by Lowe, T. I.
I made my way back to Julia’s apartment. I just had to check on her one more time. I left my sister another note, begging her to get some help and telling her how much I loved her. I sat on the edge of the bed, watching her sleep and trying to figure out a way to fix her. Not being able to come up with a solution, I reluctantly headed to the airport. I had wished I could gather my sister up and bring her back home with me, but New York was her life, not Bay Creek, and certainly not me. It was one of the few times I could remember actually wanting to go home.
Chapter Fifteen
You would have thought I learned my lesson with the first New York trip. Right? Wrong. I’m an idiot. I gave in and went back, and boy was it a doozy of a trip.
My second New York trip came unexpectedly after college graduation. I was back to working at the restaurant mostly and spending nearly every night with Miss May. Her sweet husband had passed away a few months back. I think we both kept the other one from getting too lonely that summer. I was only home for a short term because I would be marrying the love of my life by the end of the summer. I was so excited over that fact that I felt as though I was floating through the summer. It made being home again bearable.
Now, I want to pause here to forewarn you that this trip was beyond bizarre and maybe you should just skip it. I was an accessory to a crime, and I had no choice in the matter. Absolutely no choice… I know I should just go ahead and apologize for the graphic nature of it, but I won’t. So read it or skip it. Either way, it’s a significant part of my life’s story. The choice is yours, but know you have been warned.
So where was I? Oh yeah. I was excited for my new life’s chapter. Everything finally felt right. At least that’s how I felt until my phone rang out of the blue after work one night. I was helping clean tables when I glimpsed the Caller ID surprisingly.
“Guess who?” she chirped when I answered it.
“A thief who has stolen my neglectful sister’s cell phone, since she never takes the time to call me,” I answered sarcastically.
“Very funny. That’s okay. I believe you will change your little attitude. I have the best surprise for you ever.” Julia almost sang the words.
“You have my attention. What is it?” I continued to clean tables. She sounded really off and it made me nervous. “Are you high?” I blurted out.
“No, I’m not high!” she snapped, sounding more like herself.
“Then, what is it? I’m working here.” I began to get agitated. It was hard to bus tables with one hand, and I was ready to call it a night. Summers are killer at the restaurant, just let me tell you. I was dragging that night.
“You have to come to New York to find out,” she said in a teasing tone.
“Huh, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Last time didn’t go too well.” I was immediately let down by her proposition. Another visit to see her sounded torturous. This surprise did nothing for me in the least.
“I promise this time will be totally different. I have such a gigantic surprise for you. Please…Please…Please…” Her prissy tone turned whiny, and I had a feeling my sister would not be giving up so easily.
“Plane tickets are out of my budget.” I began to make my excuses and was trying to figure out some more when she called me out.
“Hah!” Julia shouted like she had one on me. “I’ve already paid for your ticket and you leave this Thursday.” And I guess she did.
I sat in one of the chairs that I just wiped down. I was quite confused and apprehensive as to why she had put so much effort in this. She obviously picked up on my reluctance.
“It’s only for a long weekend. You’ll be back in Bay Creek by Sunday night. I promise.”
We went around and around the following days on whether I would go or not. I had not received so many phone calls from my sister in all my life. So, with quite a bit of hesitation, I boarded the plane on that Thursday and headed to the most bizarre surprise of my life.
The flight arrived at seven that evening, and Julia was there to greet me with an awkward grin planted on her lips and long hug. She was still tall and incredibly thin, but glamorous with her designer sunglasses on. She seemed so chic in a pale blue tunic and black leggings. I was impressed to find her so covered up. She quickly helped me gather my baggage and hailed us a cab.
“Are you ready for this?” she questioned me during our cab ride. She was downright giddy and practically bouncing in her seat. Again, this didn’t sit right with me. She was off and this entire unexpected trip was off. My hackles were definitely raised in an eerie way.
“I guess… Honestly, you have me a little worried,” I said.
“Don’t be. You are going to be so thrilled.” She almost cheered.
“Julia, it’s dark outside. Why on earth are you wearing those sunglasses?” I asked as I turned my attention away from the city zooming by and back towards my sister.
“I’m a fashion model. It’s what we do.” She blew my question off rather quickly. I didn’t know her so well anymore, so maybe it was her norm now. I would soon find out.
Thirty minutes after departing the airport, we pulled up to an enormous apartment building with a doorman.
“Where are we?” I enquired.
“My apartment,” Julia answered.
“I didn’t know you moved.”
“Yep,” she replied as she climbed out of the cab.
I gathered my belongings and followed her into the swanky building. My big sis had definitely moved up in the world since my last visit. Her other apartment building was a rundown brownstone, but this one was an ultra-sleek high-rise with lots of glass and metal. I instantly felt out of place in mere jeans, blouse, and flip-flops. I tried to pause long enough to have a look around, but Julia rushed me to the elevators.
We reached her floor, and Julia pulled me towards her apartment in a rush, causing me to want to drag my feet. Before Julia unlocked her door, she turned to me and took off her shades, revealing what looked like a nasty bruise hiding under a thick layer of make-up on her cheek. I stood there staring at her, confused.
“Julia…What happened to your face?” My stomach coiled at the idea of someone hurting her still.
“Oh, it’s not really that bad. It was well worth it. Trust me,” she said nonchalantly as she lightly skimmed her fingertips over her swollen cheek. She then placed her hands on top of my shoulders. An unnerving feeling crept over me in that moment and I knew. I just didn’t know what I knew…
“I love you, Savannah. I know I haven’t shown it. I’ve just never known how, but I am totally making that up to you with my surprise,” she whispered.
Julia unlocked the door and we entered into the most fabulous apartment. It was breathtaking and surprisingly roomy. It had an open concept with no walls separating the living room from the dining area and kitchen. This place had to be at least five times larger than the closet my sister had previously lived in. There were no beaded curtains. No color was in sight, for that matter. Although the entire space was either black or white, it was very welcoming with accents of silver and crystal. It was so girly and fabulous—absolutely perfect for the prissy Julia Rose.
The kitchen had ebony cabinetry and white marble countertops with stainless steel appliances. I peeked in the fridge to find the usual suspects, bottled water and wine. A few bottles of expensive looking champagne sat on a shelf all to themselves as if they were waiting for a party. Disappointed at my findings, I closed the fridge and went to explore the rest of the posh space.
I strolled to the living room, trying to take all of it in—and it was a lot to take in, let me tell you. An enormous white suede couch and two matching chairs surrounded an elegant silver coffee table with a glass top. Each furniture piece was adorned with several beautiful black-and-silver patterned pillows. I scanned the tall, pearly-white walls that were dressed with various black and white photos. Some, not so surprisingly, were exquisite shots of Julia. Other photos included vintage fashion shots of shoes and handbags. What wa
s so astonishing was that the space was immaculate. No nasty ashtrays or empty water bottles were in sight. Not even a stray shoe or article of clothing could be seen.
“Oh, Julia… I’m so happy for you. This place is gorgeous,” I said as I kept looking around. I was proud for her and set a little at ease that she seemed to have her act together.
“I know,” she said enthusiastically.
She gave me a tour of most of the apartment. One of the three bedrooms had been transformed into a well-stocked closet. It resembled a small boutique, with shelves of handbags on display and actual racks of designer clothes. There was also an obscene amount of gorgeous shoes. At that moment, I regretted not bringing a bigger suitcase. I instantly resolved to go out the following day to purchase a bigger one. Surely, Julia could do without some of the shoes, handbags, scarves, hats, sunglasses, etc. Unfortunately, I knew not to bother with the size zero clothes racks. Julia had to practically drag me out of the closet to show me where the guest bathroom was located, and then led me to my guestroom.
This room shared the same black-and-white theme as the rest of the apartment. It was all so elegant. The oversized, black poster bed, with intricate details carved into the frame, was dressed in luxurious white linens with light silver details that gleamed under a dainty crystal chandelier. I skimmed my hand over the soft bedding as I walked by. I turned to face Julia, who was standing at the door.
“This is breathtaking. You really didn’t have to spend all that money on a plane ticket for me to see this,” I said with a wide grin. “But I sure am glad you did.” I walked back to Julia and surprised her with a huge hug. We both giggled.
“I’m glad you like it, but this isn’t close to being the surprise, silly girl,” she teased. “Go freshen up and get settled in. Then meet me in the living room,” Julia happily ordered.
“I just want to stay in tonight. Please don’t make me go clubbing.”
“Not tonight, I promise. I just thought after all of the traveling, you would want to get comfortable. Besides, it’s going to be a long night,” Julia said as she pushed me towards the bathroom.
I had no idea what to expect, so I figured it was in my best interest to obey her. That eerie feeling had not gone away, after all. I think my sister was trying to prepare me for what was coming. I inspected the bruise on her cheek once more, thinking about how to get her to tell me what happened, before stealing away in the bathroom.
After I cleaned up a bit, I found my sister casually sitting in one of the plush chairs. As soon as she spotted me walking down the hall, she jumped up and skipped towards me.
“Come on. I can’t wait any longer to show you your surprise,” she squealed as she pulled me towards her bedroom.
Julia opened the door and with one glimpse into the room, my vision began to blur. The white carpet seemed to be moving towards my face and then total blackness…
~ ~ ~
I awoke with Julia sprinkling water on my face. I couldn’t help but sob tearlessly as the realization of what I had just seen began to sink in. Without taking another look, I began questioning my sister.
“Please tell me… I’m just seeing things. Please tell me…that’s not who I think it is. Please tell me… Please tell me I’m wrong.” I could barely stutter the words out. They felt stuck in my thick throat.
“For Pete’s sake Savannah, pull yourself together and get up off the floor,” she demanded, but I just continued to lie there.
I felt frozen in place. As I began to whimper harder, Julia tried to pull me into a sitting position. It took some finagling, but once I was sitting upright, I steeled myself for another look. I tried rapidly blinking the scene away, but it was no use. There, on Julia’s beautiful bed, lay the ugliest sight I had ever seen—a naked man with fuzzy pink handcuffs securing him to the bedposts by his hands and feet. He was lying completely still with duct tape secured over his mouth. His body glowed with evident sun and was still smooth and nearly flawless. This man, with all of his physical beauty, was the most repulsive thing I had ever laid eyes on. The sight of him made me severely nauseous.
Society really has a twisted idea of beauty. The same eyes that are used as the judges of the outer appearance should really dig deeper, for that outward splendor can be so far off base to the real person within. If you looked into the soul of this man slumped before me in this morbid moment, you would see a repulsive oozing creature whose skin begged to explode with sinful puss. It was none other than Evan Grey.
The only changes to his outer beauty, that I could detect, were track marks near the creases of his arms. I lay back down on the floor again, covering my face with my arm and asked, “Is he dead?”
Julia jumped to her feet, and I stole a glance to see her put her hand in front of his nose to check. That act alone confirmed my terror. This was serious and could end up catastrophic. She turned back to face me as I peeped from under my arm. “No, not yet,” she answered in an eerie calmness. “It’s just the drugs. It makes his breathing very shallow. He’s on the nod.” She said this so matter-of-fact that it scared me even more.
“Oh… Okay, Miss Nurse,” I snapped. “Why, Julia?” I continued to lay there and moan with fear and agitation.
“Come on. He’ll be out for a while,” she said as she pulled me to my feet. “Let’s go talk in the living room.”
I numbly walked behind her to the big couch. I sat there in shock as she explained quickly how this whole mess transpired.
“I ran into Evan about eight months ago at one of my normal hang-outs. I felt like passing out at the sight of him that night, but I made a quick escape to the exit instead.” The stress on her slightly swollen face was unmistakable as she paused to gather her emotions. “All these years of running from the nightmare of that devil and, just like that, he was back,” she said as she snapped her fingers and shook her head in disbelief.
After we sat in silence for a few minutes, she gave her head a brisk shake as if trying to shoo away the awful memories. “Anyway, I kept running into him and discovered that we had too many mutual friends. He had been in California for a while, but he recently moved back to New York. Wouldn’t you know, he used to be signed to the same modeling agency as I am. That is, until he let his nasty little habit of heroin get in the way.” She started picking at the hem of her shirt, so I had to nudge her to continue.
“But…how in the heck did he end up locked to your bed, Julia?” I asked in an exaggerated voice, making sure she understood the sentence. This was beyond bizarre.
“I’m getting to that, okay?” She rolled her eyes at my impatience. “So the sleazebag actually started approaching me every time he saw me. I ran from him in the beginning, but that got old fast. Then, I got downright ticked off one night when he finally caught up with me. Right in front of all my friends, he gave me a long, passionate kiss and declared to everyone that he finally found his long lost Rose. My first instinct was to fry his face, but then this brilliant idea came over me,” she said as she pointed towards her bedroom. “I played along with his little ruse as I started to do some digging about him. I found that along with his love for heroin, he still had a love for young girls. And so my plan to seduce him, drug him, and kill him came together pretty easily,” she said bluntly.
“Why on earth would you ever want that slime ball in your bed?” I asked with disgust. I felt like him being in this space caused it to be contaminated with filthy sin alone. My mind just could not wrap around the reasoning she used to allow him back in her bed, let alone to allow him to touch her again.
“Revenge, of course.” Her demeanor was unnervingly cool, and I was downright frightened by it.
Before Julia could continue, we heard some movement. We made our way back to the bedroom to discover Evan lethargically trying to free himself. Once he caught sight of us girls, he started a lazy laugh that was muffled by the tape. Julia strolled over and snatched it off his mouth in one fell swoop, not trying to be nice about it at all. He must have been pretty d
rugged up, because he barely flinched.
“Hmm… You’re adding someone else to the party?” he asked groggily.
“You don’t recognize my sister, Savannah?” Julia questioned.
He blinked in my direction before recognition touched his glassy eyes. “This is too good to be true. Hey, Miss Feisty,” he said and then chuckled lazily. He pulled at his arm and seemed to notice for the first time he was in handcuffs. “Why do you have me locked up, Rose? My arms are going numb.”
“So you won’t get away,” Julia smirked. “That’ll make it easier to kill you.” Her face turned menacing. I was way past frightened at this point. My sister meant business, and she wasn’t mincing any words about it.
“I’m too high for this,” he muttered in confusion. “I thought I heard you say you were going to kill me.” You could tell by his facial expression, he knew he heard right.
“You can’t do that, Julia. This is crazy.” I tried to convince her, but felt it impossible.
“There’s no other choice. He has to die,” Julia snapped as she pointed at the devil himself. Her hand was steady, and that’s not a normal characteristic for her.
“No!” Evan and I shouted simultaneously.
“You better unlock me, you stupid b—”
I slammed the duct tape back over his mouth before he could start screaming. Just then, some kind of rage came over me and possessed me like the demons that haunt me. I revved back and slammed my fist as hard as I could across his chin.
“No, Savannah!” Julia choked. “We can’t leave any marks on him. It has to look like an accidental overdose.”
