Bloody Surprises

I vaguely wondered if this situation was getting worse with every turn I made. Surely having your boyfriend and stalker in one area was a call for critical disaster? Evan escorted me to the Living Room where the love of my life awaited me.
When I left home to come here I knew that mom and I couldn’t tell Seth where I was going- so we made up some faux story with me saying that I needed some space when all I really wanted was peace and quiet. We tried to assure Seth that I was mostly a witness and not a victim and judging from his facial expression it seemed that my mother filled him in of the details.

His dark curly hair was disheveled and his grey eyes found mine. I wasn’t surprised at the outright love, worry and concern that I saw there. I also saw fierce protectiveness. It was obvious that he and everyone else had already been introduced. My father was giving him the ‘stare’; you know the judgmental ones that they reserve for daughters boyfriends. But Seth could hardly be fazed; his eyes were only for me.
Wordlessly I handed the note to Audra and glided into Seth’s open arms. He always knew my moods and so he patted my back and hugged me tenderly. It’s funny how you don’t realize you’ve missed someone until you take a day away from them. But in this case it was a whole week. I couldn’t help it; my wall crumbled. Everything that I had been holding up with sarcasm and snarky remarks to the shrink just fell away. I was able to cry in his arms and feel so much comfort I was afraid that my body would just shatter under the unaccustomed pressure. The silent tears poured down my face as I cried for Mrs. Andrews and her rolling head, Mr. Andrews and how they had a closed casket funeral because of how his body was butchered, Bethany and her cracked skull and broken bones, Annalisa mourning the death of her family, living with her aunt and uncle, Devon who was missing and probably hurting and lastly I cried for myself. All the horror that I had seen in one night was never going to end unless Howard were dead.

I don’t know how long I stood there bawling my eyes off but when I was done my father and Evan were gone. I shot a questioning glance to Audra.
“Jerry has to be disposed of,” was all she said and then handed me a tissue. I blew my nose and wiped my eyes. You know a guy loves you when he doesn’t run out the door at the sight of a girl crying. Seth hugged me again before leading me to sit beside Thomas and Audra.

Seth eyes were still worried but I saw that he understood why I had to leave even though he was pissed.”Your hair looks great Lucy.”
“Thanks,” I smiled.
“You need a dress,” Audra said suddenly startling her son who was drifting off to sleep. I threw the afghan over his legs. He smiled sleepily before he was out cold.
“Why?” I asked after I made sure he wasn’t going to wake up.
“For the party of course,” Audra said dreamily, “I’m sure that Evan and Seth are the two that will be accompanying you since your father and I are way too old to go to a High School dance.”

Seth and I looked at her; I mean really looked at her. Her eyes were wild and red rimmed; her nose red and her cheeks pale. She was grieving and distracting herself with the prospect of dress hunting.
“Seth you and Evan seem to be the right size,” Audra mused, “He wore a modern Prince Charming costume for last year’s Halloween to impress a girl but it didn’t work out. You could wear that. And you my darling,” she said to me without even seeing me; she looked through me, “Will wear my black cocktail dress; it’s not too short for you and we can fix it up to match Seth’s.”

Seth and I stared at her; she was babbling and soon she would break down. He sent me a telepathic message (well no but you get my point) and I got up and grabbed Audra’s hand, “Why don’t we get Tommy upstairs and you can show me the dress,” just then my father and Evan walked back into the room, “Look dad, Evan and Seth can search the rest of the house while we try on but I’m sure he’s gone. Right dad?”
My father looked a bit startled and then I understood. I called him dad.

“Yes Audra go upstairs and take a rest,” he soothed her; his face composed. But I knew I saw the joy there before.
Later that night, I have some trouble sleeping but I don’t take my prescribed sleeping pills. Instead I cuddle closer into Seth; he holds me tighter.
“I’ll always protect you,” he whispered against my hair. I frowned.
“It’s not me I’m worried about,” I mumbled against his chest. I was picturing Howard stabbing my darling and making me watch. I shuddered.
“I can take care of myself,” Seth murmured against my forehead and then kisses it. I snort and think, ‘Men!’ right before I drifted off to sleep. Where my nightmare is Howard chasing me in the dark- I’m wearing a white shift and no shoes; but I run like hell. But in the end (for the past week) Howard always catches me and cuts me up….leaving me bleeding in the dark.

The next day couldn’t move fast enough. It’s like God was purposely testing our patience. As my mother would say, “The air was so thick with the tension not even my hunting knife would cut through it!” There were no notes, no cards, no roses and no news about Devon. Maybe Howard lost him? Maybe Howard killed him? The darker part of mind suggested these dreadful thoughts that I tried hard to abate.

The dress that Audra and I worked on was sleeveless black silk short till the knees; over the dress was a fancy lace design that provided my sleeves. She gave me ballet flats- just in case I had to run. But neither of us actually said it. I finished the outfit with my black netted gloves. I’m caught between ‘unnoticeable’ and Goth. I shrug it off and waltz downstairs where Seth gaps at me then grabs me in a passionate embrace. I won’t bore you with the details.

As soon as we got to the school we put on our masks. Mine is a black lacy pattern to match the dress and Seth’s is pure white to match his white Prince Charming suit. He looks absolutely amazing and half the girls in the school were always asking him to dance. I grumbled silently to myself when Evan told him to say yes. Apparently we were sulking around; who knew? Anywho… I had no idea what to look for since everybody’s face was hidden and there were absolutely no roses. I got frustrated. I took turns dancing with Evan and Seth but it felt weird with him.
I felt as if it were our last dance together; that he would die one way or the other trying to save me or that I would die trying to escape the crazy Howard. That reminded me of the last thing that Audra had said. She had pulled me aside to give me her silver cross and say, “Please bring my baby home.” And I swore that I would. I never broke my promises.

I was also gulping down punch like an addict so I really needed to go to the restroom.
“Evan where’s the bathroom?” I asked when he and Seth had come back from dancing with a pair of girls. I turned down a lot of offers because I didn’t feel like dancing.
“Oh no,” he chastised, “You aren’t going by yourself.”
So flanked by two bodyguards I made my way to the restroom- I was a little more than annoyed. After I did what I had to do and washed my hands; I stood in front of the mirror and breathed evenly. I took off my mask and wiped the smudged eyeliner. I tried closing my eyes to meditate but nothing eased the building tension that something bad was going to happen. When I reopened them I was just in time to see a hand with a cloth coming to my mouth.

Strong arms enveloped me and pushed the cloth over my mouth and nose as I struggled to free myself. I saw who was doing this through a haze but I didn’t recognize anything but his eyes. Square jaw, chiseled features and cleanly shaven, his only recognizable features were his eyes. This guy smiled at me outside earlier; he had removed his mask for a quick hello and then he was gone. But now I recognized his eyes. The amber eyes. It was Howard. That was my last thought as a sickly sweet smell permeated from the cloth and into my blo0odstream. I was blacking out! The room grew fuzzier and cloudy. I had to let the boys know that Howard was here but how? I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe anything but this sticky sweet stench! My mask fell to the floor as I struggled feebly in Howard’s arms.
Then my nightmare became reality when before my eyes closed I saw him drag me through the back door and into the awaiting darkness. He had won.