by Amelia Esla
“Stop bringing strays home.” Sorrel said as he helped James walk outside. He figured that James needed to be home instead of working himself to death. Even Sorrel decided to take the rest of the day off to take care of him.
The least James could do was behave.
“I want a dog.” James said quietly as they walked together.
Apparently his small kitten went missing and James was sure Sorrel had something to do with it. He always does.
“Will that make you happy again?” Sorrel looked towards him.
“I don’t like what you do to me.” James stopped walking and he faced Sorrel, standing on his own. He meant what he said when he said it. “You know I didn’t want this.” He said, more defeated and depressed than anything. “I shouldn’t...What if I...” He didn’t know how to say it.
What if something went wrong? What if something happens? What if he can’t pull himself back?
Sorrel knew James wasn’t very enthusiastic when it came to certain things. He would only get a few bursts of happiness at a time, then settle into his quiet, lonesome mood as he grieved and tried to bargain with his sins. Sorrel could never understand. Why was it so hard for James to let go?
“You think I’d let anyone hurt you?” Sorrel asked kindly, clearly forgetting that he stabbed James with a pen earlier and threatened to gut him. “I already told you, you can have your fun. I’ll clean up the mess.”
James knew that. It’s just...
He had an affinity for what he tried to fight so hard against.
Even if he wanted to tell Sorrel he couldn’t do it, he nodded obediently.
He could have his fun. Sorrel will clean up the mess afterwards.
There was no doubt that he was protecting James, watching out for him, making sure that nothing happened to him. That kind of feeling doesn’t come overnight. Sorrel wouldn’t let James get hurt.
James knew that.
But one day he will break and he knew Sorrel would not pull him back.
That was the whole point.
So James could do what he enjoyed so much and not have to worry about what to do when he’s done.
“How are you feeling about tonight? Are you up for something?” Sorrel asked.
“Can I get a dog?”
“What’s with you wanting a pet? You can’t fuck a dog! But you know what you can fuck? Me. I don’t understand why you want to hold on to some fucking pet.” Sorrel complained.
James didn’t say anything as he stared at him. He only wanted one thing.
Sorrel groaned miserably because he couldn’t say no. “Fine. But only if you give me what I want tonight.” He agreed on that condition.
James smiled. Seems like tonight will be something to remember then.
The next morning, Elijah was up bright and early when he got a call about another murder. No one would describe details over the phone, it was something he had to see or it wouldn’t be believable. So by seven in the morning, as the sun was just rising, he was standing right at the crime scene, staring at a body that was completely drained of blood because it was everywhere.
“Jessica Langely. Mid twenties. Owned a small boutique on the mall strip at the beach.” Joe said to Elijah.
Her insides were completely exposed. She was cut open and all her organs were pulled out in a mess but still remained in the open cavity. There was a mess of blood around her body and all around the concrete walls and the ground of the alleyway.
“Our killer isn’t a surgeon. These cuts are amateur. All he wanted was to victimize her.” Natasha explained. “Her throat was ripped open by fingers.” She walked around the body and pointed to the wounds.
There were bloody punctures done by fingers. The killer must have gripped her much harder than normal because it’s not usually like that.
“As you can see clearly, all of her organs were pulled out, and not gently might I add.” Natasha continued. “This was quick though, the killer doesn’t seem like a fan of torture considering that his victims are dead before he mutilates them.”
“Neither of them are.” Elijah said to himself as he walked around the body.
There was a trail of blood. No one had noticed it yet, but it was hard to since there was blood everywhere. Elijah had wandered off to see where the trail of blood led to.
He stopped at prints on the wall. It wasn’t perfect but he could see it. Both prints could be distinguished, and they looked different. It definitely wasn’t from the victim, her hands weren’t covered in enough blood to make a print on the concrete.
He narrowed his eyes.
It’s like he could see the placement of the hands. And then he could place bodies based on the prints.
When he closed his eyes, he could immediately picture it. He felt the heat, the wild passion that may have been expressed, the sensation.
And then it finally hit him.
His eyes snapped open. “Oh my God.” Elijah almost shouted. “They’re fucking.” He turned back, yelling at everyone that was at the scene.
“What?”
It was unprofessional but he didn’t care because he just had a revelation. “They are fucking.” he pointed to the wall.
“How do you get that from just a smudge of blood?” Natasha called out.
He waved them over so he could show them. This was a ground breaking moment for him for some reason and he had to share it. It’s like he had an epiphany. How did this solve anything? He didn’t know but he found out something new.
“Put your hand here.” He told Joe.
“No-”
“Do it.” Elijah picked up his arm, and put his gloved hand to the wall. He waved the other over. “Nick, come on.”
“Why us-”
“I have to show you.” Elijah was serious. He moved the two of them the way it made his vision fit.
Joe had his hand on the higher bloody print. Nick was in front of him, his hand on the lower print.
“These two killers are involved.” Elijah said loudly. The two investigators moved aside when Elijah finally made his point.
“So what, like a murder couple?-”
“I’m not going to take that question seriously.” Elijah said.
“I don’t think we can actually take the accusation seriously.” Natasha said as she eyed the prints on the wall. “You can’t deduce that people are together based on bloody hand prints.” she said as she looked at the concrete.
Though she did realize where Elijah was coming from.
“Still not rolling with it.” She shook her head and walked back to the body so she could continue examining it.
Elijah was going to hold on to what he thought.
The killers worked as a pair. Does that mean they were committing the crimes together? That would ruin the two separate groups of murders. That would mean it’s just one group and all the murders would be classified under it.
But Elijah didn’t think of it like that.
“There’s makeup traces again.” Natasha called. “It’s the same from before.”
Why would makeup be involved? What is this killer doing? Elijah kept asking himself questions. He thought maybe the killer wore it. He came to the conclusion that this killer was a performer, that would make sense since performers do wear makeup.
So who wears that brand?
Elijah continued to look at all the blood. It was everywhere, but he followed the trail of blood that led to the wall again.
For some reason he could picture it.
He felt it.
These two killers were definitely a force to be reckoned with. And by the way Elijah thought that they were exclusive, these two killers were playing a game. The least of their worries was getting caught.
Chapter Five
Elijah found himself walking into James’ office.
He didn’t have an appointment but he had this sort of gravitation towards James for some reason.
And it’s not like James minded.
When Elijah walked into his office unannounced,
he saw a small dog limping around. It’s front leg was bandaged and slightly shorter than the others. The dog continued to walk around anyway. It had white fur with pale tan spots around it’s body. It’s ears were small but it had big brown eyes.
It didn’t bark when it saw Elijah. It just minded it’s own business and continued to walk on it’s own, limping.
Elijah just wanted to know why there was a dog here.
“Um...” Elijah made himself known.
James looked up and put his papers down. “Oh, that’s Rex.” He said and gave the most genuine smile. His ears even wiggled slightly as he showed his happiness. “He likes to walk around.”
A twitchy, limping dog with one broken leg. Of course that reminded James of someone.
“Where did you...?”
“A shelter. They found him on the side of the road. And they actually gave him his shots.” he was even more excited, which doesn’t happen often. Elijah looked to the side. What was significant about a dog getting his shots? “No rabies.” James seemed happy.
Was there something that Elijah missed?
Did James have rabies at some point?
“Well you look better...Please tell me you didn’t have rabies.” Elijah took a seat in a chair by James’ desk. James laughed quietly to himself. He wasn’t going to confirm whether or not he actually had rabies.
Though he hoped that he didn’t.
He was warned before.
At least now he got what he wanted. He finally got a pet that he could have. Rex shouldn’t be in his office, but James couldn’t resist bringing his dog to work.
He was still slightly feverish, but his hallucinations had stopped. Now all he had to worry about were his day dreams and his thoughts. He wasn’t so tired. He wasn’t so pale. James actually did look better. He was still recovering but it was enough that he didn’t look so miserable.
He got up to get Rex from by the door. He picked up the small dog and walked back to his desk. “Did you need something today?”
“Not really, I’m still looking for a divorce lawyer though.” Elijah sat down.
Elijah had a life of his own. He wouldn’t say it was falling apart but its not exactly perfect. His wife was mad enough that she wanted a divorce, and she planned to take everything from him. He knows that it will happen but at least he could fight for his kid.
“Got too consumed in your work?” James asked.
He didn’t know that much about Elijah, but he could guess that he took his work seriously.
“It’s not healthy for a relationship.” Elijah shrugged. He was devoted to what he does. He wanted to help others. He wanted to save them.
But lately it’s getting difficult.
“It’s good to...um, take a break.” James looked down at his dog.
He remembered how many times he’s actually disassociated from his entire life for days at a time because he couldn’t handle what he was dealing with. It happened more often than not if he was being completely honest. So he knew what it meant when he said breaks were good. It’s not healthy to go crazy.
“You’ve had it rough, haven’t you?” Elijah could sense it. Any time he was even close to James, he felt like there was something wrong.
What has James Blair gone through in his life?
“It’s just...I have bad luck.” James sighed and looked away.
He has terrible bad luck. The past few years for him have been awful. He hated what he’s done and the secrets that he’s kept. He shouldn’t have done the things that he’s done. It was a lot on his shoulders. It’s weighing him down.
He had a lot to think about. Maybe it was best to see his psychiatrist but he’s been skipping sessions since he thought he had it under control. In fact, James thought he didn’t need a psychiatrist anymore, but there’s a lot he wants to talk about and most of it isn’t good conversation with people.
He had to keep it to himself.
He suppressed his emotions.
He didn’t talk about it with anyone despite dying to. Was Elijah always here as a savior for him? Could James make a serious cry for help? Or would it not be helpful? Elijah was always over as good company for a few minutes or an hour and James has never appreciated something so simple as that.
He needed someone.
He needed to tell someone.
Elijah felt like James was having an inner struggle. James had suddenly stopped talking and was staring through him, like he was in another world. What could possibly be the issue here? What is he going through?
James straightened up and set his dog on the floor gently. He didn’t like when he began to day dream. He thought about so many things at once that it was frightening. Elijah just didn’t say anything about it. He wanted to change the topic, though it might make Elijah a little worried.
“I wanted to ask you about Sorrel.” Elijah said. James looked towards him. “Is he always hostile towards law enforcement?”
James just looked away again. He had a lot to say about that but he bit his tongue. He kept his other hand in his lab, thumb rubbing against his white bandage. He knew that Sorrel wasn’t hard to understand, he was as clear as day. Do what Sorrel wants and everyone is happy. Don’t owe him favors and don’t let him be manipulative.
James knew exactly where this was going.
“He’s had some issues...” He said plainly.
“And you two are...” Elijah didn’t have to finish the question. James smiled weakly.
Elijah could guess but it would’ve only been a guess. He just never pictured James for the relationships type. Was that a bad thing? It’s like a hunch that Elijah got, maybe James wasn’t happy in all aspects of his life.
What could’ve done this to him?
“Are you free later? I just feel like I always bother you at work and I shouldn’t.” Elijah got up, getting ready to leave since he had to go back to work himself. “We could go out for drinks if you’re interested.”
James didn’t know what to say.
He hasn’t been with another person for months. And he knew that he shouldn’t be out drinking. However, that was the only reason he agreed to go out with Elijah tonight. He needed to drink. He just needed a while to forget.
Did James really make a friend? It’s not like it’s crossed his mind to be manipulative. He wouldn’t hurt Elijah. He’s just one more person that James gets to talk to.
It felt nice.
So James didn’t feel regretful about accepting. He needed something different today and he was going to do what he wanted for once.
Elijah was going to finish what he had planned for the day before he was done. He might’ve liked James, but his other half had a lot of answers. Elijah knew Sorrel was purposefully hostile. He also had the feeling Sorrel was a liar and very cunning. So he needed answers.
Of course he would ask Sorrel more questions about the murders from workers at this hotel. It wasn’t just Sorrel he would ask, but Sorrel gave off the vibe that he knew more about what was going on.
It was bright outside from the sun in the clear sky. All the tables were filled with couples and families. The dancers were performing just one of their many shows for the days. The servers moved weaved through tables with trays of food for the guest. This place was always busy.
When Elijah looked out from the edge of the balcony, he could see the beach. It was enough to smell the salt water but to see the ocean was different. This was definitely a new environment for him. He wasn’t sure if he liked it or not.
He waited for Sorrel. He wasn’t up with the other dancers. He was pulled to the side by the hotel manager who told him an investigator was here to see him. That did not make him happy.
How many times did Elijah bother him?
Elijah waited patiently for Sorrel, though he did seem occupied even when he walked over.
“Give me a minute.” Sorrel was busy on his phone. He texted furiously with someone and with each message, he got more aggravated. “I hate sexting someone and all they c
are about is work.” he said through his teeth. “What the fuck.” he said when he got another message.
Elijah was going to let that go. He could relate but that wasn’t the point.
At one point, James had warned Elijah that Sorrel was explicit. One day, Elijah will really get to understand what James meant; what Sorrel said before was only a small taste of what could really come out of his mouth.
“Anyway, what do you want from me?” Sorrel got right to it, crossing his arms and looking Elijah dead in the eyes. “I’m two seconds away from getting a restraining order against you.” he threatened.
“Seriously-”
“What are you doing talking to James?” Sorrel asked, not being subtle about it. Elijah wasn’t sure how to answer that.
Does he lie and say he hasn’t or just come out with the truth?
“Oh, you-”
He didn’t get the chance to lie.
“I’m not stupid.” Sorrel crossed his arms. “Plus he talks about you. Something about having interests in the same thing.” he said and rolled his eyes. Elijah couldn’t believe how blunt Sorrel really was. “Believe me, I’ve asked for the threesome but it’s not going to happen, so get over it.” It sounded like Sorrel was telling himself that.
“I’m not...interested like that.” Elijah didn’t know why he had to say that. “Are you two...?”
“Want to finish that question?” Sorrel waited.
“Why are you like this?-”
“That’s a personal question, don’t you think?”
Elijah was going to get nowhere with Sorrel. It’s always back and forth with these two. Sorrel had half a mind to tell Elijah to stay away from James. However, he didn’t mind playing a few games. After all, he enjoyed messing with people.
“James doesn’t talk about you.” Elijah said, remembering James’ explicit resistance to the topic.
“He thinks I’m the actual devil.” Sorrel was serious. “He’s mean to me, by the way. Just putting that out there.”
“I wonder why that is.” Elijah mumbled under his breath as he looked away. “Listen, I’m only interested in getting information. A few of the victims are coming from this hotel.”
“Ask someone that can help.”