Sinister

by Sherell Cummings

  “Fine,” I whispered between my teeth. “What am I supposed to do?”

  “Well if you hadn’t wasted so much time arguing with me, we could have been out of here by now,” he whispered back pulling a gun from the back of his pants and checking the bullets before another knock sounded.

  I gaped at the gun then at him.

  “What? I know you shot two guys before, so don’t act so shocked to see it.”

  My mouth hung open. “How the hell do you know that?”

  He smirked tucking it back in his pants. “I have my ways. Now go into the bathroom.”

  “Are you going to kill him?”

  “And what if I am? You still got feelings? Oh my brother is going to love this.” He shoved me in the direction of the bathroom door.

  I stumbled scowling but continued to the bathroom, stepping inside but leaving the door ajar. Turning the lights off, I stood at an angle where I couldn’t be seen but could clearly see Nathan as he opened the door. Christopher had some nerve coming and how he even knew I was here, meant he had been stalking me this entire time. I didn’t get what he didn’t understand about us being over. It had been six years shouldn’t he have moved on by now? Fuck this was crazy. How the hell did he even know my room number? “What the fuck are you doing here?” asked Christopher as he stood glaring at Nathan through the open door.

  Nathan, with his hand holding the door open, said, “That’s for me to know. The question is what are you doing here?”

  “I’m here to see Izzy.”

  “Well Izzy isn’t here. You’ve got the wrong room buddy. So I suggest you leave.”

  “I’m not going until I see Izzy. I know this is her room and I know she’s here. After all you were the one that told me she was.” My insides churned and I clutched the bathroom sink, dry heaving twice. Without thinking I stood straight and marched out of that room. Christopher saw me coming, his face lit up like a Christmas tree upon my approach as Nathan’s back was still turned.

  “You lying son of a bitch,” I cursed at Nathan who had a what-the-hell look on his face before it hardened. “You told him I was here?”

  “I told you to stay in the fucking bathroom.”

  “Yeah, well you also said you had no idea why he was here.”

  “And I don’t.”

  “You told him I was here,” I yelled.

  “Izzy—” cuts Christopher.

  I turned my gaze to him and his stretched out grin. “I’ll get to you in a minute.” Turning back to Nathan I yelled, “You told me I could trust you and then you go and do this.”

  “Yes I told him you were in Brazil, so what? I told you to stay in the fucking bathroom, Izzy.”

  “Yeah well I only listen to people I can trust and clearly I can’t trust you.” I grabbed my jacket off the chair and walked to the door grabbing Christopher’s hand. “You can do whatever the hell you want, just don’t be here when I get back,” I said to Nathan over my shoulder as I followed Christopher down the hall toward the elevator.

  “Izzy,” he yelled. I heard his footsteps getting closer as the doors opened and we stepped inside. I repeatedly pressed the button for the lobby and it started closing when he appeared, only it was too late. With the doors shut I covered my face with my hands before pressing against the cold back wall. This was a nightmare and it didn’t matter how many times I hit the back of my head on this wall, it didn’t look like I was going to wake up anytime soon.

  I peeled my hands away from my eyes and looked up at my high school boyfriend, turned stalker and I had no idea how I got here. “Why are you here?” I mumbled with a bored expression.

  He leaned against the opposite wall looking contrite. “Isn’t it obvious?”

  “No it's not. I was in Brazil and now you’re in Brazil with me. Why?”

  “I figured you were in some kind of trouble, so I came to make sure you were okay.”

  “To Brazil?”

  “I have money now, I can afford the ticket.” He smirked in that boyish way he used to that would make my heart do summersaults. It wasn't doing summersaults now.

  “Yeah I can see that.” I huffed a laugh as I eyed his expensive clothes. This was so ridiculous it was laughable. Of all the people I didn’t expect to see. I mean I didn’t expect Praxton either, but he was here too. Did everyone I know from Brookdale suddenly feel the need for sea and sand? “You know you didn’t have to come here— I’m okay.”

  “I know, but I had to be sure.” He pushed off the wall coming forward and pressing the stop button on the elevator, leaving us hovering on the thirtieth floor. “Look, Izzy I meant what I said the last time we spoke. I still love you—”

  “Christopher—”

  “No just listen to me you don’t understand. That entire night was a lie.”

  I started shaking my head. “What?”

  He came forward with urgency pinning me against the wall. “I know what happened.”

  “So do I Praxton told me—”

  “That lying peace of shit is the reason we broke up.”

  “Yeah because you fucked him,” I said narrowing my eyes.

  He shook his head. “And that’s just it, Izzy. I never slept with him. I told you I never slept with him. The son of a bitch lied. He admitted it.”

  I placed my hands out in front of me because I was feeling a bit claustrophobic. “He admitted what?” I asked in a calm voice.

  “That night after you left us, and he agreed to make sure I got home safe, he drugged me. Slipped something in my drink that knocked me out, I couldn’t remember it but as I listened to him admit what he’d done, it started coming back to me. I was already to drunk and whatever he gave me completely wiped my memory, but I remember now.

  “He took me back to his apartment, put me in his bed and stripped me down and then crawled in naked next to me. I don’t know if he did anything because I didn’t feel any different and he said he didn’t. He wanted it to look like we had so when you showed up, that’s what you saw. He knew you’d believe him if he spun the story to make me look like the bad guy, but Iz, it was all him.”

  I was staring at him lost in thought, completely unsure if I should believe this or not. Christopher was the stalker here and Praxton was my best friend, he would never do—he would never try— “Why would he do that?” I blinked at him.

  “Think about it, Iz. When we got together who were you spending a lot of time with? Who hated me for no reason and was constantly trying to convince you that I was a bad guy?” Prax did hate Chris from the moment we met, and I never truly understood why. Christopher was the perfect boyfriend and still Prax would try to make it seem like he was using me. “He was jealous of us, Iz. He wanted us to break up so he could have you to himself. And that’s exactly what he did.”

  “This is crazy.”

  He reached for my hand. “It’s not and you know it. I loved you. I would have never cheated on you and with a man no less. I’m not even gay,” he yelled. Yeah that was the part of this whole thing that I didn’t get, or it was the part that got me the most pissed off. I understood cheating with a woman, but when I found Chris and Prax together I couldn’t think straight. I thought he had been playing me throughout our entire relationship, and he was after my best friend. When Prax told me that he'd been coming on to him behind my back, I knew our relationship was a lie. I had no reason not to believe Praxton.

  “I can’t believe he would do that,” I gaped before looking at Christopher remorsefully. “Chris—I’m sorry I didn’t believe you before, he made it seem—”

  “I know, he was your best friend for way longer than you knew me.”

  “But that’s no excuse. I should have listened to you, I didn’t even give you a chance to explain.”

  “Iz it's okay.” We both jumped as the elevator started rolling again. Someone must have noticed it was stuck for almost twenty minutes. He faced me with a grin on his face. “Guess we're being rescued.”

  I smiled. “Guess so.” The door
dinged then opened with a few people including the front desk guy and a guy in a maintenance shirt, who started asking if we were okay. I smiled and nodded explaining that it was probably a glitch as Christopher took my hand and started pulling me out of the crowd.

  We stopped just beyond the exit doors when he looked at me with a grin. “I’m happy you’re coming with me and we could finally be together again.” Wait what? He started pulling me out of the hotel and I stumbled to catch my footing at the speed in which he was walking. Outside was still very lively and bustling with people and music, as we weaved in and out of the crowds. What the hell was happening right now?

  “Chris wait, I-I don’t think—”

  “Come on my car is this way.” He was walking so fast I barely noticed my own feet moving. I tried tugging my hand from his but he was holding it so tight and moving with such intent that I was beginning to panic, seeing no escape. His car was parked about a block from the hotel on a small side street that was lit up by two street lights but was oddly vacant, since we passed a lot of people on the way there.

  Finally letting my hand go to retrieve his keys, I took a step back, my eyes searching for a quick way out. “Chris where are we going?”

  He didn’t look up, still trying to locate the keys, which he soon pulled from his pocket and opened the door. “What do you mean? I’m taking you to our home.”

  My eyes popped. “Our home? Chris, I don’t live with you.”

  “Yes but now that we’ve fixed us, we can finally get married and get a house together. Everything would be as it should be.”

  I took another step back when he lifted his head with a creepy smile on his face. I may have made the wrong choice in coming out here with him because suddenly I got the feeling that I had no idea who was standing in front of me. “No everything’s not. Chris I’m with someone.”

  His eyes got dark as they narrowed, and he dropped his hands from the door. “Who? That fucking liar back at the hotel?”

  “No—Look it doesn’t matter.” I moved my hands between us. “We are not getting back together.”

  “I thought we fixed this?” He slammed the car door. “You know what Praxton did, how he broke us up. You believe I’m telling the truth now, that I still love you. Why would we not be together?”

  “Chris that was six years ago. You can’t seriously believe that there could still be something between us.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’ve moved on—”

  “This is—” He paused turning to press both hands against the top of the car while he took a deep breath. “This is fucking bullshit,” he yelled, aggressively hitting the car hard enough to cause serious damage to his hand, but I doubted he felt a thing.

  Facing me while running his hand through his hair roughly, his wild eyes fixated on me. My mouth snapped shut. “I fucking love you, Iz.” He stepped toward me. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for you? How long I kept putting up with your bullshit games, as I sat back and let you fuck whoever you wanted. You have no idea of the things I’ve done for you. I’ve killed for you and you stand there acting like you could give a shit about me.”

  “What did you just say?” I mumbled baffled by that entire statement, but more specifically about one single part.

  He paused gazing at me with slow intent. “Which part?”

  “Who did you kill?” I said slowly taking another step back.

  He blinked a few times, head tipping as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Why does it matter?”

  “It matters to me. Who did you kill?”

  “Come with me, Iz,” he said ignoring my question, while placing his hand out for mine. I stared at that hand remembering how comforting it felt the moment I touched it. It was my go-to hand whenever we were together. It was the hand he would use to tickle that spot under my ribs. The hand he would use to tuck my fallen hair behind my ear and he would always smile and say the right thing at the right time and I would wonder if we would always be this perfect. Now I knew we were never perfect. I was just a stupid kid in love with a boy I knew nothing about.

  My body shook with fear and I blinked hard trying to keep my composure. I wanted to run but I knew if I did I may never know the truth. “I’m not going anywhere with you, not until you tell me who you killed.”

  He laughed, his carefree boyish demeanour started showing and all I wanted to do was rip that stupid smile off his face. He shrugged staring at me condescendingly. “What?—It’s not like she was the best mother anyway.” I closed my eyes listening to my breaths as they became tiny gasps of air. “She treated you like garbage, Iz. Always shooting up and getting high, forgetting to pay the bills and buy food. Leaving you and your brother to work and clean up after her mess. She was going to die anyway— I just sped up the inevitable.”

  I gasped, tears filling my eyes, unable to blink as I watched him with pure disgust. He wasn’t the boy I knew. I wasn’t sure who he was anymore. Music started coming from somewhere in his direction and he stilled. I finally blinked. It was a familiar song, one I had heard recently somewhere. The song stopped and a few seconds later it started up again and that was when I remembered. I sucked in a breath wiping the tears from my eyes. “You a big fan of Beyoncé now?”

  “Come with me Izzy.”

  “Have you lost your fucking mind,” I yelled. “You killed my mother. You stole Praxton’s phone, that was you I texted earlier wasn’t it?”

  He took three quick steps forward and I was too afraid to move. My body shivered at his sudden closeness. “Izzy please just listen—”

  “No,” I cut in looking up at his face with my hands up in defence. “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you or who the hell you are but this-this I can’t—”

  “Izabella.” Turning my head to the sound of my name, I saw Nathan standing at the top of the street with a menacing scowl on his face. His gun was in his left hand pointing to the ground while he slowly walked toward us.

  I breathed a sigh of relief eager to get away from Chris, but I knew he wasn’t so eager to let me go. I felt it in my bones with the way he was clutching my arm, and when I turned to look at him, his eyes narrowed into a sinister glare that was directed at Nathan. “You are not leaving me again,” he said between clenched teeth.

  “Chris—” I swallowed trying to pull my arm from his. “Please.”

  “Izzy get away from him,” shouted Nathan as he got closer. Looking down between me and Chris I noticed the silver of the gun between his fingers as it moved with precision, and before I could warn Nathan, a shot rung out.

  My head snapped over my shoulder as Nathan’s body hit the ground unmoving with a loud echoing thud. The scream that escaped me was cut off by Christopher’s hand pulling me toward the car, before I was quickly shoved inside.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Justine

  I’d been on edge the last two days and sleeping next to Nicolae wasn’t helping my anxiety. He slept like a stone on his side as I lay awake staring at the ceiling, contemplating my next move. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew something was coming. You didn’t become an FBI agent without developing some instincts. Mine weren’t as seasoned as the older heads, but they were reliable enough to help me understand a situation.

  After the fiasco at dinner two nights ago signals started going off everywhere. I knew Nicolae knew something, but I wasn’t sure what, and he was so tight-lipped moving around with a pep in his step and a smile that sent chills up my spine. I stayed clear of Andrea since then. Too afraid of being seen or adding more arsenal to Nicolae’s flames, because if he hadn’t put two and two together already, he might as well have with the way Andrea and I stared at each other.

  Andrea wasn’t happy about seeing me ignore him at every encounter, but I didn’t see any other way since Nicolae hadn’t left the house in two days. I think he was testing us. Trying to see if he would catch us in a compromising position to confirm his suspicions, because I bet that was all he had.<
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  I turned toward the side table to reach for my phone only to remember it wasn’t there. I hadn’t seen it in days, looked everywhere but it was gone. Someone had taken it and although it was locked, I knew the possibility of it staying that way was slim when dealing with a psychopath like Nicolae. The information on it was useless and wouldn’t lead to anything incriminating considering I deleted as quickly as I typed or dialled.

  Turning my head toward Nicolae I sighed feeling agitated, so very quietly I turned lifting off my pillow and placing my feet on the carpeted floor. I stood, grabbing my silk robe off the nearby chair and slipped it on as I escaped the dark room into the dimly lit hall. I took the west wing stairs down into the kitchen and flicked on the lights as I entered.

  As tonight’s dinner got nearer the kitchen counters were ladened with freshly polished glassware and utensils, as the fridge was heavily drowning in pre-prepped food. I had no idea how many people were invited to this thing or what it was for, but by the looks of things I was in for another three-hour dinner with a set of dangerous men and their annoying wives who didn’t eat anything over one hundred calories.

  Grabbing a slice of cheesecake from the fridge, I shut the door and took a seat on the island as I paused at the sound of a door closing. From this angle I could only see part of the sitting room off the right and a hallway off the left, so I wasn’t sure where it came from. I sat with my fork hovering mid-air, staring at the stove wondering who had entered or left the house. Within minutes of silence I knew exactly who it was when I felt a prickle on my neck and a familiar hum inside my body the moment he entered my space. “I’ve been avoiding you for a reason,” I whispered placing the fork full of cheesecake in my mouth while glancing at him over my right shoulder.