Psycho Sitter: Mystery/Thriller

by Alexandria Ayers

  “Baby, wake up. It’s me, Hunter,” I cooed in her ear, brushing away the hair from her face.

  She stirred, lightly mumbling some words I couldn’t quite figure out.

  “Well, well. If it isn’t Hunter Stiles himself.”

  I glared at Zach as he smirked down at Cassie. “What the hell did you do?” I yelled, gesturing to her naked body. I knew what he did to my Cassandra, but I just couldn’t believe it.

  “What the hell do you think I did?” He laughed.

  My teeth clenched at his words. I couldn’t believe this.

  “I might have let you join if I knew you were in town.”

  He was sick, just plain sick in the head. “You’re disgusting.” I spat.

  “And you aren’t? The whole reason behind bringing the girls to the warehouse was to do this! And you were the main man, you brought in the most girls.”

  I felt sick at the horrible memory. “That was over six years ago, Zach. I’ve changed! I went to jail and guess what? It changed me! Maybe you should try it!” I fired back while moving closer to him.

  “I would rather die than rot away in prison.” He stepped even closer to me, I held the gun tightly. “And if I were in jail, I wouldn’t have been able to do her.” He pointed to my not-so-innocent Cass.

  “You’re disgusting!” I yelled at his cocky grin and push him back.

  He stepped forward, recovering quickly from the shove, and started swinging punches at me. One second I had him pinned down, the next he had me. We went on like this for five minutes or more before I had him back down on the ground with the gun pointed right in the middle of his forehead.

  “Do it, Hunter. I dare you,” he tells me, the grin never leaving his face. “Do it, prove to the world that deep down you never changed. Not one bit.”

  My hands shake as my finger set on the trigger.

  “I’m a dead man anyway.”

  Sirens filled the air.

  ***

  I glanced back over to the doorway where Ben stood with wide eyes. Before I knew what was happening, Zach had grabbed the gun from my hands, but he didn’t have the gun pointed towards me.

  The shot fired, and I jump back from the sound. When I looked over my shoulder, Zach lay lifeless on the ground. I was beyond shocked, I couldn’t believe he did that, but I didn’t really feel bad. I’m glad he’s dead. Bad as that sounds, but he hurt my Cassandra.

  At just the mention of her name, I jolted up from my spot on the ground and run over to her. I searched for the keys to the cuffs and found them laying on the dresser. I quickly unlocked them and held her tightly in my arms.

  “Baby, wake up.” I sat down on the ground, moving the hair away from her pale face and made sure to keep the jacket covering her. I knew she would kill me if she knew I had saw her naked, but that’s not important right now.

  “Open your eyes, let me see them,” I began to tear up from her not responding. What the heck did Zach do to her? Did he drug her? I pushed the thought away and rest my head on her neck, placing small kisses all around the skin.

  I felt like a sap. I knew she’d wake up, but I needed to hear her voice now and see her green eyes get lost in mine. I need her, I truly do love her.

  Right when I was beginning to give up on her, her lips parted and her eyes opened. The first words that slipped from her pink lips being, “Where’s Ben?”

  Epilogue

  Cassandra

  Eleven months. That’s how long it had been since the incident with Zach. Eleven months since the last time mine and my brother’s life was threatened. Eleven months since the day I saw Hunter Stiles. It took almost a year for me to realize how naïve I was for ever believing that somewhere in my heart, I held feelings for the man who kidnapped me and my brother.

  Did you know he shot my little brother’s leg and endangered my life countless times? I do admit that my thoughts and actions were foolish, but I was young and scared. What could I have done? I felt like I’d grown up too fast. I probably have. I looked into my eyes and felt as if I’d aged a hundred years in such a short time.

  I really was slowly ruining my life with every feeling I gained for that man, and I knew it. Somewhere in my mind, I knew I was. I’m only human, and humans are so delicate and fragile. One jump, we die. One step too far, we die. One single bullet, and we die. Just like that. Yet, I pretended to be blind to the wrecking ball heading straight for my life.

  Zach and Hunter, they both ruined and changed my life in a way I couldn’t bear to think about. I lost my friends, my family, and my job. Because of them, my work found out about my little date with Lee. And before I knew, it was Hunter who was the reason for all of this. I got fired. I guess I failed to remember the policy about dating your patient. It was strictly against the rules, forbidden and no exceptions. But the more something is forbidden, the more we want it.

  My family, well I didn’t really lost them, but I sure don’t get many phone calls from them. There’s only few every now and again, but honestly, I don’t blame them. I don’t blame them for not inviting me for thanksgiving, no. I don’t blame them for anything. I get that they don’t want to bring up bad memories, especially when I am the worst memory of them all. Nobody even knows where to start a conversation with me. They’re too afraid they’ll set me off. Something that has happened one too many times. I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t bother me much. But it’s true that I don’t really know what to feel.

  My mother still calls to check up on me every couple of weeks, and Ben sends me a text, saying how he wished I would move back home; but I’d already explained to them that the seventeen-year-old girl they knew was long gone. And she isn’t coming back. I couldn’t live there. Too many bad memories, even though I am a bad memory myself. But it would more bad memories colliding together well. I didn’t want to feel more pain than I’d experienced already. I needed to start a new life and make new memories. Memories that would hopefully overthrow the old ones.

  My friends have had other plans. Hanging out with a twenty-four year old along with two-month-old baby wasn’t exactly the party of their lifetime. Nor was I the ideal person to ask to join them on a movie night or a totally awesome nightclub that just opened a few days ago. I guess I couldn’t blame them either. I’m now a mother, which means that my apartment reeks of diapers, unwashed bottles, and dirty bed sheets. There’s also the useless dummies littered across the floor and the occasional dishes that are overdue for washing. Add, one more milk-splashed bib and this place becomes a five-star hotel for any critter and insect.

  Now you know what my elegant apartment looks like. You get to find out who the fairest of them all is. There’s my poofy hair, mucky clothes, pungent feet, and malodorous breath. I don’t even remember the last time I slept through the night without being woken up.

  Madison is very talented at crying, but she makes up for her little flaw with her perfections. Her soft, dark hair and smooth, olive skin. She’s beautiful and amazing in every way possible. I would never change what happened to me because of Madison.

  Damn, I sound like a typical teenage girl that’s usually found in cliché stories.

  I’ve learned a lot in these past eleven months. One of them being the most frequently asked question. What is the definition of love? There goes the typical teenage girl again. I’d asked myself this question many times and I still don’t have my answer but I am starting to get a gist of what it may be. I know all the wrong meanings, for me anyway.

  Love isn’t falling for someone just because they look like the hottest person imaginable. Love isn’t all about sex or lustful thoughts. Love isn’t the same as an infatuation. Love, to me, is about accepting and understanding that special person in your life. Accepting them for who they are, even after you’ve seen their darkest times. Understanding them, helping them face their demons.

  This is your cue to stop and think, “Did she forgive her kidnapper and end up marrying him even after telling us she hasn’t seen him in eleven months?
This is the typical teenage-ish girl who got knocked up by some random guy!”

  The answer to that is no, I am not the typical, cliché girl. At least, I hope so, but no. I didn’t marry my kidnapper, but I am seeing someone. I’ve seen him and his darkest times. But he hasn't hurt me so far, no.

  Anyway, I won’t focus on the bad. Instead, I’ll tell you how we met, since that’s almost always an interesting story. The way we met, where do I start? I was in labor, in excruciating pain, driven to the point of screaming for this child to “get out of me.” I was desperate, and desperate times call for desperate measures. I knocked on one of my neighbour’s—his—apartment door, hoping for one of the few kind people in this world to drive me to the hospital. I’ve seen him around. I had have a few conversations with him and he seemed sweet. He wasn’t bad looking, either. Oh, okay. I knew that wasn’t technically the exact day we met but do you want to listen to a funny story or to a boring exchange of hellos in a coffee shop? Actually, that was rather funny, no, this is funnier. Shut up and listen.

  It took what seemed like the most painful and longest minutes of my life before he answered the door, ready to help the screaming woman on the other side and to do whatever task I needed him to fulfill. A little dramatic but hey, it was accurate.

  Within minutes, he was carrying me, still to this day I wonder how with my whale of a belly, and after arriving at the local hospital I figured he would just drop me off; but he was kind enough to come in and help me while I was sent to a room with nurses filling the area. Told you he was one of the few kind human species in this world.

  One of the nurses asked if I had anybody I would like in the room with me but I said no. Why the hell would I want an acquaintance in a room where my child was going to pop out at any minute?

  So, I was alone. Except for the few nurses and one doctor, of course, but seven painful hours later, Madison was born. I was filled with the joy most mothers have when their child enters the world for the first time. It was oh so gloriously—

  The nurse interrupted my joy by opening her damn mouth. She said, “There’s a man waiting outside, asking if he could come in.” A harmless statement which I said no to, but it changed my life. This time for good.

  I thought he had come back, Hunter that is, but I remembered Hunter had moved back to London. Good for him. After agreeing to let the person because of my curiosity, I was a little surprised as to who it was. My neighbor, the one who drove me there, who also belonged to the endangered species of kind people, had waited outside for seven hours just to make sure I was okay. Plus, he wanted to see the baby; but nevertheless, that’s how our little relationship came to be.

  He’s perfect, even with every flaw, scar, burn, and mark that scattered in his body. And even though I’ve been to hell and back, I’ve learned that there is a hope for this world. After all, I’m happy. And I have my happily ever after.

  The End

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  alex@alexayers.org

  Here is a sample from another story you may enjoy:

  1: Some Bad News

  •Evelyn Jo •

  “Do you think he’s dead or unconscious?”

  I turned to look at Drake, who had his hand over his chin, skeptically looking at the motionless middle-aged man sprawled on the ground.

  We were on our way to go get some delicious food when we found this guy in an alleyway nearby. He was actually one of the guys that owed us money for giving him a few special things. He had a business suit on, but his tie – which used to be light blue – was now covered in dirt and what seemed to be dry blood. So obviously, this had caught our attention since something bad must’ve happened to him. I mean, there had to be a reason he was here, like this.

  Suddenly, Drake kicked the guy without any hesitation. He kicked him hard, and right in the stomach, making the guy roll over to his side. We all stood in silence for a few seconds, as the other two guys from our group – Ian and Darrel – inched closer to hear the man, in case he made any human sound at all. The man then groaned after a couple of moments, and Drake gave an approving look with a slight nod.

  “Unconscious, all right. Still alive, but barely.” He then walked around the man, his hands linked together behind him, as he seemed to be deep in thought. I wanted to roll my eyes at him, but all I did was smile a little at how cute he was actually being right now. “What should we do with this guy then?”

  “I say we kill him,” Ian immediately said, not missing a single beat. He shrugged right afterwards, as if it was no big deal that we would be killing a guy that already seemed to be on his deathbed by now.

  “Psh, I say, we take out everything he has that is actually valuable, and then dump the helpless body in that Dumpster,” Darrel suggested, as if it were obvious that it was the best idea ever conceived. He also pointed to the huge, green Dumpster right in front of us.

  “Okay, Darrel’s idea it is.” Drake didn't even think twice about it. He motioned for Ian and Darrel to get to work, as he turned and stared right at me. I bit my lip and crossed my arms over my chest just as he came up to me to put his arm around my shoulders. “Cold?” he asked me.

  I shook my head, watching Ian grab the guy by the arms and pull him up in a sitting position, while Darrel checked all of his pockets – finding a watch, a wallet, and some tickets.

  “Wrestling tickets!?” Darrel yelled excitedly, as he and Ian high-fived each other. I couldn't help but laugh at the two idiots. Good thing there were actually four tickets, though. We all loved going to wrestling tournaments considering these guys wrestled too, and even took the time to show me a few moves, which was actually a lot of fun.

  Coincidence that there were enough tickets for all of us? I think not.

  “Scared?” I scoffed at Drake's question, just as he slid his hand to rest on my waist, pulling me closer so our stomachs could touch. He grabbed my face and gently pushed my wavy, brown hair away so that he could clearly see me.

  “I don't even think we should be doing this,” I honestly told him. “We just saw him here… I mean, sure he owes us money, but what if we get into trouble when we technically didn't do any damage to him?”

  “Oh, Eve,” Drake smirked, lightly pinching my chin as I moved my head away, raising one eyebrow at him. “You always make it sound so difficult. You've been in this group for quite a while now. You shouldn't question what we do with the people that don’t understand the consequences. Like this guy, clearly.”

  I thought about it right then. What we did to people was way, way worse, sometimes, but I couldn't help but wonder who did this. Or if the guy actually did something to himself before we got to him.

  “I always wondered…” Ian then came up to us, eating some French fries from a white paper bag. I gave him a disgusted look. Where the hell did he find those? In the Dumpster? “How come we hardly called our ‘little group’ a gang?”

  “If you want to call it that, then fine, whatever. Doesn’t really matter.” Drake turned back to me, and then lightly kissed my forehead. I smiled as I felt his soft, warm lips on me. “Now, let’s bail.” He grabbed my hand, and then we all walked out of the alleyway together.

  I’ve been with this gang ever since I was in the 10th grade. Now, I was in my senior year, which means I've been with these guys for about two years now. I had reasons why I decided to join their criminal gang. But it was a very touchy subject for me, so I always kept it a secret. And Drake was the only one who really knew about my past. But hey, the past was in the past. It made us who we are today. And the bad stuff will continue to haunt us no matter what. But sometimes, we just had to forget it all – because now, the future is nearer, and it is actually more important.

  Anyway (sorry, sometimes I get all deep and shit), what we actually did was break a few l
aws here and there – do drugs, rob, and hurt people, if we thought it was necessary to do so. Basically, we did anything a good and innocent kid wouldn't dare do.

  Drake Lancaster was the eldest. He was 19, and out of high school, known as the leader of the gang. He was also my boyfriend ever since I started hanging out with him and the other two. He had dark eyes and short, dark hair. He was also the one who had saved me from my past misery, and showed me his rather interesting way of living.

  Then, there were Ian Cohen and Darrel Ivanova. Those two, you could tell apart from their looks since Ian had light brown hair and light green eyes, while Darrel had blond hair and dark blue eyes. But their personalities were very alike. They were the jokesters and the more lovable ones. But don't let that always fool you, because like us, they were complete hell once you messed with them.

  I was clearly the only girl in the gang. I went by the name Evelyn Jo. I was more of the feisty type, having a mischievous attitude that was actually serious sometimes, which was usually when I decided to get tough on people. I did a few bad things, and was taught how to fight and rebel. I had long, silky brown hair with big blue eyes, and was thin with olive skin. I had looked innocent once, but all of that had obviously changed.

  That was the whole group right there. We were the type of people parents warned their kids about, but of course, not a lot of people knew who we were since we always kept our faces hidden while we were doing something that might involve jail if we ever got caught.

  Drake was the only one who's ever been in juvie though, for four years, when he was just a bit younger. The rest of us have not yet done anything that would’ve sent us to juvie, mostly because we weren’t planning on getting caught. But who knew? Anything could happen.