Hello everybody! I'm back with a new chapter and I am so excited for you guys to read this chapter. SO excited. So without further ado, lets get into it. I love youuu! -Hannah
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CHAPTER 6: Sitting on the couch, Julian stroked the soft fur on the cat's neck as the T.V. played noiselessly. He looked down at the little white ball of fur in his lap. He needed to name the damn thing. Not that he would keep it. He couldn't keep calling him 'The cat'.
His eyes narrowed as he contemplated it silently, but he didn't get to think for long. A loud ringing broke through the silence of the cabin and Julian sighed as he pulled the cat from his lap to set it on the pillow.
"Sorry, bud." He grumbled and grabbed his phone. "Duty calls."
The cat looked up, cocking his head to the side as Julian moved around the cabin to begin gathering the things he needed. Last, he filled up the little Tupperware container with cat food, got some water and then grabbed his jacket as he turned for the door.
"Be back soon!"
The cat let out a long meow before settling comfortable back down on the pillow. Closing the cabin door behind him, Julian jogged down his porch steps and started up his motorcycle.
His phone dinged and he pulled it out again to find the address printed on the screen. It wouldn't be too far or long of a ride and he hoped the scene wasn't too messy so that he could come back home and relax.
The day was dark and overcast, clouds hanging overhead like looming shadows as he zoomed down the roadways. He tried not to think about Layla, who for some reason, always popped into his head when he was on his bike. Perhaps because when he was on his bike, his mind was silent and at peace and he actually let himself give into the pleasure of indulging himself in Layla.
Not that he hadn't been doing that lately.
He had gone back to watch her sing and each time he watched her, he got lost in her performance—in her voice.
In her.
Then, he followed her back home, parking in front to watch her house. Then for a long while he would only sit and watch, his eyes aware and his gaze taking in everything.
He felt like a stalker most of the time and the self-disgust he felt after each night of doing it almost kept him from doing it.
Almost.
With Layla, he had this protective raging beast inside of him. He felt the need to watch over her and make sure that she was safe and happy.
He couldn't keep her happy so he might as well make sure she stay safe.
He told himself that it was because of honor-because of how he had promised to protect her that night on the mountain when he had found her, but that was only partly because of it.
The other part was because he was stupidly and completely drawn to her.
Enthralled by her, really.
He gave a fierce shake of his head and forced the thoughts from his mind and he parked in front of the address given to him.
The neighborhood was pretty run-down, chain link fences sitting at odd angles, overgrown with bushes and weeds while dogs barked in the distance in tandem with the loud wails of far off sirens from cop cars and ambulances.
His lip curled as he pulled off his helmet, but he forced himself to harden up and force everything into the little black box at the corner of his mind.
It was time to go to work.
As he stalked across the deserted street way, his eyes glanced around, catching the different black SUV's-standard for the mafia-and the men that stood stationed in the shadows around the perimeter.
Just as he was getting to the sidewalk, Dave pulled up with the truck, parked and hopped out to walk alongside him.
"You know what we got tonight?" He asked as he smoothed stray hairs of his mustache. Julian shook his head with a grunt.
Antonio walked out of the small red-bricked house wearing an all-black suit with an impeccable blood-red tie.
Fitting, Julian thought with an inward snort.
But, even Julian could see the tense set of Antonio's shoulders as he strolled up to them, his usual olive complexion waxy and pale, lips down-turned into a grim line.
"Frank, Dave. Thank you for coming." He said with a nod, managing a smile.
Dave nodded, but Julian only stood and stared as he crossed his large arms over his chest.
"What have you got for us?" Dave asked and Antonio glanced back at the house, jaw tightening. "Another murder that we are trying to figure out. I'll explain once we get inside." He said briskly before turning to walk back up the porch steps and go inside.
Julian and Dave exchanged a quick look at each other before following the Lieutenant, Dave first.
As soon as they were at the threshold of the door, they were met with the stench of death.
A strong copper smell filled the air, practically a wool blanket in its heaviness.
A weird feeling began to tickle the back of Julian's neck, a cold trickle of ice that told him something was wrong and that something was bad. It seemed like the other men were feeling it as well for the way they stiffened as they stepped inside. It was silent for a moment as the men took everything in.
Dave made a sound of disgust, but Julian was frozen to the spot-every muscle rigid with tension.
A woman wearing a long and tattered white silk and lace nightie lay on the couch, her skin taking on the hue of the dead with her skin tinged gray except for the blood that splattered her skin. And there was so much blood. The woman's throat had been slit, so deep that she had almost been decapitated. Her eyes were staring lifelessly and Julian followed her line of sight, fighting the bile that rushed up his throat.
She was staring at the closet.
Slowly and numbly, Julian walked over to the closet-finding what he was dreading.
In the closet was a makeshift bed.
A pillow was propped up against the wall, a sheet covering the floor and a small quilt bunched up against the other wall.
Visions flashed in Julian's mind.
Memories.
'DON'T! Please!'
One sheep...
Two sheep...
Three sheep...
"The woman worked as one of our escorts," Antonio said, breaking through the relentless and pounding wave of memories that swamped Julian. "She was a favorite among some of the highest of our organization. She has one child or...had a child, rather. We believe that the child was here at the time of the murder. Watched it, in fact. We are still searching."
Antonio straightened the lapels of his suit-jacket, looking ill. Julian's jaw clenched and unclenched as he took slow, deep breaths, turning to his friend.
"Why are you calling us in, then? If it was just a sicko that got off on her murder then why don't you let the police take the case?" He asked, that sickeningly feeling rising up in his gut.
Antonio looked down at his loafers. "Because...she is not the first."
Julian fought to stay upright as his world tilted. Fought not to gasp for air as his heart beat skipped and increased. "Explain." He said through gritted teeth.
Antonio sighed and walked over to the closet door, looking inside before turning away with the shake of his head. "We've had two other women, but we didn't realize it or put anything together until now-until this case. The killer, we believe, is one of our own."
Dave cut in. "Then why do you guys want us to clean up the scene?"
Folding his arms over his chest, Antonio answered in a low and business-like tone. "Because, whoever this son-of-a-bitch is, is putting us in danger. Putting our work in danger. My superiors want this cleaned up so that they can deal with this guy in private and not have the police snooping through all of their business. Once we have the guy, he will pay." Antonio said quietly.
"What about the kid?" Julian forced out.
Antonio's eyes shuttered. "We are still looking. We know that they watched-saw the killer and we need to know everything that we can. I know this is different than our other...cases. But, this is your job. Please, do it." Antonio said quietly and Julian could see that he hated this about just as much as he did.
Dave nodded, but Julian only turned and tried not to run from the house-from the scene. Memories were flooding back, a tidal wave of them and they were strong—too strong.
He breathed in the cool night air, willing it to cool the hot rush of his blood.
The soft scent of moonflowers reached him and he turned, finding a plot of them standing bright and gleefully by the side of the fence.
He reached over to caress one of the soft petals, blowing out air from his mouth.
Mama always loved moonflowers.
A memory of her flashed in his mind, one that wasn't fraught with evil and soaked with her blood.
"Momma, why do you like moonflowers so much?" 7 year old Julian asked as he watched his beautiful mother bend down to smell a small bloom. She opened one eye, a bright blue orb staring back at him with a twinkle.
"Well for one, there absolutely beautiful," She said with a wide smile as she fingered one of the flowers.
She smiled at him. "Come here, baby."
Slowly, Julian walked towards her until she took her small hand within his own. "They smell wonderful," She murmured as she raised a flower to Julian's nose.
He breathed in the scent of it, the soft petals tickling his skin. He smiled. "Woah!" He breathed and she let out a loud laugh as her head fell back.
She sobered as she looked back at him. "Also, they love the night. During the day, they close up like the sun is too bright for them to bear. Then, when the moon comes out at night, they open up. Momma's always loved the night, did you know that?"
Julian shook his head, listening with fascination.
His mother nodded her head slowly. "Well, I do. I love the night with all my heart. You wanna know why, my baby boy?" She whispered as she looked at the moon.
It washed down and bathed her face in a milky glow.
She practically sparkled and little Julian wondered in that moment if his momma was a fairy.
"Because when the sun goes down, it means the night is coming and when the night comes it's a close to that day and you have a whole new one waiting for you tomorrow," She closed her eyes, smiling wistfully as if she could the moonlight fingertips brushing over her skin.
Her smile a little sad, then. "You have a chance for a clean slate. A new day and it doesn't matter what you did in the past. You'd get a new beginning, if you wanted it enough." She opened her eyes and smiled sadly as she reached out a finger to touch the soft rounding of Julian's cheek.
"That's why momma loves moonflowers. They live for the darkness of night and wait for the brightness of a new day."
Julian had a hard time understanding, but he nodded anyways and smiled when she leaned in to touch her nose to his.
"I love you, my sweet boy"...
Julian blinked back to himself, letting his finger fall away from the small flower as he clenched his hands into fists.
He heard his name being called, so he forced everything he felt away inside of him so that he could deal with it later.
He had to do this.
He had no choice.
Both he and Dave suited up before they made their way back into the house. Julian had to practically force himself pass the threshold so that they could set to work.
Soon, Julian only focused on what he was doing.
The killer seemed to enjoy himself immensely, that much Julian could tell and not just because the woman had been raped-her underwear around her ankles. Her carotid artery was perfectly severed, the arterial spray reaching the ceiling. There was no castoff, and no transfer stains which suggested the killer knew just how much blood would spill. He wasn't surprised and he seemed to revel in the amount of it.
Julian took in every detail and willed it to memory, because, as he began to mop up the blood he couldn't shake the feeling that he was cleaning up for his mother's killer...
**
Hopping off the stage, Layla smiled shyly at the hollers and cheers that blared throughout the bar. She ducked her head and waved at the people as she weaved her way back to the bar where all of her things sat.
"Beautiful work, as always!" The bartender said as he pushed a club soda to her.
Layla smiled, her cheeks burning. Her blood moved in an exhilarated rush inside of her, the weight having been removed from her chest for the moment after getting it all out through singing.
She never thought something as simple as that could quiet her nightmares and the voices of the demons wanting to taunt her. But, it was working.
For now at least.
"Thank you," She said. "But, I'm actually going to have to hold off on that club soda. I am tired and I just want to go home and climb into bed." Layla began pull on her jacket and grab her purse, but he stopped her.
"Oh, wait. I had a question to ask you. We have been getting amazing service on the nights you come into sing and we think it'd be really great if you could come in and sing even when it's not singing night for one of our regular workdays during the week. You're really amazing and we would pay you!" He said and Layla could only stare at him with her mouth agape.
He was really offering her this?
She forced her mouth shut.
"Listen, that is awfully sweet of you, but I'm just not sure I am comfortable with coming in regularly to do this." Said Layla in a hushed tone.
"Please! At least think about it? Let us know?" He asked and Layla sighed before finally nodding. The bartender smiled widely.
"Great, thanks! Do you need anyone to walk you to your car?" He asked and Layla shook her head as she laughed softly, already halfway to the door.
"I'll be fine. Thank you, though. Goodnight!" She opened the door and stepped outside.
The wind rushed at her, blowing back her hair.
Shivering, Layla looked towards the right, finding her car parked at the other end of the parking lot which was cloaked in the darkness and deepening shadows of night except for a single street-light that sat a few yards away.
A tickle of apprehension traced itself down Layla's spine, but she straightened and shook her head.
Just get to the car, go home and climb into bed.
As simple as that.
Jumping from the last step, Layla pulled her jacket tighter to her body as she began to go forward.
The heels of her boots clicked softly on the pavement, mixing with the sound of the wind as it moaned by and the muffled music that came from inside The Crown.
There was a storm coming in and Layla had always loved thunderstorms.
The smell of them, the purple-white veins of lightning that lit the sky along with the earth-rattling boom of thunder.
As a little girl, she had always watched the storm as it grew outside her bedroom window. She had always thought rainstorms were the way earth and Mother Nature cried.
She looked forward to going home tonight, curling up in some of her favorite pajamas with a cup of tea and reading a good book.
Lately, Layla had noticed that the demons and the whispers, while they hadn't faded away completely they weren't as pronounced as they had been.
The thought had barely whispered across her mind when the tickle raced up the back of her neck again, stronger this time, but she didn't have time to react before she was hit hard from the side.
She gasped as the air was punched from her lungs, the hard asphalt cruelly taking the flesh from her palms and knees as she landed on all fours.
"What?-" She began, but arms looped around her waist in an iron-hard grip, pulling her flush back against a male body.
Her attacker groaned in her ear as his other hand came up to hold her chin and neck in place as he nuzzled his nose into her hair. "You bitch. You think you're too good for me?"
Layla instantly recognized the voice from the man that was very adamant about dancing with her, the same man that Frank had scared away.
Her blood turned to ice and she began to thrash. "Get OFF me!" She snarled, but he clapped a hand over her mouth, easily holding onto her despite her resistance and attempts to buck him off.
"I hate women like you! You act like you are so much better than me and you are nothing but a tease!"
Layla could feel his anger rising and she knew that it wasn't good. She began to fight harder and this only enraged him.
He released her so suddenly that she went sprawling, but she quickly righted herself and attempted to crawl away to scramble to her feet, but before she could a booted foot was thrown in a hard kick to her side.
She gasped, collapsing into a heap on the ground.
Just when she thought she would be able to suck in air again, another kick, this time the toe of his boot glancing off the side of her temple.
Stars flashed in her vision, bright, white and spinning as she groaned and rolled onto her back.
He stood over her, eyes gleaming with malice and sick cruelty. He was enjoying this.
Grabbing her by the neck, he hauled her up and the movement made her abused head spin. He shoved her against the wall.
"Not so hot are you now, you bitch?" He spat as he tore at her blouse.
His groping hands at her breasts sparked her into fighting again-even through the pain.
She threw up her knee, but he dodged it with a laugh.
He repaid her with a hard punch to her jaw.
Layla cried out as she felt her lip split open with the force of his knuckles and her teeth.
Blood coated her tongue in a copper kiss and it was an added incentive as she continued to pound at his chest as he tried to unbuckle his belt.
Bile burned the back of her throat.
She couldn't be raped! She couldn't! She used all of her remaining strength to beat at him, all the while praying to whatever god there may be to let her get out of this.
Her attacker, whose name still didn't know, snarled as he acquired injuries of his own. She clawed at his face and he backhanded her so hard that her world went bright for a moment as a loud ringing sounded in her ears. She was going to be raped and killed in front of a little bar.
This was how her life was going to end.
Suddenly, the grimy groping hands were gone and she slid down the wall, her legs not having the energy to keep her up.
After a what seemed like forever the world started to come back to her in flashes of light, of movement, of sound.
She fluttered open her eyes and found her attacker on the ground, punches being thrown at his head over and over by... Frank?
She realized that if Frank didn't stop soon he would kill the man. She couldn't let that happen.
"F-Frank. Stop. Please." She whimpered and even though her voice was probably no louder than a whisper, Frank froze as if she had screamed it.
He held the man that had attacked her by the front of his jacket, his knuckles shiny with scarlet blood.
She wondered idly, if it was his blood or the man's or maybe both.
With a low hiss, Frank dropped the man to the ground, his face unrecognizable from the blows he had been dealt.
Layla let her head fall back against the brick wall, feeling the pain bloom all over and inside of her once again.
Her eyes fluttered shut but she forced them open as a whisper of sound was heard by her side.
She flinched, then calmed as a soothing and deep rumble of a voice reached her. "Shh, hey, it's just me, baby." Frank whispered as he gently touched her cheek.
"...hurts." She managed to get out as tears slipped past her tightly shut lids.
"You're safe now. I've got you. One second." He whispered into her ear and she wanted to cry out to him not to leave her, but she didn't.
Still, though, he didn't leave her side as though he somehow knew her silent thoughts.
Rather than having that frighten her, she felt her panic lessen slightly.
Her eyes closed again and she heard as he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed someone.
"Hey, yeah. Listen, I know we just saw each other, but I need your help. I need you to bring the truck by The Crown. It's an emergency." He told whoever he was talking to. Layla could barely hear the deep timber of another male voice as he replied.
"Yeah, thanks. See you soon." He hung up the phone and his soft murmurings were back as he picked up her hand and intertwined his fingers with her own.
Her hand, so soft and smooth, so tiny and delicate compared to his own large, rough and tattooed hands-still seemed to fit perfectly. It wasn't long before the rumble of a truck sounded, the slamming of a car door and heavy booted footsteps.
"Motherfucker." A voice hissed upon seeing the carnage.
Layla was too drained to open her eyes to see who had arrived, but she could tell it was someone Frank knew, so she let herself relax.
"Dave, listen, I need to borrow the truck and I need you to...take care of this for me. I'll call you later." Frank said.
It was silent for a moment before the man that Layla assumed was Dave released a heavy sigh.
"Shit, man. She is looking rough. Are you sure she doesn't need to go to a hospital? How do you know her even?" He asked and Julian growled out a breath.
"Listen, Dave. I will explain everything later, but right now I need to get her out of here. So please get the fuck out of my way. I will see you in a while."
More silence and then footsteps approached Layla, making her recoil.
"Alright, baby. I'm going to lift you now. I need you to wrap your arms around my neck, okay?" The very thought of being lifted-being touched- really-terrified Layla to her bones, but she pushed it away and managed a painful nod.
A moment later strong, large arms came underneath her and she did as she was asked, wrapping her arms around the powerful column of Frank's neck.
She cried out softly at the pain that flared throughout her body and she thought she felt Julian flinch, but she figured she must be imagining it.
"Okay we are going to the truck now and I'm going to put you inside, alright, baby?" Layla tried to nod, but her head drooped and she let her cheek rest against the strong thrum of Frank's heartbeat.
He smelled wonderful, she thought.
There was a clicking noise and the car door was opened before she was gently deposited on the seat.
"I'm going to get blood on your seats." She managed weakly. The other man, Dave, chuckled.
"Darlin', don't you worry about that. My wife would have my hide if she knew I let you worry about something as silly as that. I hope to meet you on better circumstances next time, little lady."
Layla nodded and tried to return the sentiment, but failed.
Her world was beginning to fade, going dark and bright, dark and bright.
She was finally getting warm in the heated interior of the car and as she finally let herself drift off into peaceful oblivion, she thought she heard Frank whisper, "I'll take care of you. I'll protect you. Always."
And then, she knew nothing more...
**
AHHHH! All done! I hope you guys enjoyed. I had so much fun writing this chapter and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it, too. I'll be updating really soon so keep your eyes open for that next chapter. I love you all! VOTE. COMMENT. FOLLOW. SHARE. xoxox -Hannah