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She had no gun in her possession. She had nothing but the clothes on her back and the strength in her muscles. She glanced around and took in all the disciples, all of the weapons, and conceded that no one on planet Earth could fight these men off solo.
“You were the biggest mistake of my life,” Ben said. He looked her in the eye from his chair, not angry, not scared of impending death. Her boyfriend had accepted his fate and now used his last few breaths to tell Ella how he really felt.
No words could portray her regret. “I’m sorry,” was all she managed to say.
“That’s all you ever say. Not good enough now, is it?” Ben said. “You can be as sorry as you want. We’re all dying here.”
Tobias clicked his fingers and his army descended. Two of them took a hold of Ella and pinned her to the ground. The others sprang onto the restrained victims: Ben, his mother, his brother, some faceless men she’d never seen before. Everyone Ben held dear. Their cries of anguish were muted by Tobias’s howling laughter.
Then the noose arrived. The same noose she’d narrowly escaped the night before. Tobias wrapped it around her neck, then the men dragged her up the stairwell. It all happened in a matter of seconds; then before she knew it, she was swaying like a branch in the wind, no longer a functioning part of the planet’s ecosystem. She was gone, professions of love and all.
Ella willed herself to wake up, to be a part of reality again. She gripped her bedsheets, bending one of her fingernails the wrong way. The pain jolted her awake, then she sat up and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She jumped out of bed and pulled open the curtains. Sunlight would help her fully transition from the dreamworld to the real world.
She grabbed her phone and checked the time: 7:30am. Pretty late, she thought. She was surprised Ripley hadn’t banged on her door by now. She quickly texted Ben and prayed he was awake already. She needed to hear that voice again – and reassure herself she’d been dreaming, not prophesizing.
Her phone began vibrating on the bedside table. It was a phone number, not a name. Not Ben. Could be the precinct.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Miss Dark? It’s Cromwell. We met yesterday.”
The chief. “Morning. Ripley and I will be at the precinct shortly.”
“About that. You might want to make a detour to Silkin Way out by the lake. We’ve got another body. This one’s a little… different.”
Ella dropped down onto the bed in a heap. Another body so soon. Two in two days. She didn’t think their unsub would work this fast.
“Thank you, Chief. We’ll head straight there.”
***
Ella drove because Ripley looked in an even worse state than she did yesterday. Their destination was Silkin Way, which was three miles from their motel according to the GPS.
“Resting didn’t help then, huh?”
“Sort of. My body’s had time to process the injuries now. Like how it takes a few hours for a sting to really start hurting. Once I get over this hump I’ll be back to normal. What did the chief say?”
“Not a whole lot, just that we’ve got another body. He didn’t give me the details. How come he called me, by the way? They usually call you.”
“Get used to it. You’re in charge now, Dark. No more 7am calls for me, thanks.”
Ella wondered what might await them at the end of their journey. Who could this killer be mimicking this time? Another famous unsolved murder? Some obscure, forgotten crime from the annals of history? She hated to admit it, but the idea was quite exciting, though she knew that once she laid eyes on the victim she’d feel much differently.
“This is fast, Dark. Three victims in four days. He’s sending a message. He’s got something to prove. He’s got a taste for this now and he’s not going to stop.”
“This is place is so barren he probably thinks no one is onto him. He probably feels like he’s got free rein to do whatever he wants.”
“You think someone like this doesn’t keep an eye on the news? You think he hasn’t watched us check out his crime scenes from afar? This guy knows we’re tracking him, I guarantee it.”
Ripley was right. Ella wondered how she’d fare without her partner’s little nuggets of wisdom in the future. It would take a while to get used to her being gone. Would they stick her with Paige permanently? That wouldn’t be so bad, Ella guessed, but Paige didn’t have the experience Ripley had, especially when it came to decoding people.
Silkin Way came into view up ahead. An endless sea of green with one sole tree at the center. Over the small chain-link fence, Ella spotted a police cruiser parked near the tree.
“How the hell do we get down there?” Ripley asked.
“I guess we walk.” Ella parked up beside the fence, got out of the car, and hopped over the fence. Ripley followed, muttering to herself.
“Not long now, Mia. This’ll be the last fence you ever have to scale.”
