GABRIEL (Killer Book 2) (9 page)

I look around the table. My mom acts like she normally does, sipping her wine and fidgeting in her chair. Dad carries on, talking about business. He’s practically speaking to himself, I only nod to acknowledge him. My mind is somewhere else. It always is.

My little sister, Jessy, is visiting from college. She’s a spitting image of my mother, big doe eyes and brown hair. She and I have always been close. She’s always understood me; when I would be quiet, when I would stare into the nothingness, she never questioned me.

“So, how have things been Gabriel? Any new lady friends?” She says playfully as she shimmies her shoulders.

I smile. “No, just work and renovating my home.”

My dad laughs, “You’ve been at it for a while. We all need to make a trip up there.”

I clear my throat before taking a sip of my wine, “Definitely.”

I feel my mother’s eyes burning into me as she clears her throat. “Anything else going on, Gabriel? We haven’t seen you in so long – other than your father, of course.”
“Yeah. I’ve been seeing Dr. Gnosh again.” I say, avoiding her eyes.

“Really?” She whispers.

I glance towards her, “Just to be safe.”

She nervously sips her red wine before placing her glass back down, “Is there any particular reason why you’re seeing her again?”

I grit my teeth as I look into her eyes. The secrets of our family linger in the air like forgotten whispers.

“Other than the sperm donor that helped make me, no. No particular reason.”

She sinks back into her chair as she continues to stare at me like I’m the worst mistake she’s ever made.

I look towards my sister and dad, both stare down at their plates silently - as if to say, “This isn’t our battle.”

My eyes snap back to hers, “You never spoke of him, mom. Why? Why did you leave it up to me to dig around? To find out on my own. Did you think that I wouldn’t find out? Look at me! I look nothing like any of you!”

She shakes her head as she pushes away from the table, “I can’t do this.”
I jump up, causing my chair to tilt backwards and crash against the wooden floor of the dining room.

“Exactly! Do what you’ve always done, mom.”

She whips around to face me, her eyes full of warning, “I’ve done nothing but love you! I didn’t have to, Gabriel. I did it because I promised her that I would!”

Her hand slaps over her mouth as her eyes grow wide.

I frown as I take a step towards her. She has tears streaming down her cheeks as she looks up at me.

“Who?”

She wipes the tears with the back of her hand, “Kat.”

“I’m not following.”
A sob escapes her trembling lips as she uses the back of the chair for support, “He… he cut you from her stomach. I watched it happen.” She pauses as she sucks in a shaky breath, “I couldn’t save her. I tried, but… it wasn’t any use. She was dead by the time he was finished.”

“What?” I breathe out, stumbling backwards.

“I couldn’t ever talk to you about it. I tried. So many times. I would stand outside of your door for minutes
,
waiting, trying, but I couldn’t.” She mumbles.

I grab at my hair as I begin backing away. I can’t digest this information. I need to run.

“Gabriel.” My father says as he stands.

“I… I need to go.” I say, my voice dangerously calm as I make my way to the front door.

The door slams behind me, and before I know it, I’m in my car. It’s in these surreal moments where time floats by, never acknowledging your hurt or pain. Your body just moves on its own, and it seems like it’s completely out of your control.

Gripping the wheel, pictures of the past flash through my mind. I always knew that I didn’t belong, but now that realization hits me like a ton of bricks.

When I get home, I immediately make my way down the stairs and into the basement.

I open the door to the room where Melissa is waiting cuffed to the floor. She doesn’t stir when I enter and approach her. Kneeling down, I smooth my hand over her hair.

“Are you ready?” I whisper, and she nods without looking up at me. I sigh as I remove the cuffs and help her to her feet. I haven’t fucked her. I haven’t so much as looked her way with lust in my eyes. There is only one woman that can satisfy me, and that is Dani.

“Go write your letter. Just like we talked about.” I murmur as I stand in the doorway. She looks up at me with somber eyes, “What if I have nothing to say?”

I give her a tight-lipped smile, “Everyone has something to say. Now go.”

She nods slowly as she approaches the desk. Sitting down, she picks up the pen and paper. She only writes a few words before she places the pen down and looks over at me.

“On the table.” I grit out.

Once she is lying down, I insert the IV into her arm and the whispers in my mind slowly dissipate with each drip of the fluid.

I ensure that she cannot feel anything before I begin cutting.

“Tell me about a happy memory that you have, Melissa.” I say, my voice wavering as I continue working on her. My breathing begins calming as I watch the blood pump from her arteries and begins staining the white of the sheet below her.

“There aren’t any.” She says softly, her eyelids weighing down from the loss of blood.

I close my eyes as I try and calm myself. She can’t go, not until she recounts a happy time. She must.

“Even the most miserable people have happy memories.” I rasp, my grip on the scalpel is tightening as my anger threatens to boil over.

“I… don’t…” She whispers. When I open my eyes, I see that death has already claimed her glossy gaze.

“No.” I say as I reach over and pat her cheek, “Wake up. Wake up! It’s not supposed to happen this way!”

She isn’t smiling. They always smile.

“Wake the fuck up!” I holler as I slap her hard across the cheek. Her head falls to the side from the impact.

I scream at the top of my lungs as I hold the scalpel over my head. I plunge it into her chest, her stomach, arms and legs. The blood splatters all over me. My eyes become clouded with tears as I fall onto my knees and sob.

Everything is falling apart.

"I think in some way I wanted it to end, even if it meant my own destruction."

-Jeffrey Dahmer

I awake to the sound of running water. The door to the bedroom is ajar, and the bathroom door is closed, rivulets of steam leak through the cracks and pools outside of the door.

Looking around, I see that he’s cleaned up the mess that I’d made days ago. There isn’t any glass on the floor and all of his clothes are neatly folded and stacked on top of the dresser. I run my hand over my neck and feel the collar clamped around my throat. I can only fit a finger through the gap between my skin and the metal.

My fingers run down the chain, which remains attached to the iron bedpost. Looking across the room, my breath catches in my throat when I see a ring of keys lying on the bookshelf.

I scoot from the bed and stand.

Tiptoeing to the shelf, I grasp the keys in my hands, my frantic fingers scanning over each one. I try three of them before the lock of the collar gives way.

I’m free.

My heart is threatening to beat from my chest as I grab one of his t-shirts and pull it over my body. I stop suddenly when I see a metal bat leaning against the wall of his closet. I hold it tightly as I watch the moonlight catch its smooth surface.

Run
.

My conscience screams within the walls of my skull to get the fuck out of here. I don’t know why my feet are carrying me towards the sound of water, rather than freedom. As I clutch the bat in my hand, I feel my old self returning, the one that fought her way through hell and survived. The one who promised to never allow another man to harm her after what her father had done.

“You’re a worthless little whore, Dani. No one will ever love you. No-one will ever care.”

Fuck you.

But his lips, his body, his touch.

Shut up.

I open the door quietly, and the steam billows out towards me. As I walk closer to the shower, I see his naked form behind the glass. Water cascades over him as he stands with his forehead pressed against the tiled wall.

I reach towards the door and open it before grasping the bat in both hands. The tiny drops that escape the shower burns when it meets my skin.

The skin of his back is red from the scalding hot water.

I raise the bat over my shoulder as I draw a lungful of air.

“Lies.” He whispers, “Everything has always been a lie.”

I shakily exhale as I will myself to bash his fucking head in. He deserves it. He brought me here. He forced me to feel everything that I’ve avoided for so long. But my feelings twist within me, turmoil mixed with sadness mixed with… whatever it is that I feel for this enigma.

“Where have you been?” I ask as tears collect in my eyes.

He bangs his head against the tile, causing me to jump and the bat crashes against the floor when I lose my grip.

He turns swiftly and I flinch when he grasps my arms, his fingers digging into my flesh as he pulls me into the water with him.

The water burns as it falls over my trembling body, and my forehead throbs as he presses his against mine.

“I can’t be around you. You’re poison.”
“I’m not poison.” I whisper.

An ominous smile spreads across his face as he yanks me from the scalding hot water. “Yes. You have tipped my world upside-down. Everything went to shit when you came along,”

“Y-you’re hurting me.” I stammer as I try and wiggle from his hold.

“Shut up!” He hollers as his fingers tighten even more, bruising my skin.

“You brought me here!” I say, my fists balling at my sides, “You made me feel! You filled me with empty promises!”
Shut up, Dani!

He glares at me as his chest presses into mine. “I made you feel? Promises? I’ve never promised you anything! I brought you here with the intention of killing you.”

Each time I take a step back, he matches it with a step forward until I’m backed against the counter. His eyes look wild… crazed as he stares down at me.

“I’m leaving.” I grit out.

He shakes his head slowly as he looks into my eyes, “No. You’re not going anywhere. You would have done well to keep your mouth shut, but like usual, you just couldn’t do that, could you?” He pauses as he fists my hair and pulls my head back, “You want to feel? I can help you feel.”

He grips my waist and hurls me over his shoulder.

Upon entering the dungeon, he throws my body to the ground, “Do you know how I feel, Dani?
Pain
. Pain is how I feel.”

I glare at him. “You felt that night when we were together.”

My heart slowly breaks when he doesn’t respond to my statement.
I blink as I lower my eyes and watch the tears collide against the stone floor.

“Okay. Then make me feel.” I whisper, keeping my eyes diverted.

He kneels down, “Oh, I will. Don’t worry about that.”

He stands, and I feel his presence behind me. I startle when the fabric of the t-shirt rips down the middle of my back.

“You have a beautiful back, Dani.”

He exhales deeply as he runs the palm of his hand down my spine, causing me to shiver, then he pinches the skin of my shoulder.

“You need to breathe in deep. This is going to hurt.”
I shriek when I feel him pierce through the chunk of skin.

“What is that? What are you doing?” I cry out.

“I’m inserting hooks into your back. Keep still.”

My body begins convulsing as he inserts more of the hooks in two lines of four down my back.

“Suspension is my saving grace. It’s the only way that I can quiet my mind. Now stand up.” He says flatly, and I do. My knees are knocking together, I’m shaking so badly.

I startle when I hear the chains rattle above me, looking up, I see them sway as he lowers them.

“Won’t my skin rip?” I say through chattering teeth.

“No,” He responds and I feel each hook weigh down with each chain.

He leans over my shoulder, “You need to relax your body. Allow the endorphins to flow through you. Don’t think. Just be.”

Then, he begins lifting me. I do as he said and my body goes slack as my toes graze the rough floor. I’m floating, and as my eyes close, I envision myself floating in a black portal of nothing.

I feel him push me gently, and as my hair tickles my skin, I reach my hands out, emptying my lungs with a long exhale as I spread my arms.

I don’t know how long I’ve been in the trance when he places his hands on each side of my face. My eyes flutter open to find his.

I reach out and run my fingers through his hair.

“I feel like I’ve always needed this.” I murmur.

“We’re more alike than I thought.” He responds, his lips curling up.

I cup his cheeks in my hands and pull his lips to mine. When I pull away, the beautiful green eyes are all that I can see.

Not the dungeon or the whips or the chains.

Only him.