Page 30 of Tormented By Regret

"The police monitor just blew up..." he paused.

"Goddammit, Hoax, spit it out!"

"Lucy Whitfield, your Lucy, ahh shit brother, I don’t know how to say this,” Hoax's voice crackled through the phone.

“She's dead, isn’t she?” I asked, already knowing the answer to the question.

“She was found dead about two hours ago,” he responded, his voice somber.

I stammered back, falling against the cold cement wall. I crumbled to the ground as numbness and anger slowly consumed me.

"It gets worse, brother," he continued.

"Just say it," I swallowed back the strangled scream that wanted to tear out of my throat.

"She was found strangled, raped, and brutally stabbed. The killer discarded her body by the side of a lake. The authorities are saying that it was an intimate killing due to the vengeful stabbings and strangling. The victim knew her murderer."

"How was the body found?"

"That's the kicker. An anonymous caller phoned in with a dark fucking message."

Silent tears fell down my cheeks. "What message?"

"He gave the location of her body, followed by the words, she's next."

A wave of horror crashed over me, mingling with the grief already drowning me. My mind raced with questions, but one terrifying thought drowned out all others: who was next?

I slammed my eyes shut; a sob tore through me. I knew that message was meant for me. That son of a bitch had gotten out just to torture and destroy me in every way he could. And so far, he was winning.

He knew with Lucy he was going to get my attention. My poor, sweet innocent Lucy. He couldn't just leave her be. And I couldn't save her this time. I wasn't there for her and that ripped at the open wound in my chest, and it tore through me in a wailed sob.

"Brother?" Hoax's concerned voice rang through and in anger, I flung the phone out over the railing.

I gave out a loud painful scream and collapsed against the rail, sobbing. I heard someone yell, and then I heard a door swing open. I was too lost in my grief to notice that Whisper had awakened. Warm hands touched my back, and I flung around, gripping her forcefully by the neck. I was on edge and didn’t realize what I was doing until, through my blurred vision, I watched her eyes widen. My grip on her neck loosened and as her hands came up to cradle my cheeks, I flung myself into her arms, allowing myself to fall apart while holding on to the only pure thing I had in this world.

She's next.

The words echoed around me, and I hugged her tighter. Praying to God that I could save her. She cooed at me, rocking me as I sobbed. Her warmth enveloped me in this emptiness. Somewhere on the ground below, my phone had shattered, and I'd left Hoax hanging, wondering what the hell had just happened to me.

I'm not sure how long we sat there. Eventually my tears and sobs had stopped, and I just lay in her arms like a broken child. In the distance, the sun was slowly rising. She swept a hand through my beard and kissed the top of my bare head.

"Let's go inside, Lee. It's too cold to be out here."

I registered what she was saying but I didn't want to move. I wanted to see the sun rise, so I held onto her tightly.

"Gimme a sec, beautiful. Just one more second."

She didn't say a word after hearing the brokenness in my voice. It ate at me like a plague and I doubted I could ever get over this magnitude of pain.

As if in a dream, I felt her stroking my face, playing with my beard, and leaving sweet kisses on my head. It was the first time I’d gotten this nurturing side of her. Forgotten was her frustration for me or any disdain she may have had. I looked up at her, and her eyes glistened in the light. She was fucking beautiful, and I feared he'd take that beauty and diminish it's light.

I gripped her hair and brought her forehead to mine."You do as I say from now on, you hear me."

I could tell she was about to give me a nasty response, but I gripped her head tightly, softly shaking her as I pressed her forehead almost painfully to mine. "Don't fight me on this, Whisper. Just promise me you won't leave my fucking side."

She tensed and then slowly licked her lips. "I... yes, okay, I promise."

"You go where I go you hear me," I ordered fiercely, overprotective of her.

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