by Nicole Thorn
CHAPTER NINE:
Someone to Watch Over Me
Isaiah
I sat at my desk, eating the cookies Lynnie made me. They tasted wonderful, all the better because she made them just for me. She thought of me when I hadn’t been there, and then proceeded to go out of her way to make them for me. I let myself believe that she thought of me while she made them. I welcomed any time in her head.
I ended up eating all of the cookies in one go. My fault for skipping dinner the night before and breakfast today. I really should’ve taken better care of myself. I would, if I gave a damn.
Everyone seemed all atwitter over the death of the teacher bitch. Fear drifted through the air and I could only roll my eyes at it. So easily they fell. One little body and they all freaked out. Everyone pounded their heads and made coffee over the new problem. I let them. They’d never get anything done this way.
I didn’t think that Lynnie would be happy about her teacher’s death. She seemed too kind and sweet. She only proved it when she came by, wanting me to keep quiet about what happened. Lynnie was the kind of person that people should’ve wished to be; too good for this world.
I had to do something about this serial killer according to my job. I had my own things to work on, but we had been encouraged to check out the big case. In all honesty, the FBI should’ve taken this over. We hadn’t gotten anywhere, and the people in town had become terrified. You’d think it would make them a little more cautious, but no.
My day felt wasted as I sat at my desk, not getting up once, and the inactivity poked at my brain like a needle. I hated this place, but somehow I hadn’t noticed until right then. I had never had anywhere better to go. I did now.
I shouldn’t have thought these things. I didn’t even fully understand what I felt. I just knew that when I looked at Lynnie, I felt better. Better about this life. Better about everything I dealt with. It seemed wrong, morally. Not that my morals had ever been right in any way, but I shouldn’t cross this line. She was eighteen, and I had thoughts that would not be received well if she knew about them. Would she be disgusted or just scared to know that I’d pictured her under me at least a dozen times since last night? She wouldn’t want me.
An angel would always be too pure for a devil like me. We existed on two separate planes. I couldn’t reach her if I tried. We wouldn’t work.
I didn’t want to waste my time lamenting over that fact. She had one foot out the door, as she should. Eighteen. The whole world would be hers to take, and she should take it all. I was one man, in one town. Nothing but a devil. I wouldn’t impose on her angel cloud.
****
When I clocked out for the day, I went straight back to my house. Blue needed some attention. He’d been running around in circles again, and that just didn’t seem healthy. I figured I’d take him for a walk.
First, I showered the day off me. I didn’t like the musty smell of the station. It followed me and stayed in my nose for days at a time. I preferred the smell of my soap. It had a stupid name, but it smelled like nature. Something about it calmed me.
Blue patiently sat in the doorway, waiting for me to get out. I wrapped a towel around my waist then pet his head. Something about doing that naked seemed a little weird. I left him to yip at me while I dressed in dark jeans and a sweater. It would do for a walk around the block.
The dog ran around my legs while I got his collar out of the drawer. I didn’t like putting it on him when I didn’t need to. It seemed inhumane. I knelt down, and he sat still while I slipped it on him. The furry little punk knew what I had planned.
“Wanna go for a walk, Blue?” I asked him, simply because I had no one else to talk to. “It’s a little cold out.”
He barked at me. I took it as a yes.
With the collar and leash on him, we headed out.
It had gotten dark while I showered and the street lights had come on. Blue didn’t care one bit. He ran around as much as the long leash would allow, and he sniffed everything. Then peed on it. For such a little dog, he had a lot of pee. At least all the other dogs would know that this street belonged to my almighty puppy. Everyone bow down to an animal that spends his free time barking at walls.
He dragged me along the street, and I almost couldn’t keep up. He wanted to explore. I couldn’t blame him. He spent his life in a boring house and a little backyard. I’d want to run too.
I didn’t pick out a path to walk, knowing where we’d end up. I did what I always did. I left the house and assumed when the time came, I’d find my way home. Normally, exactly that happened. Tonight seemed different. We walked down a street I knew, and I normally would have turned back at that point. Blue had started getting tired. He had stopped running, padding alongside me at a lazy pace, tongue hanging out of his mouth. Such a happy little thing.
Instead of turning around and going home, eating, then going to sleep, I stopped walking. She lived a few more blocks down and one to the left. So close. I could get there on foot in no time. But should I? I knew the answer. I should go home. Leave her to her life.
I started walking again.
My feet moved at a faster pace than before, and my whole body filled with anticipation. It felt like I had fallen underwater, and made my way to the surface. I could see it, but I couldn’t quite feel it yet. I wanted to be there sooner than possible.
I found the guilt interesting. Given I went twenty-two years without it, I could only identify it because I’d never felt this low before. I’d never hated myself before. Everything felt new and blindingly bright. I didn’t understand how people lived with this feeling every day.
With only a couple of streets left to go, Blue got tired. He had trouble keeping up with me, and he stopped frequently to lie down. I scooped him up, saving him. He had lied to me, though, because the second I picked him up, his energy came back. Both ears popped up and his paws went to my shoulder. He panted and looked around at the empty street. He howled at the moon, and I rethought some of my life choices.
And then I stepped foot onto her street. The weight I carried lifted off me immediately. I had gotten so close. Peace felt so close. It felt solid. Like I could reach out and touch something real for the first time in my life. Something that didn’t have to be violent or hateful. This — Lynnie — was beautiful. And I couldn’t keep her for that very reason.
When I looked at Lynnie, I saw divinity, pureness that I couldn’t be near. A touch from me would sully everything about her that I admired. It’d be like dirt in water. One touch alone would taint it, destroy it all. I couldn’t be the one to do that.
But I could still look without ruining anything.
The lightless street looked pitch black and empty when I stepped in front of her house. She’d cracked her blinds slightly. I could see her from where I stood. She laid on her side in bed. The TV light flickered, casting her in shades of blue. She wore a t-shirt, tight enough to make me stare harder, and those tiny shorts again. She looked to be asleep; off somewhere more peaceful than this hell. Her bottom lip had been sucked up into her mouth, and I smiled at that.
Once more, the TV provided the only light in her house and only her car occupied the driveway. I began to think she spent most of her time alone. Those parents of hers abandoned her. They moved her from what friends she managed to make and then dumped her like she didn’t matter. They’d done it so many times, and she didn’t sound bitter about it. The hurt in her eyes had been clear, however, and yet, she didn’t let it keep her down. No, an angel wouldn’t let demons hurt her.
I wanted to knock on her door again. She would answer, half asleep and pliable. She would probably let me into her house. She had so much sweetness and trusted so easily; she wouldn’t know why I had come by. I would have to be gentle with her. So gentle. I couldn’t live through hurting her.
I felt her skin against mine, even now, the daydream felt so vivid. She looks up at me with gentle eyes, and I have to lean down to kiss her. I finally know what she tastes like, a
nd I feel rapture like I’d never understood before. I wouldn’t be able to stop there. In a perfect world, she would be the one pulling me into her bed. I want to feel her wanting me. She couldn’t want me as much as I wanted her, but I’d take what I could get. I wanted all of it. She could be everything I needed. She broke through the noise. More than that, she settled it. Ended it.
An engine roaring to life cut off my one and only reality where I could touch Lynnie. Anger toward the sound filled me, for stealing that image from me. I looked in the direction it came from, and Blue turned his head with me. We saw a car approaching. A beat up old thing. I couldn’t even tell the made or model. It swerved on the road, blinding me with its headlights. Blue made an annoyed sound and I covered his eyes from the brightness.
The swerving car moved closer, and I thought for a moment that it would hit us. Instead, it turned sharply into the driveway of the house next to Lynnie’s. The car slowed to a crawl, bumping into the garage door before stopping.
A man tumbled out, slipping on nothing and almost falling. He looked middle aged, balding and overweight. Pathetic. The sound of aluminum clattering together and wheezing broke the stillness of the night. I knew I should have taken off and tried to hide. Problem being that he had already spotted me and I couldn’t see anywhere to hide where he wouldn’t be able to find me.
The man looked at me. From where I stood, I could smell the cheap beer and fast food on him. If I had my badge and cuffs, I would have hauled him in. He would probably blow in the double digits. I could still bring him in, technically, but he saw me standing outside of Lynnie’s house. I lived over a mile away, and I didn’t have a car with me. I couldn’t explain my presence there. Lynnie would be scared if she knew what I did.
The man eyed me. “Hey,” he slurred.
“Have a couple drinks, did ya?”
He laughed. “I’m good, man. What are ya doin’?”
I lied. “Walking my dog. How about you head inside and go to bed.?”
He chose not to listen. “No, that wasn’t what you were doin’. I saw you while I was driving up. You were lookin’ in that window.” He pointed lazily. “Don’t that tasty little red-head live in there?”
I fought off a growl. “Go inside. Now.”
The man staggered forward. “S’not nice to peep on little girls. Real young, that one.” He pointed again. “Probably don’t know a thing about anything. Gotta love that.”
All right, I can’t say I didn’t try.
I moved forward, making him move back. “Sir, you really should have gone to bed.” Before he could mutter ‘huh’, I grabbed him by the back of the head and slammed his forehead into the topside of the car. A sickening crack sounded, and he went limp.
Blue growled at the man, so I pet him. “You are correct.” He rewarded me with a lick to the face that I didn’t particularly want. “Way to ruin the moment. You really blew that one, didn’t you?” His ears pricked up when he thought I had said his name, and I shook my head.
I checked the streets, relieved that no one else had joined the party. It would seem that I got away scot-free. Good. I threw open the back door and shoved the man inside after I put Blue on the passenger seat. He curled up and started snoring only moments later. I slammed the door and got into the driver’s seat.
He had left the keys in the ignition, so it looked like the world wouldn’t be losing a Mensa member.
Two in as many days. I hadn’t done that since I had been a teenager. I’d never killed two people this soon, let alone this close to where I lived. Risks I shouldn’t have taken. I suppose tossing another murder charge on The Ripper would be a big deal. I had the dog with me, but I could work with that. I’d take the man out of town. Not a horrid plan.
I drove fast and I didn’t stop until I had gotten a couple of towns over. With Blue there, I didn’t have time for something elaborate. The act I pulled with the teacher seemed to work, so what would be one more body set up like that?
I took the man, gut him as needed, and then I put him up on display where he could be found in a day or two. It should work like a charm.
Blue slept like a good boy while I worked on the man. I took a few of his organs and dumped them in the ocean, using rocks to sink them. Some fish would enjoy a hell of a meal. Then I put the man up against some rocks on the other side of the beach. He hadn’t been dead when I put him in the car, as it turned out. Another hit to the head did it.
I left his car in a bad neighborhood and put the keys on the hood. By the time someone got a hold of it and brought it in, the physical evidence would be gone. Fingerprints and dog hair. I’d be in the clear. I called a cab and headed home.
.
CHAPTER TEN:
Send Me Your Love
Rocelyn
No one would stop talking about the change in pattern. The Ripper hadn’t killed a man before, according to everyone at school. He, the victim, had been left at some beach just inside the county line. This time the killer took his food with him. It had been gruesome, and I wished everyone would stop talking about it.
It had been four days now since he had been found. No new bodies so far, so I guessed we had some good news. It should have been a comfort in some way. I didn’t think so. The Ripper had upped his timetable and had been killing faster.
It turned out that some animals got to the body, so the medical examiner still hadn’t identified him. Everyone waited for it to hit the news. His name. Theories on why the killer decided to take a man this time. The Ripper could have a million reasons, I supposed. Wrong place, wrong time, boredom, or wanting to try something new. I didn’t spend too much time thinking about it, but my friends did.
“I heard that the seagulls ate his eyes.” Seth smiled. “Like totally gone from his face.”
Bird groaned. “Oh my God, Seth, you’re so gross.”
He winked. “You love it, Birdy.”
She shook her head and threw a cherry tomato at him. He picked it up and chucked it out to the parking lot, making it explode against a tire. He and Axel laughed like they had never seen something so damn funny. I hadn’t said a word all throughout lunch.
Hillary shoved my shoulder. “What’s up with you?”
“People keep getting murdered. Sorry if I can’t find it in my heart to get all jolly at everything.”
Rosita rolled her eyes and stared up at me from the grass. She laid on her stomach while texting someone. “At least you didn’t know this dude. We can’t let this ruin the end of the year for us. We’re all splitting up soon. Let’s just think about the good stuff. Like prom.”
“Or…” Bird smiled and leaned on her hand. “…Lynn’s birthday party.”
My blood ran cold. “What?”
Her cherry red lips turned up. “Oh yes, little Lynn. You are having a party. I never turn down the chance to get fucked up and put it all on Daddy’s card. My parents are out of town this week, and I’m throwing a party for you at my house. They already said yes. Do your parents have plans with you on the day of, or can we have it Friday? I can make it Saturday. I haven’t invited anyone yet.”
I didn’t want a party, but I said, “They don’t have any plans for me.”
Bird’s eyebrows furrowed. “At all?”
I shook my head. “They work.”
“That’s messed up,” Axel said. “My parents invite the whole fucking population of Puerto Rico for my birthday. We celebrate all weekend.”
I shrugged. “Birthdays aren’t a big deal in my house. They’ll give me cash and tell me to have fun.”
“How much?” Hillary asked.
“A couple hundred.”
“Meh.” Bird waved her hand through the air. “We can do better than that. Have you ever been drunk before? We’ll get you wasted and you’ll love it.”
“I don’t drink.”
Bird patted my head. “You will on Friday.”
Dammit. Ah, maybe it won’t be so bad. It is just a party. Bird would be busy trying to stop people f
rom screwing in the bedrooms, and everyone else would be having fun. I could hide away in the kitchen, eating cake and reading. It wouldn’t be hard to fake having a good time. If Bird saw me, I would hide my book and pretend I had been doing something else.
“We should try and get some absinthe,” Hillary decided. “That shit screws you up.”
Bird snapped her fingers and pointed. “Sounds fun. Get on that.”
Hillary pulled out her phone and started clicking away. Great, so the party would be full of a bunch of drunk kids stumbling all over each other. Maybe I could get away with hiding in my car.
“We need a chocolate fountain.” Bird decided as she picked at her salad. “Some fruit. It can go up in the main entrance. Will your mom lend it to me?” she asked Seth.
He nodded. “Sure. She won’t even notice I took it.”
Bird dug in her backpack and started making a list of things she wanted for the party. She scrawled on it as she spoke, “Lynn, anyone you wanna invite? Do you even know anyone besides us?”
“No,” I answered flatly. I only ever talked with them and Deputy Barker, and we couldn’t exactly invite him. Even if he’d said a word to me since the day I came by, it would be silly. I smiled at the thought of him at some party. I bet even when in high school, he wouldn’t do that kind of thing.
Bird kept writing, asking everyone for suggestions on booze and snacks. I didn’t have any input for her, it mattered so little to me. This felt like one big distraction. No one else seemed to care past the gossip factor. Each death made for good talks and scary stories in their eyes. They didn’t grasp the horror.
“How’s that cherry of yours?” Rosita asked with a poke of her finger to my shoulder.
“Huh?”
Bird smirked. “Oh, how have we not asked that before?” She leaned in and spoke only a fraction quieter. “You must have a long list of boys you’ve left crying in your wake.”
I scoffed. “Only a couple, and I’m sure they’re just fine without me.”