by M. D. Massey
He laughed. “That’s why I did it that way. I knew you would see the humor in my clichéd proposal.” He knew me all too well.
-November 2014-
“Elaina? Are you with me?” Henry waved his hand in front of my face.
“Uh, yeah. Yes. I’m sorry.” I looked down, spinning that gorgeous six-carat Tiffany cushion-cut ring around my finger. “Let’s go.” I opened the door for Henry. I followed behind, watching our backs.
“Sophie!” I whipped around when Henry yelled her name. Behind the cake display counter stood a mental-looking guy holding a gun to Sophie’s head. His hair was a mess, his eyes crazed. “Easy, neighbor,” Henry said, like he was talking to a spooked horse.
“Henry, who is this guy?” I asked.
“Your downstairs neighbor.” The man had a grin on his face.
“Let her go, Jacob,” Henry demanded.
“Hmm… No. I don’t think so.” Her eyes wide, Sophie looked terrified. I raised my Sig, aiming right at the middle of his forehead. He laughed like a mad man. “Aw… Look, Barbie. It’s your rescue party.” He chuckled, then suddenly became serious. “I don’t think so!” He spit the words out.
“Listen… Jacob, was it?” Henry looked at me when I spoke. “Why don’t you let her go?”
“No!” he screamed, bringing new meaning to batshit crazy. Henry’s breathing became more rapid. “Why should I? Huh? Tell me why I should let her go!”
“You don’t know her.” Henry worked hard to keep his voice even and calm, but he was seconds from tweaking out. “Just let her go, Jacob.”
“Piss off, you sick son of a bitch! I saw you kill my wife. My wife!” His voice was resonant. Oh, Christ. I’d never heard a voice so loud and full of venom. Spastic gestures, Jacob had an exceptional talent for animated body language while holding someone hostage. It was almost mesmerizing to watch. “You ran over her with your truck! Like she was a piece of trash in the fucking street!” He struggled to keep his harsh persona up, but judging by the quiver in his lips, I could see he wanted to shatter into a million pieces on the floor. Henry allowed him to say what he needed to say. “My wife was an amazing woman! You have no idea who she was or what she did for me. For everyone! And now? Now, I’m going to make you watch me kill your Barbie!”
He shoved the gun into Sophie’s temple, causing her to wince. She tried to stay strong through deep breathing, but she had started to slip into the darkness and her tears told me that she wanted to give up.
“If you kill her, I will take you out, as well.” I put on my big girl panties that morning and wore them with pride. They may be all lacy and sexy, but they made my inner “don’t fuck with me” persona come out, ready to dominate the situation.
Sophie looked at me with watery eyes, probably assuming that was the last moment of her life. Jacob laughed again.
“I don’t give a fuck if you kill me! Don’t you see? I have nothing! My wife is dead!”
“Jacob, I’m so sorry about your wife. Can you tell me her name?” Henry asked.
“Mandy…” His voice fizzled out.
“I am so sorry I gave Mandy a true death, but let’s all just calm down here.”
“True death?”
“Yes. True death.” Holy shit. Déjà-motherfucking-vu.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I hoped he didn’t say anything about that vampire show. Henry would go nuts.
“I can explain, but let’s all calm down and work this out like adults.” He glanced at me. “Elaina, put down your gun.”
“No! Are you fucking kidding me? He has Sophie in a headlock with her gun shoved into her head!”
He clenched his jaw. “I can see that. Just trust me and do as you are told.” There he went again, barking orders, but I knew he was serious. I lowered my Sig, and Henry put his in the back of his pants. “See? We lowered our weapons. Now lower yours.” Jacob wasn’t going to budge anytime soon.
“He’s not complying, Henry.” Henry was stressed, but he was determined to get Sophie out of this.
“How about a deal?”
Jaw meet floor. Floor, this is my motherfucking jaw. I looked over at Henry in shock. “Henry! No!”
“Shut it, Elaina!”
“What kind of deal are you talking about?” The amusement in Jacob’s voice made me think he was very interested, but I was worried. Actually, more like scared out of my fucking mind.
“Since I was the one who killed your wife, why don’t you take me and let Sophie go?”
“No, Henry! Are you out of your damn mind?” I was pissed. I also had an overwhelming fear that was on the verge of taking control of me.
He didn’t look at me, but he snapped like a pit bull. “I said shut it, Elaina!”
“So, you want to trade for the Barbie here?” Jacob jammed the gun into her temple again. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was about to lose my future husband over a blood-slurping, arm-gnawing undead. Okay, maybe that was a little insensitive. I was about to lose my future husband over what was some serious horrific bullshit!
“Yes. It was me, not her. So take me. Look, I’m putting my pack down and completely disarming myself.” He dropped his pack, then took the Sig out of the back of his pants. He held his hands up. “Okay? I’m going to walk over now.” He took a step toward the counter.
Jacob was focused on Henry, never looking in my direction. I was scared that I was about to watch Henry die. He turned and looked at me.
“It’s okay, love.” I shook with fear. I couldn’t watch him walk to his death. I would be nothing without him. My eyes filled with tears. “You’ll be fine without me.” What? No, I wouldn’t! Was he out of his fucking mind?
He glanced down at my Sig, then back to my eyes again, nodding slightly. Then it hit me. He wanted me to shoot Jacob. Duh, Elaina! How can you be so stupid?
Everything went in slow motion. Henry approached the counter one step at a time. When Jacob released his grip on Sophie, she jumped out of the way. Henry yelled, “Twelve o’clock!”
Before he finished, I didn’t even need to aim. I raised my Sig and pulled the trigger in one swift move, hitting Jacob right in the chest. It was almost natural, scaring the hell out of me. Jacob dropped behind the counter.
Sophie ran out and grabbed Henry’s pack. “Come on, Elaina! Let’s go!”
I stood in stunned silence, my Sig still pointed at where Jacob had been standing. I had just killed a human. I was a murderer. Holy fuck, I was going to go to jail! And to Hell! Yes, couldn’t forget Hell because that’s where murderers go. The devil and I would be total best fucking friends forever.
Sophie tugged on my arm, breaking me out of my trance. Then I heard Jacob moan in agony. I felt some relief that he was still alive. I wasn’t a murderer, so maybe I wouldn’t be going to Hell. Maybe.
“Get her out of here!” Henry shouted to Sophie.
“Come on!” Sophie growled, yanking me so hard, I nearly tumbled over. She was successful in dragging me out of the café.
“No! Stop! What about Henry? Jacob still has a—” Another gunshot rang out from inside. “Oh, my god! Henry!” I tried to break free from Sophie, but she was so much stronger. Plus, her dagger-like fingernails digging into my arms had pretty much paralyzed me with pain. “Let me go, you fucking psychotic bitch! Let me go!”
“Elaina, it’s okay! Calm down.”
“But Henry…” I dropped to my knees again. It was becoming my signature move. I needed to change it up, especially when there was pavement involved.
My heart pounded with such fierceness, it felt like it were trying to escape from my chest. Tears poured down my face. I didn’t want to exist anymore, not without Henry. I was nothing without him. The blackness started to consume me.
“Elaina, listen to me. It’s okay.” She knelt beside me and took my face in her hands, trying to comfort me like she saw Henry do time and time again. “Really. It’s okay.”
“No, no, no…,” I choked out through my tears.<
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“Honey, listen to me. Please.”
I didn’t want to hear her shit. My heart shattered into millions of pieces all over the dirty, gore-splattered sidewalk.
“Elaina!” Henry came running out the door.
“Oh, my god!” I jumped up and ran to him. He embraced me tightly, lifting me up and swinging me around. I wrapped my legs around his waist. “I thought you were dead!” I had a hard time speaking through my tears.
“I know, love, but I’m not. I’m here. It would take a lot more than that to get rid of me.” He kissed my forehead. I looked him over. He had blood all over his face and drips of blood on the front of his shirt. I dropped my legs and he released me.
“What happened?” I wiped the blood off his lips and chin. He reached up and wiped my forehead. He had an odd look on his face. It was a relaxed, almost high expression.
“Ah…you know. Splatter.” His eyes looked strange, his voice slow and lax. He was nonchalant, but I supposed he had to be, considering his history. “Come on. Let’s go back to the flat. The sun is starting to set.” He avoided my question like a pro, then tossed Sophie the gun Jacob had taken from her.
“But what happened?”
“He’s true dead.” Henry took my hand and looked at Sophie. “You all right?”
“Just bloody brilliant. And yourself?”
“Fucking dandy.” Henry picked up his pace, forcing me to try to keep up with his long, quick strides.
We made it back to the apartment safely, only having to stop once so Sophie could take out another undead. When Nick let us in, I walked past him and dropped my pack on the table, heading to the bathroom. I felt so dirty and needed to wash up right away. Plus, I needed a moment alone to think about everything. I walked in, seeing Claire spot cleaning her clothes in the sink. She looked up.
“Hey, doll. You doing all right?”
“Yeah, I think so.” I was stunned, worried there was something going on I didn’t know about. Henry said he would talk to me later about more of the bullshit surrounding us. I would take him up on that offer. “Claire?”
She scrubbed a bloodstain on her shirt. “Yeah?”
“Do you think there’s more to this than what Henry has told us?” I tried to speak in a hushed tone, ashamed that I doubted Henry again.
She grabbed the matches, lit the candles, and reached around me to close the door. She took me by the arms and moved me to the side of the tub, sitting.
“Well, something is odd. I mean, this whole thing is insane to begin with. A short time ago, this city was beautiful and life was normal. Henry was normal, or so we thought. I don’t know how this all unfolded, but things are very odd and, well…not normal. Do you find it strange that they have the same eyes?” Claire whispered at a feverish pace.
I could tell by her verbal diarrhea that she had been thinking about it. She must have been waiting for me to ask so she didn’t feel guilty about implying anything.
“Yeah. It’s kind of odd.” I picked at a small hole in my jeans that must have happened when I dropped to my knees on the sidewalk.
“When our team went out, Henry was in full military mode. The way he acted… It was just weird.” Claire paused. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to upset you.”
“I don’t know, Claire. I’m not sure what to think. It’s crazy. As we cleared the shoe store, he said Sophie would be fine outside on her own. I didn’t have a good feeling about it. When we headed back out, Sophie was MIA.”
Claire’s eyes widened. “But she’s here.”
“Yeah. I convinced Henry to move forward with our search, telling him she had to be around somewhere. He looked panicked.”
“Where was she?”
“I’m getting to that. We moved to that café next door to the shoe store.”
“Gemelli’s? Mmm… I would love a slice of their red velvet right about now.”
“Yeah. That does sound good.” Let the salivating begin. “Anyway, as we walked to the storefront, Henry called for Sophie, getting no answer, so we decided to go into the café. She was being held at gunpoint by that guy, Jacob, from downstairs.”
“That creepy guy?”
“I guess. I never saw him until the café. He said Henry killed his wife, so Henry worked out an exchange. Him for Sophie.” Claire’s eyes widened again. “As soon as he let go of Sophie, I shot him.” I said it fast, hoping that if it weren’t intelligible, it wouldn’t be true. I put my head in my hands.
“Oh no.” Claire wrapped her arm around me and held me tight.
“I thought I killed him.”
“He’s still alive?”
“No. This is where it gets weird. Sophie ran over to me and started to drag me out of the café. I screamed for Henry, but he yelled at Sophie to get me out of there. When we got outside, I heard a gunshot. I freaked out and thought Jacob shot Henry because I heard him moaning before Sophie dragged me out. She tried to convince me Henry was fine.”
“Obviously, he is. He’s here.”
“Yeah, he came running out of the café, blood all over him…even on his lips and chin.”
“Maybe it was just close range.”
“I don’t know. I just thought it was weird how he screamed at her to rush me out.”
“Maybe he just wanted to protect you, and he didn’t want you to see him finish off Jacob.” She didn’t sound convinced.
“I just got a weird feeling. Plus, he had this…high look on his face.” There was a knock on the door. “Occupied.”
“I need to come in,” Nate whined. I sighed. I got up and opened the door, Claire finishing spreading out her clothes so they’d dry. He pushed us out and slammed the door.
“Geez,” I said. He had such an attitude. He was ungrateful, which pissed me off. He should’ve been kissing our asses for saving his life. But, then again, I should’ve been kissing his. If it weren’t for him finding my mother’s phone, Nick could have been an undead, as well. That was the only reason I hadn’t beaten the little bastard down yet.
I headed to Henry’s bedroom, and Claire went to hers and Sophie’s. When I walked in, Henry and Sophie were chatting in heated whispers by the window. They didn’t see or hear me.
“You have to be more careful. You had blood on your lips and chin.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.”
“She’s very skeptical. She’ll eventually figure it out, then the jig will be up.”
“I know.”
“Skeptical about what?” I said in a rather obnoxious tone. They both jumped.
I stood in the doorway, my hand on my hip. I noticed his “high” look had disappeared, but I decided to let that slide for the moment. I think I portrayed the attitude pose exceptionally well. I fucking owned it. Neither one of them said anything, looking at each other a few times.
“Okay. Let’s get real here for a moment. It is obvious you two are hiding something pretty spectacular. Let’s be good people and share, shall we?” Concerned, they looked at each other. I walked over to them. “I suspect something is going on here, and you two need to start with, well…the truth would be nice.”
Jamming his hand through his hair, Henry looked nervous, but Sophie didn’t break her stare.
“I’m just trying to protect you.” Henry attempted to put his hand on my arm, but I stepped back.
“Protect me from what?”
He threw his arms up in the air.
“This! This whole fucked-up situation!” Sophie said in a rather loud voice. She continued to stare, which was creepy.
“Hmm…,” I over-exaggerated, tapping my finger on my lips. “Let’s start again. Why do you two have the same color eyes?”
There was a pause. I was impatient, waiting for a truthful response from at least one of them.
“It’s common where we come from.” It was like Sophie was repeating information that was drilled into her head.
“Okay. Well, since we all are being so
honest here, I think it’s time we change things up a bit.” I paused. “Claire!” My tone was obnoxious again because I was good at that.
“Coming.” I kept my eyes on the two of them as Claire entered the room, stopping abruptly when she saw me staring down Henry and Sophie. “What’s going on?”
“Claire, I believe these two are lying to us.”
“Elaina…please, love.” Henry reached for me. I stepped back again. “Don’t do this.” Chin trembling, he looked devastated.
“Then tell me what the fuck is going on. Now!” Henry glanced at Sophie. He frowned, and she shook her head.
“There’s so much,” Henry scrubbed his face with his hands. Then he gazed at me again, desperation in his eyes. “It would be all too overwhelming.”
I looked at Claire and rolled my eyes. “Really? How could it possibly be any more overwhelming than what has already happened?”
“You have to trust me.”
“How can I?! I know you are hiding something, damn it! I deserve to know!” Yes, I felt like I was entitled to an answer. I almost married the man, so I felt I deserved some sort of explanation. Henry glanced at Sophie again, almost like he was asking permission. Sophie shook her head again.
“Elaina, now is not the time.”
“Now is as good as any, Henry.” My patience hung by a thread, and even that was fraying.
“Look… It’s getting late,” Claire began. “We should all get some rest. Maybe we will have clearer heads in the morning.”
I whipped around and glared. I wanted to choke the practicality right the fuck out of her. “We need to know what the fuck is going on here. I need to know!”
“I agree, but being this aggressive isn’t going to help. Let’s all just cool off and get some rest.”
I laughed. I admit that it had a bit of a mental tone to it. It was quite fitting for the situation. “Fine. Claire, you’re sleeping in here with me, and Henry can sleep in the guest room with his twin.” I stormed out the door and headed to Henry’s new bedroom.
I grabbed Claire’s stuff and headed out of the room, Henry stopping me. He closed the door and stood in front of it.
“Get the fuck out of my way, asshole,” I growled.