.
Seth stared at me, shocked, and I glared back, my chest still heaving with fury. Slowly, he reached his fingers up to his nose. When he pulled back his hand he examined the blood on his finger with a sense of awe.
I yanked my arm free from him. “Don’t. Order. Me. Around!”
“You hit me.” He was still baffled by this.
“And I’ll do it again if I have to. Get out of my house!”
Seth finally pulled himself out of his stupor. “I’m not leaving while you’re acting like a crazy person. What’s going on?”