We had no choice, we had to give up the case and hand over all of our nots from the past 6 months. My throat was knotting with anxiety as Backstrom and Trotz entered the hospital room to interview Audrey.
As soon as the door was closed, Adrian and I shot a poisonous glare at Lieutenant Baby. He sent it right back, maintaining a stern authoritative expression. The FBI wasn't supposed to come in, we were handling it.
Lieutenant Baby ordered Adrian to the station to gather all of our notes and put them in a box for the agents. They were bringing in a team from Langley to assist in their investigation, and their plane would be arriving in one hour.
I was to stay with Audrey until my relief came, but I could not enter the room while the agents were conducting their interview.
What, was his diaper on too tight? I wanted to go home! I was exhausted and Eloise and the other one hadn't been fed yet.
Adrian excused himself to make a quick bathroom run before returning to the station. Lieutenant Baby cut his eyes to him, warning him if he wasn't at the station within 30 minutes, he would be fired for insubordination. Adrian scowled, but nodded his head.
I stood outside of the door for 20 minutes until the agents were finished with their interview. The agents failed to acknowledge me on the way out.
If there was anything I hated more than anything, it was federal agents. Their entitled pompous attitude made me want to skin them alive. Of course I couldn't, that would land me right in jail.
A nurse entered the room with me to administer some morphine to Audrey's IV. Her eyes were puffy from having been crying through her interview. She was tired of talking and succumbed to the sleepy effects of the morphine.
I angrily settled into the chair that had been my bed last night.
Within an hour, Audrey was awake again, groggy, but awake. I brought her a cup of water, mentaller cursing my relief who had not come in yet.
Audrey looked up at me, picking up on my sour mood. I looked away, taking the plastic up with me.
"God, don't look so disappointed." Audrey rolled her eyes.
This bitch.
"I think it's in your best interest to save your voice for when the FBI interviews you again." I replied.
"Why were they in here? Are you two not on the case anymore?"
"We're fucking assistants now."
Audrey gave me an apologetic look just as the door opened. The hinges creaked piquing my attention. I swear if that was Adrian, sneaking in here like a weasel.
I yanked the curtain back, preparing to lay into him.
Cheryl DeWitt in all her glory, was standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. My first time meeting Cheryl was at a station spring picnic. She brought potato salad and a homemade apple pie. Her hair was longer in those days, down to her lower back, and it made her look like a teenage.
She always dressed in designer clothing, how she afforded it, I didn't know. But never in her life had she ever been in discount brands. Her nails were always manicured, her hair always curled, and her makeup so precise. Cheryl was by many standards, considered beautiful. She could go much better than Adrian, that much was evident, however, their story was complicated.
What had sealed the deal for her was an experience they had together during their rookie years. They joined the police academy after graduating from college. Cheryl and her partner were responding to a domestic disturbance in a bad neighborhood. The couple were still fighting when they arrived, the boyfriend pulled out a gun, Cheryl called for backup, and she took a shot to the shoulder. It nicked an artery and when Adrian arrived, she was nearly unconscious. He made a makeshift tourniquet with his belt and carried her into the patrol unit. His partner had helped her partner take charge of the situation, so he hauled ass to the hospital. He broke many traffic laws, but made it in time. When she was stabilized, the doctor told him that if he hadn't brought her in when he did, she could have bled out. After that, Adrian proposed to her a week after, knowing that he couldn't live without her. For Cheryl, there was no doubt in her mind that he was the one.
So it's pretty evident why she's held onto him for so long, despite the problems they've had.
I looked back at Audrey to see that her face had blanched.
Cheryl walked past me, to the foot of the bed. Her heels echoed behind her, beginning to build up tension.
"You can't be here." I told her.
"Do something about, Kris." she replied, with a casual flicker of her eyes.
She turned back to Audrey, her stare remaining icy and detached.
"I wanted to see just why my husband was tossing and turning last night. I see you still hold an effect over him." she said to Audrey.
Audrey glanced at me, sliding deeper into her pillows. Let's be real here, pillows were not gonna stop Cheryl from doing whatever it was that she came here to do.
"I'm sorry you got hurt, and I truly mean that. Realizing your life is seconds from being taken away does something to a person, and I hope you don't suffer any negative effects. That is not to say, however, that I am at all okay with you continuing to do things to attract my husband's attention."
"You think I did this on purpose?" Audrey asked, shocked.
"You went home with a strange man, you weren't exactly taking care of yourself."
"I didn't tell him to come visit me."
"Last night, he was mumbling your name in his sleep. I lied awake, thinking to myself, am I really going to be this woman? I took him back under the impression that you were nothing but a stain on his reputation. However, it seems that that stain runs deep. I know Adrian is not working this case, so he has absolutely no business being here, which makes his visit, personal. That does not sit well with me, Audrey."
"I-"
"I'm not finished speaking, so kindly shut up."
There was a brief pause before Cheryl picked it up again.
"You want my husband that badly? Have him. I'm finished with my plate, and you're more than welcome to lick the crumbs off. He's worthless to me now. But you will not take away my daughter's father. It's one thing to fuck with my husband, you've proven yourself unworthy of being anything, other than his late-night harlot, but it's another thing to fuck with my daughter. She loves her father more than anything, and I will not let her grow up without him. Consider your choices well, because if you hurt my daughter, Adrian won't be visiting you in the hospital. He'll be visiting you in your fucking grave."
Cheryl sent the last of her death stares, and left the room icier than it was before.
Damn, if Adrian didn't want her, I'd take her.
Audrey was staring at her hands, appearing to be deep in thought.
Cheryl was not one to forget about her promises. If Audrey wanted to live, she was going to be very careful.
Finally, after 30 long minutes, my relief arrived. I practically bounded out of the door like a gazelle, and slid into the driver's seat of my car.
The only thing I wanted was to lie down, but I knew the moment I walked in, Maria was going to be screaming from her room.
I closed my eyes for two seconds and drove to my destination.
There was something I needed to get before going home.
Everything had been searched in attempts to find a clue as to who Maria had gone out with, you know, me. Adrian and I had personally looked through her things.
I knew Maria a lot more than she thought.
Everything in her home was neat, just the way I liked it. Her closet was color coded, shades melting into each other from end to end. The level of organization was incredible. If there was a word that embodied what her apartment was, the word was immaculate.
I nonchalantly walked up to her apartment door, reaching up to the top of the door sill where the extra key was kept. A musty smell was permeating the small space. A window hadn't been opened for 6 months.
Jenny had been paying Maria's rent for the last 6 months because she believed that Maria would come back alive, and she should have her apartment back when she did.
I went directly to her bedroom and lifted up the skirt of her bed. Her stack of textbooks was still there, so I grabbed the biggest one about behavioral psychology.
As I stood, I noticed something sticking out of the top of the textbook. I pulled it out, finding it to be a photo of a younger looking Maria, and an equally young boy beside her. He shared the same shape of eyes and smile. This must be her brother.
I flipped it over to read the back.
The twinny twins are 15 :)
She was a twin?
How did I not know this before?
I slipped the picture back between the pages and hurried out before any of her neighbors noticed an attractive guy skulking around her apartment. She probably didn't have too many of those coming around.
Anxiety crackled through my muscles as I made it back home. I knew Eloise and Maria were both going to give me shit for not coming home last night to feed them.
I unlocked the door and pushed it open.
Immediately the sound of Eloise's collar grew louder as she leaped off the sofa and met me at the door. Her meows were loud and desperate as she tried crossing my path.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry." I said, walking straight to the kitchen. She weaved in and out of my legs, likely an assassination attempt for being tardy.
Her meows followed me until I poured two cups of cat food into her bowl.
Now for the other one.
I reached for the key around my neck and unlocked the door. Maria was sitting on the bed, her arms folded across her chest and a glare enough to kill me.
"Where the hell have you been?" She asked.
"You're like all the worst parts of a wife." I replied.
"Don't get cute with me. I'm on my period Kristopher, you can't just leave me here overnight."
"I'm sorry, something came up at the station... but I brought you something."
She furrowed her brows as I walked in with her textbook behind my back.
"I know you get bored, so I brought you this."
I swung the book around and gently placed it on the end of the bed.
Her eyes were fixed on the cover as her facial lines softened.
"You were at my apartment?" She asked. Suddenly her tone was gentle.
"Yes." I said.
"How was it?"
"Clean."
Maria reached for her textbook, and plucked the photo out. Tears immediately brimmed in her eyes as she trailed a finger over the image.
"I was sure that I would never see this photo again." She whispered.
"What happened?" I asked.
"... He... He uh... he had this girlfriend, who... she just had a lot of issues. She was severely depressed, and it started affecting my brother too. He started sleeping a lot more, he kept to himself. He was my twin, we connected in a special way. I could feel how he felt. It was like a virus infecting my body. My heart ached, and I knew it was because of Jordan. One day, he came home from his girlfriend's house and he seemed a lot better than he usually was. He cleaned his room, took out the trash, and washed the dinner dishes. He kissed our parents goodnight and told them how much he loved them. He did the same with our older brother, then he came into my room. He lied down with me on the bed, and told me I was the best sister he could have asked for. Jordan kissed me on the cheek, and he went into his room for the night. The next morning, he was running late so my mom sent me upstairs to get him. I opened the door to see him still lying in bed. I went up to the bed, and I saw it, the bottle of pills beside his hand. His face had paled, and he was so cold. I have had never known such pain until that day. The person I had started my life with was gone, and he took a part of me with him. This was the last picture we took together. He died a week after this photo taken."
"Is that why you took an interest in psychology?"
"Jordan's death ripped through my family. My older brother, Jared moved away for college the next year, my dad started working more, and my mom went into a depression of her own. I struggled to understand why my brother would do that, so I started reading up on psychology, and depression, and just everything related to the matter. Losing my brother made me want to help others feel better. I didn't want another family to go through what we went through." she said. "I specialized after a while because the subject was too painful. I think I made the right choice."
Maria slipped the photo back between the pages and thumbed the moisture away from her eyes.
"Thanks for bringing me this." She said, holding the book to her chest. She smiled at me, and all of the anger from earlier was dissipated.
"Would you like breakfast?" I asked.
Maria raised her eyes to me and nodded. I let her go to the bathroom first, to shower and clean up, while I started on breakfast.
The TV droned on with the news under the sizzling of sausages and eggs on the skillet. Eloise was licking herself on the table.
"Eloise get off, now." I said, over my shoulder.
She flicked her eyes to me and returned to licking herself.
As breakfast was almost ready, Maria walked into the kitchen, her hair damp from the shower. She sat down at the table, rubbing Eloise's belly.
"According to LAPD Homicide Detectives Adrian DeWitt and Kristopher Marner, two bodies have been delivered to the Northeast Police Station. Both victims were pronounced dead, but no other information has been revealed. Sources close to the station have spoken of another possible serial killer roaming the streets of Los Angeles." the reporter on TV said.
I could feel Maria's eyes burning into my back.
Here we go.
"What the hell is that?" she asked. "Are you killing again?"
"No, I'm not. I've been trying to keep you hidden." I replied, sliding the food onto two plates.
"Then what's happening? Bodies are being delivered to the station, that's hardly a normal thing."
"Someone is killing, and it isn't me. Believe me, I'd like to know who."
"Kristopher I swear if you're killing again-"
"I'm sorry, what do you plan on doing?" I asked, turning around.
"I am sacrificing myself to keep you from killing other women." she said.
"Excuse me?"
"Kris, I know the effect I have on you. I'm willing to stay here to keep you from killing."
I gripped the plate tightly in my hands.
"So that's what this is? All the obedience and nice gestures, you're playing with me to keep me from killing." I asked. "You're manipulating me."
"No, Kris, what I meant was-"
"I know what the hell you meant."
I slammed the plates on the kitchen table, scaring Eloise onto the floor and retreated into the living room.
Discomfort was brewing in my stomach, rising up to my chest where it clenched tightly in my ribcage. I didn't understand it. It was a given that she was here against her will, but...
Maria walked into the living room where I was sitting on the sofa, and placed my breakfast plate in front of me. She stepped up to the DVD player sitting underneath the TV and slipped a disc in.
She plopped on the sofa beside me, holding her plate close as she began to eat. Eloise scurried in, hopping onto the sofa with me. She settled over my lap, closing her eyes.
I continued to ignore Maria's presence as the screen displayed the Psycho movie disc menu.
Damn it, Maria.
I reached for my plate and started eating too.
"You know, I've had a lot of time to myself. I've been able to think about you and the way you behave. You trust me, and I know that's a big step for you. This isn't a normal kidnapper/hostage situation, so don't pretend that it is." she said.
"Yes, Maria." I told her.
"The door is to remain unlocked. You treat me nicely, and I won't kill you in your sleep."
"Yes, Maria."
"Thank you for breakfast.
"You're welcome." I said.
2020 EDIT!
I am in need of artists that can draw, do graphic design, etc. I would love to get character images created for Kris, as many of you have asked what he looks like. If you are an artist, please email me at AlliTheKat96@gmail.com so I can send you his description from The Doll Collector. I really hope to hear from you!!
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Hi! Sorry I'm late.
It's been a really busy first week. I've been working a lot and my internships are really giving it to me.
I think I'm going to change posting days to Saturdays instead of Fridays. Is that okay?
How was this chapter?
Maria basically told her what she wanted, and he didn't really fight her.
AND CHERYL GOT TO AUDREY
Also Karia won the vote.