by Shawn Hill
CHAPTER 5 - THE CHANGE
The sound of a small bird chirping interrupts the silence, like an alarm clock, and reminds Thomas that he’s waiting for Regina to arrive at the Vacation Inn. Next, he feels the sensation of weight and warmth over his body, something he doesn’t remember when lying down. His eyes open abruptly as he sits up and turns to his right.
“Juliandra!” he says out loud.
“What is it?” she replies.
Thomas immediately grabs his cell phone from the nightstand and looks at the time, 8:36am.
“What the hell?” he says. “This is crazy; this is absolutely insane!”
Within seconds he recalls, in vivid detail, the events that are on the way. If what he remembers is true, Juliandra will die one hour from now. What do I do, he thinks, what do I do? He embraces her and begins to kiss her several times on the cheek. “Juliandra, I love you so much, don’t ever forget that.”
“I love you too, Thomas. Now be quiet and cuddle with me for a while. Okay.”
“Not now. We’re getting the hell out of here.”
“What are you talkin’ about?”
Thomas springs out of the bed and looks at Juliandra with a very perplexed expression as if confused about what action to take.
“We have to leave Juliandra. We have to go right now.”
“Thomas, stop playing around and get back in this bed.”
“Juliandra, come with me, we’ve gotta get out of here. Grab your pants; come on, let’s go!”
“Thomas, STOP IT! You’re making me crazy. What’s wrong with you?”
Out of the bedroom he runs, into the kitchen where he slips and falls onto the floor. While getting up the small display on the microwave comes into view. Plenty of time, he thinks. It’s only 8:40am. He closes the blinds covering the kitchen windows and sprints out to the living room to do the same.
“Alright, now you can’t see us. What’s next?” he mumbles quietly.
Thomas looks down at the hand holding his cell phone. 911, of course, I’ll call 911! He dials, hesitates for a second, and hits the call button.
“911, what is your emergency?” A female voice asks.
“Someone’s tryin’ to kill my wife. They’re going to shoot her!” He explains, frantic.
“Someone is trying to shoot your wife, sir? Can you tell me where this is happening? Do you have an address sir?”
“It’s… Ahhh, it’s 2408 Rosewater Avenue near downtown Bangor, 2408 Rosewater Avenue near downtown. Someone’s going to shoot my wife if you guys don’t get police here now. Please send the police.”
“What’s your name, sir? I need you to stay calm and please give me your name.”
“Thomas, Thomas Lee and my wife is Juliandra Lee.”
Juliandra, whose overheard Thomas talking on the phone, walks into the living room.
“Thomas, what’s goin’ on? Thomas, who are you talking to? Please Thomas; tell me you’re joking around and this is just a prank.”
“Sweetie, I’m on the phone with 911 and I’m trying to get the police out here.”
911:
“Thomas, is everything alright? Mr. Lee, can you tell me what’s going on?”
Thomas:
“Sorry, it’s my wife, please send the police now.”
Juliandra:
“What’s going on Thomas? Talk to me, please.”
Thomas:
“Juliandra, someone is going to try and kill you, and we need to go. I’ve lived through this already, we need to go now.”
911:
“Mr. Lee, is someone there trying to hurt your wife right now?
Thomas:
“No… No, not yet. They’re going to shoot her at 9:36.”
911:
“Did someone call and threaten your wife, Mr. Lee? Can you tell me who’s trying to hurt her?”
Thomas:
“I don’t know who they are, all I know is they’ll shoot her at 9:36.”
911:
“Mr. Lee, I want you to remain calm. I have a two officers on the way to your location, okay? I need for you to stay calm.”
Thomas:
“Yes… Yes, I am calm. I’m calm ma’am.”
911:
“Officers should be there in less than ten minutes. Can you find a safe place to hide or go until they arrive?”
Thomas, thinking about the operator’s question, looks at Juliandra who’s in tears and still asking for answers. “The bathroom,” he says out loud. “Juliandra, come on, we need to go into the bathroom and stay there.”
“I’m not goin’ anywhere until you tell me what’s happening. What are you talking about?”
Thomas reaches out and grabs Juliandra by her arms near the shoulders.
“Listen, this is going to sound crazy, but someone, I don’t know who, someone, is going to shoot you at 9:36, and we need to go to the bathroom and wait for the police to get here. Okay? Please… Trust me, when they arrive it’ll all be fine.”
He takes another look at the cell phone, which is still active and sees that it is now 8:49am.
“Okay, okay,” Juliandra replies.
They head to the bathroom attached to the master bedroom which has only a small window that Thomas was supposed to change out for a larger one last summer. He leads Juliandra towards the freestanding cast iron tub.
“Let’s get in; its iron and will stop bullets,” he says.
Thomas steps over the side and pulls Juliandra in and downward to sit. Then, the sound of a distant voice calling his name changes his focus to the cell phone still connected to the emergency operator.
911:
“Mr. Lee, are you alright? Where are you now?”
Thomas:
In a whispering voice. “We’re in the bathtub.”
911:
“Officers should arrive in less than five minutes, Mr. Lee. Can I speak with your wife? I would like to check if she’s alright.”
Thomas:
“Yes, of course.” Thomas hands the phone to Juliandra.
Juliandra:
“Hello?”
911:
“Juliandra Lee? Is that your name?”
Juliandra:
“Yes.”
911:
“Juliandra, are you in danger?”
Juliandra:
“I don’t know, my husband is acting crazy and says someone is trying to shoot me. We’re in the bathroom, in the tub. I don’t know what’s going on and I’m scared.”
911:
“Do you feel that your life is in danger from Thomas?”
Juliandra:
“No, he’s just acting weird and thinks someone’s going to kill me. He really believes it. I’ve never seen him this way, ever. He would never hurt me.”
Suddenly, they hear a loud thumping at the front door. It was the sound made when knocking with the side of your fist rather than the knuckles.
Thump Thump Thump
A muffled but loud voice calls out. “Thomas Lee, its Bangor P.D.”
Thump Thump Thump
“Mr. Lee, I need you to answer the door. It’s Bangor P.D. We were dispatched by 911 to this address.”
“Finally!” Thomas says as he turns to Juliandra. “Alright, stay here, okay?”
Thomas makes his way to the front door where he looks through the glass pane and sees, much to his relief, two uniformed officers standing outside. He opens the door and finds one of the officers has removed his firearm from the holster and is holding it, pointed downward. The other, moves slightly to his left as the door opens and stands with his right hand above his weapon.
“Mr. Lee? We’ve been dispatched here because you called 911. May we come in?”
“Yes please,” Thomas says, “come in.”
“I’m going to need you to step outside for me, Mr. Lee. Please place your hands on top of your head and step through the front door towards my partner here.”
Thomas complies and walks out in the direction of the second officer.
“I’m going to enter your home now, Mr. Lee, and make sure your wife is alright. Please stay outside with Officer Mitchell.”
The first Officer takes a step into the entryway and calls for Juliandra, making sure his firearm is not out, but can be quickly accessed.
“Mrs. Lee? Juliandra, ma’am, can you please come to the front door?”
Juliandra hears the officer call out and quickly heads towards him.
“Mrs. Lee, I’m Officer Daniels with Bangor P.D. and we’ve been dispatched here because your husband called 911. Are you alright?”
“Yes, yes I am, but I don’t know what’s happening. My husband keeps telling me that someone’s going to shoot me.”
“Ma’am, is anyone here now that is trying to hurt you?”
“No, it’s just me and Thomas.”
“Mrs. Lee, I would like to come in and check around; is that alright with you?”
“Yes, please.”
“Okay, I need for you to step outside with your husband and Officer Mitchell, alright? I’m going to take a look around.”
Officer Daniels enters the living room and begins to check through the rest of the house. After walking through each room he verbally checks in with Officer Mitchell, who’s still standing on the porch with Thomas and Juliandra. What feels like an eternity goes by before Officer Daniels approaches the front door again and waves to Officer Mitchell, signaling him to bring everyone inside.
Officer Mitchell holsters his firearm but keeps his hand above it as he asks both Juliandra and Thomas to step into the house towards Officer Daniels.
“Please have a seat guys,” says Officer Mitchell.
Officer Daniels speaks up. “Okay, I have checked your home and found no one else here. Can you explain to me why we’re here, Mr. Lee?”
Before answering, Thomas looks in the direction of the oversized wall clock and pauses to take note of the time; 9:00am, which for once is easily read because the hands are pointed right at the numbers.
“Officer, I know this is going to sound ridiculous and crazy, but someone is going to shoot my wife at 9:36.”
“Who is going to shoot your wife, and how do you know what time it will happen?”
“I don’t know who, I just know that it’s going to happen, at 9:36, someone is going to shoot my wife.”
“Did someone threaten her, Mr. Lee?”
“No, I don’t know. I just know they’re gonna do it.”
“Mr. Lee, I need for you to look at me. Have you had any alcohol last night or this morning?”
“No… No, I don’t drink at all, nothing at all.”
“Have you taken any unknown substances or drugs that you’re aware of? Any medications or prescriptions?”
“No, I don’t take anything. I don’t use drugs or medications.”
“Okay, Mr. Lee, I’d like you to accompany me outside while Mrs. Lee remains in the house with Officer Mitchell and answers a few questions.”
The two walk outside and Officer Daniels starts to explain that it’s a serious offence to make prank calls to 911 and that it is important not to have them wasting time while real crimes are occurring.
Meanwhile, Officer Mitchell is asking Juliandra to explain the morning’s events in detail for him. Juliandra tells the officer that Thomas has never acted this way and she has never known him to take drugs or drink alcohol. A few minutes go by then Thomas and Officer Daniels walk back into the home.
“Alright Mrs. Lee, can you please change your clothes and accompany us to the station? Your husband is hell bent on going with us and we need to get back to work.”
Juliandra stands up and makes her way to the bedroom. She swaps her pajamas for a pair of black slacks and a white button shirt while Thomas quickly changes and heads to the front door to wait. After looking again at the clock over the couch, he sees the time, 9:25am, then becomes very nervous and starts to rush things. Both of them follow the officers outside where they get into Thomas’s older truck which has slowly changed in color from black to red-orange due to rust. Thomas puts the key in the ignition switch and tries to start the engine. It turns over but won’t run. He tries three more times before giving up and hitting the steering wheel.
“You need a new truck,” Juliandra says. “I’ll grab my keys and we can take my car.”
“Quick, Juliandra, quick!” Thomas says, frantically. “We need to move fast!”
Thomas keeps looking at the time on his phone and watches as the digits change to 9:30. He gets out of the truck and Officer Mitchell walks over.
“Truck won’t start?” He asks.
Thomas replies, “No, it won’t. We’re going to get her keys and take the car instead.”
Juliandra is already on her way back out of the house with her keys and walks to the driver’s side of her pearl colored Honda. The two quickly get in and Juliandra inserts the key then rotates it forward, but just as Thomas’s truck, the engine turns without starting. She tries a couple more times before Thomas exits the vehicle and steps around to the front of it. He asks Juliandra to pull the hood release lever. Office Daniels walks over to the car just as Thomas lifts the hood and begins to look around.
“Looks like someone’s cut your plug wires. I think both of you should get in our vehicle. Right now.”
Just as Juliandra looks at the car radio’s screen which displays 9:35am, Thomas rushes over to the driver side door, opens it and pulls her out.
“Come on, let’s go!” he says. ”We need to get in the cruiser.”
Officer Mitchell opens the rear door on the driver’s side to let Juliandra in while Thomas rushes to the passenger side and sits beside her. They look at each other with relief as if they’ve just finished a marathon then Thomas notices the time on the cruiser’s computer screen, 9:35. He realizes the time set in Juliandra’s car radio is a couple of minutes off and begins to look around outside the windows. Officers Daniels and Mitchell are just getting into the front seats as the time on the cruiser’s computer screen changes to 9:36.
Glass from the windshield suddenly hits Thomas’s face as Officer Daniel’s grabs his neck. The rear window shatters dispersing small fragments everywhere, and Juliandra cries out with a short burst of air then falls forward. At the moment Thomas yells, “Ohh my God!“ The side window explodes into hundreds of pieces that coat the entire back seat. He looks down at his arm, which has started to bleed, and then turns towards Juliandra. She’s not moving at all and the white shirt she put on moments ago has almost entirely turned red. Thomas, now partially covered in blood is holding her tight with his right hand on her neck and left hand on her heart.
Officer Daniels, unable to speak, is lying back in his seat with both hands tight to his neck. Officer Mitchell is calling for backup, remaining low in his seat and making sure to hide his head from view of the windshield.
“Officer down, officer down, we are under fire!” He repeats “2408 Rosewater Ave, approach with caution, snipers in the area. 2408 Rosewater Ave. Approach with caution, there are snipers in the area! Officer Daniels is severely wounded. We need to get him out of here.”
He looks back to assess the condition of Thomas and Juliandra then continues. “One civilian is dead and the other...”
Sounds become muffled as Thomas holds Juliandra and stares straight ahead in disbelief.
“Why is this happening to me?” he says aloud. “Why?”
Suddenly, his expression changes while his gaze pierces through a broken window. The look of disbelief and confusion turns to one of determination. Every emotion swirling around in his head starts to converge and form only one feeling: Anger.
Life has no meaning anymore, he thinks. My life has no meaning without her. I’m in hell.
Officer Mitchell reaches back to Thomas. “Are you okay? Are you shot?”
Thomas doesn’t answer, but continues to stare out into the distance, holding tight to Juliandra’s body. The world begins to fade as memories of the first day they met flood
back.
It was six years ago…