I ran off upstairs and left Ray on the couch. I think he was still too surprised to move so that gave me some wiggle room to get ready.

I really wish I had my phone. If I did I would frantically text Kerrie and try to figure out what the hell I was going to do to prepare for this. Do you prepare for this?

Fuck, I don’t know. Maybe you should just let this happen and go with the flow?

Is that what I should do? I was so used to going full stop as soon as things got too heated that I wasn’t sure how to just ‘let it happen’.

I closed the guest room door and began to pace. I had nothing—literally nothing sexy to wear. My clothing choice was abysmal at best.

How in the hell do I pull this off?

I groaned quietly in frustration and dug through my makeup bag for Chapstick and a mirror so I could check my face. I crawled into the center of the bed and began to primp.

My winged liner was even, my lashes bold and the Chapstick gave my lips a nice sheen. I wasn’t going to chance running into Ray before I was ready—otherwise I would have taken advantage of the mirror in the bathroom to try and calm my frizzy hair down.

The sheets moved with me a bit as I slid down the end of the bed to the closet and caught a glimpse of something inside. I dropped everything into my makeup bag and went over to pull the doors open.

The red satin nightgown.

That sneaky bitch.

I grabbed the silky affair off the hanger and started to strip. I heard steps out in the hall to Frank and Anita’s room. I briefly panicked. Did they return for something?

“Where the fuck are they?”

Oh. Ray’s grabbing protection.

I continued to strip and after a minor mental crisis about whether I should go bra-less or not, decided to go without. I figured he had already seen my boobs—what was the point in the extra layer?

The keyhole in the front of the nightgown did me some justice. At least, it seemed like it was. Maybe I was just in a better mood from when I last wore it.

I thought back to my conversation with Samuel about Ray just wanting to be able to see them, so I figured on that front I was doing well.

Samuel…

I paused and looked down at the floor. No doubt Ray would be triumphantly texting his best friend right now if there would be someone there to receive it. while the thought normally would have bothered me, I would give anything for Samuel to be aware of what was about to happen.

Matty, too.

I mulled over my stance on the nightgown. Was it creepy? It was his mom’s nightgown. It wasn’t my first choice but it was the best option I thought I had. I didn’t like the way it billowed around my non-existent curves but…

No, this isn’t right. This isn’t me.

I stripped again and went back through my bag to look for the one lowly tank top I had packed for my PJs in case hell froze over and Frank turned on the heat. It was white, had lacy straps and was semi-sheer.

Good enough.

I grabbed my black floral pajama pants and changed into those. They did an okay job of hugging my ass, that along with my tank top, I had a shape.

Samuel would be cheering me on if he could see me now.

‘It might not be perfect, but it’s yours. Love it.’

Or at least, I think that’s what he would say.

I heard Ray walk back down the hall to his room and decided that this was as good as things were going to get. I wasn’t a hundred percent happy with my appearance, but I hoped Ray would be happy enough that he wouldn’t care.

The door creaked as it opened and ruined any chance of a stealthy exit. Ray opened his door from down the hall and stepped out, already shirtless. I was too nervous to smile back at him, and just looked at the floor instead.

“You okay?” He asked.

“Couldn’t figure out what to wear,” I mumbled.

“You look amazing. Come here,” he held out a hand for me to take. I stepped slowly to meet up with him and felt his gaze on me every step of the way. I put my hand in his and let him lead me into his room. He shut the door behind us and wrapped me up in his arms, his chin rested on the top of my head.

“You know we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“I do,” I kissed his bare chest and sighed. “I just think I’m thinking too much about everything.”

“I can help with that,” he laced his fingers through my hair and pulled gently. My head followed his direction easily and our lips met a moment later.

His kiss was sweet and passionate, and after I took a second to gain my bearings, I responded in kind. His tongue flitted across my lower lip as it tried to gain access to my mouth. I whimpered and let him have it.

There was a low pull in my stomach that I usually did my best to ignore. This time, I felt okay to give into it, and less scared of the feeling. I pulled Ray closer by his bony hips.

Ray pressed into me as our tongues clashed, an unfamiliar hardness dug into my stomach right below my belly button. I gasped into the kiss.

Sure, I had felt him get hard before, but not with the promise of something more. It put things on a level I couldn’t describe as anything but ‘more’.

Ray broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to mine.

“Bed?”

I nodded against him and smiled. Nerves coursed through me as we walked over to the full-size mattress. He looked amazing in just his jeans, but I wanted them off. In a moment of brazenness, I reached around him and popped open the button of his pants. The heavy fabric dropped an inch or so.

Ray looked back at me, eyes wide. He didn’t expect that move, either. I smiled sweetly back at him and batted my lashes as I tried to look innocent.

He took the hint and the denim fell to the floor and left him in nothing but plaid boxers. We both flushed at his sudden nakedness, never having gotten anywhere near this close before.

He hopped back onto the bed and pulled me between his legs. His arms slid around my waist and up under the hem of my tank top. His eyes asked for my permission, and I nodded, though I was secretly terrified to be without anything to cover my chest.

He pulled up the thin cotton, and my arms lifted to help him out. my eyes screwed shut as the fabric passed my face, and I could feel my nipples harden at the sudden cold.

“Beautiful,” he whispered.

I cracked an eye open and saw him look me up and down. His eyes were hungry. I felt super-heated from all the attention. I wasn’t used to being looked at like this.

Ray’s hands ran up my sides, his nails grazed my skin on the way to my chest and gave rise to goosebumps and a small tremor through my body. The warmth of his hands on my chest sent me through a new wave of sensations.

My head dropped back as the pull in my lower regions grew. I panted lightly though the urge to make some sort of noise nagged at me. For some reason, it was stuck in my head that the only time sex was loud was if you were doing porn. I knew that probably wasn’t true, but I still didn’t want to seem like I was a try hard. I wanted our first encounter to be honest.

I ran my hands up Ray’s muscular arms to his shoulders. My nails dug into the soft flesh there. Ray grunted, an oddly sensual sound, and leaned back on the bed. My grip on his shoulders took me with him.

Ray wormed his way back so more of him was on the mattress. Ifollowed him and straddled his pelvis. My core hovered above the bulge in his boxers.

Ray’s hands went from my breasts to my hips. His eyes were glazed over and I knew what was coming before he even pushed down and connected our lower halves.

I gasped again. the ache I felt was temporarily sated by the pressure of Ray’s hard on against me but gave rise to a new one as well. One I couldn’t place just yet as he used his arm muscles to grind me against him.

“Oh fuck,” I moaned and ran my hands down his chest to his stomach, so I was more upright. The much-needed addition to the pressure connecting us pulled a swear from Ray as well.

That set me off more than anything. The feeling that something I did made him feel good. It was that power surge I had ignored until now, too scared of what would come after I gave into it.

I cracked open my eyes to see him lying there, his own face a picture of pure bliss. He bit his lip to keep himself restrained. I both loved and hated that. I didn’t want restrained anywhere near me right now.

“Now,” I uttered through a groan.

“What?” Ray’s eyes shot open.

“I want you now,” I hoped further elaboration would spur him into action.

“You sure?”

Fuck off, Ray.

“Yes, now,” I rolled off him and moved up to the pillows he had piled against the headboard and caught the gleam of a condom wrapper on the bedside table.

I didn’t know where the sudden meekness on Ray’s part came from, and had I not been heady with desire it would have been adorable, I’m sure. However, in this moment, it almost made my blood boil.

He sat up in just enough time to get hit with my pants, my underwear fell out of them and down his back at the sudden stop in motion.

Ray turned slowly to see me completely naked on his bed, his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped like we were in some stupid teen movie. Despite my promise to him, I don’t think he thought he’d get this far.

“Well?” I pointed to the condom.

“Shit, shit…okay,” he hopped off the bed and after giving me an awkward look, discarded his boxers. Now he was in my state: naked with nothing to hide.

There was a moment where the absurdity of how genitals were shaped crossed my mind, I had to try extra hard not to stare like there was something wrong with what Ray had. It was just what health class had prepared me for, and though after I got over my first in-person penis, a brief flash of ‘how-the-hell-is-this-supposed-to-fit-inside-me’ crossed my mind.

While I had my mini-crisis, Ray tore the foil of the wrapper and grabbed the clear rubber without so much of a face at how slick it was. He rolled it onto himself, no fuss made about the situation whatsoever and wiped his lubricated hands off on the comforter.

Then he began his approach. I was near panicking as he climbed his way onto the bed on all fours and loomed over me. I felt so small and half hoped the mattress would swallow me whole.

Then he cupped my face. His bright blue eyes burned into mine and all my fears melted away. I did want this as much as he did. I unequivocally wanted my first time to be with Ray Vena because no matter how scary the process was because I knew, though he hadn’t said it yet, that he loved me.

With use of my dance flexibility, I parted my legs for him and managed not to kick him in the dick while moving my legs around his. Once they were out of the way, I nodded that I was ready.

It was the oddest sensation to be in pain and yet want the pain. Tears pricked in the corners of my eyes as he pushed inside me slowly. I grabbed his biceps and dug my nails in to try and relieve myself somewhat.

I heard him hiss, but I couldn’t tell if it was from my nails, or from feeling me around him. I hoped it was from my death grip on his arms. I couldn’t quite get over him enjoying himself while all I felt was a burning pain.

Finally, his hip bones hit mine and very faintly under the pain was the answer to that feeling that had started earlier.

It had a name: full.

Ray leaned down and kissed the corners of my eyes. The tears left with his lips. The pain ebbed and I thanked whatever being in the sky that it would be over soon.

I tilted my head back and caught his lips with mine. My hands roamed his body. I wanted to feel all of him as our tongues worked against one another. Somewhere in there my hips twitched. He began to move again.

It still hurt, but not as bad as he slid back out and the feeling of full went with it.

Ray groaned into the kiss on his way back in, his hand hooked around my right leg and pulled it up over his shoulder. It broke the kiss, but gave me room to moan as he hit an all new depth I didn’t think was possible.

“Faster?” I breathed.

In the back of my mind I was worried about Frank coming home and catching us. the forefront of my mind was just concerned with the feeling building within me each time he thrust into me.

Ray, ever the good listener, picked up the pace. The mixture of my own arousal and the lubrication of the condom made doing so an easy affair. My toes twitched on their own accord as we moved together, my hands wound themselves into my hair.

I was near my peak, I panted and moaned quietly into the cavernous room, lost in the sensations the encounter brought.

Then, Ray swore and stilled. His previous thrust had been particularly hard, and I had yelped in surprise at the suddenness of it all.

We hadn’t even been going at it for that long, and I thought I would’ve had a little more warning before he came. I had been close, but not ready myself.

The look on Ray’s face said it all: he felt like shit. His eyes were wide with panic and his mouth was contorted into the deepest frown I’d seen on him to date.

“Soph, I’m so sorry,” his voice was pleading for me not to be angry with him.

I wavered between anger and disappointment for my first time not ending with the mind shattering orgasm I was near and trying to understand that it was his first time, too. I knew ray well enough to know that blowing his load early wasn’t planned—that he had fully intended to give me what I wanted. I was levelheaded enough for that—but it didn’t mean I wasn’t a little upset my chance at satisfaction was taken from me.

Kerrie was right. First times suck.

“It’s fine,” I muttered.

“No, it’s not. It’s really not, shit,” he searched my face as he looked for something to tell him I wasn’t pissed.

“You couldn’t help it,” my voice was blank and lifeless. I really wanted to cry—but was determined not to make this worse.

“I swear I couldn’t,” he leaned down and kissed my forehead.

“Could you, ya know…get out of me?” I asked.

“Oh…yeah,” he pulled out and removed the condom without getting anything on the bed. I watched with wavering emotions. On one hand I was ready to collect my clothes and head to the guest room for a well-deserved break. On the other, I figured I could settle for literally kicking him off the bed and be fine.

However, before I got up the nerve to do either, he had tossed the condom in the trash near his desk and laid down next to me. he still looked upset.

“I’m sorry, babe,” Ray whispered.

“I know.”

“You really mad?”

“Trying not to be,” came my honest reply.

Ray sighed and pulled me to him. I only gave slight resistance which he easily overcame and soon I had one of his hairy legs over mine and his forearm aligned with my spine.

“I was trying to save this for when we were lying in post-sex comas, but I feel like it needs to be said…especially now.”

“Hm?”

“I love you, Sophia McLellan. Even when you’re mad at me.”

I giggled. No boy had ever told me they loved me, and I truly didn’t expect it after a sexual encounter like this, but somehow, it was perfect. It was mine, and it was true.

“I love you, too. Even when I’m mad at you.”

“That’s a relief,” he chuckled and kissed my cheek like he used to when we first dated. It was brief and shy. It brought back so many good memories over the last year.

“Just don’t make a hab—”

The sound of breaking glass from downstairs stopped me and my whole body tensed. Ray shot up and rolled over me to the side of the bed his clothes were on. He motioned for me to stay where I was and got dressed. Jett’s barking only served to set me more on edge.

“Don’t leave me naked and alone,” I pleaded.

Ray’s only response was to grab my discarded clothes and toss them onto the bed for me. he was in the process of pulling up his jeans when Jett yelped.

“Fuck,” Ray reached into his desk and grabbed his cell phone. He tossed that at me as well. “Call the cops.”

“Got it,” I fumbled to open the flip phone with one hand while I went for my underwear with the other. I had a brief dilemma between getting dressed first, or call the Sheriff’s station before clothes made their way onto my body.

I settled on clothes and pulled my underwear on while Ray slid on a pair of slippers and left the room. I listened to his steps. I wanted to dial 9-1-1 by the time he reached the foyer.

Thankfully, I managed to pull my pajama pants and tank top on in half that time. I rolled off the bed to the floor and dialed. The floor creaked as I went to my room to grab a shirt to go over my tank top. I didn’t want everyone and their mother to see my nipples when they arrived.

“Green Glen Sheriff’s station,” the kind voice of Linda the desk clerk came through the phone.

“Hello, this is Sophia McLellan. I’m at the Vena’s house at 7286 E. Bramble. I think someone is trying to break in downstairs.” My voice shook as I tried to explain what was going on. My hands were just as bad. I hoped to occupy myself by doing my best to find a t-shirt to match my pajama pants to pass the growing amount of time Ray was gone.

“Oh my,” Linda gasped, and I could hear her cover the receiver and call out to whomever else was in the room and address the situation. After a moment she came back:

“Is it just you in the house?”

“It’s me, Ray Vena, and their dog. I don’t know if anyone made it in or not—Ray’s downstairs checking it out.”

Another muffled moment and a loud swear from someone else in the room. I winced and settled on a coral shirt that matched the flowers on my pants.

“The Sheriff’s on her way,” Linda came back, her voice even and calm as ever. “She wants you to stay upstairs, and if Ray comes back up, keep him there with you until the Sheriff arrives.”

“Do you know when that’ll be?” I wandered to the window that overlooked the backyard and searched the woods it backed up to. There was a clear spot in the hedges that made up the fence that looked pushed aside to form a path.

“Five minutes? Probably sooner.” Linda sounded sure. “They’ve already left, and Bramble isn’t far from the station.”

“Good,” I pulled the phone from my ear and did my best to listen out for any sound from Ray or Jett. I didn’t hear anything and that bothered me.

I walked back down the hall to Ray’s room, curious to see if we still had news crews outside. I peeked out the corner of the window and glanced down at the end of the drive. There were fewer of them now, but the Salem news station was still out there.

Shit, what’re they going to think when the cops show? Did they hear anything?

I cracked Ray’s window open and could hear sirens as they closed in. They were going to be here in way under five minutes. The journalists on the sidewalk looked around. They were talking to each other, probably trying to figure out where the sirens were off to.

My feet slapped against the hardwood floors as I moved to the top of the stairs. The best thing I could think of to do was camp out on the top step and wait for a knock on the door.

“You still with me, Sophia,” Linda’s voice crackled over the connection.

“Yeah, just waiting for the Sheriff. Haven’t heard from Ray, yet. I’m worried.”

“I’m sure he’s fine, dear.”

“Yeah…well that hasn’t been the running theme for the month has it?” I snapped.

“I guess it hasn’t…I’m sorry about your friends.” Linda’s placating voice only made me more upset.

“Everyone’s sorry, but no one has been able to do a fucking thing about it,” I yelled and hung up the phone. All this fear was tiring. I felt like I hadn’t been truly calm in a long time and I felt worn down. I just wanted someone, police or not, to find the fucking maniac responsible and end this one way or another.

The only bright spot from the past few days I could think of was my lack of a visit from my monster the night before. I’d slept an entire five hours without being woken up to guttural whispers and a tentacle in my face. I just didn’t want to dwell on it too long, in fear tonight was twice as bad.

“Everything okay?” I looked up from the bottom step where my gaze was fixed to see Ray perched by the end of the banister. His hands were speckled with blood.

“What’s going on?” My eyes widened, and I scooted down a few steps to see if I could find any cuts on him.

“Jett stepped on some broken glass and cut his paw. It bled a lot, but he’s bandaged up on the couch now.” Ray tilted his head and looked me over. “What’s up?”

“Cops are on the way,” I shrugged. I didn’t want to admit I snapped on poor Linda.

“Good. No one is in here from what I can see, but someone did throw a brick with a note on it through the back door.” There was a look in his eye I couldn’t place. It was dark, somehow, which was not what I was used to seeing from Ray.

“What’d it say?” I went down a few more steps to the bottom of the stairs only to have him put a hand up to stop me.

“There’s glass everywhere. I wouldn’t come down here without shoes.” He turned and grabbed my boots from near the door and placed them a couple steps below me.

“The note?” I questioned again.

He sighed and nodded for me to follow him. I slid my feet into my boots and scrambled after him to the Arcadia door between the kitchen and great room. On the floor I saw a garden brick with a piece of yellow lined paper tied to with what looked like a strip of netting from one of the laundry bags the school used.

I wouldn’t touch it until the Sheriff sees it,” he warned.

I waved off his comment and stooped to snatch the note from the brick. It slid away from the weight easily and unfolded to show two very sketchy depictions of my monster. There were differences between the two drawings, like placements of the scars that marred the light gray flesh of the creature. They were in opposing places. The most telling was how much teeth each one had.

The one labeled ‘little’ only had five teeth. The one labeled ‘mine’, however, had its mouth opened with what looked to be hundreds of small jagged teeth ringing its mouth.

“The fuck?” My brow furrowed as I looked over the page. Both images were familiar. I was sure I had encountered both these creatures. The one called ‘little’, I felt was meant to be a depiction of my monster. The scars on the head were in the right places for it to be.

So that would mean…

A thunderous knock at the door broke my train of thought and made me jump. Jett barked but stayed on the couch with his injured paw tucked beneath him.

“Ray Vena and Sophia McLellan! This is Green Glen Sheriff’s Department! Open up!”

Ray pointed at Jett, told him to stay, and walked to the door. I looked back to the paper in my hand and marveled at the drawings. They were uncannily accurate in their representation of the creatures and enough care and detail had been put into it to make me see there was a notable difference between the two.

I wasn’t the only one with a monster visiting me.

It would also explain the one thing I couldn’t figure out about the walk home with Samuel, yesterday: why would my monster have chased us into the path of the killer? It didn’t make sense to me, then, and now I knew why. It was the killer’s monster all along. I had just been too scared to see it.

I wanted to tell Ray what was going on, but now was not the time. I turned to see Sheriff Doonan stride over, hand outstretched for the note.

“Sorry,” my empty apology hung in the air between us. she ignored me and snatched the drawing from my hand and took a long hard look. After a bit she turned to me, her eyes piercing mine over her sunglasses.

“Any idea what this means?”

“Only that he’s crazy,” I shrugged.

I couldn’t tell her what I knew, or else I’d be on a bus to the mental health facility in Salem for sure.

“Then go sit on the couch out of the way while we check this out,” she ordered.

Glass shards crunched in the carpet as far as the coffee table. Anita was going to have a hell of a time cleaning up. I vowed to help her as much as she would allow.

After I saw the paper, I knew the reason why he had been here. He wanted to communicate with the other person that suffered the same affliction he did.

The couch sunk down as I sat and leaned against Jett’s rump. I wanted to leave some room for Ray whenever he came back in. Jett whined and licked my hand.

“I know, you’re hurt,” I rubbed his pointed ears and hoped I could bring a small amount of comfort to the giant beast.

“Did you happen to see anything?” The Sheriff asked. The question pulled my attention back the other direction.

“No, I looked outside from upstairs and all I noticed was a path through the hedges into the woods.”

“Ray said he didn’t see anything either,” Doonan sighed and looked at the brick.

“Why is this guy so intent on hurting you kids?”

“I wish I knew.”

Though the realization we were both dealing with the same issue had come to light, I still couldn’t come up with anything that would tell me why he had chosen my friends and I. There had to be a reason why.

I had to know. Maybe that was the key to get him to stop, or better yet—catch him. He had to have somewhere to rest. There was no way he could sleep out in the cold. I wanted to find that place, wait until he was gone, and see if I could piece together why this all had happened.

Both murders happened close to the old high school. That couldn’t be a coincidence. He had to be bunkered down somewhere near there. That would make a search party easier, but what really helped was the netting attached to the brick’s note.

I knew when we had explored the old school last summer with the others that there was an old sports and laundry shed on the grounds that was around the back of the building where the old fields were. That netting could have easily been in that shed.

I smiled to myself. I felt better now that I had some sort of plan. The hard part would be to get out of the house to enact it, and ket Kerrie to go along with it. I felt shitty about it, but Ray was easy to get to go along. He wouldn’t let me go without him.

“What are you grinning about?” Ray plopped down next to me and slung an arm over my shoulder. I hadn’t noticed him enter the room.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“Oooh, secrets,” he looked over at the Sheriff who squinted into the daylight to catch the path made in the hedge.

“Your phone is on the stairs,” I nudged him with my elbow. “You should call your parents.”

“Yeah. They have your stuff, by the way,” the Sheriff sounded distracted.

I folded my legs up onto the couch and waited for Ray to come back. It was weird not being able to relax here. I wasn’t used to it. the presence of the Sheriff and her men threw me off. I felt like all I could do was sit, stare at the blank TV and wait.

Ray returned, phone to his ear. I could hear frank through the tiny speaker, his voice raised as I figured it would be. Ray did his best to calm Frank down and told him the current state of things. No we weren’t alone. Yes, the Sheriff was here. No, don’t abandon the groceries in the parking lot, we need the food.

Doonan rolled her eyes and held out her hand for the phone, which Ray gave willingly before he returned to the empty half-cushion on the couch.

“Frank,” the Sheriff snapped. The muffled garble of swears from the phone stopped. “I’ve got it under control. Just get here when you can. The kids are safe.”

Doonan hung up the phone and tossed it back to Ray.

“Thanks, Sheriff,” Ray gave her a curt nod before collapsed against my shoulder. “Hell of a day, huh?”

“Wasn’t all bad,” I whispered.

I could feel his dopey grin against my shoulder.

Man, he’s easy to please.

I ran a hand through his hair and sighed. If Frank and Anita were putting groceries in the car when Ray called, they’d be here in no time. The grocery store wasn’t far, and I know how Frank drove when stressed. He’d be way above the speed limit for sure.

Mostly, I wanted my phone back so I could talk to Kerrie. So much had happened in the past couple hours and she was behind on best friend news. The longest we had ever gone without talking was when we were asleep—barring the two weeks where I broke friend protocol.

My head hit the back cushion and I closed my eyes. I was tired again. Sleep probably wouldn’t happen for a while with all the deputies and Frank stomping about.

Five minutes later, Frank’s truck screamed into the driveway. I could hear panicked journalists through the open front door.

Ray and I both stood and headed to the front. My goal was to help Anita with groceries, but as we got to the porch, frank came around the back of the truck. His arms were absolutely loaded with bags. It was a great visual with his fiery expression. There had to have been two weeks of food that hung from his arms.

“Move,” he ordered.

We backed up and sat on the stairs to give Frank room to pass. He moved through the foyer and down the hall to the Sheriff. We knew he had seen the mess when: “shit on a stick!” rang through the bottom floor.

Ray snickered right as Anita walked through the door with more groceries hung from her arms, and my school bag on her shoulders.

“Need help?” I asked.

“Sure,” she smiled and offered me the bags on her left arm. I took them and headed off to the kitchen. I knew where most everything went, so I felt okay to put things away.

As I walked through the living room, I saw Frank hunkered down by Jett as he checked the dressing on his paw. He was getting a tongue bath from the grateful dog as he tended to the wound. I grinned. Though his body language reeked of tension, the ear-splitting smile on Frank’s face showed he was just glad his dog was okay.

The kitchen island was covered in bags, so I put my armload on the breakfast nook’s table. As I began to unpack, I became more and more excited for the next few days. I unloaded s’mores supplies and various bags of junk food. Food I only got when I was here.

The contents of the bags all found their homes swiftly, with only a small break taken when Anita dumped my bag off on the counter with the rest of the food. I stuffed all the bags into one of their counterparts and grabbed my phone from the pocket of my backpack.

Five unread messages.

All were from Kerrie who had gotten her stuff back a mere hour before I had. She wanted to know how we were doing and asked me to text her back as soon as I could.

I tapped out a quick rundown of the situation, sex omitted, finished with the groceries, and walked out to the great room.

Ray was back on the couch and Anita was at work getting the glass off the floor. I didn’t want to disturb her, so I went the long way around the coffee table when another buzz went off in my hand.

“Hey Anita, I know it’s probably a ‘no’, but can Kerrie come over for a bit? Things are still hard at her place.”

Anita paused in her work as she looked to the ceiling for a bit to mull it over. After a moment she scoped out the sea of glass on the floor.

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea right now, sweetie. Maybe tomorrow. Frank’s really stressed right now, and we need to clean and…it’s just not a good time.”

I nodded. It was understandable for her to say ‘no’, but it did put a kink in my plans. I really wanted to be able to share the day with Kerrie, but I guess it would have to be done via text.

Sure enough, as I turned the screen to check the unread message, there was a request to stop by. I told her what Anita said and dropped my phone into my lap.

“Hey, tomorrow’s not too far away,” Ray said.

“I know, it’s cool,” I watched as Anita swept. She diligently brushed every shard of glass on the hardwood into a small pile. Her skirt swayed from her rocking movement. The light that came through the door gave away where chunks of glass were in the light carpet. It was going to take a lot more work to make the floor safe for Jett and bare feet.

“Do you want help vacuuming, mom?” Ray was off the couch before she even responded. He grabbed the vacuum from the closet beneath the stairs to start the chore.

I grabbed my phone again and began to type:

Sent Message: Kerrie

The killer sent me a message. He has a monster, too.

New Message from: Kerrie

Now he’s sending messages. What does this guy want?

Sent Message: Kerrie

I don’t know. But we’re going to find out.

New Message from: Kerrie

Whatever it is, No!

Sent Message: Kerrie

You haven’t heard my plan, yet.

New Message from: Kerrie

I don’t have to. Tell the Sheriff, have her do it.

Sent Message: Kerrie

She has no idea what she’s doing. She can’t help.

New Message from: Kerrie

I know where he’s hiding. I’m going there and figuring out what he wants with us.

New Message from: Kerrie

You’re not serious. That’s so stupid, Soph.

Sent Message: Kerrie

Dead serious. You can stay home then, and Ray and I will go check it out.

New Message from: Kerrie

Goddammit. No, Sophia.

Sent Message: Kerrie

I’m going. With or without you.

By now the vacuum had been going for a while and there was less of that gravelly noise that happened when it picked up a shard of glass.

Ray made his third pass by me while Anita dumped the pile of larger glass pieces into the trash can for Frank to take out once he was done with the Sheriff.

I wanted for the circus to be over so I could share my plan. I would have gone right then if I thought I had any chance of getting out unseen.

There was somewhere deep within me that hoped that if the killer was caught that Janice would re-think sending me away. Green Glen was the closest thing I’d had to a home in a long time and there was no way I would give it up without a fight.