Caustic (10 page)

TWENTY TWO

SKYE

I dropped my bag off at Ellis’s, and he drove us about forty-five minutes north to this bar. We got there by early evening. The sun was still going down pretty early this time of year, so I knew we only had an hour or so left of sunlight. As he got out of his Jeep to go in, I tried not to hold my breath. She hadn’t been to work in weeks, but maybe her employer would have an address or some way to contact her. Hopefully, they had something. I stood outside the door to the bar, and waited for Ellis to give me some type of instruction. Almost like I’d forgotten how to use the door.

“Are you ready for this?”

I looked at him over my shoulder. “I don’t know.” It was the truth.

“We don’t even know she’s here. Just take a deep breath and let’s go in and find out. We came all the way here.”

“What do we do if the cops are here?”

“We tell them the truth, that I overheard them in the station, and we wanted to check it out. We’re not impeding their investigation or anything. They can’t say anything to us about it.”

I nodded, and he pulled the door open in front of me. I walked inside, and immediately the smell of cigarettes and stale beer filled my nose. The place was dark and divey, with no windows. It must have been happy hour because the place was packed. A girl walked back and forth behind the bar in a crop top and ripped jeans, serving mostly beer to what I assumed were her regular customers. She didn’t even notice us until we were right in front of her at the bar.

“What can I get you?” she asked us quickly without even making eye contact. I couldn’t blame her. She was busy, and alone.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Only if you buy a drink. Bartenders only give advice to those who are drinking.”

“Two Sam Adams please,” I instructed her. She popped the top off of two bottles, and placed them in front of us. “That’ll be $12. You want me to start a tab?”

Ellis gave her his card before I even had the chance to pull out my wallet. “No, just these two will be fine.”

She swiped his card, and, then without looking at me, said, “You had a question for me.”

“Yeah, I was wondering if a girl named Leia worked here.”

Her eyes quickly met mine. “Are you her sister? I mean she told me that she had one, but you really look like her. Except that she’s blonde, of course.”

My heart practically leapt out of my chest. This girl actually knew Leia. “Yes, I am. You know her?”

She nodded, passing Ellis back his card. “She’s my roommate. We’ve lived together for about two months. She seems nice enough, pays the rent on time. She works here most nights as a waitress. Sometimes she tends bar, but she’s not very good. She’s much better out on the floor. But she’s been gone for a couple weeks. I’m surprised you don’t know where she is. I assumed she went to visit family or something.”

“She didn’t tell you where she was going? Didn’t give you any sort of information?”

“We’re not really those type of roommates, honey. We split the bills, she pays rent, and that’s it. We’re not best friends or anything.”

“How did you meet her?”

“She came in here looking for a job. She looked like she didn’t have very much, and I had an empty room. The extra couple hundred dollars a month pays the cable bill and the electricity. It’s enough to make it worth having a roommate. Besides, we work weird hours. We hardly ever see each other, except at work. I liked her, she was nice.”

“Is her stuff still at your place? How long has she paid rent for?”

A man was shaking money at her from down the bar. “Hold on a second.”

She walked down the bar and took his cash, exchanging it for a shot of amber colored liquid. I assumed it was whiskey. She put the money in the till, and walked back towards us. “Sorry, I’m swamped tonight. One of our other girls didn’t show up for her shift.” She paused for a moment. “Yeah, her stuff is at my place. And she’s paid through the end of the month. I figured I’d give her at least another week before I’d started thinking about getting rid of any of her shit. I’ve called her a bunch, but she doesn’t answer the phone. It always goes straight to voicemail, and the mailbox is full or something. You should stick around, though. There’s a couple locals here who know her. Maybe somebody’s seen her or she told someone else where she was going. Though, when she does get back, she doesn’t have a job anymore. You can’t miss an entire week’s worth of shifts and expect to keep your job.”

“No, I guess you can’t. Thanks for your help. Maybe I could write down my number? That way, if she comes back, or if she doesn’t, you can call me? I don’t really want her stuff getting thrown out.”

“Sure. I don’t really want to throw her stuff out honestly. But I might get another roommate if she doesn’t come back. I realized I don’t really like to live alone.”

“I don’t blame you.”

Ellis put his hand on my back, and let me towards the corner of the bar where a high table was empty. We placed our drinks on it, and pulled up the chairs, eager to hash out the details of what we had just heard.

“Do you think it’s really her? I mean, she didn’t react to me looking like her right away. Is that weird?”

“I don’t know. She said she’s blonde now.”

I chewed on my lower lip. “Blonde. You don’t think?”

He slumped down in his chair. “I don’t want to think.”

“What if he grabbed her? Whoever that sicko is that hurt those other girls? What if he took her, too?”

“Then we need to go to the police with this new information. We have to tell them what we know.”

I nodded slowly. “Let’s just drink our beers first. I want to watch the guys who come in. Maybe that girl can give us more information. Maybe she can point out the locals who know Leia. I just feel like we need a little bit more to go on.”

Ellis picked up his bottle and took a swig. “I don’t have any place better to be.”

I sighed heavily. “Me neither.”

***

We waited for hours, and the bartender would look in our direction occasionally, but she never pointed anybody out. Finally, it was almost midnight, and I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. I walked back up to the bar with a few people who remained and wrote down my number on a napkin for the bartender. “Please call me if you hear from her. It’s really important.”

“Of course. Really sorry I can’t help you. You know, she did mention you, though. I think she misses her family. She talks about you a lot anyway.”

“She does?”

“All the time. That’s why I figured she was going to visit you guys. Are things not good between you?”

“They’re a bit strained.”

She nodded. “All families have their issues.” She held up the napkin. “I’ll put your number in my phone, and let you know if I hear anything.”

I smiled at her, and then I walked back toward the table where Ellis was still sitting. He had a few more drinks over the course the evening. “I need to pay my tab.”

“I thought you didn’t start a tab.”

“Yeah, that was about three drinks ago.”

“I guess I’m driving the Jeep?”

“That would probably be good. Considering I know every cop in this area, they will definitely pull us over because they think it’s funny. And I will get a ticket. And that’s just not something I want to add to my already long list of indiscretions.”

“Fine by me. Give me the keys, I’ll meet you outside. I need a breath of fresh air, the cigarette smoke is killing me.”

He passed me the keys. “I’ll see you out there in a minute.”

I walked out of the bar across the pavement towards his car. We would drive back to his cabin, and I would spend the night hopefully locked underneath his arms feeling safe again. I had just turned towards the parking lot where we were parked when I saw a figure emerge from the shadows. He stood so that his face was hidden under the lamplight. I put my key between my fingers just as I had been taught in a self-defense class I took in high school. I looked over my shoulder, hoping that Ellis would be behind me and escort me the rest of the way to the car. I stood in the middle of the parking lot, trying to decide what to do when the person started to walk toward me. I squinted to see if I could make out the face, and that’s when I realized it was the detective from the police force. Obviously, he meant me no harm.

“You’re out awfully late. I thought you had gone back home--where was that?”

I sighed, feeling relieved. “Ellis and I were just catching up, and grabbing a drink before heading back to his place. Are you just getting off of your shift?”

He nodded. “Something like that. I’m looking into a case. You should be careful. I thought I made it pretty clear at work that day. There’s a killer out there with a type, and you fit it.”

I nodded. “Ellis is right behind me. I’ll just go sit in the car and wait.”

“With the windows and doors locked,” he added.

“Yep. I promise I’ll be fine. It was nice to see you again.”

“You too, though I wish it was under better circumstances. I hope we find something with this new lead.” He didn’t let on that this was the bar they were investigating.

“Actually…” I was going to tell him the information that we found out at the bar, but something stopped me. “Actually, I’m just here visiting. Not looking for anything this time.”

He took a step closer to me so that our faces were only inches apart. “People are always looking for something.” He stepped back, “Have a good night.” He turned and walked away towards the bar. I could hear my heart beating over the sound of music echoing as he opened the door.
What was taking Ellis so long?
I thought as I hurried over to my car. My hand was on the handle of the door, and I was just about to open it when I felt a strong arm wrap around my neck.

“I’ve been waiting.” I felt hot breath in my ear as he whispered to me. He pulled tighter on my neck, angling my head up to the sky.

Oh my God.

I looked at the stars and considered how I could get out of the situation. But I was terrified. I attempted to take a deep breath, and I stepped on the assailant’s right foot and tried to get into my car as fast as I could. But I dropped my keys as he pulled me away. I was screaming until he put his hand forcibly over my mouth. I attempted to bite him, but his fingers were just out of reach.

“Now, now, I just want the matching set. There’s no need to get upset.” He sounded so cold. Like this was just another day. Was this the man that had murdered those other girls? Was I finally going to face the same fate my sister had?

I continued to fight, scratching at his arm and trying to pry him off of me until I felt a pinch in my neck, and my body go warm and limp. Suddenly, I had no control over my limbs or my mouth. He took his hand away from my face, picked me up, and I was like a ragdoll in his arms. He had drugged me; I didn’t know with what, but suddenly my situation seemed dire. I heard Ellis yelling my name from the parking lot as he loaded me into the van, and we drove away. My body was splayed out in the back like I was dead already. All that I could see was darkness, so I couldn’t make any note of my surroundings as we drove. But Ellis had yelled for me. That meant he knew I’d been taken. Now, I just had to pray that he would come find me before I was dead, or worse.

TWENTY THREE

SKYE

I woke up in a cold dark room. The floor was damp and it smelled like mold. I couldn’t see any sunlight coming in, but he had taken me during the night. My heart raced, and I felt sweat on my palms and the back of my neck. I was cold, but it felt almost humid, it seemed too warm to be underground. My eyes stung and most of my body ached, I tried to inspect it for any signs of physical damage, but I couldn’t find anything. I felt through my pants for my phone, but it was gone. It was then that I realized that my clothes were also different. I was in a dress, something that looked like it was vintage, circa 1940s. I also had a string of pearls around my neck, where the locket that my grandfather gave me once was. I felt my neck, and there is a small lump there from whatever injection he'd given me. I couldn’t believe he just drugged me like that; I had been so lifeless so quickly. He must’ve known what he was doing. Maybe someone with expertise in the medical field? I heard a scream and immediately jumped.  I stood up against the dark wall with my back against it. So, there
were
other people here. Maybe other girls. Did I scream for help? Or would that just make it worse?

I looked around for any type of escape, but I could hardly make out any shapes in the room, even though it seemed small. I could almost make out the wall, and the other side of the room, but not quite. It could’ve just been darkness and shadows playing with my eyes. So, instead, I waited. I waited for hours, frozen by my own fear, unable to save myself. Finally, I heard a door creak open, and I saw light flood in and illuminate a set of stairs. I watched a girl’s legs from the shadows as she walked down with a tray in her hands. So, I was in a basement of some sort. She turned the corner, and turned on a little gas lamp that she had on the tray shining a small light on her face.

Immediately, I recognized her. I sucked in a breath before he could say her name. “Leia.”

Not even a flicker of recognition, nothing. It was like she didn’t even know her own name. She set the tray down next to me, and I shrunk back against the wall, sliding down until I was on the floor. “Leia, do you know who I am?”

She didn’t speak.

“Leia, it’s me, Skye. You know where we are? How long have you been here?”

She held the gas lamp up to her face, but it looked like her eyes had nothing behind them. She had a sad blank expression on her gaunt face. She was incredibly pale and thin, nothing like the way I remembered her. Her now blonde hair was piled up in a ballerina bun on her head, and she was in the exact same dress that I was. As she set the lamp down between us and sat next to me, I realized it was even the same pattern, and we both had the same set of pearls on. What was this guy doing? What did he want from us?

Finally, she spoke. "Don't scream," she whispered, looking over her shoulder. "It will make him angry."
I looked into her doe-like eyes, searching for some familiarity. "What happens when he's angry?"
She put her finger to my lips. "Shhh. The other girls can't know."
"Know what?"
"Why they can't talk anymore. No one can hear them. Not anymore."

So, that confirmed it. This sicko was the serial killer who had strangled those three other girls.  What had the detective said? Tortured them. It was clear by the skeleton that she was, my brainwashed sister, that he’d been keeping her for weeks. But why her? Why hadn’t he killed her when he killed the others?

“Why can you still talk?” I felt like I had to talk to her in her terms, so that way she would understand. It was like talking to a child.

She licked her lips before speaking. “Because I’m his favorite. And because of you.”

“Because of me? He knew about me? He knew that we were twins? You know that, right, Leia? You and I are sisters.”

She nodded slowly, but I wasn’t sure if she understood. “He wants the set. He tells me all the time how much he wants both of us.”

“Who? Who wants both of us, Leia?”

“Oliver.” She moved the items around on the tray, and then offer some water to me. “You should drink. The drugs make you thirsty.”

Oliver. I searched my brain for some recognition of his name, but I came up empty. Who was he? “What kind of drugs does he give us? What has he given you?”

“I can’t tell you. He would get so mad.”

“What happens when he gets angry? What does he do to you?” I was getting desperate for answers. Now that he had this matching set that he wanted for so long, what would he do to us?

She didn’t say anything else, just rolled up her sleeves, and showed me her arms. Huge deep purple welts all along the inside. He was beating her, incessantly. Now, I understood what Ellis felt like all those years, unable to protect his mother. I had never felt rage like this before. I was going to have to kill this man. And I was fine with it.

“Leia, how did you get out? Did you see Frank?”

Her head snapped up as if she recognized the name. “He saw me in the car. He wasn’t supposed to. Oliver was so angry.”

“How do you know Oliver?”

“He’s the doctor. From the hospital.”

Suddenly, it clicked. Oliver was her therapist. He’d been the one who told her that she couldn’t go see Ellis after his breakdown in group therapy. She’d written about him. And he’s been obsessed with her this entire time. She must’ve talked about me a lot, too, and that’s why he wanted both of us. We were trophies to him.

“Oliver was your therapist. How did he find you?”

“He always finds me. He always will.”

She took the tray and the lamp and started to walk away, the light fading with her. “Where are you going?”

“I have to get back or he’ll worry. I’ll come back down later. But, right now you should rest, Skye.”

“You do know who I am! Don’t you?” I screamed at her. But she ascended the stairs in silence, and, when she closed the door, I was plunged into darkness once again.