Try And Stop Me (Girlxgirl)

Twenty-Three

One is trying to kill me and another just won't stay dead.

Taylor found herself bothered by these words. More bothered than the bit about Michelle. She had been reading it over and over, wanting to know how it was possible that he was so close yet invisible.

After finding the disturbing note, Taylor had gone down to the office where the police were talking to the manager. They'd taken the note down to the precinct to be examined.

"Taylor, please talk to me. Tell me you're okay and that you at least still want to marry me. Please?" Michelle was sitting on the counter in the kitchen, cup of freshly brewed coffee in hand. Taylor paced the kitchen with a frown on her face.

She knew it was awful but she hadn't spoken more than two words to Michelle once they turned in for the night.

She was overwhelmed with emotions.

Another one just won't stay dead.

What had he meant by that?

"Do you want me to beg on my knees?" Michelle asked. Taylor sighed and stopped her pacing.

"I'm not mad. I mean, I guess I'm not." Michelle frowned in confusion. Taylor joined her at the counter. "What I mean is; I'm not letting this bastard get between us. I don't know how to feel about the painting, it's a lot to process. I love you."

"I'm... I'm still sorry. I should have destroyed it. The fact that I even took that photo and painted it makes me hate myself. You don't deserve that." Michelle felt awful for the picture. Awful for the look on Taylor's face when she saw it. She bowed her head shame.

"It's art, Chelle. You're an artist and artists express themselves through their art. If...if that's how that picture made you feel, I can't be mad. You are allowed to have feelings, even if they hurt mine." Michelle looked up at Taylor.

"What did I do to deserve you?" Taylor chuckled. "You were in the wrong cemetery at the wrong time." Michelle laughed and delivered a kiss to Taylor's lips.

"Are you still thinking about that note?" Taylor nodded. "Yeah, it was..."

"Unnerving?" She nodded again. "Yeah." Michelle took a sip of her coffee and set it down beside her, wiping her sweaty hands on her jeans.

"Um...do you think he meant...Talia? When he said another one won't stay dead? I mean, they caught that guy who helped him kill her. He confessed to hitting her in the head with something hard. He tried to kill her. They thought she was dead, and then she wasn't. It's like she came back to haunt them."

"Oh, come on, Michelle, you're worse than me with this."

"The dude went insane, remember? Told people in court he saw her. Maybe...I don't know, maybe he did." Taylor shook her head, anger arises. "Stop it. Just stop. She's dead, we buried her. I saw her in the hospital, in bed, dead. She's gone,"

"Yeah, you saw her looking dead in bed, but did you touch her? Did they even let you? I'm...I'm not trying to hurt you, I,"

"You aren't trying to hurt me? Really, Michelle, must we do this now? In the midst of everything else? You've always been insensitive about her. Always. And now here you are, telling me you have a theory about her being alive? I don't want to hear it, I really don't."

"Fine! Forget I said anything, then. Sorry I fucking spoke my God damned mind about your other girlfriend." She hopped off of the counter and took her coffee with her, heading towards the bedroom.

Taylor started after her but she turned around. "Don't," she pointed a finger at her fiance. "follow me." She growled before going into the bedroom and slamming the door.

Taylor sighed and went over to the couch, throwing herself down on it and grabbing a pillow, placing it over her face and screaming into it, kicking her feet like a 12-year-old would.

She hated fighting with Michelle and she hated the fact that it was literally always her own fault. Why couldn't she ever get a grip on her temper? She felt like punching something.

She didn't know why she was so against the prospect of Talia being alive. She was thinking that same thing, but she wouldn't let herself dwell on it.

If Talia had been alive and just faked her death, Taylor would have been one of the first to know. There was no way Talia had hidden from her all these years. She wouldn't. If she had truly loved her back then, she didn't think she would have been able to keep this a secret. It was a nice theory but it was just that; a theory.

Taylor sat up and threw the pillow back on the couch. She stood and decided she was going to fight this out with Michelle.

She knocked on the bedroom door before entering, finding Michelle on the bed with a book in hand. She didn't even look in Taylor's direction.

She sat beside her on the bed.

"Hey, let's fight about it. Let's not do this. This whole not talking thing. You're my best friend, if I can't talk to you, I'm going to go crazy." Michelle threw her book down and looked at Taylor.

"You're a prick, you know that? You never listen to me, you always dismiss me like some stupid little girl. I'm not a little girl, I'm even older than you. I know it sounds insane but would you listen to me? I read those files you used to keep on her. I know every detail of her case. The autopsy was performed by some government appointed guy, not the same employees that were hired through the company. Why would they call in a special guy for a teenaged girl who died from head trauma?"

Taylor had never thought about it. Hadn't even noticed. "Okay, so the autopsy was a fluke, doesn't mean she's not buried. We didn't bury an empty casket...that would just be...horrible. I cried standing over it." Michelle reached to take her hand.

"If she got help faking her death maybe she didn't have any other choice but to lie. This Lucas guy is dangerous. He's killed others, he's not right in the head. He could still be obsessed."

"It's not an obsession if he does it to multiple girls." Michelle shrugged. She didn't agree, but Taylor was set on believing that.

"Promise me you won't go looking for him. He warned you...his warning was raping me, breaking and entering and terrorizing us. I really don't want to know what else is up his sleeve. If he really believes we're his puppets, let's just...act like normal. Let him think he's won this battle until we have another, better idea. Let's get out of town, please. I don't feel safe."

"Out of town? To where? Exeter?" She nodded. "Yeah, remember the whole chapel idea? Let's take that and run with it." Taylor smiled.

"Okay. Okay, I'll book the tickets if you pack." Michelle grinned, pulling Taylor into a hug, kissing her cheek.

***
Sorry for the long wait.

Thank you guys so much for the love ❤️ you guys motivate me to keep writing every day.