Depths (8 page)

She shoved her hand into my
shoulder and flipped me onto my back
—
all
the while keeping me inside of her
—
and in
one fluid motion
straddl
ed me, thrusting her hips
back and forth.

She threw her head back, grabbing my hands and
leading them to her breasts. A sigh of ecstasy flowed from my lips
to her ears. Encouraged by my pleasure, she moved faster. I was
about to burst, I pulled out and rolled out from under her, those
chocolate eyes peering into mine.

“
Get back in,
”
she said with a coy grin.

I didn't hesitate. I pushed back inside of her
slowly and gently. Her eyes closed and she moved her hands up from
her hips, squeezing her breasts.

With dread in the pit of my stomach I set my foot at
the top of the staircase and with a final glance at the lamp, I
knew I should turn back. I wasn't going to want to see whatever it
was that awaited me.

She was near climax, moaning at the verge of orgasm.
She clawed at the sheets, mouth parting ever so slightly. I plunged
into her harder and her cries of pleasure let me know she
appreciated it.

There was one light on, coming
from the master bedroom.
Her
bedroom. The door was parted,
allowing a thin ray of light to fall upon the floor. Shadows moved
across the ray and I could hear noise, like the bed was rocking
back and forth.

Harder and harder I thrust myself
into her, tilting my head without any conscious thought
and
…

Motion.

What was that? The door was parted. In the thin
crack I could make out a silhouette growing in size as it
approached the door.

I was almost at the door when I
had the thought to grab something, any type of sharp or blunt
object. Something to defend myself with.
Something
had happened at her and
whatever did it is still here. I looked around but there was
nothing to use.

I slowed down and studied the silhouette, its frame
increasing in size, slowly creeping closer to the door.

“
What is it? Why did you
stop?
”

The closer I got to the door, the stronger the smell
got. The smell of sweat. And sex. And something else... I couldn't
quite place it.

Wait a second...

Stale and metallic. Blood. That was the scent of
blood.

The door burst open. What the hell
was
he
doing
here?!

I kicked the door open and reeled backwards.

There he stood, fists clenched.

Myself.
Doppelg
ä
nger.

There I stood, fists clenched. Still inside of her,
I looked back at me in shock as I looked back at me, my own shock
reflected on his face. My face.

Blood painted the walls, no corner
of the room was spared at least one drop. Streaks of it crawled up
from the head board of her bed in ever more elaborate patterns.
S
heets
, saturated and soaking with crimson. Pretty patterns on the
floor, painted in a frenzy. Her face peeked up from behind his
shoulders, completely blank. He laid on top of her, ravaging her
lifeless body before tensing up, then relaxing, paying no attention
to me. I didn
’
t
need an explanation to know what he just finished doing. When he
shifted I could see a wide slit on her neck, opening and closing
every time he thrust in and out of her.

“
Wanna join? She's still
warm...
”
He said in a slow
drawl.

I lunged forward without any
thought but he pulled out a knife that was buried in her chest and
swung it around in one swipe, catching me right in the neck. I
grabbed at my throat feeling the blood oozing out from in between
my
fingers. He hooked the
blade into my shoulder and used it to toss me onto the bed beside
her, all the while continuing to fuck her. As
I
continued to fuck her.

“
I told you it was a bad idea. I
told you to stop. I told you to tell her you couldn't make it and
what did you do huh?
”
I asked myself
looking down at me.

“
Fuck you!
”
I screamed back, or at least tried to, only it came out as a
wet gurgle instead. Her blank lifeless face rolled towards me. Eyes
and mouth open, staring off into infinity. As my life leaked from
my body, I too stared off into infinity.

Ignition off. Quiet. I always felt uneasy on this
street. Maybe it was the willows with their leafy bows turned
downwards and the shadows they cast. Maybe it was the quiet. I just
never liked being outside on the street for very long.

I stepped out of my car, the breeze passed over my
ears and through my hair and sent a chill down my back and I
shivered. Maybe it was from nervousness to see her, maybe it was
the unsettled feeling. I don't know. I locked the car and walked up
to her house.

A feeling of D
é
j
à
vu came over me
…

Even though it was midday and the sun was high in
the sky, there was still barely any light on this street. It's a
bit eerie really.

Eyes staring into infinity, the slit in her neck
opening and closing with every thrust...

The door opened before I could
knock and
she
stood in the doorway with a smile.

God she's beautiful.

Black wavy hair, fair skin, delicate features. A
beauty uncorrupted by the pollution and pain of this world.

“
Hey you! My God, you look like
you haven't slept in days...
”

I just stood there gawking.

“
Are you gonna come
in?
”

I snapped myself out of it and faintly returned her
smile.

“
Of course,
”
I replied.

She turned and led me into the living room. There
were some magazines and an almost empty coffee mug on the coffee
table.

The table was living up to its name I guess.

“
Here, have a seat. You look
exhausted.
”

She motioned for me to sit on the sofa and I did so.
I could feel every aching muscle in my body sighing with relief as
I sunk into the cushions.

“
Want anything to drink?
”
She asked as she glided to the
kitchen.

“
Water please.
”

I could hear the faucet turn on, filling up a glass.
She returned with the water and sat it in front of me on the table
before lying back on the couch, and stretching out with the
graceful elegance of a swan.

“
So where have you been hmm? You
don
’
t call, you
don
’
t write, no
smoke signals...
”

I lifted the cool glass of water to my lips and set
it back on the table.

“
I've just been busy,
”
I said, looking at the glass of water. I couldn't
look her in the eyes as I told a flat out lie. Busy? Doing what
exac
—

“
Busy? Doing what
exactly?
”

Damn
she
’
s quick.

“
Have you found a job yet? Last I
heard you were still looking,
”
she
continued.

Job? I don't know. Had I found a job?

“
Uh yeah I got a job. They've been
having me stay late. Hence the tired,
”
I
tried looking at her while I said this but I quickly turned
away.

“
You're lying.
”

Wow. Not even five minutes into the conversation and
she's already calling me out.

“
Tell me what's wrong, you know I
can tell when you're lying. And you suck at hiding
things.
”

She sat up and moved closer to me. I always knew she
was listening one hundred percent when she did this. Not that she
wasn't any other time. But somehow the gesture seemed to let me
know without a doubt.

I knew I could be honest with her.
I could tell her I killed someone and she would guard the secret.
Hell, she
’
d
probably even
be
my attorney. I knew this and yet, at the same time I felt
like I had to choose my wording carefully. Like she was
psychoanalyzing everything I was saying. She always seemed to know
things about me that I didn't know about myself. And I didn't
always like to hear what she had to say, even though she
was
always
right.

“
Do you know Charles
Green?
”
I asked.

Bemusement mixed with puzzled interest spilled out
on her face.

“
The one who was killed
yesterday?
”

“
Yeah. Did you know
him?
”

“
No not really. I mean I knew who
he was. He always would go shopping at the Wonder Mart. I saw him a
few times.
”

Charles Green...

I looked up to her. I had never
seen a beauty like hers. She wasn't perfect by any means. But who
is? There was just something about her, something that changed
any
im
perfections
she had into
per
fections.

I looked back at my
water
…

…
and instead found myself looking
out of the front windshield of my car.

I was in the parking lot of the Wonder Mart. Wonder
Mart. What a stupid name. The car was off and I was sitting with
the windows cracked.

What day was it?

Did I need to get something from here? What was I
doing?

I had a good view of the main
entrance of the Wonder Mart from where I was parked. Upon noticing
this, something clicked and I remembered I was looking for
something. Some
one
maybe?

Did I need to get out of my car? Or was I looking
for something in the parking lot?

Shoppers passed in and out of the automatic sliding
doors. Carts empty going in and full carts or baskets coming out. A
mother with a toddler in the front seat of a full shopping cart
came out the doors. She was visibly at the end of her wits. The
toddler squirmed around in his seat, his face red from the
screaming he must be doing. I couldn't hear him but I could see his
face. Mouth open eyes closed, face red, little fists clenched
tight. The temper-tantrum pose.

From behind her came a man with a little hand
basket. He caught my attention for some reason. He didn't appear to
be anything special or out of the ordinary, but my eyes immediately
locked on him.

He was a meek,
middle
-aged man.He
struggled to carry his small hand basket. It looked like it had a
quart of milk and a loaf of bread stuck out from the top of one of
the bags. Only two or three bags at most and the poor guy was
having a hard time. He had a receding hairline, and the remainder
of his thinned hair was combed back. Thick-framed glasses sat atop
his small, round nose. Even from where I was, I could see how
magnified his eyes were by the goofy looking glasses.

He headed down the aisle to my right and stopped at
a faded, to the point of being pink, red sub-compact car. He popped
the hatch and set his groceries in the trunk, closed it and walked
back to the entrance of the store to return the basket.

How considerate.

After returning the basket he went back to his car,
clearly out of breath. He opened the driver's side door, entered
and closed it behind him. A couple seconds later I saw the brake
lights come on and he backed slowly from the spot and drove towards
the exit of the shopping center.

I started my own car
and
…

…
was now sitting back on
her
sofa looking at the
glass of water on the coffee table.

What was I doing again?

“
Hey, you OK?
”

Her voice was far away and I could
barely understand it, a foreign language to my ears. I turned my
head in the direction of the voice and my eyes focused on
her
. My god she's
beautiful.

“
Hey. Are you alright? You kinda
spaced out on me.
”

I blinked a few times and shook my head a little
bit.

“
Yeah, sorry. I'm just
tired.
”

“
When was the last time you
slept?
”

When
was
the last time I had
slept?
Actually
slept, or just nodded off?

“
I slept some last night. Not much
though.
”

“
Why did you want to know about
Charles Green?
”

“
I don't know, just saw it in the
paper this morning. Thought he might have been a friend of yours or
something.
”

A friend? Why the hell would she be friends with
him?

“
Nope. So what's the real reason
you wanted to meet so bad? I know you didn't come over here just
for that.
”

She already wants to get to the nitty gritty.

“
What, I'm not allowed to want to
see you after it's been so long?
”

Basic diversion tactic. I used it a lot.