Next in Line

by R. L. Wilson

  A little while later I felt Logan gently shaking me. “Wake up Holly” he whispered to me. I tried to look at him but my eyes had trouble staying open. “I ran you a bath” he said. When I sat up I touched something wet. I grabbed it and held it up to see what it was. It was a damp cloth. “You’re still burning up so I put a wet cloth on your head” Logan explained. He seemed fairly worried about me but I had been sick like this before so I knew that I would be back to normal in a day or so. I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom. Logan had filled it up with bubbles and set a few candles around the room. God he was adorable. He kissed me on the cheek and walked out, closing the door behind him. I got undressed and hopped into the bath. It was very warm and relaxing. After laying there for a while and trying hard not to fall asleep, I decided that it was time to get out. I drained the water and wrapped my towel around me when I heard a knock on the door. “You can come in” I called out. The door opened and Logan stepped through and walked straight up to me. He gently grabbed my arms and helped me out of the tub. “I made you some tomato soup” He said to me. “That’s all that you had in the cupboard so I hope that’s okay.” He was so sweet. “That’s amazing” I replied. After Logan helped me back into my room I saw that he had picked me out some clothes and they were laid out neatly on my bed. “You get dressed and I’ll go and get your soup” Logan said. Then he kissed me on the top of my head and left my room. I quickly got dressed as I was starting to shiver from my fever and quickly jumped into my bed pulling the blanket up to my chin. Just as I had done that Logan walked in with the bowl of tomato soup in his hand and passed it to me. “Be very careful, it’s really hot.” I looked up at him and smiled. He looked like he was going to leave so I quickly said “Will you please stay with me?” “Of course I will. There isn’t anywhere that I’d rather be” He replied. I wanted so badly to kiss the man in front of me. This sweet amazing man that I knew that I was in love with but I didn’t want to make him sick so instead I just smiled at him and then turned to eat my soup.

  Two days later, I was finally back to my normal self after that horrible flu that I had. I hadn’t seen much of Logan since he spent the night. I was spending more time back at my apartment now that Sophie seemed to be a little happier than how she has been acting lately. We still weren’t really talking yet. Just the occasional word here and there. I was dancing around in my room to some music while I cleaned the dump that I called a bedroom when I heard some yelling. I turned the music down and realised that it was Sophie. I turned my music off and walking into the living room to see Sophie standing in the doorway arguing with Spencer. These two really needed to stop seeing each other. They always fought. Spencer was having trouble standing and slurring his words. Great he was drunk. I walked behind Sophie and saw that Dante was outside standing with Spencer. “Just let me in Sophie” Spencer yelled as he tried to push the door open and taking a drink from the bottle of bourbon that he had in his hand. “You’re not coming in. Just go away Spencer. I don’t want to see you anymore” Sophie yelled back. Normally I tried to stay out of their fights. I would go into my room and turn my music on until it was over but this time I was fed up with it all. I walked up to the door so I was standing next to Sophie. “She has asked you to leave Spencer, so go please” I said angrily. Spencer looked at me and then started trying to push his way inside again. “I’m not leaving” he shouted at me. I knew that Spencer wouldn’t give up easily and he would eventually get in. I turned my head away so it was closer to Sophie and said “Take my phone and go call the boys. See where they are. If you can’t get in contact with them then just call the station.” Sophie stood there for a second with a worrying look on her face. She was scared. “It’s okay. Just go and do it. I’ll be fine” I said quietly. Sophie grabbed the phone out of my hand and walked into her room. “Where is she going? Get out of my way Holly” Spencer said. “You’re drunk and acting like a dick. If you want to talk to her so badly then go home and call her tomorrow when you’re sober” I said to Spencer annoyed that he was acting this way.

  I looked over at Dante who was just standing there with his arms folded across his chest almost looking amused by the whole situation. It was only a minute later when Sophie came back to the door where we all were and gave me a little nod. I’m assuming that meant she was able to get in contact with one of the guys and help was on the way. I just hope it doesn’t end up in another fight like it did last time. “Spencer you should leave. I’ve just called the police and they are on their way” Holly said. Dante inched forward and a smile spread across his face. So they were looking to try and finish what had started the other week. I felt my legs start to shake a little from the anger. I was done trying to be nice to these two. It clearly wasn’t working. Spencer was still drinking from his bottle, pressed up against the door trying to force his way inside. He mustn’t have been trying very hard to get in. He was easily six feet tall and musclier. Not as muscly as Logan and Cooper but considering the Sophie and I were 5 ft. 6 and petite he could have easily pushed the door open, even with us trying to keep it closed. “Leave Spencer! Nobody wants you here. I’m sick of you treating my best friend like shit and acting like an asshole when she tries to leave you. You’re pathetic” I yelled. “Shut your mouth Holly.” “NO! I live here so I can say what I want. You’re a sad excuse for a man and I’m sick of looking at your face so LEAVE NOW” I shouted at him which I realised was a bad idea when the look on his face went angry. Spencer took a step back from the door and then charged into it forcing it to swing open and slam into the wall behind it. Sophie grabbed my hand and we took a few steps backwards together. He took one last drink from his bottle and then threw it over the top of our heads, hitting the wall and alcohol and glass going everywhere.

  Spencer started screaming at us as he took a few steps towards us. I wasn’t listening to what he was shouting. I was looking over at Dante who was now standing in the doorway with his arms still crossed over his chest. I couldn’t believe that he was letting his friend watch while he had a front row seat to the whole thing. Spencer grabbed Sophie by her shoulders and started shaking her violently. “LEAVE HER ALONE SPENCER” I screamed at him. He looked at me and then threw Sophie down to the ground. I heard her scream a little as she landed on the broken glass from the bottle. Spencer started walking towards me so I took a few steps back until I hit the wall. I had nowhere to go. I ran my hands along the wall and felt the pole for the curtains. Sophie had decided to get new curtains as the ugly purple ones we had didn’t go well. I grabbed the pole and swung it as hard as I could, hitting Spencer in the head. I pulled it back and went to swing it again but this time he caught it and yanked it from my hands. He hit me twice with the pole. Once in the face and again in the side. I fell to the ground to try and protect myself from the next hit, but there wasn’t one.

  I heard the pole hit the floor and then Sophie started to scream. I looked over and saw that Spencer had started dragging Sophie by her hair while he was yelling at her again. Sophie screamed as he dragged her body over more of the broken glass. I had to stop him and I knew that I would probably regret the decision but I wanted to help my best friend from this psycho. I picked up the pole and started hitting Spencer as many times as I could, hitting him in the arm and his side. He let go of Sophie and yanked the pole out of my hands and threw it to the floor again. He put one hand around my throat and the other on my shoulder as he pushed me up against the wall and started to choke me. I tried as hard as I could to take in a breath but nothing, so I started to scratch at Spencer’s hand. He moved his hand from my shoulder and placed it on top of the one that was around my throat and squeezed harder. I continued to scratch at his hands and when I thought that I wasn’t going to last much longer I reached out of his face and started scratching. I had scratched the side of his face. Spencer took one hand off my throat and put it over his face where I had just got him. He pulled his hand away and looked at the small amount of blood that was there. This made him even angri
er. He pulled his hand back and I knew that he was about to hit me.

  It was then that I saw a fist connect with Spencer’s face and heard the crack. Spencer fell to the ground and I started to fall too. Logan threw his arm around my body and fell to the ground with me. I started coughing and gasping for air at the same time as tears rolled down my cheeks from how much my throat hurt to try and breathe. Logan held me close to his chest and started gently stroking my hair when he yelled “Coop don’t!” But Cooper walked up to Spencer pulled him up by his shirt and punched him in the face. “Stop it Coop” Logan yelled again. Cooper grabbed Spencer’s side and rolled him over so he was lying on his stomach. He pulled Spencer’s arms roughly behind his back and slapped on the handcuffs. “You piece of shit” Cooper screamed and then he kicked him in the side once before another two officers came in and pulled Cooper away from Spencer. Cooper broke free and walked over to Sophie who was slowly getting to her feet. “Sit back down Sophie, you’re bleeding” Cooper said sounding angry still. “No it’s okay. I’m fine” Sophie argued. She walked over to where Logan and I were cuddling on the floor and tears started rolling down her face. “I’m sorry” she started to say but I put my hand up to stop her. “It’s not your fault” I explained. We all sat and stared as the other two officers walked Spencer out. “Let’s take you guys to the hospital” Cooper said as he gently grabbed hold of Sophie. “No!” I shouted and everyone turned to look at me in surprise. I felt my body start to shake as I thought about the last time I was there because I was attacked in the car park. I really didn’t like hospitals. “Okay. It’s okay. We won’t go. I’ll go and get some bandages from the bathroom” Sophie said. She knew exactly why I hated them so much.

  I had a boyfriend from the beginning of high school until a year after we left. His name was Joshua and I thought we were prefect for each other. He use to tell me how he planned that we would get married and then move in together and even though he wanted to do it all then he thought nineteen was a bit too young. He had spent the day at my house watching movies, cuddling and eating whatever we could find. It was late and thought that he better get home before he ended up staying the night and he wanted to shower and needed to get his work clothes ready for the next day. On his way home that night he was hit by a drunk driver and rushed to the hospital. He spent a week there in a coma until he passed away. I was heartbroken and have barely been able to go into hospitals since then.

  “You can’t just wrap yourselves up in band aids and think that will magically fix everything” Cooper said seeming a little frustrated. “I’m not going to the hospital. I’m fine” I said angrily. Cooper and I were silent for a minute as we stared at each other until he finally said “Fine. If you’re not going to go to the hospital then you can come with us.” Cooper grabbed Sophie’s hand and started walking her out of the apartment. Logan helped me up and we followed Cooper out to his truck. Logan held on to me the entire time.

  I was very confused when we pulled up in front of the police station but figured that I’d upset Cooper enough for one night so asking a heap of questions would only make things worse. Logan still hadn’t said a word since he yelled out at Cooper, trying to get Cooper to not hurt Spencer. The guys’ led us to their desk and sat us down. I was glad the desks were next to each other otherwise things may have gotten very awkward since the last time Sophie and Cooper were together they had a massive fight and Cooper ended up breaking Spencer’s nose. As soon as we sat down Sophie burst into tears. She grabbed hold of Cooper’s hands and looking up at him as tears were streaming down her face. Cooper knelt down on the floor so they were level. He looked angry and upset at the same time and I felt sorry for him. “I’m so, so sorry” Sophie managed to choke out. Cooper rubbed her hands with his thumbs but didn’t say anything. “This is all my fault. If I never invited Spencer over last time then he wouldn’t have come back tonight and none of this would have happened” Sophie continued. Cooper gently hugged Sophie as Logan walked over to a cupboard and took out a giant first aid kit and placed it in between us. I looked at Sophie who was already looking at me. This is the first time that I looked at her properly in a while. She had cuts all over body. Some looked worse than others and a couple even still had glass in them. Sophie seemed to be looking at my body at the same time I was looking at her cuts. She started to cry more and moved her chair right next to mine. She pulled me towards her, hugging me tightly. “I’m sorry that you got hurt because of me.” “It’s not your fault Soph. I probably shouldn’t have provoked him the way that I did but I was just so mad” I replied.

  Logan and Cooper looked at each other. I could tell they were both confused and intrigued by what I had just said. “What are you talking about?” Cooper asked as both he and Logan started grabbing things out of the first aid kit. Logan grabbed the Dettol and a cloth and started to pat it on my face but as soon as it touched I jumped back from the pain. “Ouch” I muttered. Why did that hurt? I thought that I only had bruises. I dug around in my bag and pulled out my compact mirror. I had a little cut on the top of my cheek which was bleeding. It must have been from when Spencer hit me in the face with the pole. I hadn’t even noticed. I put my mirror away and tried to sit as still as I could while Logan cleaned my cut. Sophie told them the whole story about what had happened. How Spencer had shown up drunk demanding to come in but she wouldn’t let him. How I had come out and gotten her to call the boys. How I then said nasty things to Spencer which made him lash out and force himself into the apartment. About how he then smashed the bottle on the wall and threw Sophie onto the glass. How I found the pole for the curtain and hit him in the head with it. Then him retaliating and hitting me back before dragging Sophie along the glass. How I then got up and started hitting him with the pole until he left Sophie alone and pushed me up against the wall and choked me until Logan punched him in the face.

  “Shit Holly. You’re a bad ass” Cooper said as he chuckled a little which made me giggle. Logan hit his desk and Sophie and I jumped back into the chairs we were sitting on. Cooper stooped pulling the glass out of Sophie and stared at him too. “This is not funny” Logan yelled. “Once again you have both gotten hurt and you’re all sitting here laughing about it” Logan said and then he walked off. I could feel the tears burning in my eyes as I watched Cooper chase after Logan. He stopped him not far from where Sophie and I were sitting and they started talking. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but I wasn’t really listening. I couldn’t hold the tears back anymore so I got up and started running out of the station. “Holly, wait!” I heard Sophie yell out but I didn’t turn around. I just kept running until I had turned a few corners and the station was out of sight. I leaned up against a light post as the tears poured down my face and I tried to catch my breath. “Holly” I turned to see Cooper running up behind me with Logan not far behind him. I tried to pull myself together so I could tell them to go away but Cooper grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. I yanked my arm away but stumbled a little and banged into the light post that I had been leaning on. I screamed out in pain and fell to the floor. Cooper put both of his hands up “I didn’t do that I swear.” Logan walked past him and helped me to my feet. They walked me back into the station and once we were in Logan lifted my top to reveal the massive bruise that I had on my side. Logan sat me back down on the chair next to Sophie and Cooper got me an ice pack.

  “I’m sorry that I upset you Holly. I’m just so mad that something like this has happened to you again and I wasn’t there. I look at the bruises on you and it makes me so mad that I just want to kill that douche” Logan said. Cooper made us tell the story again so he could write it all down and make a statement.

  Chapter Fo

  urteen

  Logan

  Coop and I made the girls spend the night at our apartment so we would know that they are safe and so we can also keep watch of the construction site. The chief had given Cooper and I some surveillance tapes of shops and other places near the construction site from
the nights of all the murders in hopes that we might be able to find something suspicious to give us some new leads. After tonight and all the random things that had been happening with Holly like the attack in the car park, the letters and the lingerie I was starting to think that Spencer was a good place to start looking. I tried to keep cool for the rest of the night. I knew that my little fit earlier at the station had scared her and that was the last thing that I wanted. I tried not to look at the marks on her throat but they stood out like a neon sign. I hated seeing Holly in pain and I could see it every time she would forget about the bruise on her ribs and bump it.

  I took the first turn sitting in front of the window watching the construction site. I dragged my chair up to the window and plonked myself on it. I pulled out the laptop that I brought home from the station and typed in Spencer Kass. He had been arrested once for a bar brawl and got caught speeding a couple of months after that but otherwise he was clean. That annoyed me. I was deep in thought when a bowl of ice cream was in front of my face. I looked up and Holly was smiling at me. I took the bowl and she pulled up a chair and sat down next to me. “I thought you might be lonely so I came to keep you company” She said. I was a little confused. She hadn’t really said much to me since I lost my temper at the station. I didn’t blame her if she didn’t talk to me again. I smiled at her and said “Thanks.” “Anything interesting happening out there tonight?” She asked smiling. “Well Mrs Hicks from next door did take her rubbish out. That was pretty interesting” I replied. This felt awkward. There were so many things that I wanted to say and ask but I didn’t want to upset her. She had already had such a rough night. “What are you thinking about?” Holly asked as she watched me staring out of the window. “I’m thinking about the night that I sang for you at the pub” I said looking straight into those beautiful green eyes of hers. “And then when I was done I jumped down off the stage, handed you a rose and that was the first time that I told you that I love you.” Holly was still looking into my eyes as a smile spread across her face. “I remember. That was a pretty amazing night” She said.