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 Content Rating Notice: Recommended for Readers 18 Years and Older Only |
| >> Static Item >> Novel >> Thriller/Suspense >> ID #923095 |   |
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The Better To Taste You With
chapter 8 The caption was displayed brilliantly, inviting if not daring the worldwide onlookers to weigh in on the subject, "Death of the Mannings-Tragedy or Blessing to the world." By the time I had signed on to check my mail, I probably could have heard the conversive scrambling, but I patiently hesitated to verify into the site. The mixture of excitement and anxiety started to devour me as I watched the yellow numbers rise in quantity. Each time the number got higher I questioned whether or not to post a comment, and yet there I sat, watched patiently, and read. Most of the first few lines in the thread were mainly people congratulating the author of the thread for a good title choice, others were followers of the Mannings condemning the guy's soul to Hell; either way weeding through all the crap was worth it when the posts took a more serious and inquisitive turn. Death of the Mannings......-I heard that they were both naked and that she had been beheaded////AllStar3 Death of the Mannings......-No it was only her that was naked and not even completely////Troutmonkey Death of the Mannings......-Did you hear where they found her head?////SeriouslyIll Death of the Mannings......-No, where did they find her head?////Troutmonkey Death of the Mannings......-In his lap, how great is that? I just wonder which one went first, ya know? Did he get to die with her looking up at him, or did she walk in and find him like that?////SeriouslyIll Death of the Mannings......-You’re a weird one, Seriously.////AllStar3 Death of the Mannings......-Hey now ur an AllStar<hums little tune to self>////SeriouslyIll Death of the Mannings......-What about the idea that it was like a week before they found them, truth or not?////AllStar3 Death of the Mannings......-Absolute truth////Troutmonkey Death of the Mannings......-Hey I wouldn't mind having a woman's head between my legs for a whole week, sounds like fun////SeriouslyIll Death of the Mannings......-That’s sick, I mean even for you ////AllStar3 Death of the Mannings......-LMFAO @ Seriously ////Troutmonkey Death of the Mannings......-Okay fellow gossip junkies, chill on the giggles and gags for a moment, did you hear the latest update////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-Give us the juice, Nookie. I'm totally feening.////SeriouslyIll Death of the Mannings......-What's the update? I've been on here all morning and haven't heard anything but Seriously's crap.J/k Seriously!////AllStar3 Death of the Mannings......-Our crazy little population has decreased by two more in this last evening.////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-Just for the record I wasn't even gonna post on this twisted little thread, but you have left me no choice. I'll have you know Sam and Lydia Manning were friends of mine and I find it in very poor taste for you to be gossiping about them like this, like they weren't even human beings. I feel very sorry for you, you have no soul no heart; but you still have no right to be talking about them like this.////SisterChristian Death of the Mannings......-Self righteous much, Sister? I mean seriously, did you ever hear of free speech? Consider this a worldwide newspaper////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-Did someone call me, oh no wait you were talking to her right, my fault, never mind< twiddles thumbs and smiles>////SeriouslyIll Death of the Mannings......-Sorry SisterChristian////AllStar3 Death of the Mannings......-LOL @ Seriously. Shall we get back to the gossip mongering now? Besides, you might be inclined to pay attention to what's being said.////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-Why would I care about anything you have to say Nookie?////SisterChristian Death of the Mannings......-'cause if you'd shut up long enough to stop judging you'd find out that we've lost two more people, I had just started to tell everybody when you busted in with your Hell and Damnation speech.////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-What the hell are you talking about?////SisterChristian Death of the Mannings......-Scroll up, Sister!!!!!////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-Who was it? Nookie, please tell me who it was////SisterChristian Death of the Mannings......-Brace yourselves, people, its gonna be a shocker.////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-Stop fucking around Nookie ////AllStar3 Death of the Mannings......-I have no patience for this, I’m outta here////SisterChristian Death of the Mannings......-Sister, it was Jules and Randy!!!! ////JazzMatazz Death of the Mannings......-What????////SisterChristian Death of the Mannings......-You ruined my build-up, Jazz////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-You're an ass, nookie ////AllStar3 Death of the Mannings......-You people are cruel, Jules was a very good friend of mine////SisterChristian Death of the Mannings......-It gets worse Sister ////JazzMatazz Death of the Mannings......-How much worse could it be? ////SisterChristian Death of the Mannings......-Well at first they thought it was a suicide, till they called in her sister to identify her. They found all this stuff that her sister said didn't belong to her, eerie, weirdo kind of stuff.////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-What kind of stuff?////AllStar3 Death of the Mannings......-Like she was surrounded by all these candles and she was wearing this long white nightgown thing that her sister said she had never seen before.////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-So what about Randy, how did he die?////SeriouslyIll Death of the Mannings......-Somebody ripped his throat out, blood everywhere, it was crazy. The coroner report said he was stoned off his ass, probably never saw it coming. ////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-Don't forget about the song in the cd player////JazzMatazz Death of the Mannings......-What song?////TristianSkewart Death of the Mannings......-Some soft soft romantic song recorded like over and over////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-Insatiable by Darren Hayes recorded five or so times////TristianSkewart Death of the Mannings......-Yeah that's right!!!!////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-Hey Tristian, how did you know that part////GoldenWeasel Death of the Mannings......-You of all people should know that one GoldenWeasel, it was BlaqueRaven's goodbye note.////TristianSkewart Death of the Mannings......-So what are you saying, Raven is cancelling out the people the crossed her?////GoldenWeasel Death of the Mannings.....-The BlaqueRaven is actually the Voluptuous Vulture-film at eleven. ////SeriouslyIll Death of the Mannings......-Seriously,Seriously, if the Raven were cancelling people out where do you think the weasel would find himself on the list?////DaNookie Death of the Mannings......-Shut the fuck up Nookie ////GoldenWeasel Death of the Mannings......-You people are so quick to point the finger at the Raven, you ever think that maybe she could be in danger too////TristianSkewart Death of the Mannings......-Oh big Tristian to the rescue for his beloved bird of prey, if you ask me nobody connected to the Raven is safe and that includes you. After all the Raven is the bird of death////GoldenWeasel All this shit could have been avoided if certain people knew how to keep their mouths shut. Hell, none of this would have come about if certain people could have just tended to their own business, people talk too much sometimes. Oh but you, you weasel fuck, lets see how quickly you make little jokes when you're staring in the face of Sir Fuck U.Up; you can bet I am certainly coming to pay you a visit. You should have kept your mouth shut, but you just couldn't do it, well this is the price you pay. See you in a little while. "It's another hot one here in Marigold, Texas with temperatures topping last night's high with a record breaking 115 degrees; I've got two words for you-Air Conditioning. Here we are cruising through the hits of the retro 80's for you, stay cool people." That crap in the background only served to piss me off further, fuck me-like I need him to tell me how hot it is out here. Fucking weeds, fucking bushes- just leave, go get drunk, stagger home, and find him; but give me time to get in there and do what I need to do.Ahhh, here we go-mommy gets in the wagon just like clockwork. It's about time, I thought I was gonna bloody well melt waiting for you to leave sweet little Bryan home alone. Spending this week in the woods should have given that little weasel just enough time to relax from all the hype online, and giving me plenty of time to do the background work needed to make this happen smoothly. It was actually effortless, these pitiful little slaves to the norm; every night it's the same thing-she leaves, he takes a shower, he goes online and then goes to bed, she staggers home and he finds her in the living room doorway the next morning on his way to school. Usually she gathers herself for work by 11a.m., which gave me all day to scout the little crap apartment. Apparently with government housing nobody cares if a complete stranger is seen coming or going in and out of apartments, I guess with her apartment they're probably used to it. I went in and stuffed the drain with sponge, replaced the hair trap, and now I wait for the bathroom light. God said let there be light and there was, Houston we have illumination- time to move. “And now one more tune from a decade of bad hair days, Peter Gabriel-Shock the monkey." Hahahaha, don't mind if I do. He didn't even notice the water level in the tub not decreasing during the beginning of his shower, and if he did he wasn't pressed to find out why. I don't remember the floor creaking so much when I was in here this morning, but that's okay it'll be over soon. I made sure to let him see my form behind the shower curtain, don't you just love the movie Psycho. Holding the radio over my head when he opened the curtain, I announced my reason for living and his reason for death. While the water still rained down from the little spout above his head and the puddle at his feet continued to gather I explained it to him amidst his silence, " I know you’re not a bad person, you just made it too easy for that Jules bitch to hurt her, there has to be sacrifices sometimes my boy, and this time you're it, no hard feelings huh?” As the electricity went through his body he almost seemed to dance to the music, that and the way the lights flickered, it was like a little show. A little dancing monkey complete with light effects, very amusing. The Better To Taste You With; chapter 9 Knowing that I had settled all the scores was a triumphant feeling, everything even I could announce myself to her now. I can walk right up to her on the street and confess everything I feel and all that I have done for her. That would have been all fine, well and good; considering the job I had done for her I felt that this was not an unreasonable idea. If I had left that very moment and gone to her, it would have worked. I thought however, how wonderful it would be if I wrote her some poetry, something to express how much I feel for her. I figured I would start with an expression of devotion, a kind of lead in for the story of how I helped her. With this romantic idea in mind I went to the site to anonymously post the poem, I could explain to her that it was from me when we were in person. The words that I wrote were sweet, heartfelt and pure; she would feel my love for her. The Raven Avenger I found a need inside you One that included me As you poured your sweetened Heart’s blood You begged to be set free Your wings strictly bound By damnable steel curses The hellish sins of demons That stripped me of your verses Denied and seemingly defeated I waited for this chance An opportunity to avenge you To revive your verbal dance So tell me angel can you hear the music The notes playing so true Give me the words I long to hear Because I did this all for you. Unfortunately, I didn't leave right that very moment; it was on the front page of the site that I found Tristian's stupid little rant. He spent paragraph after paragraph describing the murders, their possible connections to the Raven, and her risk of being next on the list. Now at first, it just bugged me that Tristian might be digging to deep, then I just got so enraged by the idea that he would speculate that I would ever hurt the Raven. That anger is what drove me to seek Tristian, just to talk some sense into him. I never meant to get that mad at him, I just went to his house to explain to him that he shouldn't be talking about stuff he knows nothing about. He kept arguing with me about how he knows her better than some obsessed fanatic ever could. I started screaming at him, "I am not a fanatic, I love her, I did what nobody else would. When she was crying about what they said about her, I didn't see you or any of the other soft nuts on that site doing anything for her. Nobody stood up for her, she did it all for herself- until she couldn't take anymore. Then she left me, so honestly you are just as much to blame as the ones who were torturing her. You did nothing, at least now I have done something, now she can come back. Now its safe for her, I have saved her from them." He looked at me in disbelief, "But who is going to save her from you." I felt my hands wrapping around his neck, I thought if only he would shut up and listen for a moment I could convince him. As I strangled him I tried to explain why it has to be this way- “it’s all for her you understand, I did it all for her. She needs me, and if you tell her what I did.... she’ll never...she’ll hate me, she’ll be afraid. I don’t want her to be afraid you understand. But I want you to know, she would want me to tell you that this wasn’t by her hand, this was for her hand. You understand, don’t you? Don’t you?” I shook him, I tried to make him answer, but it was just too late- Tristian was already dead. The shame clouding my mind I sat there for hours, sobbing and holding his limp body, rocking him. I have to believe he could hear me as I cried for him, “She really cares about you ya know, she’s gonna be angry if she knows what I’ve done. That’s why you couldn’t tell her, she might not understand that its all for her, it might get twisted. I have to keep it straight. Just keep it all straight....”. As my voice trailed I thought I heard him sigh; for this one I felt the regret as I gently began dragging him down the hall. The Better To Taste You With chapter 9 Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}...... -The dark flag is at a half-mast today as we mourn Tristian Skewart. His scissor like wit and jaded humor will be sorely missed, Rest In Peace Tristian ////6pence Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}......-Tears for Tristian//// AllStar3 Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}......-We’re gonna miss you little guy////Sins_of_the_heart Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}......-I guess he’s not wondering if the Raven is in danger anymore is he, I guess he knows who he should have feared////FunDuhMental Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}...... -He was warned about the danger of being friends with a bird of prey, LOL////SeriouslyIll Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}...... -You guys have no respect what so ever do you////AllStar3 Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02} ......-For him, hell no. I can’t believe you people are actually devoting a whole thread to this idiot//// FunDuhMental Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}...... -You know he did have friends, people on here that actually enjoyed seeing him////6Pence Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}...... -That’s bullshit, he had one person that enjoyed seeing him, that raving lunatic that went off every time he got himself into trouble, yelling at anybody and everybody, where is she now//// FunDuhMental Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}...... -Honestly, I doubt if she even knows he’s dead//// SeriouslyIll Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}...... -Sure she does, she did it//// FunDuhMental Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}...... -Right!!! Nah she wasn’t capable of that, besides she wouldn’t have “X”ed him, the others maybe- but not him//// SeriouslyIll Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}...... -Would you people just shut the fuck up, stop talking about him like he wasn’t human, as if he wasn’t somebody’s child; and stop talking about her period. You’re gonna make my head explode. She’s not even here anymore; just leave her out of it////T.J. Schylar Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02} ......-What’s your issue, T.J.? You act like you actually liked the little spunk, nobody meant to rub you the wrong way or nothing, man//// FunDuhMental Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02} ......-Look nobody’s rubbing nothing, I just think you could be a little bit more observant of the situation. Obviously 6Pence thought this was important enough to talk about and pay respect to, so if you’re not paying get the fuck out. You don’t get anything for free!!! ////T.J. Schylar Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}...... -Hey man, we didn’t mean to piss you off. //// FunDuhMental Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02} ......- It sounds like you’re more than a little upset, it just leaves us to wonder whether it’s about Tristian or her. So what’s the story morning glory? //// SeriouslyIll Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02} ...... -I hated that fucking album, and you, Seriously; I hate you so don’t you even talk to me. I usually don’t have a problem with you FunDuhMental, but today, you can go fuck yourself too. //// T.J. Schylar Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}...... -Hot damn T.J., little spicy under there. Hey guys, why don’t you apologize to T.J. for being dicks and lets get on with it. Kiss and make–up so to speak//// Sins_of_the_heart Tristian Skewart {10/12/86-3/15/02}...... –I don’t want your sympathy and I don’t need their fucking apologies. Let ‘em apologize to the raven or better yet Tristian. I gotta get out of here//// T.J. Schylar As I signed out of the site I knew that even in all his stupidity, that jerk was right. We had to find the raven and tell her what was going on here at the site. She would want to know what happened to Tristian, and she needs to know about the other murders. With this is mind I tried to contact Cain, I knew that if he had any chance of making it happen he would make sure she knew what was going on. When I sent him the first email I tried to be as gentle as I could; I tried to avoid scaring him into doing anything irrational. I simply stated that there were some things that were going on within the site that not only he should know about but that she should know about. I’m sure that seeing her name in print again was like a stake through the heart, and it made it worse when I had to ask if he had any way to reach her. The idea of contacting her had probably not crossed his mind in quite some time. In any event he agreed to do so, he said he would use all his resources to let her know what was up. By the time he had come back online he was positively fuming, I could almost hear him yelling through the screen. He blasted everybody that lived in the house with curses and swears as they refused to give him any information about her or her whereabouts. He told me about how he begged and pleaded and then went to screaming and full fledged disregard for subtlety. He said he even told them about the murders and that it probably wasn’t a good idea because just before they hung up on him they told him, “She’ll be just fine as long as you stay away from her.” and next he heard silence and then dial tone. So it was all that trouble for nothing. As we sent IM’s back and forth he still seemed convinced, even more so than I was that she must be informed. When I made the fatal mistake of asking, “Well what do you want to do next?” I knew what the screen would read before he even finished typing. It was almost predictable everything that would follow, “Why don’t you try to call her? Maybe you can fake it like a business call. Meanwhile I have a bit of an plan myself.” I didn’t have to ask but I did anyway, “What is this brilliant idea?” “I never said it was brilliant, but I figure its good. I’m just gonna leave a little thread that maybe she or someone still connected to her will see. Then we’re covering all the bases, right?” I could see his wheels turning right through the screen, just another opportunity to bring attention to himself. He would scratch up, oh I’m sorry compose, some long-winded plea for everybody to help “his” raven. It would be in the form of an overly poetic thread that would invite people to talk to him. He was so self-important that even in this crucial to her existence moment he was too selfish to give her the total spotlight. It’s no wonder she stopped talking to him. “What ever it takes.” I told him with faux enthusiasm. We’ll just wait and see where the chips fall I guess. The Better To Taste You With chapter 10 When the news of Cain calling came in it couldn’t have been at a worse time, the day hadn’t been great for either of them and throwing this little tidbit in just made things a lot worse. It wasn’t that she had been giving him any reason what so ever to doubt, or even that one of them were unhappy; it was just a wrinkle in the rug of life and someone was bound to trip. When she answered the phone and heard her mother-in-law’s voice on the phone, she noticed the chill but didn’t quite feel the shiver yet. She asked to speak to her son, which she obliged and called him to the phone right away. As he listened through the receiver, she could see his facial expression changing. It was like watching one of those lights that flash to the music, only instead of increasing intensity with the volume, his anger increased with every word. As he hung up the phone she was right there at his side, waiting to find out the bad news. With no clue about anything that was occurring she had no way of knowing the hailstorm that was about to befall her. She had no way to prepare, so with her heart as soft as can be she asked him what was wrong. “Like you don’t fucking know. How long has he been calling?” first the slice, then with the question she was blown away. She stared at him blankly, waiting for some type of explanation. From the look on his face she knew she didn’t want to ask, but she also knew she had to. “What are you talking about? How long has who been calling? I have no idea what’s going on.” The stammering continued that way for about 45 minutes, throughout which he just glared at her. Never once did he nod, soften, or enlighten; he only watched her as if waiting for her to stumble. He waited for what seemed like forever before explaining the source for his anger. He told her about the call and then identified the caller, he explained to her “that if this was the way things were gonna be she could just pack her shit and leave”. The anger on his face was only matched by the confusion on hers, so in silence, they ate dinner and went to bed. He refused to talk to her about it and without knowing all the facts she had no reason to press the issue. After a couple of days it seemed as though the main part of the storm was over, but you know what they say about a hurricane-that the calmest time is in the eye of the storm. So I guess you relax, expecting that now you can salvage what you can and try to rebuild; and then the worst hits, kicks you when you’re down, leaves you badly damaged and scratching towards the surface. That’s exactly what happened in this situation, she had just begun to speak to him again without him yelling back, or worse yet, not answering at all. The night before they had almost made love, the first time since the phone call. Now she was hanging on to this relationship by the scrap of her teeth with her hands busy trying to fix everything that was broken. It was almost 3 a.m. when his mother got the second call, this time from a foreign caller who gave no details only asked to speak to “Raven”. Forwardly pissed off, she promptly got in the car and drove over to their apartment. She pulled into the drive way hurriedly, jumped out and began banging on the door. As her son stepped out onto the front porch, his mother cautioned him to shut the door. They would spend a good hour if not longer outside in the brisk night air; all the while she sat inside waiting. When he finally came back inside she had actually just dozed off, the slamming of the front door was her wake up call. The look on his face terrified her; if she could have shrunk down into the corner she would have. Anything would have been better than having to see that look on his face. He seemed almost disgusted to look at her, most of the time never making eye contact. The conversation was a short one-sided one; quite simply she had to go. He said he couldn't keep putting up with the shit, not knowing what to believe and what not to, never knowing exactly where he stood with her. He told her that this was no way to make a life; he said that he no longer felt it was worth it, that the more time they stayed together the more of chance there was of him snapping her neck- so she should just leave. Seeing the pathetic bag of shit slumped over the computer desperately trying to connect almost let me underestimate him. Seeing him there still in his bathrobe, I began to think that maybe he and Jules actually deserved each other; I briefly paused, thought of his size and then prepared to do my worst. As I cut the power from outside I could hear him swearing, cursing the rain and the inevitable darkness. With only the intermittent flashes of lightning provided the light for him to fumble around in the dark, he could barely focus on me as I walked in from the darkness. I remembered to keep moving from one side of the room to the next then off to the corner enough to confuse him. As the bat hit the side of his head the first time it pounded perfectly with the crash of the thunder, setting the rhythmic tone for the rest of the bashing. It was a perfect symphony between the poundings of the night's noise and the sound of his skull cracking. I combined it with the romantic screaming that seemed to be only in my head but had apparently spilled out onto the floor beside his gray matter. I repeatedly swung the bat against his legs, his body and what was left of his face until the previous thud noise turned into a squish. Still the beautiful insane rambling about true love, about being able to make her happy and spending eternity with her chimed as my soundtrack. I finished my opus with some base like crazed laughing and the self-confirmation mantra, “I will be happy, and I can have her, and you can’t have her, and you can’t stop me, and now nobody can.” Then it was complete. The Better To Taste You With chapter 11 She looked around the tiny little studio apartment above the old thrift shop and took a deep breath. Yesterday she was up beat even if not necessarily happy, at least she felt like she had a home. Now she was kneeling on a single size mattress on the floor next to the only bag of clothes she was allowed to grab before he told her to just get out. As she slept that night she couldn’t escape this horrible nightmare. She dreamed she was walking in what appeared to be an old world city in Italy. Her dirty clothes were torn and her face and body were bruised and scratched. In the dream she ran through the wrecked city as the walls tumbled down all around her. It seemed as though her world was ending and there was no way out; the faster she tried to run, the quicker the buildings came crashing down. She awoke the next morning very early as if expecting it to all be a dream. She almost convinced herself it was time to get up and she could just go on with her every day routine of packing his lunch, making his coffee and cheerfully sending him off to work. Unfortunately as she reached for his perfect body she met only with the cold floor. Reality slap hard across the cheek left her crying herself back to sleep. She would never have that life again; fate had been cruel to her. With him she felt strong, because he was strong. She felt warm when he was warm to her, and felt lonely when she was without him because she knew no one else could fill that void. As the sun peered in to check on her face felt heavy and hot from all the tears she had cried in her sleep. She fought hard to take a deep breath but as she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the tiny little bathroom mirror she broke down all over again. It wasn’t until she began to think of her children that she actually found the strength to stop crying. She would pull herself together, wash the tearstains from her face, and walk down to see them. Then she would be able to set in motion a plan to get her life together, she would be able to find a way to stay here in this state instead of running back home like a whipped dog. She had the strength- she just had to find it and in the presence of her children and even in front of him, she believed she could. Walking down the street to get back to the house seemed oddly comforting. The cool air on her face seemed to refresh her and it became more and more easy to breathe. By the time she reached the house felt ready, that was until she seen there were no cars in the driveway. Deflated she sat on the porch almost consumed with defeat. As she waited she allowed herself to dream just a little bit which brought her to a place where she could believe again. Her mind spun like a top creating ideas to keep from being depressed. Her forever growing contemplations brought her to the library down the street where she found herself surfing the net for ways to make her ideas come to light. At first it seemed taboo sitting down at the computer and allowing herself access to the net. She couldn’t count how many times she jumped as somebody walked by, expecting to be “caught”; however more and more she became comfortable with the idea that this was now something she could do, there was no one to tell her not to. It wasn’t until then that her eyes began to glisten again. She fought the back hard with defiance; she decided she would check her old mailboxes, mainly to see if they still worked-but also to see if anyone had sent her notes of longing, anything to feel wanted again. As she signed into her former primary email address she found emails sent by fans who missed her and enemies who were glad she was gone, she read some of the ones that seemed to be the former of the two. She decided to skip over any of the ones from Cain; she really had no desire to hear from him right now. This was mostly due to the fact that she knew he would only confuse things for her. She scrolled through the various names, pausing occasionally to remember who they were and what they might have meant to her. When she seen T.J.’s former screen name in bold print, she felt her heart skip a little. When she had left the site, they were on good terms and he had always been a friend to her. Since she figured it could only do her good to read the email she quickly pressed the “read” button to access it. Unfortunately, she never really got passed the name on the email; reading the subject matter marked “URGENT” would probably have prepared her for it’s contents. She read how he was sorry to have to bring her all of this, but that bad news always had to come from somewhere, that it was best served up by a friend and for her to remember that that’s what he was. She could feel the color drain from her face as she read word for word what had been happening in her absence. Her heart pounded with anger when she heard of the rumors that had circulated and then broke as she read of Tristan’s demise. He ended the letter by cautioning her of things to come, warning her of the connections to her, and apologized for trouble he may have caused by trying to contact her by phone. However, he wanted her to know that he would go through any links to get this information to her if it would protect her from the predator. She read the words, “Take care girl, T.J”, and then shut down the computer. Her mind tossed and tumbled inside her thoughts, she couldn’t fathom who would do this. As she climbed the stairs to the exit she felt all the confusion and fear inside her compound when she seen the headlines on the newspaper. Normally a caption about murder wouldn’t have turned her head. She had become quite jaded in her aging even now that she was here in New England; but the front page caught her eyes and as she saw the phrase involving the words “bat”, “murdered”, and “screaming” along side the picture of Cain, she began to focus her attention on the story. Visibly shaken she sat down in one of the media chairs and read about the last seconds of his life. She stayed primarily composed as she learned how his mother was working, how the electric and phone lines had been cut, and all about the blood spatter, on the walls, floor, and surrounding furniture. It wasn’t until she became enlightened about the screaming that she felt her blood go cold. Neighbors reported hearing laughing and the crazed repetition of “I will be happy, and I can have her, and you can’t have her, and you can’t stop me, and now nobody can.” She ran all the way from the library back to the house, and pounded on the door mercilessly with one hand as she grasped the newspaper clipping and the email with the other. He jerked the door open with such force that she almost fell inside as he looked at her. She met his eyes with her own with fear consuming her every nerve. “I’m in trouble”, she babbled. While she searched his heart for compassion she heard him say, “Of course you fucking are. Why didn’t you at least call before coming over, and why the hell are you pounding on the door scaring the shit out of the kids. You know they’re going through enough with us separating without all of this making it worse. Besides I think it’s a little early for you to be coming by here wanting to visit and shit. Maybe after the divorce, after we settle all the custody issues, but I’m not even ready to talk about that fucking shit. I think you had better leave before the kids come downstairs and see you like this.” He really had said a mouthful but the only words that she was caught up on at that very moment were divorce and custody. Her eyes began to pour tears as she realized what he was saying, she began gasping for air and reaching out for him. He turned his back to her and then stared at her sharply, “What the fuck did you expect, you did this to us and now what? Now you expect me to be glad to see you, I’m real sorry to disappoint you.” It was then that realized that she had an out, she shook the email at him and tried to explain how she had nothing to do with it and that this proves it. “Somebody was trying to warn me, there have been killings, and he thinks I’m in danger. Please believe me”, she cried. “All this proves is that no sooner than you left you went online, and that tells me you are right where you belong, out on the street. Now please leave.” “No, you don’t understand. Whoever did this is coming here, he is after me; here look at this paper. Just look at it, Cain was killed. That’s only a few hours from here; the other killings were other states, other continents. He’s getting closer. Please believe me; I’m scared and I need you.” “You need me now that somebody has killed your friend. The one you lied to me about, the one you hurt me to be with. Is that how it is? Well I’m done with all this bullshit, I’m tired of being your second choice; your back up. I told you once; now I’ll tell you again- I don’t want you here, now leave. If you don’t leave I’ll call the police.” “Yes call the police!” she screamed at him. At first he just stared at her in disbelief and then to prove he still had the guts to follow through he dialed the number for the Plainboro police department. When they arrived she was sitting quietly on the steps of the apartment waiting for them. They walked right past her and found her husband since he was the one that had called them. As she waited patiently for the police to come back she allowed her mind to wander. She thought about her days before linked to the Internet; how did all of this ever catch up to her this long after she had left it all behind? Well honestly if the web got her into this it would have to be the web that got her out. She tore off down the street before the police even came out, back to the library to straighten it all out. It seemed to take forever to get back in touch with TJ, between the emails and searching for him via various instant messengers. When she finally did, he didn’t seem at all surprised. As if he knew that his email would bring her back to the surface, back to the world she tried to leave behind; the world that had apparently come looking for her. It was in the original sharing site that she began to form a plan with T.J. to find the monster behind the carnage; a brilliant plan, mostly of his devising, a course of action that would bring the darkness out of the shadows to be exposed. She began by searching the site for him- it- whatever; leaving little hints that she was “back”. At first various idiots bombarded her with wasted cyber space and well meaning friends tried to welcome her back. Unfortunately she had no time for either of them, she was on a mission. T.J. had a mission of his own, for the duration of the time while she searched for the lunatic, he was trying to prepare for locking in on various information that would give us clues as to his identity. It would be his job to hunt the creature down while she kept him online and talking. One job seeming as difficult as the other, she could have no idea how hard her part would be. Her mind started to wander just a bit and she began to think of the day; she allowed herself to remember what she had to do for the rest of the day. For what would seem like an eternity she processed each little message sent to her and closed them as soon as they were sorted. Friends would be gently brushed off, foes would be told to fuck off; nothing could get in the way until he made contact with her. She was absent-mindedly contemplating what to wear to work that night when he finally flashed her the first note; it was a bit more than she bargained for.
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