Darkness Follows (7 page)

They
sat in silence for a moment, looking at each other, and then Ryanne looked down
at her hands.

Max
cleared his throat and Ryanne hopped out of the car quickly.

Max
had spent his first twenty four hours in the field, and the hardest part was
something he hadn’t even thought of; separating his personal life from his
career.

As
Ryanne looked back over her shoulder at him before entering the house, Max
couldn't help but smile.

His
mind drifted to thoughts that kept him warm on the damp pillow where he laid his
head.

Walks on the beach with his grandfather
as a young boy, skipping stones off the water, skipping over the memories that
threatened to drag him back to the cold place.
Fast forward to
the day he met Aurina.
Her intense green eyes that saw the
good inside him.
Her smile that eased his nerves.
Her soft sweet skin.
Skin so silky smooth, you had to
touch it. It would be a sin not to. The skin of an angel, on
it's
way to heaven.
It's
glow as the life seeped from its
pores, ever upward, ever onward.
The gift that skin left
behind for him.
To take, and to give.

He
shot up from his bed, clutching the sheets in his fists. It happened without
warning, even as he tried with all his will to bury the
memory,
it rose to the forefront of his mind. It played with him.
Taunted
him.
Called to him.
He took deep breaths, but
the beating in his chest was relentless.

"I
thought I told you to keep quiet while I'm sleeping." The voice came from
below, and when he poked his head over the side of his bunk, an arm reached up
toward him.

Next
he was falling.

When
he came to, his cell mate, Bo, stood over him with something in his hand.

"Shoulda
kept quiet," Bo whispered, "I'll give you a reason to make some
noise."

As
Bo raised his fist high in the air, gripping the skinny object, he had no
choice. He kicked his knee up into the man and the object fell out of his hand,
clanking as it hit the cement floor.

Bo
hollered, and hunched over, as he grabbed the weapon.
A long
rusty piece of metal.
As Bo reached out for him, he stabbed at him with
the shank, missing both times. Bo climbed back on top, struggling to retrieve
the shank from his outreached hand, grabbing, pulling the shank up, almost out
of reach.

He
mustered what was left of his strength, and ripped the shank out of Bo’s hand,
and clutched it to his chest. As Bo’s considerable weight fell upon him, he
closed his eyes tightly, and tried to go to the warm place.

The beach.
Aurina.
The glow of an angel's skin before her body lay
lifeless.

He
did it. He was warm. He relaxed.

As
a pool of blood grew around them, David opened his eyes for the last time.

*****

Aurina
woke in a cold sweat. When she looked at the clock it was four in the morning.
She rolled over to get more comfortable and ease her rapidly beating heart; she
cuddled up to the extra pillow on the bed.

In
her sleep she dreamt that David had come to her apartment one evening after
work for dinner. Nothing had been out of the ordinary until they sat down to
eat
and David’s hands were covered in blood as he picked up
his fork and knife. When he realized Aurina had noticed the blood, he dropped
his utensils and reached his bloody hands out to her.

She
couldn’t decide if he was trying to grab her, or hold her, and as she began to
scream she woke up.

Once
she caught her breath, she knew getting back to sleep would be difficult, so
she slid the window open above her bed and felt a cool breeze fill the room
with the smell of sweet grass. She was finally cooling off, and in a
comfortable position when she realized she had to go to the washroom.

She
laid there in the bed feeling paralyzed. She had never been so afraid to get up
in the dark before, and as she told herself there was nothing to be scared of,
images from her dream loomed in her mind and she remained frozen in bed.

Her
eyes filled with tears, and she wiped them quickly before willing herself to
stop acting like a child. She pushed herself out of bed quickly and ran to the
washroom. On her way back to bed she walked slowly in the dark, forcing herself
to face her fear, and thinking rationally, there was nothing that could hurt
her there. Max was outside in his car, and Ryanne was asleep in the next room.

As
she climbed back into bed she snuggled up to her pillow again, and closed her
eyes tightly.

She
thought of the previous afternoon out with Blake, and their trip to the mall.
Although he hadn’t shopped with her he had been so patient while she got all
her necessary items. She thought about the plans they made for the next day.
She thought of Blake sleeping in the house next door, and finally she drifted
into a peaceful sleep.

Blake
had been late again to pick Aurina up. He was covered in grease, and Aurina saw
hand prints smudged across the bottom of his white shirt. Before they left, Ryanne
told them she would be fine, and asked if she could stay over at Blake’s while
they were gone to check out his book collection to keep her occupied. Blake had
reluctantly agreed. Before they left, he reminded Ryanne to lock the door
behind her, and if she needed anything to ask Jenkins.

When
Officer Jenkins arrived early that morning to relieve Max, he parked on the
side of the road closest to the house and hadn’t moved since. Blake told Aurina
it was best not to interrupt Jenkins and that he would introduce them later as
they left the house. Jenkins glanced up from the book in his hands for a split
second before returning his attention to his reading material.

They
made polite conversation as Blake drove her to Holloway's, and stopped to pick up
some take-out Chinese along the way. The day before when he had taken her into
the city, he dropped her off at the mall when they arrived. Blake confessed he
wasn’t a big fan of shopping, and Aurina couldn’t blame him, so she got the
clothes alone, and when he brought her back home, he went straight back to
work.

When
they got to Holloway's, Aurina noticed two things. First, that everything was
organized, greasy but organized. Second was how many vehicles Blake had in the
garage. There were two cars, one SUV and three trucks.

"Are
you working on all of these?" Aurina asked as they passed through the shop
into Blake’s office.

"Yep:
all the cars in the lot as well." Blake nodded out the open garage door,
and Aurina remembered the full lot as they had entered.

"Does
anyone else work for you?" She asked as they entered the small office.
There was just enough space for them to sit down at opposite ends of the desk
taking up most of the room. Aurina watched as Blake moved aside a stack of
paperwork, and set the bag down on the desk.

"Nope,
but I've been thinking of hiring some help. This is the busiest I’ve seen it in
a while. I think it's cause Dan's Auto Shop in Camden closed down for
renovations, but I'm sure when they're back up and running, it'll slow down
here. It's hard to compete with new tools and technology." Aurina nodded
slowly, and opened the bag, setting out their individual boxes. "But, you
know, I do okay."

“I
thought you said the place could use a little tidying?”

“You
don’t think so?” Blake smiled. “Cleaner than you expected?”

“Not
cleaner,” Aurina smiled back, “But more organized.”

Aurina
noticed there was a picture on the wall of Blake and an older man in front of
the auto shop.

"Is
that your dad?" She asked, pointing.

"Yep.
That's the day
he handed me the keys last April. Would you look at that," he shook his
head, "it's been a year now that I've owned this place." Blake
grabbed his box of beef fried rice, along with a plastic fork, and dug in.

"So,
when did you move out of your parents place?" Aurina asked, as she split
her chopsticks open and rubbed them together in her hands.

"’Bout
three years ago.
After I proposed to my ex-fiancé."
Blake put his empty fork to his lips, and played with it there for a while.

"You
were engaged?"

Blake
nodded, filling his mouth with more rice.

"When
did you split?"

"Last
year." Blake said after he had finished chewing. His body seemed to
stiffen, and Aurina knew she should stop, but she was curious.

"Mind
if I ask what happened?"

"Actually,
I do." He told her, and started to pretend something in his rice box was
more interesting than their conversation.

"I'm
sorry." Aurina crossed her legs, and took her noodle box from the desk and
started eating. The noodles were a little cooler than she preferred, but
delicious none the less. "I just thought," she waved her chopsticks
in the air, and cleared her throat, "that since you already know more than
I'd like you to about me, maybe it’s only fair I could learn something about
you. Something you'd rather keep private." Blake looked up from his rice,
and stared at her. His mouth was straight, but his brown eyes seemed warm and
kind.

"Oh
you did, did you?" He asked, and she couldn't tell if she’d gone too far. He
set his fork into the box on the table, and leaned back in his chair. Aurina
smiled, and waited.

"I'm
sorry about what your ex did, lying to you about it.” Blake leaned into the
table again, and rested his hands in front of him. "I know you've been through
a lot, and you're dealing with it much better than I think I would.” He folded
his fingers together and leaned in some more. Aurina felt herself leaning in as
well. "Betrayal… I guess that’s something we have in common.”

“How’s that?”

"She
cheated on me." Blake looked down at his rice once more. "She moved
into the house that my father and I built for my future family, and she was
going behind my back the whole time with the Mayor’s son." Blake shrugged,
and leaned back again, letting a huff out as he dug his back into the padded
chair.

"I'm
sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you to talk about it." Aurina paused for a
moment, watching him. "I think she really missed out. You... you seem like
a good guy. No one deserves that.” Aurina picked up her noodles again, and
swirled them around in their box.

Blake
glanced at her for a short moment, then looked up at the ceiling, and crossed
his arms.

"We'd
been together since the middle of High School. I thought I knew her so
well," Blake let out a laugh, low and shaky. "I guess you never
really know a person."

"I
guess not." Aurina's thoughts sank back to David, and the dreams she had
been having, nightmares really. David came to her bedside back at her apartment
at night with blood on his hands, trying to grab her. She had woken up kicking
and sweating that morning, trying to fight David off in a dream. He was guilty,
and desperate. She was mostly bothered by the fact that she couldn't tell if he
was trying to hurt her, or hold her.

"Okay,
that's enough of all this serious talk. I’m surprised you could actually eat in
here. Don’t know too many people who have an appetite around the smell of
oil." Blake told her, and handed her a napkin from the bag. “Mind if I
work on one of the cars before we head back?”

“That’s
why we’re here.” She wiped her hands meticulously, and as they left the office,
they tried to exit the door at the same time, bumping into each other.

"Sorry."
Blake said and motioned for her to go first. When she walked through, she saw a
police car pulling into the lot out front, and Blake followed her through the
garage door, where they met Chief Crawley.

"Crawley.”
Blake nodded,
and Crawley tipped his hat.
“Everything okay?”

Crawley
stepped just inside the garage, and seemed to admire one of the cars, before
turning to them.

"Ms.
Patrick, I'm sorry to have to inform you of this… David is dead. He was
murdered by his cellmate last night." Crawley stood with his hands on his
belt, and they both looked at Aurina.

It
felt bizarre to hear the words. David is dead. She saw David just less than a
week ago, and had more recently seen him in her dream last night.

"Are
you sure?" Of course he was sure, she thought, what a stupid question to
ask, but she didn't know what else to say. Thankfully Blake stepped in.

"How
did it happen?"

"Jones
said David was scheduled to meet with his lawyer today. He’d been refusing to
talk on the advice of his lawyer ‘til Aurina came to see him, and then, awhile
after your visit--when he was assured you were taken care of--he said he wanted
to co-operate." Crawley shifted his weight to the left side, and kicked a
small stone on the ground out of the garage. Aurina watched as it rolled slowly
amongst all the other rocks and pebbles in the lot, and got lost among them.

The
last time she saw David before his arrest was the morning before when they met
at a Starbucks located between their respective places of work. He was wearing
a plain black suit that looked to be a few sizes too big, and had already
ordered them both
a cafe
mocha when she came in and
met him. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as they grabbed their cups, and
headed outside. It was a warm day, and David loosened his tie before taking a
sip of his coffee. She asked him if she would see him for a lunch date, but he
told her he might have to work through lunch. They walked to the corner of King
and Fennel where they parted ways each morning, and David waited for her light
to change. "See you tomorrow morning." was the last thing he said to
her, and she waved goodbye as she began crossing the street, looking back at
him--smiling.

That
was the last time she saw the David she thought she knew. In the visitation
holding cell, she didn't quite recognize the person she spoke with. That was
when she had begun subconsciously mourning the end of their relationship, and
separating the real David, from the David she waved goodbye to that day. That
David had been a lie.

"What
happens now?" Blake asked Crawley.

"Well,
Jones lost his primary lead." Crawley said shaking his head. "And
they won't be having a funeral for David." he told Aurina.

She
would have been the only one to attend, with her family there to support her;
she thought and couldn't quite picture the scene.

"Just as well.
No one would
have gone." Aurina shrugged, and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Can
we go back now?" she asked Blake, and headed toward his car in the lot
before she got a response. She slid her hands into her dress pants pockets, and
kicked the stones along the way, keeping her head down, and focusing on her
path. When she reached the car she watched as Crawley spoke to Blake as he
closed up the garage.

She
would have thrown away his things, she thought, as she waited for Blake to make
his way to the car. Now, when she got to go home, they would be there, waiting
for her. The butterfly pendant necklace he bought her for no reason, just
because he was thinking of her. His second pair of glasses he left at her
apartment for when he came to watch movies. She wished she could call Corrine and
tell her to get rid of them before she got back. She didn't want to be reminded
of him again.

The
ride home was quiet. Aurina was wondering how David was killed. Had his cellmate
grown tired of him? David was awkward socially and rambled when he was nervous.
He had a habit of letting people walk all over him. Maybe David had provoked
him. Aurina wouldn’t have thought it possible before her last visit with David,
but his dark eyes had scared her.

She
wanted to ask Crawley how he died. Maybe he was stabbed to death, or choked, or
beaten. She couldn’t think of many other ways, and though her curiosity was
killing her, she knew she would regret having the image of the truth in her
mind.

David
wasn’t a very strong man, and it made sense to Aurina that Jeremy Evans had
been the muscle of
  their
killing duo. Jeremy had
committed the murders, but maybe David had been the one to plan them out. Now
that David was dead, she wondered if anyone would ever know exactly what
happened. If the police caught Jeremy, she doubted he would tell them anything
he didn’t want them to know.

“Crawley
is following us home.” Blake interrupted Aurina’s train of thought. “He needs
to speak with you about some things.”

“Oh
Blake, I’m really not up for it right now.”

“I
understand, but I think it’s important. I think it’s about finding Jeremy.”

Aurina
looked through her purse and found a tissue. She knew she couldn’t hold it in
for much longer, and just as she found it her tears began to fall.

“Aurina,
I’m really sorry.” Blake said when he noticed her catching her tears. “I’ll
tell Crawley you need some time.”

“No,”
Aurina shook her head, “I just want this to be over. I need this to be over,
Blake.” She gasped for air and released it slowly, trying to control herself. She
didn’t want to be crying in front of Blake. She was sure she knew what he must
already think of her; that she was a stupid, naive girl who didn’t even know
her boyfriend was part of a serial killing team. And seeing her fall apart like
that, he must think she was weak too.

“Then
I’ll be there with you, okay? Just let me know when you need a break and I’ll
talk with Crawley, alright?” Blake smiled at her, and squeezed her arm as she
finished wiping her face. As she regained her composure she was able to give
him a small smile.

“It’s
okay to cry you know.”

Aurina
let her tears drip down her hot cheeks, and shook her head. Everything that
David knew and everything he was died with
him,
and
all she was left with were unanswered questions and the horrible repercussions
of his actions. He played some part in taking the lives of three women, and yet
the last thing he did for Aurina was try to protect her.