Running in Circles

by Laurèn Lee

  “Innocent?” Earl scoffed. “Little Miss Rhiannon was a slut. She opened her legs for her joke of a boyfriend and didn’t even care about the consequences. They both deserved to die.”

  The room spun around Ricky, and he felt like he’d faint at any moment. He had to keep it together, though, if he wanted to live. All this time, they hunted a killer, and he’d been right in front of him. This entire time, the man he hunted had been his boss, his friend, his brother. He never felt so ashamed and embarrassed at his lack of awareness of his surroundings. How could he not have seen this? How did he miss the warning signs that flashed like a neon billboard once he looked back?

  “So, you took them to another spot, killed them, and dumped their bodies at the ravine?” Ricky wanted to spit. Even just being in Earl’s presence had now made bile rise in his throat. He felt unbelievably, unequivocally disgusted.

  “Now you’re catching on!”

  “Candace?”

  “Oh, yeah. She squealed like a pig, that one,” Earl snickered.

  “You questioned me after her murder, like you thought I’d done something wrong! And, the entire time, it was you!”

  Both men noticed the penknife on the floor only a few feet from the pool of blood. It was as though an imaginary bell sounded, and both men dove for the knife. Earl and Ricky collided, but Earl reached the knife first. Ricky struggled to stand back up and pulled his gun out of the holster.

  “Looks like you brought a knife to a gunfight, Sheriff,” he said.

  “You won’t shoot me,” Earl scoffed. “You don’t have the balls!”

  “You don’t know that,” Ricky said.

  “Sure I do. Go ahead, shoot me! I’ve just confessed to murdering three people, and there’s another person I’ve kidnapped in my closet. Shoot me!”

  Earl held out his arms like a bird waiting to take flight. Ricky had a clean shot. But something inside him took over. It could have been sheer terror or shock, but he couldn’t shoot. He kept his gun trained on Earl’s heart, but his finger barely grasped the trigger.

  “I knew you couldn’t do it. You’re not man enough,” Earl sneered.

  “I’m calling for backup,” Ricky announced.

  As he reached for his radio, Earl dropped the pen knife and dove across the floor. He threw open the loose floorboard, exposing his trophies. He grabbed his Glock within seconds. Ricky didn’t have time to duck, and a single bullet pierced his gut. He called out in pain, stumbled backward and toppled over into the pre-existing pool of blood on the floor. His blood now mixed with Natalia’s blood.

  “Fuck!” Ricky called out. “What the fucking hell, Earl? You shot me!”

  “I’ve still got it,” Earl said and patted himself on the back. He strolled over to Ricky, took his gun and his radio which had both slid across the hardwood floor upon impact. Ricky was now defenseless, and an admitted serial killer stood over him. Once again, power surged through Earl’s veins because he knew he held another life in his hands. He decided whether Ricky lived or died.

  “What will your sister think?” Ricky asked as he held his stomach. Blood squirted out despite his applied pressure. Sweet, sticky blood.

  “My sister? She’ll never know! No one will know!”

  “What are you talking about?” Ricky asked.

  “Well, I’m going to become Stone City’s greatest hero in a few hours,” Earl said as a matter-of-factly.

  “Yeah? How?”

  “I’m going to pin it all on you, of course!” Earl smiled.

  “No one is going to believe you!” Ricky shouted.

  “Sure, they will. I’m the sheriff, and there won’t be anyone else to dispute my claims once I kill you and the girl in the closet.”

  “It’ll never work,” Ricky said. His energy waned with the blood loss.

  “I’ll tell everyone I’d been suspicious of you since the start and watched you closely. When I confronted you about the killings, you flipped out and attacked me. You admitted to it all and even told me all of the gritty, little details. You nearly killed me, so I had to defend myself. We struggled, but in the end, I endured and killed you. It will be my word against no one’s.”

  “You can’t do this!” Ricky pleaded.

  “I can and I will. I’m afraid your time's almost up.” Earl took Ricky’s gun and pointed it at himself.

  “What are you doing?” Ricky called out.

  “I’m shooting myself, obviously. You’re not as bright as I thought you were when I hired you. Oh, well. I guess we all make mistakes, huh?”

  Earl wondered where he could shoot himself and cause minimal damage. He contemplated shooting his knee, but he already had enough trouble down there. Maybe his shoulder? Yeah, his shoulder. Earl closed his eyes, held his breath and shot his left shoulder with Ricky’s gun.

  The echo of the shot ricocheted throughout the living room, and Earl doubled over in pain once the bullet had gone through his body and out the other side. “Fuck! Damn! Jesus Christ! Mother fucker!”

  Then, his adrenaline kicked in, and the pain evaporated as quickly as it’d come. Earl wiped his fingerprints off the gun and made a mental note to place it in Ricky’s hands after he killed him. Even though the entire scene was messy, and his story would be filled with holes like Swiss cheese, no one would ever question him. Celebration and relief would come once the world knew Earl caught the Stone City Slasher. No one would care or notice the plot holes; they'd just be happy he stopped a serial killer from killing ever again.

  As Earl stood there, accomplished and ready to end to Ricky’s life, his front door swung open, and a tiny voice called out. “Earl?”

  Forty-Eight

  Earl whipped around and there, standing at his door, was none other than his baby sister.

  “Gabby!” he called out in a panic. “What are you doing here?”

  “I got a call from Natalia’s husband saying she wasn’t answering her phone and that he was afraid something might have happened to her,” she said as she drank in the scene before her. “What is going on? What is all of this? Have you been shot?”

  “Help me!” Ricky called out. “He’s the Stone City Slasher, and he’s trying to kill me. Please call 9-1-1!”

  Gabby looked to Ricky and instantly noticed the gaping wound in his stomach as the blood continued to seep out underneath him. Frozen in her spot, Gabby asked, “Earl, what is he talking about? Who is the Stone City Slasher?”

  Earl began shaking his head as he began to come undone. Gabby wasn’t supposed to be here. She wasn’t supposed to know he’d killed those people. She wasn’t supposed to see him about to kill Ricky. A shriek erupted from the closet again, and Natalia continued to pound on the door.

  “Oh my God! Is Natalia in your closet?” Gabby cried as she ran to help her friend.

  “No. No. No. NO! This isn’t supposed to happen like this!” Earl smacked himself repeatedly across the face as Ricky watched in horror.

  Gabby unlocked the door and Natalia poured out of the closet, bloody, bruised and broken.

  “Gabby!” she cried. “Your brother! He raped me! He’s trying to kill me!” She flung her body into her friend’s arms and sobbed into her embrace.

  Gabby walked with Natalia closer and closer to the door. “Earl, tell me what is going on right fucking now! Did you hurt her? Did you hurt him?” She pointed to Ricky on the floor, bloody and defenseless. The room stank of iron and sweat.

  “You’re not supposed to be here!” Earl roared as he became totally unhinged.

  “Earl, put the gun down. We can talk about this,” Gabby carefully suggested. “No one is going to hurt you. I just want to talk.”

  Gabby felt her own flashback reveal itself within her mind. She remembered her big brother fighting neighborhood kids. He’d pummeled a boy who called him a freak and said his mom was a “hot piece of ass.” She remembered the fury and pure hatred in his eyes. She’d never been afraid of her brother until then. He’d always protected her, but in that moment, she t
hought he could be capable of anything. She remembered when she heard whispers in her school of Earl raping his girlfriend. She, of course, had shrugged it off as nasty gossip. Her brother would never hurt a girl, let alone his girlfriend. All the rumors had whispered to her throughout her life, but she chose to ignore them. Now, though, she faced all those rumors in the eye; they’d come to fruition.

  “Leave Natalia here and get out of this house, Gabby,” Earl warned. “I don’t want to hurt you, too.”

  “Hurt me? You’d never hurt me, Kit.”

  The nickname stung Earl. He hadn’t heard that name escape Gabby’s lips since they were children. She hadn’t called him that since he left home for good. Her tone implied disgust, though. She called out his nickname with distaste dripping from her mouth. He’d never heard her sound so hateful toward him in his entire life.

  “If you put yourself in harm’s way, I won’t have any other choice,” Earl conceded.

  “This isn’t you, Kit,” Gabby said. “This isn’t you! You are the sheriff! You swore to protect people, not hurt them. Maybe you’re sick. We can help you. We can save you!”

  “NO ONE CAN SAVE ME!” Earl roared.

  Gabby stiffened and held onto Natalia even more tightly. Who was this man standing before her? This couldn’t be her brother, could it? Had he been this evil all his life, or had it started now? Could he have been born evil? Or, did it grow within him until it was powerful enough to take over his mind, body and spirit? How could this be her brother? How could this be the same man who held her son in his arms and rocked him to sleep? She trusted him with her son. Had she entrusted her only child with a killer? A monster? Her head spun with confusion and repulsion.

  “Please, Kit. Stop this insanity! Don’t hurt anyone else. No other innocent lives need to be put in jeopardy.”

  “They need to pay,” Earl muttered to himself. “They all need to pay.”

  “Who needs to pay? Why?”

  “All of you! You all need to pay! You don’t see me for who I am!”

  “I see you, Big Brother. I see you and hear you loud and clear. I know this isn’t you. You are a good person; you are a loving person.” She wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince Earl of his innocence, or herself.

  “I am a killer, Gabby. Can’t you see? I live for bringing death upon those who deserve it!”

  “But did they deserve it, Kit? That older woman and those kids. Did they deserve to die?”

  “Yes,” Earl seethed. “They paid for their sins. And, if you don’t leave right this minute, you’ll have to pay, too.”

  Gabby hung her head. She knew she was fighting a losing battle. There’d be no changing Earl’s mind at this point. The real challenge would be getting out of this house alive. But, how could she do it? How could she save Ricky, who was currently bleeding out, and Natalia, who couldn’t stand on her own two feet? She felt helpless and hopeless. First, her mother died and now she learned her brother is a serial killer. She pinched herself and hoped the nightmare would end, but it didn’t.

  “Earl? What can I do to help you right now?”

  “You can help by getting the fuck out of my house!”

  “I can’t do that, and you know it. Put the gun down, and let’s talk. I love you so much; please don’t hurt anyone else.”

  “I can’t do that, and you know it. I need to finish what I started.”

  Without notice, Ricky had pulled himself up and leaned on the blue suede couch for leverage as he stood upright. His bleeding had slowed down to a manageable pace. He kept one hand pressed against the knife wound and used the other to balance his shaken body. Earl finally noticed the commotion behind him and whipped around. Only when he looked at his deputy, he didn’t see Ricky, he saw his father. In the whirlwind of emotions swirling around while he and Gabby fought, he’d lost all sense of self and reality. He slipped away into a dark, secret part of his own mind.

  “Daddy?” Earl asked in a curious tone. “Is that you?”

  Ricky, more confused than ever, decided to play along. “It’s me, Son.”

  Earl rubbed his eyes and ignored the sharp pain which reverberated within his shoulder. “Wah, wah, why are ya-you here, Daddy?” Earl’s childhood stutter returned.

  “I’m here, uh, to stop you from causing any more harm,” Ricky said nervously. “You’ve hurt people, Kit. It’s time to stop.”

  Gabby looked toward Ricky and pinched herself one more time for extra measure. Her brother had lost his fucking mind. His deputy stood before him, not their father.

  “You left us,” Earl said. “You ah-ah-ah-abandoned me.”

  Ricky felt his voice waver, too. “I’m, uh, sorry, Son. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “Muh-muh-mama turned into a slut after you-you left,” Earl sputtered darkly. “It’s all your fuh-fuh-fault.”

  “Why don’t you hand me the gun, Kit? Let me help you.”

  Earl continued to stare curiously at the image of his father before him. He looked exactly the same as the day he left. His voice sounded the same, too. Was he dreaming? Had he gone back in time?

  “You never loved me,” Earl said, his normal voice dialect returning.

  “Of course I did!” Ricky said, exasperated. “How could you say such a thing?”

  “You called me a freak and a monster, Daddy. You never said you loved me. You were never around. You hurt me and Mama!”

  “I am so sorry, Son. I never meant to hurt you. Let me show you how much I love you now. Let me help you!” Ricky’s Theatre 101 class in college was paying off. Earl dropped to his knees in tears.

  Ricky hobbled toward Earl and prayed he wouldn’t fall out of his hallucination before he had a chance to take back his gun. Gabby and Natalia held each other near the door, not daring to make a run for it. Everyone in the room knew how volatile the situation had turned. Earl had to be dealt with as though he were a piece of rare china.

  “Let me have the gun, Kit,” Ricky asked again.

  Earl looked up into Ricky’s eyes, and sadness had enveloped his face. He truly looked like a kid again, lonely and desperate for his father’s affection.

  “Let me save you, Son,” Ricky said.

  Earl slowly handed Ricky the gun and cringed as if he waited for his pseudo father to punish him. Earl lost control, then, and sobbed into his hands.

  Ricky grasped the gun and took several steps backward. Even though he had the weapon, Earl had proven he had enough evil within him to defy logic and reasoning. He wasn’t afraid of a gun. He’d shot himself mere minutes ago! Ricky reached for his handcuffs.

  “Okay, Son. I’m going to put these on you now, but it’s for your own good. Do you understand?”

  Earl nodded his head, and once again Ricky stepped toward the sheriff. He opened the cuffs and readied himself to slap them on Earl’s wrist as soon as he stood close enough to do so. With every step, his heart pounded and thudded against his chest.

  “Are you ready, Earl?”

  At the sound of his given name, Earl snapped to attention, and his original fury resurfaced. The jig was up. The hallucination ended. Earl had become lucid again.

  “Oh, I’m ready,” he said.

  Earl tackled Ricky, and both crashed to the floor. Gabby and Natalia shrieked and cried out into the night for help.

  The men scuffled on the floor and rolled around on the bloody floorboards, each of them growling and struggling to defeat the other. Gabby reached for her phone and finally had the chance to call for help.

  “Hello, operator? Yes, please send help! This is Sheriff Davis’s sister. We’re at his house. He’s trying to kill us! Yes, you heard me! The sheriff, my brother is the Stone City Slasher! Please hurry!” Gabby hung up and clung to her friend desperately. She hoped the operator had taken her seriously and would send help as soon as humanly possible.

  Meanwhile, Earl reached over and over for Ricky’s gun. In the shuffle, the gun went off and shot through the front window above the blue couch. The women screamed,
and Earl growled madly.

  “Give that to me!”

  “No!” Ricky yelled back. “I won’t let you hurt anyone else!”

  The gun slid from Ricky’s hands and moved toward Gabby and Natalia like a puck on ice. Earl screamed at the top of his lungs and threw Ricky against the wall. He stood up and approached his baby sister, who’d picked up the Glock and held it out, aiming it toward Earl.

  He cackled, “Put that thing down before you hurt yourself, Gabby.”

  Sirens sounded from outside and echoed within the foyer of the house. Earl sneered, “You called the cops? I am the cops!”

  “I told them you’re the serial killer. They’re coming for you,” Gabby sobbed.

  “Then I’ll have to kill them too,” Earl warned.

  “With what? You’re not armed. I have the gun.”

  “I’ll find a way, Baby Sis. I always do.”

  “Remember when I stole your dolls and ripped their heads off? That’s exactly what I’m going to do to you and your whore friend.”

  “Fuck you!” Natalia spat.

  “I did. Don’t you remember?”

  “Oh, I remember you not being man enough to finish. You can’t even rape a woman right, you sack of shit!” she screamed.

  “Arghhhhhhhh!” Earl ran toward the girls. The sirens screamed, and several squad cars parked out front.

  Without a second thought, Gabby closed her eyes and shot the gun.

  Forty-Nine

  The bullet entered Earl’s chest and pierced his heart. He grasped his chest after the gun sounded off and looked to his sister incredulously. As if in slow motion, Earl stumbled backward and fell onto the hardwood floor, smacking his head against it in the process.

  His fellow officers stormed the house, and Natalia, Ricky and Gabby cried in relief; they’d been saved.

  Earl closed his eyes as he felt his final moments were upon him.

  He remembered his mother rocking him to sleep as a child. She sang to him and whispered that she’d always be there to love and protect him. He was her baby boy, her firstborn, her first true love. The admiration in her eyes whenever she looked at him made him feel safe. Like no matter what happened in life, he’d always have his mother.