Joe wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry at some of Kirsten’s ramblings. She was utterly insane. He could not for the life of him figure out how she was able to function in the world so well with all of these psychotic thoughts floating around in her mind. It had to eat at her constantly and she had to pretend to be normal. Did that mean she was really crazy? He had heard that crazy people could not control their behavior at any time.
But she had to be certifiable. If somehow he managed to get out of this without dying and without his daughter dying then he wondered where they would send her. Would she go to prison or a state run mental hospital? That was the fifty million dollar question, wasn’t it?
“This way you don’t get to suffer, really. It will all be over very quick like. But I just wanted you to know exactly why you were being killed,” Kirsten said.
She pulled a big knife out of her pocket just then. It was a bowie knife and Joe could actually see dried blood on it. He wondered who else she had used the knife on. It was disturbing on another level to him. He had to run. He had to find a way out of here. This crazy girl was going to gut him.
“Please, don’t do this. Sweetie, I never meant to do any harm. I loved your mother. You have to believe that. I was a shitty husband and I was a shitty father, but do you seriously think your mother would have wanted this? If she thought I was so bad then why did she leave you girls with me to raise by myself? She must have thought I would do the job right and I know I messed up sometimes, but I did the best that I could. You have to believe me. Even your sister would admit that I did my best.”
“My sister? You really believe that Elena would not want this to be done? She was the one who always talked about how much she hated you. She talked about it until she was blue in the face. After a while I grew up enough to realize that she wasn’t just angry at the world for no reason. I started to see how who you are and what you did affected our lives. We had horrible childhoods.”
“I don’t think that is fair. How many times do I have to explain to you that I did my best? I did the best I could! You have to stop this. You killed an innocent woman. You killed my angel. You killed my wife!”
“Your angel? My mother was supposed to be your angel. What about that shit?”
“Your mother and I were not meant to be. We were both young and unaware of who we each really were when we got married. We loved each other a great deal and I was happily married, but as we got older I think we both knew deep down that it would not last. Even if she had not died then we probably would have split up eventually.”
“So what? She would still be alive! I would still have my mother. I would have someone who really understood me. I would have someone who loved me and cared for me unconditionally. A father isn’t those things. At least you weren’t. You were the exact opposite of those things. You were a fraud in every possible way. I’m done yapping in your ear. Even when facing death you won’t admit to how wrong you were.”
Kirsten raised the knife and got ready to strike. Joe felt the end near and he made quick work of saying goodbye to the world. The life that flashed through his eyes was not his own though; it was Kirsten’s.
Chapter 12: New Arrival
“What are you doing?”
The voice screamed through the house. Joe opened his eyes and looked right into the frightened face of Elena. She was standing in the doorway holding a backpack. She looked as if she had not slept in a few days and Joe feared the worst that she might be on drugs again.
Kirsten had stopped in mid stroke. She had been about to slice Joe’s throat and possibly take his head clean off. He was not sure how much force that would take. He saw the sharp blade gleaming in the light out of the corner of his eye. The blade held such purpose that he both feared and respected it. His daughter’s weapon of death; it was hers and she had wielded it on who could say how many occasions.
“Big sis! I’m glad you are here. You don’t want to miss this,” Kirsten said.
Joe waited for Elena’s reply. She just stood there with her mouth half open. She was trying to make sense of what was going on just as Joe had at first. She could not understand how this was going to happen. Was Kirsten going to try to recruit her sister into this mess too? Or was she going to realize that she was all alone in her twisted mind and her warped thinking?
Joe was trying to no longer think of Kirsten as his daughter. She was gone. The little girl that he had loved and raised was an illusion if she had ever existed at all. She was gone and he knew that he was never going to get her back. The thought brought tears to his eyes and he wanted to just crumble away and forget that he had ever lived, but he knew that Tracy would want him to remain strong.
She was the only thing getting him through this right now. He had no doubt about that. Tracy was his rock and his center of everything. Even though she was dead he could still feel her as if she was sitting right beside him all the time. All he had to do was think about her and she was there. She would have been sickened and disgraced if she were here right now to see what had become of Kirsten.
“What are you doing Kirsten?” Elena asked as she slowly stepped into the house, closing the door behind her.
“I’m doing what we have dreamed of since we were kids; I’m killing this old bastard.”
“What planet are you on? Why in the hell would we kill dad?” Elena asked.
“You and I have talked about this. You know why. This is your idea!” Kirsten was screaming now, becoming extremely agitated. Joe was not sure what the girl might do if she became too agitated. The hunting knife was still clutched tightly in her hand, ready to strike at anything whose life she felt had to end. That was the power she had created for herself.
Elena moved a little closer, but still kept her distance from Kirsten. The fear and the caution in her face told Joe everything that he needed to know. Elena did not know anything about this. Kirsten had lost it all by herself. But did Kirsten know that? What would happen in a minute when she found out that everyone, including Elena thought she was crazy?
“No. this is wrong. We never talked about this. This is dad! What the hell are you doing?”
“You blamed him for mom’s death first. I know you haven’t forgotten about how right you were. Come on; don’t get soft on me Elena!”
“You are so insane. We were kids. I was trying to deal with mom’s death the same as you were. I felt like blaming someone so I took it out on dad, but it wasn’t his fault. He tried. I know he tried because I saw how hard he worked to take care of us and how tired he always was. He did so much and I have resented him for far too many years because of it.”
“What? You are turning your back on me now?” Kirsten said. She clutched the knife tighter in her rage. Joe could see the blood beginning to trickle down her hand out of her clenched fist. She was squeezing the handle that tightly.
“I’m not turning my back on anyone. What the hell are you doing?”
“She killed Tracy. She admitted that she killed Tracy,” Joe said. For whatever reason he wanted her to know exactly what was going on here. It seemed fair that Elena knew the deal. She had to know what Kirsten had done.
“What?” Elena asked. Her voice began to stammer slightly. Joe had not wanted to scare her but she had to know that Kirsten had tasted blood already and she loved it. She loved to kill.
“She killed Tracy. She did it to teach me a lesson, so I’d go to jail for it,” Joe said.
Kirsten looked at him and rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so melodramatic, daddy. Christ you are such a whiny little tattletale. It’s really annoying.”
“You killed Tracy? For no reason?” Elena asked.
“I had a damn good reason.”
“Wait, did you kill those other people? The Lydell’s that I read about in the paper?”
“They were going to ruin everything I had worked so hard for. They were too damn good at establishing motives for themselves. It was ridiculous. Besides they were losers and the
y had it coming.”
“Did you call Heather? Was that why she attacked Alex?” Joe asked.
Kirsten looked at him with a smile. It looked so evil. He could not believe that was his little girl in there somewhere. She was a hologram now.
“I had to do it. That prick was responsible for getting me caught and for letting dear old dad off the hook here,” Kirsten said. “If the man had just died in that parking garage instead of becoming a superhero of some sort, then Heather would still be alive. You two had to be Starsky and Hutch and go snooping around everything. Why couldn’t you just leave it all alone? I worked so hard to pull this all off!”
“Because I was trying to clear my name. I’m innocent. You may not know what that means or what it feels like to be innocent. I have a feeling you haven’t been innocent of anything for a long time,” Joe said.
“Shut up!” Kirsten yelled. “I’m going to kill this pig now. I was hoping you would be with me on this Elena but it looks like you are against me too. You are a traitor—plain and simple. I hate traitors. After I gut his ass then you are next, bitch!”
Kirsten raised the knife again and started to bring it towards Joe’s throat. Suddenly a figure was tackling her to the ground. Elena had sprung into action and tackled Kirsten. Joe could hear the smack of Kirsten’s head against the floor as she landed, but he heard the rage she was feeling overwhelming everything else.
Kirsten grabbed Elena’s hair and began to beat her face into the floor. Joe winced with every smacking sound he heard of his daughter’s face being torn apart on the hard marble floor. He had to find a way to get loose.
He remembered the corkscrew that was lying on the floor where he had been opening a bottle of wine earlier. It had fallen off the stand beside him when he was reaching for his phone. It had a sharp end on it; that was his only choice.
Joe rocked himself back and forth until he landed hard on the ground with a sick thud. He ignored the pain that was bringing his blinding headache back and inched his way towards the corkscrew on the floor. He had to be fast. He had to hurry. He did not know how much time Elena might have. She was older and a little bit bigger than her sister, but the mad had great strength and there was nothing that they would not do.
He heard Elena scream and he whipped his head back toward the action. Kirsten had just bitten Elena on the wrist as the girl was trying to get a good grip to choke her. Elena rose back ready to slap Kirsten but Kirsten blocked the punch and retaliated with a hard head butt.
Come on Joe!
Joe grabbed the cork screw, found the sharp spot on the end of the screw bit and began to slice at the ropes. He knew that it might take forever for this to work at all, but it was all he had. It only took him about five seconds to realize this idea was completely stupid. He needed something else.
Then he saw it. The glass book end on the shelf above him. It was actually one of Kirsten's glass trophies from T ball. It was a plaque that said she was the most valuable player. It broke his heart a bit, but Joe did not waste time. He slammed his body into the book shelf and tried to get out of the way as the plaque fell to the ground and shattered on the floor.
He quickly found a big glass shard and careful not to slice his own hands off he began to cut through the rope. It was working much faster than his retarded corkscrew idea. It would not be long now and he would be free.
Elena jumped to her feet as Kirsten leapt to hers and lunged forward with the knife. Elena side stepped the attack and tripped her sister to the floor. The knife hit the floor hard and it appeared that it might actually scatter out of her hand but she held on strong.
Elena seized the opportunity and put her sister in a head lock, but it was short lived and not very strong as Kirsten tried to slice at her with the knife. Elena held her arm back to keep the knife from being plunged into her. While her arm was outstretched holding off Kirsten’s attack of the knife Kirsten took the chance to bite Elena on the arm. Elena screamed but refused to give up the hold she had that was protecting her from severe damage at the mercy of the knife.
Joe could see blood running down Elena’s arm where Kirsten continued to bite her hard. Elena smacked Kirsten with a hammer fist on the nose with her other arm, releasing her from the head lock. Kirsten plowed face first to the floor where Elena began to beat her face against the floor.
Kirsten’s body was showing less signs of movement as her face collided repeatedly with the floor.
Joe cut the last few strands of the rope and began to free himself. He held onto the shard of glass as he rushed over to where his girls were fighting. Kirsten blocked the last few efforts to beat her face on the ground and then flipped her whole body over to knock Elena off of her.
Kirsten crawled to her feet still clutching the knife and as she saw Joe coming a horrific smile spread over her face and she charged at him. Joe gave her a side kick that she ran right into, his size twelve shoe was planted right in her solar plexus. His daughter took a nose dive right into the floor.
She appeared to not be moving. Her back and chest were rising and falling with exhaustion, but Joe did not trust that the whole thing was over. Kirsten was highly dangerous. She needed so much help, but he was pretty sure that his little girl was far beyond help. She was going to spend the rest of her days in a padded cell. That was where she belonged where she was not able to hurt anyone else ever again.
After several seconds of Kirsten not moving Joe began to approach her cautiously. He still held the glass in his hand, but he knew that Kirsten probably still had the knife. He had not seen the knife fall from her grip. It was like it had been superglued to her hand. Her grip was viselike; she would never relinquish a weapon for any reason.
Kirsten stirred suddenly and tried to get to her feet. Joe stepped back, holding Elena behind him with his hand.
“Be careful dad. We have to tie her up or something until we can get the cops out here.”
“I know. You go ahead and call 911. I’ll keep her at bay here,” Joe said.
Elena began to dial for emergency on her phone.
“Bravo, you two. You had to gang up on me to beat me. Is that what you think? You think this is all over? It’s hilarious that you both think this.”
“Kirsten, it is over. Put the knife down. You need medical attention. We want to get you the help you need,” Joe said.
“I don’t need your help!! How many times do I have to say it? When will you get it through your head that I don’t need anyone’s help in any way? I’m in control of myself. I am in control of my life. I don’t need anyone. I definitely don’t need a mom.”
Kirsten’s eyes began to tear up at the mention of her mother. Joe was not sure how to handle it when she began to cry about her mother. She was never going to be able to move past it or even just a little bit beyond it. There was nothing he could do and he felt so helpless right then. His daughter needed help. She was in pain and he could not do anything.
“Good bye daddy,” Kirsten said.
She lunged forward at them with the knife. Joe stepped forward ready to lay into Kirsten with the shard of glass. His whole world was being drastically altered and he felt like he was in a parallel universe where nothing was real and everything was just a temporary illusion. This was just a part of some sort elaborate dream, he prayed.
Kirsten was almost on him when he heard the gunshots. A split second later Kirsten’s body was opened up by several large holes that were lining her chest now. Blood splattered out of each wound as the bullet entered.
The whole thing happened so fast that at first Joe thought that someone had set off a bomb. It was so loud that he found himself leaping across the room dragging Elena with him and covering her with his body.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see the body that had belonged to his little girl, Kirsten being pumped full of holes and flung backwards against the wall, where it collided with the plaster and slid downwards until it came to a complete, lifeless stop. His daugh
ter was dead.
Joe and Elena looked at each other, both with tears in their eyes and he wrapped his arm around his daughter and held her close. They both just sat there on the floor crying in each other’s arms. They had both experienced enough pain for several lifetimes.
It felt like the police were there for several hours asking the same questions repeatedly. Luckily the officer who had arrived and had fired the shots at Kirsten was in the neighborhood. He was just down the block when the call came through and he heard signs of a struggle so he decided not to wait for any back up at all and came in to the house. It was a blessing when he did, Joe thought. He had saved Joe from having to do something he wasn’t sure he could do even if his life depended on it. But Elena’s life depended on it and he knew that he had no problem doing what had to be done to save her. He was expendable; his daughter was not.
In the coming weeks Joe and Elena became much closer than they had ever been. She decided to transfer to a school closer to home and Elena moved back in full time. She knew that Joe needed to have her around him right now.
Joe was just trying to take it one day at a time. That was all he could ask of himself and that was all anyone could ask of him. He threw himself back into his work to escape the craziness of life, but he still took plenty of time to spend with his daughter.
He found that he was looking forward to doing that than he did any sort of work or business deal.
Joe was finally able to be free of himself and to open up to what the world still had to offer him.
Tracy would have wanted it that way.
The End
Other books available by author on Kindle, paperback and audio:
Darker Still
Payback
Rising Darkness Page 10
