“Come on guys. We have to search cautiously.” Landon ordered lifting a heavy hand. His right foot gave the first step almost dragging the boot sole through the floor.
Kevin smiled idly. Luke did the same but, unlike he would do some other time, he didn’t make any joke; he just moved his heavy legs and swayed the huge belly that was being held prisoner under his belt.
“Where is she exactly, Sir?” Jacob asked with a felt hat on his head.
Landon took a hand to his brown shirt’s pocket and his finger found several toothpicks, sharp like needles. One of them poked his index fingertip and he slightly wrinkled his face with concern that caused the pain. He gathered the toothpick and took it straight to his mouth.
“The girl said she was approximately halfway on the road that surrounds Lake Hill, to the east. She said there was an esplanade covered in flowers as if someone had spread a carpet. You will be able to find it because she said there was a huge rock right next to it. It’s near the shore but she didn’t say she had drawn an X in the specific place. So, let’s look for it, guys.” Landon broke the toothpick and had to get another one.
Luke smiled scornfully showing his ugly teeth. He then started walking along with the rest of his co-workers, piercing the path towards the end. The tiny stones ground under his boots and its toe kicked the flowers to keep them out of the way. The lights and the sound of the roaring engines had been left behind now. The path showed a curve and all of a sudden, they stopped seeing trees. When they were walking back in a straight line, the forest made its magnificent reappearance. The water was still, just like a huge oil stain, was on their left and contemplated them as if it were the reflection of a huge crystal ball. Landon was leading the way despite the fact that Luke was the one who started walking in the first place. The boss, however, passed by him as he glanced at him from the corner of his eye with a furious look. They marched in a single file and they were only missing long sticks to use as canes to look like perfect campers. The travel, though, wasn’t precisely an excursion. During the entire walk, they had been in complete silence, except for Luke who by the end of the walk broke the silent spell. They were almost not breathing, as if filing through quarry in the hill. The dust clouds were left behind and with them the bustle of their boots soles.
“We must be getting closer,” Landon said without stopping. “I don’t see the exact place, but we must be near.”
“Could it be that you might be confused, boss?” Kevin inquired while he scratched his ass.
“If so, then we will have to work harder,” Landon replied with the toothpick between his teeth. His sunglasses shone for the thousandth time that morning.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the almost exact place they were looking for, but they didn’t know where to look at. There were two ways in front of them full of grass so tall that it looked like a cornfield. Colorful flowers spat into the air sweet fragrances and the diversity in their colors made the place look chaotic and messy.
“Now what?” Luke asked as he stopped. His belly moved like a sack full of water. He was sweating disgustingly.
Landon looked at him from behind his glasses. At that point, it was impossible to tell if he was even winking.
“Well, we’ll have to divide into two groups, moron.”
Kevin was about to burst into laughter, but he refrained. He used the Sheriff’s back as a shield.
Jacob briefly looked at him. His emerging bald head was now like a light bulb on. The sun was starting to get hotter than during any other spring, it was meant to be a really hot season of the year. He clenched his teeth and swallowed the words and saliva, a ball that wouldn’t pass through his gullet. He didn’t hate him, he was just disgusted by him.
“Boss, how do we split?” Kevin had asked that stupid question and he realized about it given the unusual shine in his eyes. He looked like a child rubbing his hands
“Easy, three will go one way and three the other way. Is it so difficult to understand?”
Luke opened his lips in a sudden smile, just like a dog, except that he didn’t take his pink tongue out.
“Sorry boss, but, who’s in each group?”
Landon took his nails to his neck and pressed with violence against his nape while at the same time he thought ‘this guy’s an asshole’.
“How about me, you and Jacob while the rest goes the other way?” Landon was still waiting for the dumbest answer, but Kevin chose not to speak. Deep down, he realized he had made a fool of himself and how his co-workers noticed it. Yet, he was the Sheriff’s assistant and that’s why he was still showing off
51
The clock marked nine thirty-five. Grayson would be waiting in his office, but Andrew was literally grabbing his vehicle’s wheel, just like someone who grabs the handrail of the stairs. Clarice was sitting in the passenger’s seat in complete silence while at the same time, the engine, purring as if steaming, made a vague background noise softened by a thick wall. The girl observed the landscape while at the same time she was thinking she had left her car, a caravan, illegally parked in front of the precinct. She thought she might get a ticket or, even worse, that it would be towed. Curiously, the shock she suffered was now a vague memory from the past accompanied by a cynical smile.
As the sun rays licked the Ford’s body, Andrew stepped on the accelerator but without going faster than 49 mph. The trees were mere shadows that could be seen from the window panes and, even though they were tall like five-story buildings, there was not even a bit of shade on the pavement.
They headed to Lake Hill Lake in complete silence.
Clarice had stopped shaking.
52
It wasn’t Sheriff Landon who found Madelyne’s body lying face up, it was Owen. The agent who was normal and didn’t stand out among the rest of his partners. He was brunette, with an average height, dark eyes, and a normal, expressionless face. Above all, he was compassionate.
His finger pointed at her from 6.5 feet away.
The tall green grass prevented them from seeing her head but her endless legs were almost caressing the lakeshore. In fact, her feet were in the water up to her ankles. He saw that clearly. The rock, almost completely hidden as well, was the size of a motorbike. The murderer had dragged her towards the shore after crashing her against the rock. Owen knew the details that the girl, who they didn’t name, had given them. To him, not giving the girl a name was an unforgivable and colossal mistake.
“There she is! Behind the grass!” The agent exclaimed with his finger still pointing at the place. His finger was starting to shake since his pulse was subtly increasing. Even though it was normal, adrenaline ran through his veins, though not as much as he would have liked.
Luke looked up and focused his sight, that’s when he saw her, but from his angle, he was able to see her head and something else that was different from the rest of the scene. It was a color that stood out from the rest and contrasted with the colorful flowers that were striving to come up from the ground to catch the beams of sunlight with their petals. It was something blue.
53
It was as if the tires were tired of rolling and stopped almost dragging themselves on the ground, right at the entrance of Lake Hill Lake. Andrew had just turned off the ignition and the engine complained like a beast before falling silent. The girl was still expressionless, and her hands crossed. Andrew observed she was playing with her fingers, interlacing them.
With his sweaty forehead, Andrew silently looked at her and asked:
“Could you please show me where that poor woman is?”
She tilted her head and her greenish eyes were still wet and exuded both fear and sadness, maybe even insecurity. Andrew felt compassion for her. The dress was still tainted with the blood that now was dark like chocolate.
“By all means, Sir.” She replied with a sweet voice, almost whispering.
“Don’t call me ‘Sir’, Clarice. My name is Andrew. Don’t call me detective either.” He was a step ahead
of the events. “Now, let’s go and see what we find.”
Andrew’s left-hand chubby fingers opened the door. The rusty hinges magically squeaked before he set his left foot on the ground.
As for Clarice, she did the same thing with her long thin fingers pushing the door with her shoulder and, in this case, the door creaked louder. It was worse than stepping on a cat’s tail. She cautiously closed the door behind her, choking the sound of the door slamming, unlike Andrew, who had kicked it making it echo like a firecracker. She was standing right in the place that she didn’t want to remember. Her heart was pounding.
Clarice suddenly opened her eyes.
“Damn heat. We’ve had a warm fall, a warm winter; way hotter than I would have liked and now this spring feels just like summer. Damn it.” Andrew barked while his eyes, wrinkly as an anus, tried, without knowing why, to locate the sun.
Clarice was speechless. She stood still, right next to the car. She looked like a little girl waiting for her father to pick her up. Time seemed like an eternity and, as she remembered that she had left her caravan in front of the precinct, she put her index finger up in the air and said something:
“That way.”
Andrew turned around frowning. However, it was as if he had seen a star shining among the petals. He remembered the petals, yes. Those damn petals that had once covered Ava Cox’s naked body. He stood in awe remembering that the image he had seen early that morning had the same darned petals as if a manic had been pulling the petals off a bunch of daisies, sitting on a dry log. He bordered the vehicle and got close to Clarice dragging the tail of his trench coat. His back was wet and became fatigued as he walked. A snort gave him away.
“Yes, I see it. Looks like quite a fair. I never liked to get everyone’s attention with those stupid lights.” He pointed at the police cars that were still slightly shining on the floor and the trees that showed the beginning of the path that bordered the lake. The grass, tall like them, was getting blue and red as it caught the glimmer of the patrols.
Andrew hadn’t realized about the police cars until he was 6.5 feet away from them. He had been absorbed by a new vision that would become real almost at once. He had seen Landon trying to open those poor devil’s eyes.
Clarice said something; it was as if a cat got her tongue. She was a completely unknown person since she had entered the precinct moving her hands in a wild gesticulation and yelling like a lunatic. That, however, was something that Andrew hadn’t seen.
“It’s pretty near here, 160 feet away. I had my caravan parked her and I can’t recall why, but I headed to the end of the path, to the right, when I saw the man who attacked me.”
“You saw him, and he attacked you.” Andrew corrected her while at the same time he looked for his handkerchief in his pockets. He couldn’t find it and that’s when he remembered that Clarice had left it on the Sheriff’s office chair. Was it really like that? He shook his head as if saying no. “I’m sweating like a pig.”
“You’re wearing a lot of clothes, Sir.”
“Don’t ‘Sir’ me. Call me Andrew.” Andrew slid his right hand over his forehead while he was getting closer to the beginning of the path that looked like a tunnel with so much flora.
“Okay, Andrew,” Clarice said raising her voice. It was as if little by little she was losing fear, despite the fact that her heart insisted on pumping blood faster than ever. Deep down, she felt protected by Andrew and the Sheriff who would probably be next to the woman’s body or otherwise walking aimlessly among the inscrutable paths that go around the lake.
“How do you know that the woman is dead?” Andrew asked all of a sudden. Almost instantly he realized he had said something stupid. He was getting older, he thought. He was about to move his hand towards Clarice’s shoulder to tell her ‘don’t answer, it’s a dumb question, I was just trying to keep a conversation’, but he refrained.
“Because the woman was not moving. I didn’t get to see her eyes but, when he let her fall to the ground, she didn’t move. I remember that perfectly.”
Clarice was becoming more confident. Now she was starting to talk like a parrot. That was a huge step.
Now they were both three feet away from each other walking down the path, creating tiny clouds of with their shoes. The smell of grass, trees, and dozens of flowers filled their lungs; making them feel an absolutely scary pleasure.
“Oh, okay.” Andrew had a late reaction but just like him and his father used to say, ‘A happy outcome is worth waiting for’.
They continued their way until they heard some voices in the distance, like a murmur, which came from the end of the path. It was Landon and his men that seemed to be talking all at once.
54
The five women had their makeup perfectly done, courtesy of the twisted mind’s obsession. They were discussing the absence of their two partners, Ava y Madelyne. After all, they had spent four years in captivity and they devoted their body and soul to each other in order to become friends. They realized they had to talk to each other because, in the end, it had helped them survive with their mind slightly fresh and without ending up insane. Experts say that if you don’t speak for several years you can even mispronounce words. Plus, being alone is a locked room can gradually wrap you in a dense cloud of madness that can even make you lose track of space and time.
Luckily, this was not this case. The sicko hadn’t returned yet from his daily shopping routine. He looked after them with a certain delicacy, as if they were works of art in a museum. In his way of looking, however, you could see his fury and even a good deal of jealousy.
In the end, they had been kidnapped for a reason.
Hannah, Emily, Zoe, Kylie, and Audrey were sitting on one of their beds. The mattress yielded from time to time.
“After so much time in captivity, yet together, I find it hard not to be with Ava and Madelyn,” Hannah said. Her eyes were now expressionless and radiated concern. It’s not that she has been happily jumping ever since she was kidnapped, but she had been treated well, just like the others. That, however, doesn’t mean that she had smiled even once during the last four years. Hannah was tall, slim and with blond hair, so long that it could almost touch her ass. She was wearing a white nightgown which could slightly reveal her breasts. All of them were wearing one like that.
“It’s hard to understand this situation.” Emily urged while her fingers were tangling her brunette, curly hair. “I still don’t understand why he’s keeping us here. I admit that I don’t feel the same fear and terror I felt the first day when I thought he’d kill me. I just can’t stop feeling a subtle fear and uncertainty.”
Zoe looked out of the corner of her eye, she had her back towards her. She was thinner, but just a bit. The sicko had picked them with similar characteristics. One of them had to be equal to all of them, quite a complicated definition, though. However, these were the words of this bastard.
“Now, my concern is where Ava and Madelyne could be,” Zoe complained. Her face was full of freckles that were perfectly camouflaged under the makeup that the sicko had chosen for her. Her hair was ginger, and her lips had a gaudy red on them. “He had never split us.” She wrinkled her lips in disgust and felt the urge to point at the rusty iron door, or maybe to point at the wall where they could hear that damn song like a whisper. It had been several hours since they hadn’t heard it, ever since the stereo had broken.
“I don’t know how long ago, maybe several years back, he brought us here, one by one in about a week. We were so scared would swallow our tears and snots. I remember having my throat sore from crying so much. Now, I don’t know how long it’s been since we don’t have a clock, but we’re here talking like a group of friends who have many stories to tell. This is ridiculous.” Kylie explained. She was sixth in the kidnapper’s list and she had spent an entire month bellowing like a goat. She was the third one with blonde hair. It was silky and straight. The sicko did a really arduous work on her hair.
“Haven’t y
ou realized about something?” Audrey inquired. She was the other brunette of the group, slim and with the thinnest and longest fingers in the world.
A commotion of slightly dilated eyes examined each face around them. Hannah had shrugged her shoulders under the mean light. There were two light bulbs in that damp room.
“I don’t understand,” Emily said with her eyes open, wider than the rest. The mattress yielded from time to time as they involuntarily moved. They were sitting with their hands on it pierced the soft and fluffy surface.
Once again, the eyes full of concern started dancing.
“We’ve never had to fight with that person!” Audrey suddenly exclaimed almost sketching a smile, as if guessing the answer to a game.
“Bingo!” Audrey said pointing at her with her index finger and thumb up.
Hannah nodded now.
“Maybe because he never hurt us?” Kylie asked while shaking her head like a rubber toy.
There was silence for a moment which was interrupted by the creaking of the mattress.
“I can’t really find a reason why he would make us go through all this,” Zoe said slightly confused.
“I don’t know that either,” Hannah replied.
Their sad eyes met again like inquisitive swords. In the silence of the room you could hear their neck vertebrae creaking and if you listened closely, you could almost perceive the buzzing sound coming from the tungsten light bulbs.
“It is the makeup that makes him look more awful and depraved. Anyone could figure out what his mind is hiding. Yes, he looks after us, but he’s obsessed with beauty.” Audrey thought out loud.
“That can be the worst of it all,” Zoe admitted as the mattress creaked again.
“For some reason he kidnapped us,” Kylie added while frowning. In fact, she didn’t know what else to say. She had run out of resources and her mind was a huge ball spinning in circles without finding the end.
Eyes that do not Open Page 11
