I rushed to my car as soon as I got out of the restaurant. I dialed officer Lance's number. He'd be intrigued to hear about this. All the evidence we need is just waiting for us at her house and I have clear entry to it thanks to her brother.
"Did he talk?" He asked as soon as he picked up the phone.
"Yes, he confessed about her being responsible for the murder of the sheriff. He also told me about the many other males that she killed along the way," I said to him.
"I don't know it's still odd that he would sell out his sister like that, I don't trust him."
"Well I wouldn't be quick to say that. He seems genuine and harmless. He even gave me the key to her house," I responded. "If he was trustworthy he wouldn't have done that."
"Wait her house? Why would he do that?"
"Because she keeps almost everything in the basement of the house according to him. The video footage needed as evidence for the sheriff's death is also down there. We might even uncover all the other fucked up shit she's done and use that against her," I tried explaining. "That's the only way we can get her in jail where she belongs."
"She knows what we're doing that's why she's trying to redo her steps." I heard him say. "She killed the cashier from the store and erased all the security footages before we could even come down to investigate."
"So what does that mean?" I said confused.
"This means she's going to keep erasing anything that could get her caught. The girl isn't dumb. This would just be a whole wild goose chase. She's only going to play us at the end. The head chief officer is already pushing me to close this case as soon as possible if there's no hard reliable evidence," he sounded disappointed. Something is telling me he's going to let go of this and lose the small ounce of hope he has. I didn't want him to give up quickly because then that would mean I would have to take matters into my own hands.
"That's why we need to get to that basement. You could get a warrant—"
"Michael you're way over your head. Going into that house is trespassing meaning its a crime. I'm not going to let you take that risk. Evidence or not, your safety should be considered first," he responded. "Let me worry about the investigation and police work for now, okay?"
I sighed. "That's just another way of telling me you're going to give up. I can't sit here and let her get away with all of this. I'm sorry but eventually you'll just dismiss this case like most of you cops do and I can't allow that."
"If you do something that potentially gets you harmed or in trouble I'm not going to back you up on this. You need to rest, you're beating yourself up over this."
"I can't rest knowing that my life could possibly be in danger," I spat into the phone making sure he could hear me loudly and clearly. "All of her victims she fantasized, stalked, or ruined are dead. Where does that leave me?" I felt my throat starting to dry up and the words were getting harder to let out. The negative thoughts I tried to keep out of my head flooded my mind once more. All I could think about was being in the same position where most of the men she's been with are, six feet underground. "I don't think you understand...she's not going to stop until she gets what she wants. What if she wants me dead at this point?"
"Nothing is going to happen to you. The paranoia in you is just convincing you that. Your life is secured and safe. Just take a moment to think before you react."
"I'm going to the basement and getting those evidences. I'm sorry but it's a risk I have to take. I'm not going to live the rest of my life looking over my shoulder and allowing a psychotic person to torment me like this. My life may not matter to you but it does to me."
"Michael—"
I hung up the phone before he could get another word out. I threw the phone across the passenger seat and threw my head back. I felt an unsettling aching pain take over my head. I felt anxiety sky rocket to the roof. I couldn't deny the fact that I am in fact beating myself to a unhealthy point. I was restless and stressed but I couldn't help it. Every time I try to switch my thoughts to something else, I get reminded that I have nothing else to draw my attention on because almost everything is taken from me. I don't have anyone to talk to, I don't have a safe place I can lay my head down at, and I can't seem to enjoy my surroundings because every second I convinced myself something bad is going to happen to me again.
She's slowly breaking me down, making me weaker and exhausted. I can't allow that.
I need to calm myself down. I proceeded to take slow deep breaths. I took a few minutes to sit in my car quietly letting my thoughts disappear on its own. I felt my chest heave up and down slowly. I did what I usually do during situations common to this. I can't remember the last time I had my anxiety triggered like this. I had one anxiety attack in my life years ago and it wasn't the greatest experience. It's horrible experiencing an unbearable feeling that's very difficult to defuse or have control over. I took short deep breaths, inhaling from the nose and exhaling from my mouth. I repeated this about three times before I was back to normal.
Veronica's POV:
He finally came out of the restaurant after an hour wait. I started the car back up and unlocked the door for him. He stepped in with a usual angry look on his face. "So what happened?" I asked looking at him through my dark shades. He kept his head down refusing to look at me. "Did you find out who he's working with?"
"No, but it's definitely an officer. I don't know his name. He knows about all the locations you've been to the past years also. He's done his background work," he explained. My head turned quickly once he mentioned the last part of the sentence. So Michael knows about my past? So he thinks he does...
"How did he find out about that?" I asked a little unhappy to hear that he's taking the time to do some further digging on me rather than being miserable and sad about the recent things he lost like I expected him to. He obviously doesn't seem phased by any of the threats and warnings I've said to him. I applaud him for being this brave and bold enough to continue on with whatever plan he thinks he's going to succeed with, but I also feel bad at the fact I have to crank the switch up a notch and hit him harder than before.
"I don't know..." I heard him say. "Don't you think you've done enough? The man has nothing left, you can't keep doing this to people."
"Do you know what will happen to the both of us if they end up uncovering this murder case? Our pasts get unraveled and eventually there will be a point where we can't run or hide anymore." I reminded him. "I'm doing this to protect us, he's going to throw us in jail!"
"We wouldn't be in this position if you weren't so fucked up in the head," his sudden outburst caught me by surprise. "You need help Veronica. I'm tired of this. I can't do this anymore!"
"So you're going to leave?" I turned around, sending him a cold stare.
"I've sacrificed a lot for you just to make sure you were safe. I never want anything bad to happen to you because you're like a family to me but sometimes you make me sick to my stomach," he yelled. "You kill people and ruin their fucking lives and don't see anything wrong with that. That's not normal or sane."
I ignored him and faced the steering wheel. I turned on the music over his yelling so I wouldn't have to hear his words. I sped off from the lot and onto the street. I drove but his yelling made me disoriented.
"You always play victim when things happen and choose to ignore the reality of what you're really doing. Face it! You're a deranged person who has no feelings or remorse for anyone. Everything has to be about you. You're so damaged that you believe no one has ever loved you because they're all horrible when really no one can't love you because you're horrible as a human being!" He continued to scream.
"Shut up!" I yelled back, turning the volume of the radio higher. I felt a strange feeling of hurt. His words barely phase me most of the time because really it's all bullshit but I don't know why this time it's hurting me a little harder than usual. It's causing me to feel things I don't want on the inside. Regret and sadness.
"You're the reason why your parents can't stand you!" He blurted out suddenly. My body froze, sending chills down my spine once my ears grasped what he said. I slammed the breaks as hard as I could. The car stopped in the middle of a vacant street.
"What?"
"You're a monster, how could they ever accept and love you? They've always talked about what they did wrong for you to turn out like this. Honestly, I don't blame them for leaving you. All these years, I felt bad for you and gave you my sympathy but I was too blind and stupid to fall under your manipulation," he said through gritted teeth. The veins popping from his neck emphasized the clear frustration and rage he's been holding back from me all this time.
"You're as pathetic as them. Let's not forget they left you as well because you mean absolutely nothing to them. Don't think you're the favorite child. You're everyone's shadow. You're barely seen, no one cares about you. You're only with me because you have no one else to run off too. You don't have any friends," I argued back. "You don't have a family, you have nothing. The least you can do is fucking thank me for keeping you around for this long because believe me there's countless of times where I thought about getting rid of you!"
His shoulders dropped and a small smirk came upon his face, "I really do hope they throw you in jail and you rot in there. I told him everything too, your past, and everything else that'll get you caught. You'll get what you fucking deserve." Seconds after, he got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind him. I watched him walk off from the car and towards the sidewalk. I held the steering wheel tightly as my mind could only think of doing one thing at the moment.
I drove the car towards his direction. He continued to walk away, just a few distance ahead. I placed my foot on the peddle and increased the speed. I closed my eyes as I drove the car right toward his direction. The car reached him from behind and hit him hard, making him tumble across the windshield of the car and falling onto the hard sidewalk concrete. Through the cracked windshield, I saw him laying there with small ounces of blood started to spill from him. My heart stopped realizing what I've just done.
His hand twitched from his side and there was a movement from one of his legs. I slowly got out the car bringing the gun I've hid in the glove compartment. I walked up to him until I met his face. He struggled to open his eyes but he wanted to move his mouth to say something. Through involuntary tears from my eyes, I stared at my own brother struggle in pain. I didn't want to do this but a part of me keeps telling me to do it. He's already broken the loyalty and trust between us by turning his back on me.
I kneeled down, bringing myself closer to him. "I'm so sorry, I don't want to do this," I couldn't help but weep in front of him. He reached out his hand towards me, pulling the side of my shirt. "I'm so sorry," I kept repeating to him. My hand started to shake as I placed my finger around the trigger.
"I-I-" he fought off his words. "I hate—"
Bang.
The gun went off, placing a bullet in his chest. His eyes froze wide open and his mouth parted. The blood stained right through his shirt. For the first time in my life, I've felt an excruciating pain ignite in me. Something I've never felt for anyone before. I brought his head up slowly to my lap. His lifeless eyes stared back at me. I mentally cursed at myself for going this far, crossing a line I knew I would regret. I've taken away the life of the one person that meant so much to me. That's all I could think to myself. A single tear rolled down my cheek. I quickly whipped it off before it completely fell down my face. But I couldn't control it.
Eventually the single tear turned into a flood of tears. My eyes were starting to blur up and hands became numb. I regained my conscious, realizing I was in the middle of the road crying next to a dead body. I quickly started wiping the blood off onto my clothes, but the red stain seemed unable to be wiped off. I stared down at my white shirt realizing it was splattered with blood as well. I panicked and got up quickly, hiding the gun underneath my shirt. I sprinted back to the car and threw it back into the glove compartment. I had a few seconds or minutes before another car pulled up or past by me, seeing the mess I've caused.
I went back to the body. I took a hold of his arms and dragged his weight back to the car. I threw him in the passengers seat and positioned him up so his head would be laying against the window gently. I jumped back into my seat, jamming the keys quickly into the ignition. I drove off from the scene and sped forward. I could feel my body continue to shake, making it almost impossible for me to drive the car straight. My breathing became erratic once I turned to look at his body again. The bleeding didn't stop, it dropped down to the leather seat. I placed my eyes back on the road again. To create a distraction from the current panic I was going through in my head, I plugged in my phone to the aux cord and opened my music app. I hit play, letting the songs start in shuffle.
"Stars shining bright above you..night breezes seem to whisper "I love you.." The song ringed my ears loudly. I turned the volume up even more so it would be the only thing that my head would seem to grasp.
I hummed to the tune as more tears started rolling down my cheeks. "Dream a little dream of me," I softly whispered along with the song.
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imagine killing your own family, Veronica can relate 🤭
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