Insufferable Proximity

by Z. Stefani

  “Maybe,” she grinned before he kissed her again, “now hurry up and go so you can hurry up and get back.” she pouted.

  “Alright.” he kissed her one last time before he turned around and rushed out of the room.

  ***

  Mrs. Duffy, Heaven’s next door neighbor, was outside looking for her beloved cat Humphrey. He was a rascally cat, who at 13 years old, still behaved like he did when he was a little kitten and Mrs. Duffy loved him for it. Although the nights he decided to escape to meet the half Siamese cat down the street were starting to get on her nerves and if he wasn’t so old she would get him fixed. She was looking in her rose bush for her cat when she heard a car start. She then turned to watch as the car sped down the driveway and knock down the garbage can that was in the middle.

  “Slow it down you hooligan.” she shook her head, wondering why the hell Heaven had her garbage can in the middle of her driveway. She would have to tell her about that as well as remind her about her speeding guest’s. Mrs. Duffy lived in fear that one day a speeding driver would hit her beloved cat.

  ***

  Heaven had immediately fallen back to sleep after Julian left and was just entering a deep slumber when she abruptly woke up. She wasn’t sure what it was that had woke her or even sure what she thought she had heard. She lay silently for a moment listening for the unknown sound she may or may not have heard. Her addled brain could not decipher what she was feeling, but something felt wrong. She tried to reassure herself that the reason she was suddenly so nervous was probably because of Ayden’s unusual late night phone call, but she was having trouble convincing herself. After a few more minutes of listening, she found herself finally starting to doze back to sleep when she heard the sound of her phone buzzing. Assuming it was Julian she grabbed her phone and opened the text.

  It was a picture of her asleep on the bed and shook her head, already irritated that Julian had taken such a bad picture of her. After a moment she received another text and opened it to find live footage of the front of Julian’s house. The camera quickly zoomed in on the security box and she watched as a black, gloved hand began to punch in the security code to unlock the doors.

  “What the hell Julian?” she asked aloud, still groggy from sleep and still a little intoxicated, she sat up to try and focus her muddled brain. She continued to look at her phone to see the camera going up the stairs and heading towards the bedroom, the bedroom door opened to reveal an empty room before heading towards the bathroom and then the text ended.

  Heaven felt an eerie chill creep through her as she looked at the bathroom door. Not sure what was going on and unwilling to take any chances, she carefully maneuvered her arm under her thick blanket towards her nightstand. She then opened the drawer just enough to slide her hand in and she reached for her pearl handled gun. Her heartbeat began to accelerate in her chest when she realized the drawer was empty, her gun was not there.

  Suddenly she received another text and with shaky hands she opened it. This time the camera was zoomed in on the opened drawer of the nightstand. She watched as the same black, gloved hand reached in and grabbed her gun before heading back to the bathroom. She scanned the dark room before focusing her sight on the bathroom door and held her gasp when she saw the moving shadow in the crack between the bottom of the door and the floor.

  She felt a rush of fear wash through her when she heard the familiar clicking sound of the broken bathroom door handle as it was being turned. As quickly as she could, she dove off her bed and sprinted to the bedroom door. She felt her heart drop to her stomach as she heard the bathroom door crash open behind her. Refusing to look back, she threw her bedroom door open only to trip over the thin wire that was attached to the bottom of the door frame. She went down hard but immediately tried to get back up before she felt herself being tackled back to the floor. She fought as hard as she could, trying to swing her arms back to hit her assailant when she felt the sharp prick of a needle enter the side of her neck. She knew she couldn’t fight, it would make whatever had been injected into her work faster. She tried to turn herself over, ready to deliver a full force attack when she felt her upper eyelids being magnetically drawn down to her lower lids.

  ***

  Julian waited for the security guard to let him in and then went upstairs to the office. The entire floor was black, not one single light to even guide the way. He walked down the black hallway until he reached the cafeteria archway then slipped inside and turned on the lights. The bright, iridescent track lights illuminated the hall down to his father’s office. Julian walked the length of it only to find his father’s office door was locked. He knocked for a moment, calling out to his father, but no one answered. An uneasy feeling washed over Julian as he looked around the deserted office, and although there was no obvious threat, he abruptly left.

  The moment he was back in his car he tried calling his father again, and when he still wouldn’t answer, Julian decided to just drive to Ayden’s house. He tried calling Heaven to let her know he would be a little longer than he expected and was irritated when she didn’t answer. She had drank a few to many fruity drinks and was damn near back to sleep when he left, so he knew the chances of her answering her phone were slim. He cursed under his breath and repeatedly dialed both of their numbers until he arrived at his parent’s house. Julian pounded on the front door until his father’s long time butler finally opened it.

  “Where is my father, Brewster?” he asked barging into the house.

  “I believe he is still asleep, he went to bed real early tonight he said his head was throbbing.” Brewster finished as he walked off in the opposite direction, knowing Julian would see himself out when he was ready to leave. Julian ran up to his parents room and knocked on the door. After a few moments, his father swung open the door with a look of murder on his face.

  “Julian?” he barked, looking at his son in bafflement. “What are you doing? It’s three o’clock in the morning!”

  “You sent me a text.” Julian answered pulling out his cell phone.

  “I didn’t send you any text.” Ayden looked at him in confusion.

  “I got a text from your phone that told me to meet you in the office that it was an emergency.”

  “I didn’t send that text, my cell phone went dead earlier and I haven’t been able to use it since.”

  “What do you mean went dead?”

  “It mysteriously shut down.”

  “Then who the fuck sent the text-” he abruptly stopped speaking and sped down the hall to the small family room. He grabbed the large brass telephone off the mahogany end table with Ayden hot on his heels.

  “What the hell is going on?” he asked, realizing something was not right.

  “I don’t know yet, it could be nothing.” he answered as he waited for Heaven to pick up the phone. “Pick up, it’s me!” he spoke into her answering machine, “Heaven!” he waited another moment before putting the phone back on its base.

  “Where’s Heaven?” Ayden asked with immediate concern.

  “I don’t know, I got the fake text from someone posing as you when I was with her. Then when I leave to find you, you’re not where you told me to meet you, and all the while she’s not answering her phone.” he tried to piece it together, then he and his father looked at each other strangely. He walked over to the hall closet across from his father’s bedroom and opened it to reveal an extensive gun collection.

  “Take the 35 millimeter, its loaded.” Ayden said as his son unlocked the gun cabinet.

  “It’s probably nothing, but why take that chance?” Julian made sure the safety was on before he slid the gun into the waistband of his pants, then started walking down the hall, towards the stairs. “I have to go, stay by the phone.”

  “I’ll keep trying to contact Sevigne and I’ll call you if I do.” he yelled down to Julian as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

  ***

  Julian pulled into Heaven’s driveway, noticing the garbage can had been m
oved to its rightful spot, his tires squealed as he pulled to an abrupt stop. He pulled out his gun before exiting the car, keeping it hidden at his side as he sprinted to the house. The front door had been left open a crack and he looked inside to see everything was exactly the way it was when he had left. He quietly snuck up to her bedroom, carefully walking the hall to her bedroom. He opened the door and almost tripped on the wire that had been strung across the bottom of the door frame. He stood in the doorway looking at her bedroom, her bedcovers were half way on the floor, her nightstand drawer was opened and there were a few drops of blood on the white shag carpet by the door. The bathroom door was wide open and he could clearly see clumps of dirt on the white and black checkered tiles on the floor, he pulled out his cell phone and immediately dialed the police.

  ***

  Heaven’s assailant had secured her in the trunk of a car before sneaking back to her house and hiding in the shadows, waiting for Julian to pull up. Once Julian was inside of the house, the dark shadowy figure crept over to Julian’s car then dumped a small vial of Heaven’s blood on the floor of the back seat. To the right of the blood, the black gloved hand deposited a small piece of silver duct tape with a few strand of Heaven’s hair attached and a hair from the comb in Julian’s locker at work.

  ***

  Julian stood outside of the front door, waiting for the police. When they came, Julian was happy to see it was an officer that Julian had helped out more than once in the past.

  “King!” he said and they shook hands. “What can I help you with tonight?”

  “My-” he paused, thinking of the right term to explain their relationship, “co-worker is missing. I just got back to find stuff broken, a few small drops of blood on the floor and she’s vanished.”

  “You visit your co-worker in the middle of the night now, King?” he joked with a knowing grin, everyone knew King was one of biggest womanizers in the state, so if he was visiting a co-worker in the middle of the night, it was safe to say it had nothing to do with work. The look on Julian’s face let him know that he wasn’t the least bit amused, “Around what time did you see her last?” he asked in a more serious tone.

  “About an hour and a half ago.”

  “She’s only been missing for an hour and a half?” the other officer asked as he raised his brow.

  “I was coming right back, she knew that.” Julian said in an aggressive tone. “I don’t care if it was only thirty minutes. She should be here right now, not drops of blood on the floor.”

  “Would you mind showing me the blood, King?” he asked.

  ***

  The eerie, little house stood tall in the dark night’s thick sky, partially illuminated by the moons weak, silver-streaked glow. It was an unusually dark night, but not as dark as the moods of the men inhabiting the house. Inside they sat spread amongst the large study, the rest of the house was dark and empty.

  Julian had sat up the entire night, his gun in his hand and surrounded by his family, his three closest cousins, his father and his father’s brother. He refused to leave Heaven’s house until she came back. Shortly after 5:00 am Fitz and his son Riley came to help.

  All of the men sat huddled around the large round coffee table, going over every small detail while waiting for Detective Rogers shift to start. Detective Rogers was a very good friend of Fitz’s and Julian’s cousin Royce. He was known for his honor as well as his secrecy and he was the only man that they trusted for such a serious situation.

  Detective Rogers arrived at seven o’clock sharp and in his usual fashion, wasted no time getting right down to business. He had been a Detective for over twenty years now and loved his job. He was addicted to the hunt, always ready to chase the elusive villain or destructive criminal. He was born with the super-sleuth gene and had even excelled past the high expectations he had set for himself.

  “Approximately what time did you leave Miss Deville’s home?” Detective Rogers asked Julian.

  “Around 2:00 am.”

  “And you didn’t see anything out of the ordinary at her house as you were leaving?”

  “No, but I did hit her garbage can when I pulled out, it was in the middle of the driveway.” Julian answered.

  “And do you remember that garbage can being in the middle of the road when you first arrived at her house?”

  “No.”

  “There was no one around? No one that might have heard the commotion and came out to see what happened?”

  “Heaven’s neighbor turned her light on, but she always turns her light on, even if we‘re just pulling up.”

  “Even in the middle of the night?”

  “Always. Heaven says she’s nosey, plus she’s always looking for her cat.”

  “Her cat?”

  “His name Humphrey and he keeps escaping from her house.”

  “Who is this neighbor?”

  “Mrs. Finnegan, she’s a 4 foot 11, 70 year old spitfire, but she’s not capable of anything like this.”

  “What about the company that she keeps? A son or maybe a husband?”

  “Heaven said that she’s lived alone since her husband died five years ago. She has a daughter but they don’t get along and she lives in another state.”

  “And Heaven’s family?”

  “Her mother should be here soon. You’ll be able to speak to her yourself.” Julian informed him.

  “What about enemies?”

  “Mine or Heaven’s? We both have plenty.”

  “Really?”

  “There are women scattered across the state that would love to see my severed manhood as a trophy on their wall. Heaven on the other hand, has humiliated some of the top attorneys in our state and crushed many souls on her way to the top.”

  As he spoke, a large white limousine pulled up, and the men in the room watched a gorgeous chauffer dressed in a tiny white little dress step out of the driver’s seat then walk to the back door. Suddenly there was another beautiful woman, dressed in a tiny white two piece, then another tall brunette, in a white bikini and dripping with pearls. Then a tall mahogany beauty with long, straight, raven hair and wearing what looked like a stretched tube top for a dress. The men in the room watched through the large window as almost a dozen women stepped out of the limo.

  Julian could not stop the smirk, knowing exactly who it was. He knew his father and Heaven were very close, but as far as he knew, even his father had no idea who her mother was and no one that knew Heaven would ever suspect it. Julian watched as Coco stepped out of the limo, the only one wearing a stern look on her face and a dark charcoal suit. Then last but certainly not least, was Sybille, who was dressed in an elaborate stark white suit, a tiny top hat adorned with large white feathers perched on the front of her head, her inky-black hair fashioned in a 1950’s pinup style. Her long thick expensive faux mink coat dragged behind her as she walked with the regality of a queen.

  “I know that woman.” his cousin Julius said with a grin.

  “Me too.” said Royce.

  “Over half the men in this state know that women.” Jameson said with a wicked grin.

  “That woman is my fairy god mother.” his cousin Royce joked. “She has single handedly granted every one of my wishes.”

  “I mean it’s always god to see the Madame, but why is she here?” Julius asked.

  “Come on, you know the Madame has her ear to ground, she always knows what is going on around this area.” Royce said

  “She probably knows someone who knows something.” Jameson grinned. Julian ignored them, choosing not to clear up Madame Sybille’s sudden presence, they would find out soon enough.

  Alice stood by King’s limo, waiting in case he needed to go somewhere. She was worried about Heaven and wanted to offer any help she could. She was zoned out when she watched the limo pull up and automatically knew who it was. Stark white limo and a bevy of beautiful women, It could be none other than Madame Sybille. But what was she doing here? Had Julian enlisted her help to find Heaven? Did sh
e know something? Alice prayed that she did.

  “Madame Sybille!” Alice ran over to hug the woman who had helped her when she really needed help the most. Alice had been in a horrific relationship, had been beaten senselessly by her ex-husband and left penniless. She had nothing to her name and no one on her side, she had finally broken down, too tired to continue struggling to survive, she made the vital decision to go to the brothel.

  Madame Sybille knew within the first ten minutes that the girl with the aura of depression, had come in desperation, and was still filled with fear as well as hesitation. Sybille had decided to offer her a job that would never invoke fear. Noticing Alice’s love of cars and her ability to fix any moving vehicle, she offered Alice her first chauffer position and a fat starting bonus. She had also told Alice of her potential, urging her to follow her dreams. Once Sybille learned Alice wanted to drive and fix race cars, she immediately enrolled Alice in a mechanics class. “How have you been? I’ve missed you!”