I woke up alone, Troy was no nearby. To find out the time, I had to get up and walk to the sink. Picking up the watch by the strap, I was stunned: it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon. I began to wash my face. At the end of the procedure, my gaze stopped at the splattered mirror. I looked tired. Something inside of me was shaking. Thoughts covered memories from the moment of the murder of that dark-haired man on the stairs of a hotel in Los Angeles. Yes, I knew this would happen. This feeling always rolled over me the next day, when consciousness returned completely, cruelly throwing up images and scenes.
I looked at my watch again. These were much cuter than my previous ones. Most likely, Troy, of course, cared little about their beauty. I wonder where he got them? I looked at the other side. There was an inscription "Cartier". So the stones inside, under the glass, and outside the dial are diamonds... Not bad. I was not very surprised, as in my previous life I was spoiled with expensive gifts, but then they were still worth something. In addition, there was a Cartier store on La Brea, I myself bought a bracelet for my sister there as a wedding gift, which, by the way, I did not have time to give... And for sure, both about the appearance and about the brand identity of this jewelry, Troy was hardly worried, but it's a funny coincidence: the watches that Aron gave me once were also of this brand. I imagined what they looked like when I closed my eyes. There was no clear picture in my head anymore, I remembered only bright details: gold with a square dial...
Then I remembered how I found them on the nightstand with the note. It's only now that I realize that Troy found them the same night he got to the Trimbolls... Is it absolutely normal for him to live with this? He killed four people just like that, and then calmly went to get the watch? Or did he go after the watch first and then kill them? In what order was it? And when he got back to the ranch, he just went to bed... It seemed unreal to me that a person whom I already seemed to love was really capable of such a thing.
I went to the side of the bed and lay down again. I absolutely did not want to get up and go to people. I stared at the ceiling in silence, suppressing a wave of nausea from the thoughts that filled my sober mind. The prolonged reflection was broken by the opening of the door and the voice of Troy.
"Hi, it's almost 5 p.m. Actually, are you going to get up?"
It's crazy, did I lie there thinking about everything for four hours... Troy came over to the bed and held out his hand to me. I didn't take it.
"Is something wrong?" he frowned.
"Tell me, did you go after the watch first and only then killed that family?"
"What?"
"Or was it the other way around? Did you kill people and then calmly took a watch out of my car, brought it here, left a note and went to sleep peacefully?"
"What's wrong with you? Why did you decide to remember it now?"
"Just like that," I said indifferently, getting out of bed. Then I went to the window, from which I could see almost the entire ranch. Horses were grazing nearby. Leaning on the windowsill, I saw how people calmly walked and went about their business. Almost none of them knew what Troy had done. He came closer to me.
"I killed them first."
His indifferent voice brought me back to the room. I looked up from the street painting.
"What?"
"I went after the watch after I killed them."
"Okay"
"Is that all?" Just okay?"
"What did you want to hear?"
"Nothing," he continued in the same tone, "I'm going hunting with our fathers, as soon as the sun goes down, it's time for you to go out to everyone."
"Why did you invite my father to hunt?"
- Well, not only him, but also your brother.
- The question remains open. What for? And Danny is still a kid!"
"Because you and I are sleeping together." Like it's called a relationship? Don't you think it's time to tell your relatives about what's going on between us? And your brother wanted it too when he heard us talking about hunting."
"Why all of a sudden? I'm not 15 years old for them to worry about who I'm walking with. Moreover, I've already told Mom about you."
"Because I decided so. As you yourself have noticed, we are no longer 15 years old to hide and hide."
"Is Nick coming with you?"
"No."
"And Jake?"
"No."
"Okay."
I went back to bed.
"So you're not going out?"
"Listen, Troy, I'm not feeling well, can't you see?"
"Why?"
"Because I killed a man yesterday! Not everyone, like you, manages to calmly slaughter an entire family, and then enjoy life!"
He looked at me in surprise.
"I've even forgotten what happened yesterday. It feels like we went to LA a hundred years ago. It's a busy time now," he looked at me, "Stop suffering, he was an asshole. You did everything right."
"For some reason, it doesn't make it much easier. It's kind of sickening that I've become like this."
"Della, everyone has become like this. And those who didn't are dead."
I didn't say anything. He was right, but it seemed to me that such a life was losing its meaning. It was as if all my values were gradually leaving the range of significance. He didn't look like me. Killing people in cold blood, this man still understood the need for a family, saw some sense in the relationship, in us. I'm not.
"Come with me, I promised to bring you."
I sighed, and then got up and started getting dressed.
When we got outside, we saw Jake and Madison leading Ophelia away from the gate.
"She didn't leave?"
"Actually, Jake took her away this morning," Troy frowned.
When we found out what happened to her, we were surprised. I didn't expect this from Walker. No one expected it. She was sent to the kitchen.
Closer to 7 o'clock, my mom, Madison, and Clara went to see the men off to hunt. Everyone was in high spirits, I also tried to portray him, it seemed like I was succeeding.
"All of you haven't even had dinner, maybe will you leave a little later?" said my mom.
All, as one, began to shake their heads negatively.
"I have to go hunting hungry to catch something!" Jeremiah said, laughing loudly.
"That's right," my father supported him, "otherwise we'll just get drunk there without catching a single boar!"
Probably the whole ranch heard the laughter of our company.
When we got to the car, we said goodbye. Troy hugged me and said in my ear:
"Watch out for Ophelia. Jake must be hanging out with Alisha again."
I looked at him blankly. "What can Ophelia do to us?" flashed through my head, but I decided not to ask him now, so I just nodded silently and walked away.
As soon as they left, Madison offered to go out to dinner and open a bottle of wine. We found Alisha, and then went to call Ophelia to us.
"I'll be there in 10 minutes, thanks for the invitation," she smiled, "open the wine for now, and I'll bring dinner for everyone myself."
A friendly female company, we settled down at a table in our favorite gazebo. Ophelia, as promised, came quite quickly.
"I brought everyone spaghetti with vegetables."
"Oh, we're almost having an Italian dinner," Mom said, laughing.
"We should call to Nick," Alisha put in.
"No, no, dear, he has already had dinner and is now with the squad, Troy has assigned him to lead the training, and we have a women's team today! Let's gossip!"
After almost three hours and a few bottles, we were about to leave. Only Ophelia didn't drink. Alisha and I got pretty drunk and were talking complete nonsense.
"Well, Jake is kind of weird," I laughed out loud.
"But he's not a murderer!" Alisha also picked up my laughter.
"How do you know? Maybe he's a maniac? They are usually always shy!"
"So that's it, girls, it's time for you to wrap up," our mothers said in one voice.
When we were walking to the side of the house, we met a man. I didn't know everyone at the ranch yet, besides, I was drunk and didn't recognize him at all, but I saw him wearing a military uniform. So he's from the squad. He was sick, we started calling for help. The same thing happened to some guys from the militia. There was a commotion around.
I saw Ophelia running away.
I tried to run after her, but I was clearly lagging behind. I was joined by Madison and Nick, who informed me on the run that Ophelia had added something to the food. But after a couple of seconds, the guy fell, I stayed with him. Madison was chasing Salazar. I saw how 20 meters away from us, she still caught her, grabbing the girl by the hood of her jacket.
I barely remembered what happened next. Medical center, beds, a bunch of guys in an unconscious state, someone is dead. After a couple of hours of this rhythm, I literally passed out on the move, like Alisha and Clara, we went to the room. I immediately blacked out as soon as I crossed the threshold.