Blinded by Perfection

43- Criminal Minds

Once the resistance drains from my body, Chance leads me over to the bed. After we are almost three feet beside it, he let's go of his holds and pushes my lower back to roughly push me forwards. The hard shove propels me onto the bed and onto the black hoodie and ski mask lying on top of the sheets, but I quickly shy away from them. I never want to touch them again, much less look at them.

As I'm regaining needed breath back into my lungs and my chest undulates heavily, Chance walks away from me and across the room to the door. He jiggles the doorknob a bit to double checking it's locked before trudging over to the drawer in a small desk to the left of the door. He pulls on the drawer handle and gingerly reaches inside once it's open.

When he retracts his hand, it's not empty. He holds a long bladed kitchen knife, which blinds me with a flash of light every time it's pivoted to a certain angle.

There's only two words to say about this situation.

I'm screwed.

My previous exhaustion is long forgotten, replaced with sharp spikes of fear. "Why are you doing this?" I blurt, eyes wide with caution as I warily eye the blade in his hand.

Chance shakes his head in disapproval, making a punctuated tsk tsk sound with his tongue. "So you really don't know why I'm doing this by now? I thought you were smarter than this. I guess I'll tell you. Let's have a storytime."

Even though Chance clutches a perilous knife in his hand and holds a tense posture that intimidates me, the filter for my mouth still refuses to work. "Oh yay, storytime," I mock sassily. Where the courage to say that came from I don't know, but it needs to chill because if I keep this up, I'll get Chance too riled up.

He leans on the wall, repeatedly tossing the knife from one hand to the next. "Funny," he barks unamusedly. Other than that, he ignores the comment, continuing on to what he has to say. "It all started when I met Victoria. I―"

"Wait, Victoria had something to so with the whole Black Hoodie thing?"

I knew it. From the day I met her, I knew she was trouble. Plus, I knew for a fact that it was her who took me into that room at the party, but I guess since Noah believed she didn't do it and because she told him I eventually believed she told the truth. I guess it was easier to do that then believe she had been a part of my situation at the party.

"Don't interrupt me," Chance snarls, clearly irritated by my intervention. I reluctantly allow myself to quiet once more, reminding myself to mentally zip my lips with a key and throw the key in the trash two houses down.

"As I was saying, I met her a month before you came along. We instantly fell in love. . . well, at least I loved her. She's ended up backstabbing me this whole time. Used me."

It takes me by surprise, but at the end of his last sentence, his voice slightly cracks. If that isn't enough to gather he feels something for Victoria, a passionate emotion seems to bleed beneath his hurting amber eyes. However, it's quickly concealed with an anger from so deep within, just a stare from him can make me feel tiny and impotent.

I know this is a really serious moment, but I can't help but blink rapidly in confusion. "Uh, what are you talking about?"

"I'll start from the beginning. After you first came to the school and caused a scene with Noah, for some reason Victoria suddenly had an interest in you. When we were at my house after she had school, she told me about you and how you were stealing her spotlight."

I totally won't underestimate her complaining about me 'stealing her spotlight', but to Chance? Interesting. Why was she even at his house? Couldn't they talk at school or something? And why didn't they meet at school?

"Why was she at your house? I've never seen you talk to her at school before anyways," I point out.

He chuckles as if he said a joke to himself, pausing his tossing game with the sharp knife as well. "I guess I can tell you this. It's not like you're going to live long enough to re-tell my story anyways."

The blood in my body runs cold at this heavy weighted sentence, but he continues on as if he's simply talking about how his day went. "I don't know if you've gathered this, but I don't go to high school. I don't even have siblings or live with my mom. I graduated two years ago from a different school all the way in Indiana, and now I'm 20 and live here. I've had to sneak into the school this whole time."

No wonder I didn't notice him the first time we met! I didn't notice he existed in my class because he was never there the day before.

But that's unimportant compared to the other information gathered. He's twenty years old? I've almost kissed a twenty year old! That's illegal. Internal shivers of disgust signal throughout my skin, causing each individual hair to stand rigid. But that's not even the end of it.

Is there a reason he moved from Indiana to here in Michigan? My gut feeling tells me there is, knowing what this man is capable of.

"What made you move? Did you do something?" I shoot with conviction.

Chance's lips pull up in that perfect smile of his. It's clearly forced, for it doesn't reach his eyes. "You're smarter than I thought. Yes, there was a reason I moved, and yes I did do something."

"And that was?" I drawl, pushing him for a clear answer.

"I committed a crime. Murder, actually."

When I look at him like he's grown another head, he shrugs. "The guy owed me money. So naturally I fled here and changed my name and identity."

I can't believe this. He's acting like it's not a big deal he's a runaway criminal.

I don't even care about anything else at this point except a route to escape this room, but I realize I have to keep him talking. The longer I stall, the longer I'll have time to plan out my jailbreak. "You changed your name? Then what's your real name?"

"Trey Carlin. No one knows this, not even Victoria. You're the only one. But pretty soon, it will be buried with your grave anyway."

Just gotta keep him talking. Don't freak out. "Well what does Victoria have to do with you standing here, threatening to kill me?"

"Victoria ultimately wanted to get you away from Noah. I was told to get you to believe I liked you so you would back off. I'm surprised you weren't suspicious after I asked you out so soon. But, she also wanted me to get back at you by scaring you enough that you wouldn't want to go back into public ever again. It's ironic how she wanted me to pretend to love you, yet dress up in a black hoodie all the time and harass you, isn't it? As for the killing thing, I'm doing it to win her back from Noah."

Before there's an opportunity for me to stall with more questions, Trey/Chance begins to advance to my spot on the bed. He holds the knife out in front of him, amber eyes intently calculating my every move.

"No, wait!" I shout, meanwhile scrambling off of the bed. "Why are you willing to kill for Victoria? You're going to get in a lot of trouble if the police find you!"

He stops his advance, which makes me release a shaky exhale. "I'm doing this because I'm crazy in love. Love causes you to do crazy things. Plus, the police will never find me. Everyone knows me as Chance, and when they look my name up in school records there will be none."

I want to deny his argument, but what he is saying isn't a lie. There will be nothing of his besides his house, and I'm sure he's smart enough to move out after he does what he needs to.

"Anyways, enough dilly dally," Trey declares, once more advancing on me. The only plan I've gathered at this point is to scream for help, and just as I'm about to, loud pounding sounds from the front door of the house.

_________

AHAJSBSIJQSJOSAIISISIS so that happened.

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