The Murder Next Door

by Ivy Thorne

  The woman’s speech made Ashley feel sick to her stomach. She’d never stopped to think about how killing Reggie would affect others. After sniffing and sobbing her way through a thank you to everyone who’d chosen to support her by coming to the service, Reggie’s mom was helped back to her seat by another woman, likely a friend.

  Oh, God, Ashley thought, her stomach turning and her throat swelling, none of these people are here for Reggie − they’re here for his mother.

  After she’d had several shots at the bar, the bartender had noticed Ashley’s intoxication and had asked her to leave. It had been around nine p.m. Leaving the restaurant hadn’t been a problem for Ashley. Since her first date with Reggie, she’d never gone back. She’d always had the sense Reggie had taken advantage of her that night.

  The hipster atmosphere of the place triggered her. It had concrete walls plastered with images of old rock stars and always was blaring music that sounded more like noise. Stumbling out of the bar, Ashley had taken a bus that dropped her off close to Reggie’s house. The sky had been starting to darken.

  “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for joining us today to remember Reggie. A reception now will be held on the second floor in a room directly to the right after you head up the stairs,” a pastor announced.

  The pastor had delivered a brief message saying how everything happens for a reason and how Reggie was now safe in Heaven. Ashley considered everything that had come out of the man’s mouth to be complete bullshit. She no longer believed in a Heaven and a Hell. If those places did exist, she knew which one she would be going to.

  She followed the mourners out of the chapel. They filed out the double doors like a cascade of water through a narrow tunnel. It was while she was moving with the crowd that she noticed a man come through the front entrance. The chapel was located next to the front doors of the funeral home. Ashley briefly could hear the sounds of traffic driving by on the streets.

  As she passed the man, her gaze connected with his. He looked young and was incredibly handsome, with stunning dark hair and greenish eyes. Astutely dressed, the man walked toward her. Shocked by his gorgeous appearance, Ashley found herself suddenly glued in place.

  “Excuse me,” he said, “is this the funeral for Reggie?”

  “Uh, yeah,” Ashley nodded. “The service just ended.”

  The man swore under his breath. “I can’t believe I missed it! I would have been here earlier, but I was coming from the city. You know how traffic can be.”

  “There’s a reception upstairs,” Ashley stated. She started toward the flight of stairs that everyone else was going up when the man stopped her.

  “Wait,” he said. “I’m not really from here anymore. I used to know Reggie from school. We grew up together. I was devastated when I heard what had happened to him. How did you know Reggie?”

  “Uh −- ” Ashley hesitated before answering. For a moment she had the feeling that this man knew what she’d done. It was as though his striking eyes were peering right through her and examining the inside of her skull. She blinked sporadically.

  Stop being so paranoid! she thought. The more nervous you appear, the more suspicion you’ll arouse.

  She introduced herself as calmly as she could. “I was once Reggie’s tenant,” she said, truthfully. “I couldn’t make the visitation, so I thought I’d attend the service to pay my respects.”

  “That’s good of you,” the man said. He still hadn’t told her his name.

  “So… what should I call you?” Ashley asked.

  Perhaps it would be good for her to interact with another man close to her age who wasn’t Reggie. Who knew? Maybe she’d end up hitting it off with him. The sooner she found a better man to take Reggie’s place as her boyfriend, the sooner she could forget about him.

  “Oh… um, my name is… Rain,” the man said. He’d clumsily introduced himself, as though he was questioning his identity.

  “Rain?” Ashley questioned. It was an odd name.

  “Yeah. You know, like the weather?” He looked at her bashfully, immediately apologizing for his awkwardness. “I’ve been driving for a long time. I think I need some coffee. Do you mind if I join you? I don’t know anyone here.”

  Ashley felt her face flush as Rain neared her. He was so close she could smell the cologne he was wearing. Even though she was attracted to him, the man’s presence caused a pang of discomfort. In a way, he reminded her of Reggie.

  Everyone will remind you of Reggie forever! the voice in her head proclaimed. It’s the guilt. The guilt will isolate you from others.

  Again, Ashley was transported back to the night when she’d killed Reggie. The air, although humid, had had a chill to it. After stepping out of the bus, she’d wandered around Reggie’s neighborhood before setting out for his house. She needed it to be dark before she made her move. The place she’d went to wait was an open field full of hydro towers. It had always evoked a feeling of comfort in Ashley. The tall hydro towers were like gentle giants watching over her. During moments where Ashley had felt stressed, she’d gone there for solace. That night she’d gone to the peaceful field, stood directly under a hydro tower, looked up at the dizzying height of it, and vomited at its base.

  Even now, Ashley felt as though she could taste the bitter burn of alcohol in the back of her throat.

  “God, I feel like such an idiot,” Rain remarked. “I completely forgot about there being a reception. I didn’t bring any food.”

  “That’s okay,” Ashley said. “I’m sure there will be plenty of food for everyone.”

  Her statement proved true. Once she entered the reception room, she saw two long tables set up in the middle filled with sandwich trays, fruit plates, vegetables, crackers and cheese, and loads of baked goods.

  “I’m going to grab a coffee,” Rain stated. “I’m not bothering you, am I? Do you mind if I sit with you? I’d like to share some memories of Reggie with someone. But, as I said, I’m not too familiar with anyone here. I don’t even think his mother would recognize me anymore. Besides, she’s probably got enough people wanting to talk with her.”

  “It’s okay,” Ashley replied, “you can sit with me.”

  Truth be told, she felt like being alone. Rain seemed nice enough, though so had Reggie at first. Ashley spotted an empty square table in one of the corners of the room. Before she could grab it, Rain commented on the fact that she hadn’t helped herself to any food.

  “You’re not going to make me look like a pig and get food all by myself are you?” he said. He lowered his voice. “People are going to think I came here just for the food.”

  Ashley laughed uncertainly. Guys didn’t tend to talk to her the way Rain was. It was almost as if he knew who she was. But how could that be?

  You’re just being paranoid, Ashley thought.

  After everything Reggie had put her through it only made sense for her to feel suspicious of other men. A part of Ashley was intensely lonely, while the other part of her was on guard. It was an unpleasant combination of emotions.

  She accompanied Rain to the table of food, picking out bits of fruits and vegetables. Lately, her appetite had been meager. The recurring image of Reggie’s throat spilling open didn’t help.

  Rain sighed as he sat down with his coffee and plate of goodies. “So, tell me about your relationship with Reggie,” he said. “You mentioned you were his tenant. I didn’t know he’d been renting out a place. Were you two friends?”

  “Uh, yeah,” Ashley responded. She didn’t like that Rain was asking her questions about Reggie. “We hung out sometimes.”

  Rain nodded. “Cool. He and I met in high school. I’d moved here from the city. We used to get into all sorts of trouble.”

  Reggie never had mentioned anyone from his past named Rain. Ashley wondered why she’d never bothered to ask certain questions. Perhaps she hadn’t cared. Or, perhaps she was afraid to know what he’d been like.

  There was something Reggie used to say to her that resona
ted in her head. He’d tell her that the past didn’t matter. Whatever had been done was over. All that mattered was the present. This never had made sense to her, as everything he’d done always had stuck with her. Past actions didn’t just cease to exist. They were there in the form of memories, and they were haunting.

  While Rain quietly was sipping his coffee, Ashley nibbled on a piece of pineapple. It tasted fermented, as though it had been soaking in its own juice for too long. The taste reminded her of alcohol, which triggered her recalling, yet again, the events that had taken place the night she’d killed Reggie.

  She’d glanced at her watch. Its face could glow in the dark. Much of the alcohol that she’d consumed earlier had left her system in the form of vomit. The sun was now completely gone. There hadn’t been so much as a pink smear in the sky. Everything was shrouded in darkness. Ashley remembered feeling shaky with rage. Her phone up to her ear, she’d been listening to the vehement voicemail messages Reggie had left. Why hadn’t she just deleted them?

  “Hey, you stupid jerk! This is the tenth time I’ve tried to call you. Where the hell did you disappear to? You better hope to God I don’t ever find you! Because if I do, and I will, I’m gonna cage you up and treat you like the nasty dog you are!”

  Ashley had used Reggie’s hurtful words as fuel to eliminate him. That’s why she’d kept the messages on her phone. She’d needed them to remind her why he needed to die. Even if he’d failed to hunt her down, he’d just have found another girl to torment.

  “Hey, everything okay?”

  Ashley looked up from her plate to find Rain staring at her with concern.

  “You look like you were remembering something horrible,” he said.

  “Oh. Um, I was just thinking about Reggie,” Ashley answered.

  Rain hummed. “He could be a bastard, couldn’t he?”

  “Pardon?”

  “Reggie,” Rain clarified. “Sometimes he acted like a douchebag.”

  Rain drained the remainder of his cup as casually as if he was at a café catching up with an old friend. He raised his hands in defense when he noticed Ashley’s shocked expression.

  “I don’t mean any disrespect to the guy,” he continued. “Everyone acts out occasionally. Even so, it always bugged me how he followed girls around.”

  “H-he followed girls around?” Ashley could feel her knees shaking beneath the table. It nauseated her to think that he might have harassed other women.

  Rain stared into his empty cup. “Yeah,” he said, absently. “I’m sure he grew up, though. Guys are like that as teenagers. Not me. I swear I’ve always been a gentleman. Still, I can’t help but wonder why he was murdered.”

  Now Ashley did feel nauseous. Was this guy on to her? The police had called her earlier to ask her some more questions. It hadn’t sounded as though they suspected her. If anything, Ashley thought she’d thrown them off by telling them Marla hated Reggie. She could choose not to attend the questioning at the station. After all, the detectives had no evidence to arrest her.

  You’re a moron if you think the police bought that crock of crap, the voice in her head said. You can’t get away with slitting a man’s neck. You’ll be lucky if you don’t end up spending the rest of your life in prison.

  “I don’t suppose you would have any idea as to why he was killed?” Rain said. “I mean, you were living in the guy’s house.”

  There was something familiar about Rain’s voice. Ashley couldn’t figure out whether she’d heard it before or if it reminded her of another person’s voice.

  “I-I don’t know why he was killed,” Ashley stammered.

  Rain’s questions were making her feel increasingly uncomfortable. There was something about him that didn’t sit right with Ashley. Why was he asking so many questions regarding Reggie’s murder? It wasn’t appropriate to be talking so much about it during the man’s funeral reception.

  “Oh well,” Rain said, sighing. He picked up a piece of biscotti and bit into it. Munching contemplatively, he then said, “I heard a rumor the police think the murderer might be a copy-cat killer. Have you heard of Slasher Saul?”

  Ashley knew all about Saul from Marla. Her roommate had been obsessed with his case and always had been reading about him online. There had been a few times where Marla had left the apartment with her laptop open to an article detailing Saul’s arrest. Out of curiosity, Ashley had read it and discovered the method he’d used to kill Jared.

  She’d never, at any point in her consideration of murdering Reggie, made the conscious decision to cut open his neck. Using a sharp knife as a weapon was something she’d planned. But originally, Ashley had imagined herself stabbing Reggie to death in his sleep. When the time had come for her to enter his house, she’d seen him through the front window seated in an armchair watching television. His back had been to the door. Because he liked the TV volume on high, he hadn’t heard the key clicking in the lock. Without a moment of hesitation, Ashley had pounced on the man from behind, swiftly goring his neck with the knife blade. It was as though her body had acted of its own accord. Perhaps she’d chosen to slit his throat because Slasher Saul’s method had been locked away in her subconscious.

  Remember the sound he made when you nearly decapitated him?

  That wet crunch of the trachea breaking, followed by the desperate gurgling wheezes, had been the most disturbing sounds Ashley ever had heard. The horror of her action had terrified her so much that she’d fled the house with the knife still clutched in her hand. None of the blood had managed to get on her, as Reggie had been facing the television. The red droplets mostly had spattered all over the carpet and chair around the area where he’d been seated.

  Ashley clutched her stomach; the memory of Reggie’s gruesome death was starting to make her feel queasy.

  “What’s gotten into you? You’ve suddenly gone two shades whiter,” Rain remarked.

  “I, uh, just don’t like talking about Reggie’s murder,” Ashley said. She stifled the urge to gag.

  Rain apologized. “You should have told me you had a weak stomach,” he said. “I’ll stop talking about it. I’m sure the police will find out who killed him.”

  Upon mention of the police, Ashley was hit with a realization: She had heard Rain’s voice before. His voice matched that of the officer who’d been speaking with her over the phone.

  Her heart jumped in panic. She felt hot all over. Was this man working for the police? How could that be? How could they have known she would be at Reggie’s funeral?

  This has to be a coincidence, Ashley thought.

  Plenty of men had similar voices. Her mind probably just was playing tricks on her. Even so, the sickening fear was real. On the verge of a panic attack, Ashley began to steady her breathing.

  Rain noticed her distress and narrowed his eyebrows in concern.

  “Hey, are you okay?” he asked.

  Ashley nodded slowly. For a moment, the room had been spinning. Now she was beginning to feel herself relax.

  Rain chuckled. “That’s good. For a moment there I thought you were going to freak out.” His striking eyes locked with hers when he said, “You didn’t kill Reggie, did you?”

  Immediately, Ashley felt her heart rate increase to a sickening extent. She could feel beads of sweat developing on her forehead.