Lights Out

by Jill Cooper

  I shifted backwards. Pulling her shirt and her jacket up, I searched for her flesh with my bare fingers. I put one hand on her rib cage and the other gripped my knife tight. I smiled, my grin lascivious.

  She screamed, the sound almost delicious.

  “Scream, you stupid bitch. Scream all you want. I got mine.” I twisted the blade in the air, bringing it down in one fell swoop.

  The sharp blade slid through the skin below her belly button. Her scream rent the air. But the trees were on my side. They absorbed her sounds, anything left over was muffled by the snow.

  I could I take out her baby parts. Then I was going to take her life.

  Her eyes rolled toward the back of her head. The woman was weaker than I thought. Hot sticky blood pooled around my knees, soaking into my jeans. She’d never recover from the wound. Even if I didn’t leave her there to die alone.

  Her passing out took a lot of the pleasure from me. Dissatisfaction left me empty. Why wait and watch her die? She was as good as dead.

  But I couldn’t leave it to chance. Knowing my luck, Sylvia would wake up from being dead and walk away like a zombie. My revenge would never happen. I had to make sure it happened.

  I placed my hand over her mouth and nose, cutting off any chance that she had at breath. Even as her blood seeped from her, I stole her life. Without her eyes watching me, how would I know she was truly gone?

  I pushed myself from her. Moving to sit on the snow, the cold soaked through the butt of my pants. But I didn’t care.

  Revenge. I’d killed everyone I needed to. Everyone on my list.

  So why then did I feel so empty?

  Chapter 20

  Clyde

  Had Terri killed someone? Clyde didn’t have any proof. All he had was a sneaking suspicion and a long list of circumstantial evidence. His house had been burned to the ground and on the same night, a man in Terri’s storage locker had been murdered.

  The night Judge Condran’s men had gone after Karen, he had been killed and his house had been burned down to the ground. The judge that had let Sylvia off the hook for any criminal responsibility for the death of their baby.

  Was it any wonder Terri had gone mad?

  But how had Clyde missed this all along?

  No matter how strong his denial was, Clyde couldn’t let Terri kill anyone else. He had to find her and fast. Calling the police would’ve been the right thing to do, but Clyde wasn’t ready. He couldn’t turn his back on Terri like that—not yet. Not after how many years they had been together.

  Dedicated. A union. Maybe Terri was ready to throw it all away, but Clyde wasn’t.

  All this time, Terri had been talking about how their baby was killed by Sylvia and she was responsible, but Clyde had never believed her ramblings. He always brushed her off when she spouted on about a conspiracy. It drove a wedge between them and even worse it had led them here.

  Clyde might as well have killed the man in the storage locker himself.

  So, he did what he had to do. He turned around with the wind clipping against his cheeks and headed for his truck. Already the snow blinded his path and covered up his footprints. Visibility was getting worse and Clyde had a lot more ground to cover if was going to find Terri.

  Where would she go? Who would be on her list? It was frightening to even think of such a thing. Clyde’s skin tingled with goosebumps as he realized there was only one other name on the list.

  Sylvia.

  In his car, Clyde called her, but there was no answer. Instead, he shifted gears and gave Jay a call. He answered in just a few rings. “Hey buddy,” Clyde tried to keep the nerves out of his voice. Instead he focused on studying the road as he made his way back to town. “Your car okay? You make it okay safe?”

  “Sure did. Thanks to you. Hey—.”

  Clyde cut him off. “Listen, there isn’t time to explain. But if Karen is still at work, I need you to get her. Take her home. She might be in trouble.”

  Jay sighed, as if Clyde had suggested something he didn’t think he could do. Or didn’t want to do. Maybe he wasn’t ready to see Karen again, but Clyde couldn’t worry about that. If Terri was going to go after Karen, she needed to be off the streets. “What’s going on? I don’t really—.”

  “Just do what I asked. If you ever cared about Karen, you have to find her and keep her safe. I can explain later, but not now. There’s no time, Jay.”

  “Okay,” there was urgency in Jay’s voice.

  Clyde was glad for that much, but as for the rest of it? It felt like he was lost in a bad dream. How could he even think these things about his wife? He should have gotten her help before now. Hell, he should’ve recognized she needed help.

  “I’ll do it.”

  “Call me when you have her. I need to know.” Instead of waiting for Jay’s response, Clyde ended the call and made a hard right. He thought of going to the hospital, but Sylvia’s home was closer. If he could drop by and check on her, maybe even make sure Terri wasn’t already there…

  That’d make him feel a lot better.

  Up ahead toward the main road, a cop in reflective jacket held up his palm to stop Clyde. The truck glided to a stop and Clyde made sure not to use the brakes too quick. Last thing he wanted to do was slide right into the cop. He rolled down his window as the cop approached. “Good evening, officer.” Clyde didn’t recognize him and all he could think about was the dead man in Terri’s storage unit.

  He might not have killed him, but Clyde felt guilty. This was the sort of thing he had to report and he hadn’t. Clyde was an accessory, getting in the way of an investigation, and all those things they said on lawyer shows that Clyde used to like watching—not anymore.

  “This road’s closed. Tree fell down and power lines are everywhere. You have to back up and head home a different way.”

  Damnit. That wasn’t exactly what Clyde wanted to hear, but he was in a hurry to roll up his window again. He needed to get moving. “Sure thing, officer.”

  The officer nodded his head and headed back the way he came. As Clyde put his car into reverse, he noticed his sleeve had a spot of blood. What else hadn’t he noticed as he left the storage container? Would anyone be able to track his movements? If Terri got caught, would he get pulled down with her?

  ****

  Clyde drove through the twisty roads, trying to find a way through to Sylvia’s house. When he went through the howling hills, he came before a fallen tree. It blocked the road and he was forced to pull over. Cutting the engine, Clyde muttered under his breath.

  He slid his gloves on tighter and stepped out into the cold. His boots sank deep as he made his way over to the tree. Hefting on one side, Clyde tried to lift the trunk. He strained, but it was no use. The tree simply was too heavy.

  Realization dawned on him that Clyde was not going to be able to reach Sylvia’s house. There was no way he was going to be able to get any closer, the only way he could think of to save Sylvia’s life was to call Terri and pray that she would answer. He’d been calling all night, so what would make this time different?

  Clyde didn’t know. All he did know was that he couldn’t just give up.

  Back in the truck, Clyde discovered it wouldn’t start. As if things couldn’t get any worse. First things first, he called Terri and when she didn’t answer, he just tried again. And again.

  So much frustration. Clyde thought for a brief moment if she was there, he might wring her neck. But then the most unlikely thing happened. She did answer and the tone of her voice was more than just annoyed. Terri was sickened. He recognized the tone, because it was the one she been using with him for weeks. He just never noticed before now.

  “Don’t do this, Terri,” Clyde tried to reason with her. “There’s another way. Karen has the evidence. We can finally get justice for our baby boy.”

  There was a brief pause, a moment of consideration before she unleashed a tirade of hell onto him. “I carried him. I love him. Don’t talk about justice! You didn’t e
ven believe me or support me and now you want to talk about my baby boy?”

  Clyde needed to reach her, but he just didn’t know how. “Baby—.”

  “If you interfere again, Clyde. You’ll be next.”

  He couldn’t believe Terri would threaten him like that. Sure, she had fallen a long way. He knew their marriage had suffered greatly and it really wasn’t even much of a marriage left but to threaten his life? He must’ve been a fool to not notice how damaged she was. All this time, and all he thought was that her heart was broken. Clyde hadn’t realized Terri was broken straight down to her soul.

  It might be too late for her. And it might be too late for him, the truck refused to start. Any calls out to emergency services would put him at the back of a list. He was too far out in the middle of nowhere. Clyde was going to have to hike it back to town.

  Lucky for him, Clyde knew the forest like the back of his hands. The trees might shield him from some of the wind if he followed the tree line, it might lead him to the docks. From there, picking up a ride to shelter would be easy.

  He dug a flashlight out from the back of his truck and started on his journey. He walked. The minutes all seem to meld together as the quickening of frost numbed his legs and his hands. What an idiot he had been, to put himself in this situation. If he could keep his head down, Clyde was sure to get himself out of it.

  But before frostbite set in? That might have been a little too much to ask for.

  Shining his flashlight on the trees, Clyde navigated a path straight through the forest. Quickly he hurried through, but made sure his footing was on solid ground. He avoided the snowdrifts, and each step his leg seem to sink further and further into the snow.

  A woman screamed, pierced through him unexpectedly. Clyde swung his flashlight around to try to get a look at who might’ve screamed, but it was far off. He turned and changed the direction in which he was walking so he was headed toward the scream.

  The piercing call filled the night sky again.

  Clyde took off running. Snow was thick. He had to lift his knees up high and clump through the thick white stuff to get anywhere. It fatigued him faster than it should’ve.

  The scream beckoned him closer. And closer.

  Labored, his breath was lodged in his chest as he rounded a corner toward a bloodied tree. Blinking rapidly, Clyde shown his flashlight on the frame of a woman. She was wrapped in a thick black overcoat except…

  It was covered in blood.

  Huffing for breath, Clyde knelt down beside her. Brown hair covered up her face, and Clyde swept it away with his gloved fingers. He cried out loud with a gasp of surprise when he realized it was Sylvia. It felt like he was physically assaulted and it drove him back.

  He had been too late. He hadn’t been able to reach Terri in her current emotional state and this was his fault. Sylvia was dead. Another death on his hands and wrenching Terri’s soul.

  Sylvia had a gaping hole in her abdomen. There was so much…dislodged.

  Vomit rose into his mouth and when he swallowed it back, it burned.

  Now, there was no going back…as if there ever was. Clyde had a decision to make. Did he try to save Terri, a woman that was beyond saving?

  Damnit, Terri. Clyde was angry at her for putting him in this position.

  Did he do the right thing and tell the police exactly who was responsible?

  Chapter 21

  Karen

  Freezing.

  The water might as well have been shards of broken glass against my skin, but I swam. I moved. The clothes I wore were to protect me from the cold, but now water logged, they weighed me down. It was as if they tried to pull me down beneath the surface.

  Bring me to a death I deserved.

  Reaching and grabbing, I pulled myself through the water. I yanked on a broken tree branch and pulled myself closer to shore. It looked like a winter wonderland and it’d offer my cold body no comfort, but it was my only choice.

  I heaved up the ice and crawled to shore. My limbs shook out of control as I clawed along the snow, but that’s about all I could do. I couldn’t feel my fingers and my face burned from the cold. The breath I expelled around me was white mist. My lungs burned from trying to draw a deep breath as a gust of wind hit my face.

  Couldn’t breathe. I panicked. I tried to take several short, shallow breaths and my mind raced. What if I died here near the water? What if I… Crawling up and over a hill, I was only met with more cold. Snow and ice. Wind whipped my wet, limp hair around my cheeks.

  Terri might not have killed me, but for sure she left me for dead. Can’t say it wasn’t poetic. Maybe it was meant to happen this way, but I wasn’t ready to go. There was so much I wanted to get done first.

  Had to get out of there and the freezing weather. Already my wet clothes were rigid. Soon, I’d be a goner. Truth be told, I might be a goner already. Freezing to death wasn’t the worst way to go. I think I rather go that way than drowning and that, so far, I had managed to avoid.

  As a bright light came toward me, I told my body to move. I had to get out of the way, but I couldn’t move. I was frozen in place.

  Something was coming for me and I…

  A snow plow. I was going to get creamed. Talk about painful deaths.

  I squeezed my eyes shut as the regret rolled off of me. Just as I thought I was going to get it, the machine stopped. Inches from my head, the thick metal blade stopped. I sucked down some air, but swallowing was growing worse.

  Someone stood beside me. “Hell, Karen.”

  By the time I realized it was Mitch Cortail, a friend of Jay’s who ran one of the city plows, he was wrapping me in a thick blue blanket. An overweight and scruffy man by all appearances, but inside he was gentle. Thoughtful. If I was going to be found freezing on the side of the road, he was the one who I’d want to find me.

  I could trust him.

  I thought to thank him. I thought to say a million things to him, but all I could do was shiver. All my teeth could do was chatter together so hard, it sounded like a musical instrument.

  He picked me up and didn’t say anything much as he slid me into the cab of his truck. The loud pounding music inside assaulted me and the sudden warmth was shocking but I didn’t immediately defrost. Instead I felt like my outer layer was cracking.

  Shivering, I bent forward. Just trying to stay warm. I leaned my head down near the heat vents, feeling the force of hot air on my cheek was almost too much. I thought my skin might crack right in two from the sudden change in temperature.

  “What happened?” Mitch asked as he started his truck back up. “Where’s your car? Karen, where’d you fall in?”

  I couldn’t answer. My body was shaking so bad, I couldn’t even think straight. Hypothermia had set in and if I didn’t get help soon... “Hosp…Hosp…Hospital!” I spat out and spit flew out of my mouth, spraying his dashboard.

  “I’ll get you there.” He was on his cell phone a split moment later. “Jay? I found her. I’m taking her…just hang on a second…the hospital.” He watched at me out of the corner of his eye. “You’re going to want to make it quick.”

  Maybe he thought I wouldn’t make it.

  Maybe he was right.

  Chapter 22

  Terri

  I literally couldn’t hurt any more. At least the cold was numbing a little bit. Numbing so much I couldn’t feel my toes.

  And suddenly I was overcome with overwhelming hunger. I licked my chapped lips, when had they had time to get chapped? I'd been so busy seeking revenge. Why did my body think it was okay to start shutting down? I needed to get my leg fixed and I needed food.

  I reached down and tightened the wrap around my leg. Wincing, I inhaled deeply. With Sylvia, Karen, and all the other losers dead, I should've been feeling relief, feeling a sense of completion, but I didn't.

  I felt like I was missing something.

  Okay, come on Terri, we can do this. Let's get to the hospital. My blood sugar was probably extremely lo
w.

  And my leg.

  No one should even be looking for me. None of the bodies should have been found yet.

  The only one bugging me was Clyde.

  I leaned forward, bracing my hand on a log before I stood from fixing my leg bandage. The wind had slowed a bit. I could hear the crunch of, wait a minute…

  Was that the crunch of footfalls? I moved closer to a tree, limping as I dragged my foot behind me.

  There was no blood which I was grateful for.

  I slowed my breathing and listened hard. But I couldn’t help turning my thoughts inward. Why was I so unhappy? My revenge wasn’t supposed to come with this feeling of dissatisfaction. Where was my sense of completion?

  I had expected the sadness to go away. Why hadn't it gone? What was going on? How could this be?

  I could get back at him…

  But who?

  Who was I so mad at that I couldn't be happy with the revenge that I'd gotten so far? Judge Condran was gone…

  Clyde. I was mad at Clyde. But why was I mad at Clyde? I didn't want him dead. I thought about it, sure, but who hadn't? And just because my little baby was gone didn't mean it was Clyde's fault.

  Clyde had had nothing to do with it.

  As far as I knew.

  No, Clyde wouldn’t do that. I held my breath, listening for any more footfalls. But none came. I reached above me, clenching the thick shaft of the lower branch beside my head. Using it to steady myself, I limped away from the stability of the tree. Away from the safety of the branches. My leg may or may not be broken, but all I knew was it was holding me back.

  Maybe it was time for me to get the ultimate revenge. Get back the things that I needed to. Completely wipe out Sandpoint so I could find that revenge and that sweet peace I was looking for.

  The hospital wouldn’t be very far away. I could make it back to the hospital, get some treatment from actual doctors, maybe even get x-rayed. Once I had that done, I could actually eat something, go ignite the last bombs, and get out of town.