Andrew arched his eyebrows.
The clock struck one.
But they were there till two without saying a word. Gathering clues and getting Zoe Green’s body ready. Andrew was about to tell him that he had seen two more vehicles, this time, in Gooch's Beach, in Kennebunkport, New England but he didn’t say anything.
Something he had been doing up until now.
93
When Landon got home his head was down and he threw his hat on the couch like a spider. Somewhere else, a pair of hands left the body of Kilye Griffin by the tall grass that grew by Tom’s lake. He had had twelve beers and he was so drunk he couldn’t see beyond the clear water and green trees by the window facing the east side of the lake.
Tom had only been interrogated. He wasn’t a suspect, but he was one of the luckiest men in the world of the dead. Instead of guessing, he found the bodies and nobody thought to ask: why Tom’s lake?
Again.
“Honey, you have to eat something and relax. This case is driving you crazy, I can see it on your face.” His wife said with a sad look.
Landon spat on the floor and let himself fall into the couch that cushioned his weight without a sound.
“This is all shit!” Landon exclaimed.
“Landon, the kids...”
“Fine.” He said. “Where are they?”
“Upstairs, playing in the playroom.”
“That’s good.”
Landon’s face was like poetry, and he suddenly realized that he had sat on his hat and it was now stuck to his ass, squished and tattered.
On the other side of town, Tom came out of his cabin staggering with a beer in his hand. It was overflowing with foam, drenching his hand. He walked to the edge of the balancing bridge and looked at the water. It was shining and the sun was burning by then. After burping, he said:
“Fuck. Again?”
94
“So, tell me, Andrew. Do you see everything that's happening? I mean the things that are happening around us?” Clarice held his hand with both of her hot hands while the sun sneaked its rays like a fire carpet beneath the blinds.
“Even a rat. I know which rat made holes in my underwear.” Andrew made a gesture with his mouth showing a bit of his smile from his lips. His eyes were bright like the sun’s rays. However, he was a bit tired. The last three days had been busy and even by then, he realized nothing made sense. He was worried about that but didn't show it on his face.
“Don't you see those soft little hands that leave the corpses of those poor souls?”
Andrew was stone cold like a cold wind that blew from the North Pole coming in from the window. His eyes were like stone.
Clarice’s eyes, however, were wide open and bright. As if she was radiating happiness.
“What did you just say?”
“What you just Heard,” she said holding his hand tighter.
The pictures of those women and Parker were writhing in pain on the dark and messed up wall. They were like wandering lost souls waiting for judgment day. It was like they had come back to the life that someone took away from them after that picture. It was as if they were now human beings or flames being extinguished by a jug with cold water.
“Why are you talking about a pair of soft little hands? Do you even know who it is? Are you hiding something from me?” Andrew spoke while his heart was on the tip of his tongue and his forehead was all wrinkled and doused with sweat. Now he was looking at her strangely. Like a deep stare.
She didn't answer right away. She stopped holding his hand and the heat from her fingers was shot out into the air as if she had removed a glove in the middle of the snow. She stood up because she had been on her knees and went towards the wall, where the pictures were waiting anxiously for her. They looked like extending hands through the paper to hold her.
“Come on Andrew. Focus and tell me what you see now.” Clarice changed the tone of her voice. Andrew felt he heard her voice was getting heavy and almost hoarse.
She was challenging him with her greenish stare and that amazing smile. Her silhouette was tiny and danced in between that wall and the sun rays that weren't getting through. Andrew was sitting on his chair in front of the table but on the other side of the office. Clarice was walking softly across the linoleum floor.
“What are you insinuating Clarice? Stop joking!” Andrew took off his handkerchief, yellow with dry sweat, and put it by his forehead. He was serious and disconcerted, but he wasn't scared even though his heart was about to burst. He didn't want to think about anything. He just wanted to know. He wanted to listen, and nothing else.
“All these powers that you have and you didn't notice those small hands covering with petals those beautiful naked bodies that were given to nature to make them part of Mother Nature’s beauty.”
“What?”
“There’s still one left, Andrew. Or should Tom call you?
“Is it Tom?”
“Cold, but you are getting closer.” Clarice stood by the wall and felt it cold. “You can still save the last one. Or maybe not, who knows?”
“You’re delusional! What are you talking about Clarice! This is getting out of hand.”
“No, it’s societies fault. You, people, managed to forge a prototype of women. Of their beauty. Of Perfection and lustful desire.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“It has everything to do! She said bringing her right hand straight to her mouth. Her index finger started to play with her lips.
“I don't understand anything! For God’s sake, Clarice. Wake up!” Andrew screamed, yearning to get up and go over to her to hug her. He felt he was having an emotional breakdown. But he didn't understand. He never noticed and she was always next to him.
“The standards of beauty were always the same. Two pretty girls with the most beautiful eyes in the world would walk by and two unscrupulous dudes turn their fucking heads to look at them in an indecent manner. Their stares are vicious, whereas, for me, they look at me like a weirdo.”
“Weirdo?” Andrew associated this last word with the males.
“What are you?”
“Look at me and don't say anything.” Clarice's voice sounded like a whisper. Her hands started to unbutton her dress, actually, her fingers were.
Andrew’s jaw dropped.
“What are you going to do? If you pretend to do something with me, you know it could be aberrant. I’m too old for you.”
“I just want to know if you get jealous.” Clarice interrupted. Her dress was by her waist and her two perfect breasts were erect it was a spectacle. Her eyes kept shining, and Andrew’s eyes wanted to hide but he kept looking at her. She was getting naked.
“Jealous? Please stop taking your clothes off.” Andrew kept his eyes closed when the dress got down to her ankles. As he opened his eyes, he saw her underwear.
A pink lace thong.
“Do you know why I didn't want to take my panties off when they checked me the day of the supposed attack?”
“Supposed?”
“I made it all up, Andrew. I didn't want to take it off in front of that disgusting doctor and there was a simple reason why.”
“What is it?” Andrew’s heart was racing like a racehorse. He was scared it would burst and would stop working all of the sudden.
And now the experienced Andrew, with the mental powers and his long history of success, the one who figured everything out was now feeling like a victim. Only then, he felt like he went back to when he was eighteen.
Clarice began to slide her fingers down her panties to take them off. Her sex region was shaved, like a baby’s bottom. Pink and ... But there was something that didn’t coincide.
Andrew could tell without using his powers.
It was a dick.
“Yes, Andrew! I was once a man and people made fun of me because I walked more on that side then this one. Do you understand? Then I saw how the pretty girls were respected. People worshipped them, they desired
them. So, I decided to change my life because I felt trapped in the wrong body. You know what I mean, right?”
Andrew was wiping his face because of the sweat and lowered his head. He nodded.
“I know this kind of problem. It’s got more to do with the mind than the body.” Andrew explained. He knew what he was facing.
“You’re wrong. You’ve never been through anything like this and that's why you don't understand. Not even a shrink understands this.”
“Grayson’s my shrink if you really want to know and believe me he is far worse than me but I think you know that already.”
“Let’s cut the crap. Look at me! Take a good look at me!” Clarice yelled crossing her arms and legs. She had a waist like a woman, breasts like a woman and soft skin, but a huge dick hanging there flaccid like a lifeless hose, in front of the scrotum.
Andrew was somewhere between disconcerted and curious.
“I see that you are a...”
“A transexual!” Clarice said interrupting him as if cutting Andrew’s words with a knife.
Andrew frowned even more and even attempted to get up from his chair so he could cover her with his trench coat. He felt weird about his body, but he just refrained. He just stood up and wiped the sweat off his face.
“I can only say that I feel disappointed. I feel like you cheated on me, despite your sexual inclinations. What more do you have to say? Was it you that kidnapped those women and now you’ve taken their lives away? Is it you Clarice?”
He guessed right. First prize for this gentleman.
Clarice nodded.
“I did it all alone. For a gratifying reason.” Now Clarice was speaking as a woman before the stares of Andrew who began to get closer towards the table.
“Why have you done all this?”
“I’ve already explained it to you.”
“Cover that tail up!” Andrew said with a sarcastic voice. It was dominating the situation. He felt it. He knew that sooner or later everything would come to an end, but there was still a woman left. He had seen her, vaguely, right when his hand touched piles of papers. In another form in those moments in which her hands were touching his papers. He couldn't see if her eyes were open or if she was just squatting, waiting for something.
“See? that's the rejection that hurts me the most.” Clarice grabbed her dick with her right hand. And showed it to him. The Golden tongue that slipped in underneath the blinds bathed her with a layer of light.
And the scalpel, on the other hand, shone like a diamond.
“What are you going to do?” Andrew put his fingers in the drawer and subtly pulled. He wanted to get his gun.
“The scalpel was gliding against the flaccid penis and a drop of blood was dripping from the skin.
“Don't even try it,” Andrew screamed anticipating what Clarice was going to do to her penis. His cold fat fingers touched the firearm. His heart was racing again. He wanted to concentrate a bit more, but he couldn't see anything. Only the darkness and his painful headache.
“I’m divine and I need to complete myself.” That reflection sounded delusional because Andrew felt like he was in the presence of a sick mind.
“Why have you kept them hidden, you’ve taken care of them and now you kill them?”
“Because I’m jealous! They were all so beautiful. And those women can’t be more beautiful than me. Even so, I make them look beautiful and offer them to nature, naked, so their skin is purified when in contact with the beautiful flowers and the sun touches their faces. That's the only way I can get rid of my jealousy. Because I AM beauty. Me, and only me in the end.”
“And what is it with their eyes?
“They were all green and they needed to be deep down their throats so they couldn't see the beauty of Mother Nature and so they couldn't see all my beauty.
Andrew’s fingers were slowly getting closer to the firearm, and the scalpel was still caressing that penis that wouldn’t stop bleeding. Yet, Clarice was smiling and enjoying. To her, she was about to completely transform. Andrew was asking himself all kinds of questions, the jealousy, Tom, the beauty and the eyes, but, what about the cars that were left so far away?
That had just been one of Clarice’s random acts, that's all it was. A game to leave them clueless. It was deceptive. It just gave him headaches, only that. Now he knew the truth and it had to end one way or another, but there was one last woman. Her face was clearer now but he still couldn't see her eyes. Everything happened so fast these last twenty-four hours and he was starting to feel dizzy. It was all so quick and everything was about to end after these three insane days. What about the seventh woman? He wanted to find her alive. What did the blue hair mean? There were so many questions with no answers. The gun was visible in the drawer. His index finger was on the trigger. It was about to happen while she played with her scalpel and the penis was bleeding. It was like a hose losing water from many holes. But it wasn't water, it was blood, and that sweet smell invaded in the air of the office, while she smiled and left aside the painful look. Wasn’t she aware that cutting the penis could kill her? What was all this for? What was the point? Without a doubt, a sicko didn’t have the answers to all those questions.
“Don't think about the seventh woman because the sixth one has been offered to Mother Nature. Where I always go. Where they should have always been.” Clarice’s voice turned to hoarse and tenebrous.
“What?”
“What you just heard. I've told you enough.”
Andrew grabbed his gun and showed it off.
“Now answer this. Why the blue hair?”
Clarice was looking down the barrel of the gun. It was a Glock that he purchased for seventy-five dollars.
“The blue hair represents beauty, the offering to the sky, to nature. It’s a tunnel that makes them ascend to the sky to find her.”
“Her?”
“Mother Nature, you don't get what I’m telling you,” Clarice explained with her dick still in one hand and the scalpel in the other, still cutting it, making it bleed. Her feet were splashed with blood.
“I’m really good at shooting, you know.”
“And I’m good at playing. Try to find the last woman alive instead of pointing that dumb gun at me. Well, I think you should see how pretty the sixth woman is I’m sure Tom, the drunk, has found her already.”
“You know it all!” Andrew said as his pulse started to shake. He was sweating a lot and he was wishing that this bastard that appeared in his life like a victim would cut off his dick because, in the end, he was a mentally sick man.
“Of course! I was by your side all along.
“And when did you act?”
“Think about it and you’ll get the answer. Don't you have a gift?”
“Yes, the killing kind,” Andrew shouted as he got closer.
The blood was dripping everywhere and the puddle was getting bigger and bigger. It was like a lake down in Castle Lake Hill, but this one was red. Andrew was hoping he would cut it off so he could bleed to death in front of his eyes. it's not that he was against transexuals, or their way of thinking or their concerns. He was against what he did to those poor women.
“Well, the word death sounds a tad odd, right?” Clarice was trying to buy time and Andrew didn't know why.
“Come on Clarice. Take me to the place where the two other women are.” Andrew ordered moving his gun and pointing it a Clarice.
Clarice dropped the scalpel that made a metallic sound on the floor.
“Come on.” She said with her hands full of blood and the dick hanging there like a wounded elephant’s trunk.
The cold hard cannon pushed up against her temple. Behind that Glock, a finger had a mind of its own. Would he pull the trigger now or later? When?
“Come on. Get dressed and we will go live a nice experience.” Andrew said with his forehead all sweaty. Now, however, all he could see were two faces and a pink box with a white bow. He thought he was about to lose his mind.
With his left hand, he looked for his cell inside his trench coat’s pocket. Without losing sight of her still holding the gun up to her head, he was looking to contact Landon making the call with his thumb.
After the second ring, the voice answered.
“What do you want Andrew?”
“I have the female killer”
“Female Killer?”
“Yes.”
“Andrew, Tom called me. We have a new pain in the ass.”
“We have to save the last woman. Audrey Hanson. Maybe she is still alive. I hope she tells us where she is. I have my gun on her and I am going to the lake. I'll be there in ten minutes.”
He hung up.
95
“Fuck! Fuck! He put her in the same spot as before!” Landon was out of his mind. He kicked up some dust with his foot. The sun was still there but was getting ready to hide behind the rocky mountains.
The sound of the engine made him turn around and see through the sparkling blue and red lights of the police car. It was a vehicle that looked like a silhouette disappearing under the warm air. The sound of the car the engine was getting louder as it accelerated. Landon, Kevin, and four other men noticed it was coming towards them at a fast pace.
Still furious, Landon could only guess who was coming their way. Then he opened his eyes and took his hat off. He recognized the car, a blue Ford Mondeo, it shone everywhere. He had never seen Andrew drive that way. The blue smoke that came out of the muffler made the air misty and cloudy, the headlights were shining like inquiring when he got close enough to hit the brakes.
The tires screeched on the asphalt and then on the dirt as he turned right making dirt raise as if a bomb had gone off. Through the window, you could see Andrew’s giant head staring at the front of the vehicle while holding on to the steering wheel as if his dear life depended on it. His lips were tight and he bit them, making them bleed. The car finally came to a stop and the tires screeched against the dirt trail. That sound was nothing new to the agents that were looking astonished at the scene.
Behind Landon, was Kilye’s dead body, showing her attributes under the flower petals with her eyes closed.
“There’s hope!” Andrew screamed while opening the car door pulling out his right hand with a black thing in it. The Glock was at pointing at Clarice’s head.
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