Cooper

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  Frustrated, I jammed the key in the door and stormed inside, almost instantly gagging at the intense smell. I coughed and stepped forward, but when I saw the red streaks on the floor, my stomach almost fell out. My eyes followed the streaks across the room to where a body lay and tears pricked my eyes. Her blonde hair was sprawled out around her and her eyes were closed. I slowly stepped toward her, shocked that she was on the floor like this. Who could have done this?

  My head was a mess and it didn’t occur to me until I was right next to her that I needed to call someone. I spun around and instantly felt a pain so deep in my stomach that tears sprang to my eyes. The air left my body in a whoosh and time just stopped right there in my living room. Slowly, I looked up into a familiar face that sent chills down my spine. I wanted to ask him why, but my whole body was frozen. Ever so slowly, I looked down at the large knife that protruded from my stomach and stumbled back a step. His hand flashed out and gripped my hair, dragging me closer to him and pushing the knife in deeper.

  Terror was the only thing I could feel. My whole body shook and my heart was pounding out of control as reality set in. This was not going to end well. I tried to look down at Delaney, but his dark, evil eyes held me captive, refusing to let me look anywhere but at him.

  “You just had to keep looking, didn’t you?” He stepped toward me, pushing me back further until I hit the wall. He gripped my hair and slammed my head back into the wall, leaving me dizzy and gasping for air.

  I felt his grip on the handle of the knife as he pulled it out of my stomach. I tried to scream or cry, but it was like I was suspended in time, unable to do anything. He lifted the knife to his nose and inhaled deeply, his eyes closing as a smile spread across his face. The grip on my hair tightened and I whimpered in pain as the wound in my stomach pulled taut, and the first squeal left my lips.

  “Oh, no, no, no,” he said quietly, chuckling as he lowered the knife again. “We don’t want to let anyone know that I’m here. You wouldn’t want anyone else to get hurt, now would you?”

  When I didn’t answer, his eyes turned hard and I shook my head slightly. His hand lowered and the knife was pointed at me again. I started crying and shook my head slightly.

  “Please,” I cried, tears and snot slipping down my face.

  “Please what? Don’t fuck up your plans like you fucked up mine?” he asked angrily.

  Ever so slowly, he pressed the knife to my chest and started piercing the skin. My whole body shook as a sob left my mouth. His grip left my hair and covered my mouth tightly. I couldn’t move. With his body pressed against mine and his hand covering my mouth, I had no way to move away from the knife.

  “You’re going to feel my pain. Every last second of it. You know, it just started out as fucking around. It was fun.” He started laughing and shook his head. “It was so fucking funny when I moved your car.” The knife moved deeper inside me, slowly so I could feel every painful second. I started crying harder as the pain enveloped me. My tears slid down over his hand, but that only made him smile. My body shook and I struggled to get away from him, but he was too strong. “You looked so confused. That was probably the most fun prank I played.”

  He pressed the knife deeper and then yanked it out. I gasped and cried out, but it was muffled by his hand. My knees felt weak and I started to collapse, but he caught me around the waist, holding me up against the wall.

  “No, no. We don’t want this to end too fast. You messed up all my plans. You see, I was supposed to have so much time to let my plans play out. And it would have happened if you hadn’t set out those cameras.”

  He slammed the knife into my chest again, this time hitting a rib before shoving the rest of the way in. I cried out at the sudden pain, but it only seemed to anger him, and he tore it from my body again. Tears spilled down my cheeks and my heart beat so hard that I was sure I was pumping all the blood out of my body. He trailed the tip of the knife down my face, piercing my cheek hard with the tip before slicing down my cheek and my throat. For a moment, I thought he would cut my throat, but then he cut down further, right over my right breast. The pressure was intense and then I felt the sharp stab and the crippling pain. Over and over, he trailed the knife over my body and stabbed me, all the while holding my body upright. My body hung limply in his arms. I tried to lift my arms to fight back, but they were dead weight. I could only stare into his eyes and pray for him to end this soon. The sick pleasure on his face made it clear that I was not leaving here alive.

  My legs gave out and I collapsed to the ground. I laid uselessly on the ground, staring up at the fading light around me. My arms lay limp at my sides and my legs were completely useless. He straddled my body, holding the knife above me nonchalantly. My head lulled to the side and I stared at Delaney, wondering if she was alive. Did she suffer? I wanted to beg her to help me even though it was clear that she couldn’t do anything. I coughed and felt something dribble down my chin, but I couldn’t lift my hand to swipe at it. He gripped my chin and jerked my head back to look at him.

  “I just wanted to have some fun,” he said angrily, trailing the knife along my arm. “Take a few things, freak some people out, but then the real fun began.” He shoved the knife down in my arm. I felt the tip hit bone before he pulled it out quickly. “Everyone thought that poor dog was hit by a car, but if your boyfriend had bothered to look closer, he would have seen that I slowly tortured that dog until his body gave out.”

  The knife slashed down at me, slamming into my stomach and causing my whole body to lurch up with a scream. He pressed down on my shoulder to keep me down. He jerked the knife while it was still in my body and I felt my insides tearing. I prayed and pleaded for it to all be over quickly.

  “Please,” I begged, my voice gurgling with blood. I started choking and he tsked me, like I was misbehaving.

  “No, I’m afraid we’re not through yet. This was supposed to be fun, but you’re taking all the joy out of this.” He slammed the knife down again, this time in my thigh and ripped it out, only to slash across my chest and down my stomach. The pain was so intense that I could barely feel what was happening anymore. I just wanted it to be over. I prayed that it would all end and I could finally be at peace.

  “You know, I always wondered what it would be like to murder someone. Now I know.”

  He raised the knife high and I closed my eyes, hoping that this was the end. I felt the tears slipping down my face and faint fluttering of panic in my chest, but more than anything, I just wanted this to be over. I screamed when the knife slammed into the palm of my hand and lodged itself into the floor. He tried yanking it out, but it was jammed into the floorboards. Blackness swirled around me and I vaguely saw him lean down closer to my face.

  “I bet you’re wishing this was the end,” he whispered against my ear.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Coop

  I had a bad feeling in my gut. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, it always turned to shit. This time, it reminded me of when I walked in on my ex massacred in her house. I wasn’t sure what the problem was. Kayla was here, resting in her room, and some of the ladies were keeping her company. Kayla was fine, so what was the problem?

  I went to the main building to check in with Cap. “Do we have any teams out right now?”

  “Uh, yeah,” he said distractedly.

  “And they’ve checked in?”

  “We heard from Ice’s team this morning and Chance’s team checked in just a few minutes ago. Everything’s good.”

  I stood in the doorway, trying to figure out what was wrong then. He must have sensed that I was still there because he looked up at me strangely. “What’s going on?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. Just a really bad feeling.”

  “About what?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I left the office with an urgency that didn’t make sense. It took forever to get through all the safety protocols to get out of the building. They needed to put in a god
damn fireman’s pole so that we could get out fast when we needed to. I ran to an SUV as soon as I hit the garage and was shocked to see not only Cap, but Tony and Storm right on my heels. I hadn’t even noticed them coming down to the garage with me. I didn’t know where I was going, but something told me I needed to move.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, what the fuck are we looking for?”

  “I don’t know!” I shouted. My hands tensed on the steering wheel and sweat slickened my palms. I was nauseous and on the verge of panic.

  “Rob,” I heard Cap say from beside me. “Check all systems and anyone that’s hooked up to Reed Security….Uh-huh.”

  Cap put the phone on speaker phone and pulled out his gun, checking it over as he waited. “I’ve got something,” Rob said. “It’s…well, it’s odd.”

  “What the fuck is it?” I shouted.

  “At Becky’s house. No alarms are going off. Everything’s quiet, but her front door is open. Looks like it’s been open for about ten minutes now.”

  “That’s it?” Cap asked. “Can you find out anything else?”

  “I’m going through the camera feed now.”

  My gut churned and I almost had to pull over to puke, but I swallowed it down and stepped on the gas. Becky wouldn’t leave the door open, no matter what. Something was definitely wrong.

  “I just pulled up the camera feed. Everything looks normal. I’m not seeing anything. Maybe they just forgot to close the door?”

  “No,” I said firmly, knowing there was no way this was just as simple as a forgotten door. “Something’s wrong.”

  “You want me to send more teams over?” Rob asked.

  “No,” Cap said. “Call Sean and ask for him to meet us there. And call an ambulance.”

  “What do you want me to report? I can’t just tell them there’s a door open.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you tell them,” Cap shouted. “Just tell them to get an ambulance over there. I’ll deal with them if nothing’s going on.”

  He hung up as I pulled onto Becky’s street and skidded to a stop in her driveway. The front door was open and I ran for the front door, my heart pounding with every step I took. I pushed the door open and my stomach dropped out. The whole living room was covered in blood. It was so dizzying that I almost couldn’t move forward. That was when I spotted Delaney laying on the floor by the wall. There was blood all around her and her eyes were closed as if she was sleeping.

  I took two steps forward when I heard a whimper. Slowly, my eyes slid across the floor to where Becky lay by her computer table. I ran to her, slipping in the blood all over the floor. I was scared to touch her, scared to check and see if she was okay.

  “Holy shit. Check and see how far out that ambulance is,” I heard behind me.

  “Becky,” I finally said, lightly pressing my fingertips to her neck.

  “Coop,” I heard ever so quietly. My eyes shot to hers as they opened and I grasped her hand in mine, squeezing tightly to let her know that I was here. There was blood mixed with her tears, matting her eyelashes together. I wanted to swipe at them, to clean them up, but there was too much blood.

  “You’re going to be okay. The ambulance is on the way.”

  “We need to put pressure on these wounds,” Cap said, kneeling on the other side of her. I vaguely heard a shout come from beside Delaney, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Becky.

  “You’re okay, Sunshine. I swear, you’re okay.”

  Tears leaked down her face and she rolled her head slightly to look at me. “I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m so sorry…I never…wanted…Kayla….” She started choking and struggling for air, and I fought down the panic as I stared at her scared face.

  “Shh,” I tried to soothe her, even as my own voice broke and my heart shattered. “It’s okay. I know. I know.”

  “Don’t leave me,” she pleaded. Her hand tightened around mine as she gasped for air. “I don’t…want to die…alone.”

  “Never,” I swore, my own eyes filling with tears at the prospect of her dying. I swiped a strand of her hair out of her face and touched her cheek, just like I used to do before I had gone and thrown it all away. “You’re not going to die,” I choked out, “I love you. I’m not going anywhere.”

  I moved my hand from her cheek to search out the source of the blood, but it seemed like she was bleeding from everywhere. No matter where I moved my hand, there was blood pouring from her body. I couldn’t stop it. I stared at my bloodied hand as it shook and realized that this was really it. She was bleeding from everywhere and I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t save the woman I loved. How could this be happening?

  Gut-wrenching sobs filled me so deep that I shook as I held her and watched her slip away. My hand slipped from her face, down her neck where I could feel her pulse still slowly beating under my fingertips. My tears fell down on her, mingling with the blood marring her beautiful skin.

  “Coop,” she whispered. I sniffed back the tears and tried to get my breathing to slow. “I love you and…I’m sorry.” Her breath hitched and she coughed, blood splattering from her mouth. I swiped at it as I tried to calm her, but she was barely holding on and the ache in my chest was too unbearable. Her eyes slipped closed and they didn’t open again.

  “Becky,” I pleaded, shaking her slightly. “Becky!” I shook her again, but she didn’t say respond. Anguish ripped through me as I cried and screamed. I slid my hand under her neck and pulled her to me, squeezing her body to mine as I tried to get her to hear me. “Becky!” I hugged her body to mine, crying as she hung limply in my arms.

  But she didn’t answer. Her hand hung at her side and I slid my fingers to intertwine with mine. Why hadn’t I gone to her sooner? Why hadn’t I held her hand more when I had her? Why was I such a selfish asshole that ruined everything in my life?

  “Move aside,” paramedics shouted, but I couldn’t tear myself from her side. “Sir, we need to work on her. You need to move.”

  Arms tore at me, dragging me away from her. “No,” I cried, terrified that once she was in that ambulance I would never see her again. My whole body shook as sobs poured from my soul. The paramedics were working quickly, but I had a feeling that they just weren’t fast enough.

  I sat there, leaning against someone behind me, feeling totally defeated and useless. Time seemed to stop around me as I watched the paramedics working to save her life, even though I knew it was useless. She would be gone in a matter of minutes. I felt like I was having an out of body experience, watching everything happen around me as I took in the room. I finally looked over to where Delaney laid, but the paramedics were shaking their heads at Tony, who stared down at Delaney in anguish. He was trying to be stoic, but there was no mistaking his torment. Storm sat beside him as he tried his best to clean up Delaney, but there was too much blood.

  The paramedics lifted Becky onto a stretcher and the sounds of the room came back to me. I flew to my feet and followed the paramedics out of the house. Cap dragged me to the SUV, not allowing me in the back of the ambulance with her. I couldn’t even protest. All the fight was gone from my body.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  I waited for it. I knew that at any moment the doctor was going to come out and say that Becky had died on the table. She had too many wounds. We all knew it. Pretty much the whole waiting room was filled with Reed Security employees, and if they weren’t at Becky’s house, they had already heard about the grisly scene that we walked in on.

  Delaney had already been dead when we arrived, and Tony hadn’t spoken to anyone that I knew of since he saw her there. I wasn’t sure what was going on in his head right now. I couldn’t even figure out my own head. As I sat there, I just felt nothing. It was funny because people kept looking at me like I was going to fall into a ball on the floor and start crying, but I already knew what was going to happen. It was so obvious that she wouldn’t make it. There was no point in being nervous about the pr
ocedure or worrying about her making it. In fact, I wasn’t sure why everyone was sitting in this fucking place, just waiting for answers. We should be getting ready for two funerals, but instead, we were all sitting here.

  And the more I sat there, the more it pissed me off that everyone around me was moping and hoping for a different outcome. Why couldn’t they see what I saw? When would they realize that Delaney and Becky had been murdered and there was no bringing them back? And why the fuck was I sitting here like I had some right to be? I had pushed Becky away. I had made her feel lower than shit, and as I thought back to my reasons, they seemed petty. In reality, I traded her life for my anger.

  I stood and stormed for the door. I couldn’t just sit there and wait anymore. I needed to drive and get away. I needed to work out my anger and feel something, anything. Because feeling numb was too good for me. I deserved to suffer the way Becky suffered.

  I jumped in my truck and was just about to drive off when the passenger door opened and Tony got in. He didn’t say a word, just stared forward like he was ready for whatever was about to happen. I didn’t question him as I put the truck in reverse and backed out, but then Storm ran in front of the truck and I really considered punching the gas.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” he shouted.

  I gripped the steering wheel tighter and lowered the window, barely leaning out. “Get the fuck out of the way.”

  “No. What do you think you’re going to do? We don’t know who fucking did it. Are you gonna go murder anyone that could have been there tonight?”

  “Get the fuck away from my truck,” I said slowly, very tempted to just gun the engine and make him move.

  He walked toward the truck, moving to my window. “You’re fucking pissed and I get that, but you can’t just run off and unleash your anger on anyone you want.”

  I refused to turn and look at him and Tony still sat deadly quite beside me.

  “I know a place,” Storm said, opening the back door and hopping in. “There’s a place you can go and nobody’s gonna question you beating the shit out of someone.”