|THE FACELESS KILLER| Hiatus

| N I N E |

Apartment Building

An hour later

***

"Did you or did you not touch my phone?!" he yelled into the earpiece.

"..."

"Alexis! Fuck! Answer me."

"I didn't mean to, okay. I thought I was hanging up," Alexis confessed.

"You had no fuckin' right to do that. Do you understand me? She's my girlfriend and you're—"

"I'm what? I dare you to finish that. I didn't force you into anything, okay? Obviously having a girlfriend wasn't enough for you..." she voiced furiously, "...you know what? We're done! I'm sick and tired of you acting all flawless and shit, you ain't all that anyway. Goodbye!"

The beep resonated in his ear as she hung-up on him.

Trying to retrieve the call it went straight to voicemail, 'Lexi here, whatever it is leave a message and I'll get back to you, ASAP!'

Throwing his phone across the room in an enraged state, it shattered to pieces as it collided with the solid wall.

Getting another phone from his bottom drawer in his bedroom, he dialed in Roxanne's number for the fifth time, luckily it rang as compared to the other times where it went straight to voicemail.

"...Hello..." answering short of breath she waited for whoever who called to say something.

"Babe! I—"

Before he could further voice his thoughts, she hung-up on him.

Not giving up he dialed again ready for the fury he'd receive from her end.

Answering, she didn't wait for him to start, "Look, Max, you made your decision. Now leave me the heck alone."

"Rox, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to get to this. I love you, I—"

"Save your words for someone who cares. You're just sorry you got caught. Let me ask you this, did you ever love me? Or where you just fascinated by the thought of loving someone who did whatever you wanted them to do?"

"Of course I did love you, I still do. Please don't leave like this, we can work this out. I will do whatever it takes to gain your trust back, I promise."

"I don't think I can ever trust you again. For all I know, there could be something else that you're hiding from me. Can you confidently say that you've been one hundred percent honest with me?"

"I—I, there's—" he stammered, knowing fully well that he hadn't been honest with her. He didn't want her to get caught up in his messed up plans. He did care for her, even though he didn't show it much, he did care for her.

"Save it, Max... I always knew that there was something you were hiding from me, and whatever it is it's big. I didn't want to force you into telling me, I thought... I thought I meant more to you, but I guess I fooled myself there," she chuckled bitterly, "I have to go. I hope whatever it is that you're hiding, it doesn't get you into trouble," she stated sincerely before she ended the call.

He got it all wrong, he fucked up big this time. Maybe that was for the best, she wasn't tied to his bad luck anymore, and he didn't have to be cautious—looking over his back every time he had a task at hand, worrying whether she was safe or not.

At least she's safe now. Far away from the deathly shadows, he thought trying to reassure himself.

Million-dollar question was, had it been worth it? What if he had opened up to her and told her the complete truth; nothing else, but the truth from the very beginning?

—x—

Gleam Wood Canyon

"Where are we even headed?" Emily questioned as they passed another dilapidated, cheap motel.

"Somewhere where the building won't tumble down by itself the moment we step inside," Melany replied scrunching up her face in distaste. She knew she wouldn't be caught dead in such a low-class building, let alone a cheap motel.

"It wasn't that bad as compared to the others we saw..." she paused, thinking back to the motels they had passed; they all looked worthy to be tagged as monuments. The walls had been smeared with different paint to cover the noticeable dents in one, while the other had beds that had non-redeemable qualities; the springs had loosed, and each movement provoked squeaky noises, she was not about to comprise her sleep for some cheap change, "...on second thought, forget what I said. They were all horrible."

"Finally! Some sense eventually found your brains' address," Melany mocked.

"Melany! Stop being a bitch. Nobody is ready for your attitude, it's too early for that," Bethany rebuked as she sent a glowering look towards her sister. "Don't mind her, Em."

"It's okay, I've gotten used to it," casting a timid smile towards her friend, flashbacks of Chris' head resurfaced; all together with the blood. Blood! Nervously looking at her hands, fresh blood dripped onto the car's carpet. Rubbing them against her jeans as hard as she could she observed them again. Flesh fell from her hands, seeking help from her companions, her breath caught at her throat as she faced faceless bloodied beings. Reaching for the door, she pushed with all her might; before she could exit a strong force pulled her back into the car.

"Emily?",

Thrashing about, she felt submerged in water; she couldn't breathe... the air left her lungs at a fast pace.

"Em! Breathe!"

Clutching her throat, she gasped for air. Big, hot tears pooled at her eyes and blurred her vision.

"Emily, please!"

Faceless, bloodied bodies merged into a happy face she had known almost her entire life.

"C—Chris? Is...is that you?" she wheezed the words out.

"Why, Em? Why did you leave me?" Christopher questioned with nothing but sorrow entangled in his syllables.

"I—I didn't know. I'm sorry," she cried out still clutching her throat.

"You're next." The sad, genuine smile morphed into a sinister sneer as he grabbed her throat and squeezed with all he had.

"Emily, STOP!" Bethany demanded as she finally moved her hands away from her throat.

"Are you okay?" Oliver asked, his melanin skin had palled from what he saw.

"What-what happened?" she stammered as she fought to regain her breath.

"You just flipped on us; one minute you're smiling the next you're trying to throw yourself out of a moving rental, then you repeatedly say sorry," Melany unsympathetically voiced.

All eyes shifted to Mel. Being a bitch was part of her DNA, she wasn't one to sugar-coat her suggestions—it was either she be blunt and straight to the point or, simply keep her opinions to herself.

"Are you okay? You can rest if you feel out of it," Melany sympathized as she gently squeezed Em's shoulder.

"I—I'll be okay, I just..." greedily inhaling the crisp air into her lungs she mustered her best smile, she couldn't fall apart now. "I just need to lie down."

"We're here for you, Em. If you need to talk you have us at your disposal," Oliver reassured.

"Thanks, Oli. I'll just rest at the back," Emily stated as she shifted to the back seat next to Calvin.

"We'll wake you up when we get to a  motel or something," Bethany replied.

"Thanks."