Nightmares from Within (18 page)

She stared for several seconds, just watching me cry before giving me a slight nod. “Okay,” she finally replied.

I was stunned. “Okay? You mean you believe me? Just like that?”

She sighed and leaned back against the arm of the couch, pulling her knees to her chest. “I don’t know what to believe, honestly. No one wants to hear that they’re in danger but I’ve never seen you so freaked out in all the time I’ve known you. If you’re this upset then you obviously have good reason and I’d be stupid not to listen to you. So…yeah, just like that.”

The tears broke free again and I went in for another hug. I knew I was squeezing her hard but I’d never felt so much relief in my life. “Too tight,” she wheezed. “Can’t breathe.”

I released her and mirrored her posture on the other end of the couch. “So you’re going to take a break from Dark?” I asked needing to hear her say the words.

Cassie gave a slight shrug before replying, “Yeah, why not. I’m exhausted anyway.”

I gave a small laugh and repeated the words she’d told me. “A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do for Jimmy Choo.”

She threw her head back and let out a loud laugh. “This is true but I think I’ve got enough pairs to last me a while.” All of a sudden her smile disappeared and was replaced with a serious expression. “I don’t think you’re insane, Taylor,” she said with so much conviction it warmed me inside. “I think you’re smart and funny and loyal, and I’m proud to call you my friend.”

“I’m proud to call you my friend too,” I whispered.

I come to and lift my head to look at my surroundings but all I see is black… dark, overwhelming black. I’m trying to recall what happened but my brain is sluggish and I’m having difficulty remembering. My shoulders ache but when I go to move them I can’t. My breathing picks up and I try to kick my legs but nothing happens. I try to shift and the feel of hard wood presses into my back.

I’m on a chair. Or more to the point, I’m tied to a chair, but with what I don’t know. When I move my wrist to try and feel what’s securing me in place, nothing’s there.

That can’t be right.

If there’s no rope or tape, why can’t I move? My struggles stop when I hear the sound of a heavy door being pushed open somewhere behind me. My heart rate picks up and I find it difficult to breathe.

All I can think is that I don’t want to die here, in this dark, dank room.

Something hard and cold is pressing against the bare skin at the back of my neck and I shiver noticeably at the feel of it. Whoever is standing behind me continues to run it along my shoulder and down my arm. When the tip of it presses into my skin harder I realize it’s a knife.

I try and move away from it but the effort is in vain. A deep chuckle sounds in my ear and I can smell the cologne of whoever is standing behind me. It’s familiar but I can’t place it.

“You’re so beautiful,” the deep, gravelly voice tells me.

Where do I know that voice from? I’m certain I’ve heard it before.

“You’re not like the others,” he continues, making a chill of terror and disgust rush up my spine. “You’re strong, so much stronger than all the women before you. I thought they were meant for me but I was wrong. It was you. All this time, I’ve been waiting for you.”

He makes a move with the knife and it feels like my invisible bonds are cut, freeing me to move my arms. He makes his way in front of me but I still can’t see his face in the darkness. He releases each ankle and pulls me to standing. I’m flush against his body and it takes all of my willpower to keep the bile from rising in my throat at his intimate caress.

“You’re so different. So brave…so determined. We’re soul mates,” he whispers as he runs his nose along the line of my jaw. I can’t hold back the tremor that courses through me or the whimper that escapes my throat. I’ve never felt so full of terror and hate.

“Tell me you love me,” he says as he licks the shell of my ear. Tears start falling down my face and I can’t hold back the sob that breaks through. “Shh,” he soothes. “Tell me you love me and I’ll let you go.”

I know he’s lying. He’s never going to let me go. If I don’t fight I’m going to die here. I feel his hand reach up into my hair. Pain rips through my scalp as he wraps his hand around a large chunk of my hair and pulls roughly. “I said tell me you love me and I’ll let you go,” he hisses.

I won’t do it. I’m not going to let my last words on earth be a lie simply to placate this psychopath.

“No,” I say through clenched teeth. Before I can register movement, I’m sprawled across the damp concrete floor, the taste of copper in my mouth from my split lip and a throbbing in my cheek. I have to get out of here. Now is my only chance. I’m not bound to the chair or being held on to so I need to make a run for it.

I push up and start for where I heard him enter minutes earlier, but he grabs hold of my arm before I can make it. I spin around and frantically swing my fist through the air. I can’t see where he is so all I can do is pray I hit my mark. From the sound of crunching bone and his loosened hold I know I have.

My arm is released but before I can take a step he reaches for my ankle and pulls me to the ground. I let out a scream as I crash to the floor with a painful thud, feeling the painful snap of my ribs as some of them break.

But I’m not giving up.

I kick my foot out and connect with what I can only hope is his face. He yells out in pain as I push up, ignoring the stabbing agony in my side as I run for the door again.

I’m at a wall, running my hands along the rough cinderblocks, looking for a latch…a knob…anything to get me out of this god forsaken room.

My hands sweep across cool steel and I know I’ve found the door. Adrenalin is coursing through my veins at the realization that escape is so close. I grab hold of the latch and push the door open. It’s much heavier than I anticipated and it takes a lot of effort.

It cracks open and I can see light spilling down what looks like bare, wooden steps. I’m in a basement of some sort but where, I don’t know.

I take a step out of the room but before I can make it to the stairs he grabs me by my hair and spins me around. “You stupid bitch!” he yells. “You’re just like the rest of them! You’re nothing but a filthy fucking whore!”

The light coming down the stairs illuminates his face and I instantly recognize him. My mind screams just as the knife in his hand plunges down.

I woke up like I always did after a nightmare like that, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. It was Cassie in that nightmare and it me living through it. I didn’t see her face, but there was no doubt in my mind that it was my friend.

I glanced at the clock and saw the numbers glowing 6:45 in the morning. I knew she’d be pissed but it was a chance I was willing to take. Ever since leaving her house three nights ago, I called and texted regularly just to make sure she was okay. She always answered.

The phone rang in my ear just before her muffled, sleep filled voice broke through the line. “Still alive, hon,” she said. “But you won’t be if you don’t cut the early morning wakeup calls.”

I let out a little laugh and heard her giggle in return. “Sorry, go back to sleep.”

I pulled the phone away from her ear when her voice came through again, causing me to bring it back up so I could hear her. “Hey, Taylor?”

“Yeah, Cass?”

“Love you, friend.”

Tears burned the back of my eyes as I replied, “Love you, too.”

Jordan

I’d been blowing Taylor’s phone up for the past three days to no avail. After she ran out of my apartment I went into the liquor cabinet, cracked open a bottle of bourbon and began working my way through it. When I started the bottle I was replaying everything Taylor told me about seeing visions of people before they died. It was just too ridiculous to believe.

A quarter of the way through the bottle I started questioning how she had the information she did on the murders. There wasn’t a single cell in my body that thought she was involved in any way. Unfortunately, my rational mind wouldn’t let me consider the fact that what was she was saying could possibly have any truth to it.

Halfway through the bottle I started questioning my decision to automatically believe what she was saying was either a lie or just plain crazy. And I wanted to kick my own ass for how poorly I had handled the situation with her meds. I’d been the world’s biggest asshole. She was right. I’d let her believe I was in her corner and that I’d always be there to support her and the minute the words left her mouth, I knew I’d treated her the exact same way everyone else in her life had. I was worse than her parents. At least they’d never given her false hope.

I didn’t remember much after that but when I woke up the next morning I remembered the look on her face as she told me what had scared her so badly. I remembered the look of fear that quickly changed into disappointment at my reaction before turning into total devastation when I accused her of being involved then threw her pills at her.

The pain that my guilt caused was the only thing that overshadowed the pain from my hangover. I’d been falling for that girl more and more with every day that passed and I’d broken her trust that I’d all but begged her for.

I needed to talk to her more than I needed air.

“Dude, when are you going to get the fuck over that little waitress? You’ve been moping around here for the past three days. Even I’m starting to get depressed and I’m a naturally jovial person,” Stevens said as he leaned back in his desk chair causing it to let out a groan that told me it was dangerously close to the end of its life.

“Stevens, you don’t even know what the fuck the word jovial means so just shut your goddamn mouth.”

“She dump your whiny ass because she realized you have a vagina?”

He just didn’t know when to quit.

I got up and started walking away before I broke my partner’s face…not that anyone in the department would really blame me. Barry Stevens was a great guy, but he had a mad talent for pissing people off in only a matter of seconds.

“Where you going?” he called after me as I pulled my keys out of the pocket of my slacks.

“Lunch,” I replied right before pushing through the precinct door. I hopped in my car and drove to the place where I knew I could find Taylor.

Unbeknownst to her, I’d been keeping track of her schedule for the past few days. I never went into her apartment building or Benny’s Diner but I was keeping a constant eye on her. Yeah, I knew I was quickly reaching stalker level but that girl had me tied in knots.

I couldn’t function.

I would watch her from a distance and the one thing that stood out most was that as I watched her she watched Cassie. When they worked together, Taylor’s eyes would constantly dart over to wherever Cassie was. It was as if she had to see her to make sure she was still okay. That just intensified the guilt for not taking what she said seriously. It was obvious she believed what she’d told me and it didn’t take a genius to see that it was weighing heavily on her.

I don’t know how long I sat in my car outside of the diner, but I was so engrossed in my “stalking” I hadn’t even noticed someone watching me. I really wasn’t showing my skills as a detective.

The knock on my window scared the ever living shit out of me and I about spilled my coffee in my lap when I jumped.

The last person I wanted to see was standing there wearing a smart-ass smirk on his face while I tried to recover from my near heart attack.

“What the hell do you want?” I asked the smug looking bastard after I rolled down my window.

“I’d ask the same thing,” Daniel replied. “But since I’ve seen you in this same spot for the past three days I think I’ve pretty much got it figured out.” He turned his head toward Benny’s right as Taylor walked past the big plate glass window.

“Why don’t you mind your own fucking business,” I pouted like a ten year old. Jesus, maybe Stevens was on to something. I
did
sound like I was growing a vagina.

“Taylor is my business, ass face.”