Chapter 142 – Things Fall Apart – Silver Brooks

Naomi and I spent the night having fun, playing games, watching movies, talking about our plans after high school, and discussing our thoughts about one of our favorite mall departments closing down. We hadn’t had such close private time like this for quite a while. We ended up staying up until sunrise.

We both slept in my bed together. Normally I’d have reservations about sleeping in the same bed as Naomi since she’d be likely to try something funny. That didn’t happen this time. She fell asleep ahead of me, despite originally planning to stay up even longer.

We woke up an hour past noon to the sound of Naomi’s cellphone ringing again and again. Her parents were on the way to pick her up and wanted her to get ready. It was sad because we both felt like we still had so much more to talk about. She seemed especially down to be returning to her home situation.

I promised her we could do this again soon. It wasn’t much consolation, but I could see that it visibly cheered her up, although she tried not to show it. She probably didn’t want me worrying about her or feeling sorry for her, but I already did. I wished that she could stay another day.

I saw her down to the door when her parents arrived. We shared a long goodbye on the doorsteps. After a short hug her father decided that enough was enough and pulled her away. Naomi and I waved at each other as they walked to the car. It felt wrong to be parting with a friend like this during Christmas break.

With my parents’ permission, I decided to go for a walk to the convenience store down the street from our neighborhood. The downside was that my parents forced me to take my sister Addison with me. That meant I wouldn’t be able to skateboard there since Addison didn’t own one.

Addison’s excuse was that she wanted to see all the Christmas lights and decorations. It was a lame excuse considering that the Christmas lights wouldn’t be on at this time of day, but my parents didn’t care. She was allowed to come with me and I’d have to buy something for her too.

We both ended up buying sweets. I bought a bag of Christmas themed sugar cookies and my idiot sister bought ice cream. Even the girl working the cash register gave us funny looks as I paid for it. My sister was apparently immune to the cold. She even insisted that we take a detour so that we could see more decorations on the way back home.

Since it was holiday season I caved in and went along with the detour. Of course, she made me immediately regret it once she noticed all the snowmen standing guard on front lawns. She was going to insist to our parents that we built one on ours. It meant that more of my time would be wasted out here in the cold.

Maybe the holiday spirit was getting to me because I didn’t immediately argue against her suggestion. Luckily she never got the chance to ask our parents about it. My mother had something to say about Addison walking home in the cold while eating ice cream. She had to endure a lecture while I gleefully snuck away.

That’s when I got word. My father was sunk back into his favorite living room chair, half-asleep. He was passively watching a breaking news announcement with a video of police cars gathered outside a condominium building. I handed my dad one of my Christmas cookies before taking a seat on the couch not far from him.

“Can you turn it up dad? I want to see what’s going on.”

“Ah, sure…” He said, looking around for the remote. “This is the third time they’re playing this announcement. It looks like they’re looking for someone or something. It’s probably a drug deal gone wrong.”

My dad turned up the television and I caught only the tail of what the reporter was saying.

“…Suspect still on the run. Although the unnamed victim succumbed to her stab wounds, there is evidence of gunfire throughout the room. No gun was found on the scene and it’s possible the attacker turned to knifing the victim when they ran out of bullets.”

I sat on the edge of my seat because I realized what they were talking about. The Killing Cat went through with her attack on Cora. What was this about gunfire though? I was under the impression that the Killing Cat only used knives. Maybe that was wrong of me to assume.

“Police have reason to believe that this may be connected to several murders in the area all committed against women that graduated from the same high school. They believe that the victims know the attacker and that this is a personal attack. They’re reaching out to former classmates for potential clues.”

They weren’t wrong, but that didn’t sound exactly right either. The fact that they were reaching out to other classmates would probably slow the Killing Cat’s plans down to a crawl. If they didn’t know that she was coming already, they’d know now that the police were being proactive about talking to them.

“One of the first former classmates the police tried reaching out to was a fellow officer. Sadly, they haven’t been able to reach her after calling many times. Her home is empty and they haven’t been able to locate her. Angelica Morelli is currently considered a person of interest that the police would like to speak with. If you have any information on this person please contact the local police headquarters at…”

“The hell is even going on around here these days?” My father asked while rocking back-and-forth in his chair.

I stared wide-eyed at the image of Angelica Morelli being shown on television. From the sound of things, she was on the run. Wait! That evidence of gunfire… Could it be that Angelica fired her gun at the Killing Cat when she realized that the meeting was a trap? It sounded like Cora was killed just as the Killing Cat planned, but Angelica… What happened to her?

“You said it, dad…” I said quietly.

He picked up the TV remote again and changed the channel to a reality show.

After dinner I took a hot shower and then went back into my bedroom to practice drawing on my new display tablet. I couldn’t use it without thinking about Cora. I was partially responsible in today’s attack on her. I never suspected that the Killing Cat would strike during the daytime! That was bold, even for her.

How did she even manage that? Surely someone had to have seen her go in. Then again, maybe she was under a different disguise this time? It’s possible that she was more experienced with this type of thing than I was giving her credit for. I had half a mind to ask her what was going on through the Nyx doll.

I turned in my chair to look at the Nyx doll still resting just beneath my bed. Did I really want to talk to her after all this? We were ‘even’ now, weren’t we? She saved me from Leigha and in return I helped set up her attack on Cora. Was I free from my ‘pact’ with her?

I was too afraid of the answer to ask. I turned back to my desk and began drawing again. No good could come from reaching out to her unsolicited. Otherwise she’d try to recruit me for something else. The best course of action would probably be to just avoid her from here on out.

There was too much on my mind to focus on drawing. What happened between Cora and Angelica that created this botched outcome? The original plan to attack both of them in a single instance was pretty ambitious itself. The fact that one was a gun-carrying police officer made it even riskier.

I crawled into bed after thinking about things for a while. It felt surreal to think that Cora was dead as a result of something I partook in. I didn’t hate myself for it. I had come to terms with the Killing Cat’s plans by now. It just felt difficult to wrap my head around the fact that she was gone.

There was suddenly aggressive knocking at the door downstairs. The doorbell rang again and again, like someone couldn’t wait for the door to be answered. I hopped out of bed. It couldn’t be the Killing Cat seeking refuge, could it? She wouldn’t be brazen enough to come through the front door, would she?

I ran out of my room just in time to see my father cracking the front door open to talk to the visitor.

“Excuse me! Do you know what time it is ma’am?” My father asked loudly. “Come back again tomorrow.”

There was incoherent shouting on the other end as the stranger tried forcing their way inside. I froze up. Was this a break in? Were we under attack? Addison and my mother were curiously coming down the stairs behind me, but froze at the sound of a gunshot.

My father went down in a spray of blood, his arm bleeding profusely. The gunman, a woman, pushed her way inside now that my father was no longer in the way.

“You!” Officer Angelica Morelli said as she pointed her weapon at me. “You’re coming with me!”

She stepped over my dad who was busy clutching his bleeding arm in pain. My dad shouted at her and tried grabbing her by the leg as she passed by. She kicked him off. She walked right up to me. My mother came all the way down the stairs to block her path.

“Don’t make me,” Angelica challenged, pointing the gun at her now. “This is police business.”

Angelica opened up her coat enough to flash the badge pinned to her vest. The bullet-proof vest she was wearing had multiple punctures and tears in it, but nothing deep enough to cut through it. My mother didn’t back off at the sight of the badge. Instead, she straightened her posture.

“What sort of police officer forces her way into someone’s home and shoots an innocent father of two? How dare you come into my house and-…”

“Step aside.” Angelica demanded. “Your daughter was used by the Killing Cat to get to me. I’m going to wring her for everything she knows.”

My mother didn’t back down.

“If you want to get to her, you’ll have to…”

Angelica fired a single shot upwards into the ceiling to show that she was serious. My mother and I both jumped in place.

“Wait!” I said. “If I come with you, will you promise to leave my family alone?”

“As long as you cooperate and answer all of my questions, I’ll leave them alone.” She agreed.

My mother began to hold me back, but I pulled away from her grasp. She didn’t want to let me go, but this was for the best. I didn’t want my family being murdered because of something that I had a hand in. It… was better this way.

Angelica grabbed hold of my arm and began pulling me away. My father was still trying to stand up.

“No… Sylvie… Wait…” He said, grasping his bleeding arm.

“Don’t worry about me, dad!” I said as I was pulled away. “Call an ambulance for your arm!”

I barely had time to finish my statement before I was pulled out of the house. Angelica grabbed me by the hair with one hand and opened the car door with the other. She threw me into the backseat of the car and slammed the door.

“Don’t even think about doing anything stupid.” She said when she got into the driver’s seat. “Remember, if you don’t want any harm coming to your family then you’ll do what I say. I suggest you hang on tight. This is going to be a bumpy ride.”