by Kelly Oram
Once we were all seated in the living room Angela said, “So how come you’re here? I already told the guy yesterday everything I know. And to be honest, I don’t think he believed me very much. I didn’t think he was even listening to half of what I said.”
“Because what you were saying was idiotic,” I grumbled. “I’m sorry, Officer, my sister is totally wasting your time. Seth is no more a murderer than I am.”
The stupid guy patronized me with a smile and then said to Angela, “It’s our job to follow every lead, no matter how small, Miss Westley. If you’re truly concerned, then you did the right thing by calling the police. Now, if you could just start at the beginning?”
“But how come? I told the cops everything I knew yesterday.”
“I’m from the Detroit PD. Lead investigator on the Slasher case. I have a lot more information than your local department. Might find something in your story that the Canton black and whites missed.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“So, tell me about this boy Seth.”
That stupid traitor told him everything! She told him about how the murders started right after he got here and how at first I was the one who thought he might be the killer. She told him how Seth was stalking me and how I said he’d kidnapped me. She even told him about Seth’s knife collection and his aim. Then she went into detail about his parents’ deaths and his possible personality disorder. That seemed to interest the guy a lot, and he asked me a ton of questions.
Then Angela went on to explain how we followed Seth and saw him with that secret agent-looking guy and how he went to the crime scene in Garden City. When she told him about how he was asking her all kinds of questions about Travis, this also interested the detective. “And who is Travis?”
“Just some tool I blew off.”
“He’s this senior over at Stevenson High in Livonia. He likes Ellie, too, and when he asked her out Seth got all crazy jealous.”
“He did not!” I protested. “He just didn’t like that Travis basically stalked me. Dave didn’t like Travis, either, but I didn’t see you calling the cops on him!”
“Dave didn’t break into your room and force you to be his girlfriend. Seth is a psycho and a stalker. Why can’t you see that?”
“So Seth broke into your house?” Detective Pierce asked. He was taking notes again. He was probably running out of pages in his notepad by now. “And he’s forcing you to be his girlfriend?”
“No,” I told him, and then told Angela again. “No!”
The cop waited for explanation. “All right,” I huffed. “He came in my bedroom window. Which I opened for him! And yes, he said I didn’t have a choice in being his girlfriend, but that was only because he knew I wanted to be, but I was just too nervous to say yes. He’s not a psycho. I want to un-file the complaint against him.”
The detective laughed at me like I was this silly little girl. I swear I was thisclose to going to jail for assaulting a police officer.
“I’m sorry, Ellie. It’s my job to follow up on all leads. And while the story does seem purely circumstantial, you have to admit there are a lot of similarities between this young man and the killings.”
“Well, don’t you dare put my name on that complaint with hers. I don’t want anything to do with it.”
“Don’t worry Ellie, I’m quite aware of your feelings on the matter.” The guy stopped talking then and studied me with a distant look in his eyes. “It is remarkable,” he said, almost to himself, “how much you fit the profile. You look just like one of the victims.”
“Heather Monroe,” I whispered automatically.
The temperature in the room dropped a good ten degrees. All of us shuddered.
“I can see why your sister is taking this so seriously,” Detective Pierce said of Angela, almost admiringly. Then he turned to me, his face full of concern. “I would think you’d be more worried about your safety considering the situation.”
“I am.” I couldn’t help the whine in my voice and kicked myself internally. “Just because I don’t think Seth is a freaking serial killer doesn’t mean I’m an idiot. I don’t ever leave the house alone. I don’t go anywhere near downtown, and I’m locked up tight here every weekend. My dad practically guards me with a shotgun.”
“Good girl.” Detective Pierce finally rose to his feet. “Well, thank you ladies for your time. I’ll look into this and—”
“But he didn’t do anything!”
“I promise I’ll be very discrete, Ellie, and very thorough. I won’t go pointing any fingers at anyone if I’m not absolutely one hundred percent positive with hard evidence to back me up.”
Something occurred to me then. Something horrifying. “Are you going to talk to him?” I gasped. “Are you going to tell him Angela called the cops on him?”
“Oh, no, of course not.” He paused. “I’d ask that neither of you say anything, either. If there is any truth behind this theory, we don’t want to scare him off. I’ll just look into it quietly and if I need anything else from you, I’ll let you know.
“Don’t worry, Ellie, most likely you’re right and this is all just a misunderstanding. In the mean time, though, you might want to be a little more careful. Don’t be alone with him, always carry a phone and a can of pepper spray, and keep doing what you’re doing to stay safe. We don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Angela and I both watched out the window until the police cruiser disappeared down the street. Angela moved first. “Ellie, I had to,” she said. She sounded upset, almost enough to cry. Though, what she had to be so upset about I couldn’t for the life of me understand.
I was so angry. I don’t think I’ve ever been angrier in my entire life. I was so angry that I didn’t even want to hit her. I couldn’t even look at her. I just turned from the window with shaking hands and headed for my room.
“Ellie, I know you’re mad,” Angela said, following me up the stairs. “But we have to be sure. If it’s not him, then the cops will figure that out and we won’t have to worry anymore. But if it is him… Ellie, I had to.”
She followed me all the way to my room, choking on her last words—she was going to cry. I didn’t care. She turned Seth in to the freaking cops. Accused him of murdering four girls. I slammed the door right in her face and ignored her for the next two days.
“Okay, look, if you’re going to come with me, then you have to behave yourself.”
Seth frowned as he threw his skateboard to the ground at his feet. Have I mentioned how hot it is that he skateboards? “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” I said, lacing up my skates, “that you are insanely overprotective, and hockey is a contact sport. The guys don’t hold back just because I’m a girl. If I take a hit, you are not allowed to start any trouble.”
Seth’s frown got even bigger and he waved me off like I was being ridiculous.
“You’re also the jealous type,” I continued. I laughed at the glare I got for that comment. “I’m the only girl that plays, and, most of the time, the only girl present. I get flack for this. Always. There will most likely be perverted and/or suggestive comments made at my expense, and again, you are not allowed to cause trouble.”
“Hey, if some punk hockey player gets all up on my girl, I’m not just gonna sit there and watch.”
“Seth?” I warned. “Can you handle it or not?”
“Just don’t go flirting with half the neighborhood the way you do with Holcomb, and there won’t be any problems.”
“Being within fifty feet of someone of the opposite sex does not constitute as flirting. Get over it or stay home.”
“I want to see you play, so I’m going with you. I can understand the game is hands-on, but I refuse to let a bunch of tools sexually harass my girlfriend, so I make no promises. You get over it.”
We glared at each other for a minute, but neither of us was going to back down, so eventually we just let it drop and headed to the park. I had to hold back a laugh when t
he minute we got there Dave greeted us with a big friendly grin and told me that since he and I were both going to be captains today, I’d already lost before I showed up.
I told Dave to bring it, and then turned back to Seth. “That was trash talk. Not flirting.” Seth was clearly not convinced, so I gave him my best eye roll and added, “I’m gonna go play. Have fun brooding.”
Seth grabbed my wrist as I started to take off and whirled me around so hard that I smacked into his chest. His arms snaked around my waist instantly. “Come on, Seth,” I said, fighting a shudder. There was nothing sweet or innocent about the way he held me against his body. “Not in front of the guys. Please?”
Seth glanced over my shoulder, and when I craned my neck to see if the guys were staring, Seth pulled my chin back to him. “I just want to give you a kiss for luck,” he said, and then for the next minute solid he turned the park into a place unsuitable for children under the age of thirteen.
The whistles and catcalls and rude comments from my friends all started immediately, but I just lifted a certain finger their direction and let Seth kiss me.
“You all finished marking your territory now?” I grumbled, reaching to redo the ponytail Seth had messed up.
“That depends,” he said, his arms still around my waist. “Did everyone over there get the message?”
“I think everyone in the state of Michigan got the message,” said a voice from behind us.
“Angela!” Seth said pleasantly. Too pleasantly. “This is a nice surprise. What brings you to the park this morning?”
I hadn’t spoken to my sister since that cop showed up day before yesterday, no matter how much she tried to play nice. Seth, on the other hand, seemed to be doing enough talking for the both of us.
He’d been trying desperately to make up for scaring Angela. Especially since I told him she didn’t want me to be dating him. At least, I think that’s why he’d been so overly friendly these last two days. Too bad the harder he tried to prove he was a good guy, the more it just made him look creepy.
“Just came to see what all the fuss is about,” Angela said.
She’d had this strange combination of fear and anger emanate from her whenever she’d spoken to Seth all week. You could tell she wanted to chew him the freak out, but she was too scared to do it. I remember those days. I’m glad they’re over.
“If Ellie can give a shopping spree a chance, then it’s only fair I watch one of her games.”
Bull! She saw that Seth came with me and didn’t want him to get me alone.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” Seth told my sister as he flung his arm over her shoulder. “I’m going to need someone to explain the game to me. Also, to keep me from jumping anyone that touches Ellie—she says I’m not allowed to start any trouble.”
Seth laughed at his own joke, but Angela looked a little queasy as Seth carted her off to the nearest bench.
It’s a good thing Seth and Angela were both just there to keep an eye on me and didn’t actually care to see me play, because the game was over two seconds after it started.
Travis was so the last person I’d ever expected to be playing hockey in my park-on my court-that I didn’t notice him until it was too late. Granted, when everybody was in a helmet and jersey of some sort they all looked the same, but I looked right into his eyes when we faced off and didn’t recognize him until after he illegally checked me so hard that I ate pavement. The fact that he’d intentionally nailed me right in the boob couldn’t have been more obvious.
“Oops, sorry about that.”
Ignoring the burning pain in my chest, I jumped to my feet and reached my assailant just a second before Seth did. Seth looked murderous, but no way was I going to let him steal my fight from me. I pushed him out of the way and then pushed the guy who’d hit me. “What the hell!” I screeched.
“What’s the matter, Ellie? I thought you liked to play rough.”
And that’s when I recognized him. “Travis?”
“So you blew me off for big brother, huh?” he scoffed. “No bother.” He looked pointedly at my chest and smirked. “Didn’t feel as good as I thought they would anyway. Smaller than they look.”
I hauled off and swung as hard as I could, but Travis was expecting it. He caught my punch and twisted my arm around behind my back so hard, he nearly pulled it from its socket. “So you do like to play rough,” he said, laughing, and that’s when all hell broke loose.
Seth flew at Travis and the blow freed me of Travis’s grip, but also knocked me to the ground in the process. Dave was right there to give me a hand up. He asked me if I was okay, but I wasn’t the least bit concerned with myself at the moment.
“Seth!”
Seth had moved so fast that I don’t think anybody but Travis and me knew what was going on until I yelled, “Put it away, Seth. I’m fine, all right?”
Seth held the blade of his knife against the base of Travis’s throat a second longer. “If I ever even see you again,” he said, his voice eerily controlled, “it will be reason enough for me.”
Travis’s face had gone white and the surrounding circle of guys was frozen in shock.
“Seth, calm the freak down! I’m fine.”
Slowly, I pulled Seth’s hand away from Travis and took the knife. “You see?” I asked, flipping the blade closed and waving the knife in front of Seth’s face. “This is what I meant by no causing trouble.”
Seth reached for the knife, but I snatched it away and tucked it in the front pocket of his jeans for him. I looked around at all the shocked faces of my friends. I sighed. “Come on,” I said to a still livid Seth. “Let’s go for a nice long drive or something, but not in your piece of crap Beemer.”
The crowd parted to give us an exit. Only Dave was brave enough to step forward and give Travis a hand up. “So, uh,” he said to me as he pulled Travis to his feet, “we’ll just catch you Saturday, huh?”
“Probably best,” I said, and slapped him a goodbye five. Then, since I was close enough, and Travis wasn’t expecting it, I kneed him in his boy parts hard enough to put him on the ground again. “Oops. Sorry about that. Catch you guys later,” I called out to the stunned crowd without looking back.
It took Angela a minute to work up the guts to chase after us. “Wait! Ellie! Where do you think you’re going?”
“To blow off some steam,” I said. “With Seth. And without you.”
I was surprised when Angela had the nerve to step in front of my path. “I don’t think so. He just pulled a knife on somebody.”
“He was defending me. Travis almost broke my arm.”
“I don’t care, you’re not going anywhere with him.”
Seth’s face flushed with anger again. He started to say something, but couldn’t get a word in before I shouted, “Why don’t you go call the cops, then!”
Her face suddenly dropped.
Almost as if my words had willed it to happen, two cop cars came screeching around the corner. I couldn’t believe it. As I stood there, stunned, Angela held up the cell phone I’d left with my other stuff on the picnic table. “I already did,” she whispered.
Seth and I looked at each other, and the hurt in his expression was enough to make me hate my sister forever. She knew it, too. She could see it in my eyes. “Ellie, he had a knife to Travis’s throat. I was just being responsible.” She looked at Seth, who was still so surprised, he couldn’t say anything. “I’m sorry, Seth. But don’t tell me you’re not capable of using it. What was I supposed to do?”
We looked behind us. The cops were already talking to all the guys. A couple of them were pointing our direction. I laced my fingers in Seth’s and sighed. “Come on, then.”
In the end, my sister got me arrested. The police took a statement from everyone at the park, and then hauled Travis, Me, and Seth down to the police station.
After hearing the whole story, the police asked if I wanted to press assault charges—either physical or sexual—against Travis. The
guy is a jerk, but that kind of goes against the code of schoolyard puck. Not to mention, if I did he’d just press charges against me—either physical or sexual—for nearly retracting one of his testicles. That would open the floodgates for a million other people to press charges against me. Kowalski could probably have me thrown in jail for twenty-to-life, as many times as I’ve hit him.
When I didn’t press charges Seth got pissed at me and we started arguing. Then Travis said something way uncalled for about my “easy nature”, and I flew at him. The cops had me in cuffs nearly as fast as Seth had Travis at knifepoint earlier.
Travis and I were given a stern warning and told that if we were caught fighting again we’d be booked for disorderly conduct and kept overnight. But because of the whole threat-with-a-deadly-weapon thing, poor Seth got charged with a misdemeanor and released on bail to his aunt. We were all threatened with court-ordered anger management.
After that I was pretty sure that any relationship between Seth and I was going to go down Romeo and Juliette style. You know, forbidden. Then I saw the look on my father’s face when he came to the police station to pick me up and my suspicions were confirmed. He was pissed.
“I can’t believe my dad let me come over tonight. Even if it is just across the street, it’s still Saturday.”
I was draped on my stomach across my beanbag, becoming more and more envious of Seth’s gaming chair by the minute. Since we weren’t allowed to go out on any kind of real date tonight, Seth demanded I come over and play some “real” video games. He supplied these “real” games and I supplied the Dr. Pepper and Twizzlers.
“I can’t believe he let you come over at all. I was sure your parents were never going to let me see you again after the other day.”
“At first they weren’t going to. Dude, I’ve never seen my dad so mad. Of course, all Angela told him before he came to get me was that I got in a fight and you pulled a knife on someone and threatened to kill him.”
“Like I said. I can’t believe he let you come over tonight.”
