Page 84 of Oh, Hell No

“So, I waited. Watching. Wanting to find someone else who deserved to die. To feel that joy again. And I did. Another mom that didn’t deserve to be. She was at the apartment complex across from ours. I saw her slap her son. Twist his arm. I watched her. Memorized her schedule. And when she got home late from the diner she worked at, I was waiting at the top of the stairs. She noticed me. Asked me what I was doing up and whereI belonged. I walked over to her as she scowled at me like I was some rodent. She didn’t expect it. Not from a kid who looked like me. But that flash of horror in her eyes as she fell backward sent a thrill through me.”

He was watching me. I said nothing. I was numb. I felt like I had stepped out of my body and stood off to the side, observing. My brother had killed two people. My mother? Well, I could almost understand it. But a woman he hadn’t known? Someone he’d deemed unworthy of life?

“My methods of taking lives changed as the years went by. I got more complex. That was the last time I used stairs. I did research and used different options for poisoning drinks and food. It wasn’t as quick and clean as I preferred, so I moved on to other ways. Torture wasn’t really what I sought. Just taking their life, seeing them in their last moment and knowing I’d cleared the world of their waste of space.”

“Please stop,” I choked out, not sure how much more I could listen to.

The doors opened, and three guards came in, going directly to Perry, and he stood up. My gaze swung from one to the other as they grabbed him roughly and painfully, jerking him up by his cuffed hands.

“Wait!” I shouted as I sprang up, wanting to help him, but knowing there wasn’t anything I could do. My eyes filled with tears that began to roll down my face, and a sob broke free as my chest heaved.

“This was my confession,” he said, his eyes holding the smallest trace of sorrow. There was a relief there that dominated them. “They were waiting for it. My psychologist let them know it was coming. I just wanted to be the one to explain it to you.”

The guard behind him drug his much smaller body toward the door, saying things I didn’t understand.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

I rushed after him, but another guard blocked me. I covered my mouth as the reality of all that he said and what it meant bombarded me. Another hard sob shook my body, and I bent at the waist, wrapping my arms around my middle, as if that could hold me together.

The officer reached out to touch my arm, and I moved back, shaking my head. I didn’t want him to touch me. I understood that his manhandling Perry was valid. He had just confessed to murdering numerous people. But I wasn’t thinking rationally. That man was still the enemy.

“Ma’am, you can’t stay in here,” he said sharply.

He moved toward me again, and I staggered back.

“Don’t touch me!” I shouted.

The door opened behind him, and another officer entered. My eyes darted from one to the other, and I felt frantic. I just wanted to be left alone.

Then, another figure filled the doorway, and his slate-gray eyes met mine. It was as if a lifeline had been thrown out to me while I was drowning in sorrow deeper than I could navigate. I let out an anguished cry and ran to him. Knowing that he wouldn’t let me go under. He would hold on to me.

Oz’s arms were there to catch me as I slammed against his chest.

“Has he had clearance?” the officer snapped.

“Yes. I know him. He’s come to get her.”

The strong hold and scent of him gave me comfort in the middle of the nightmare I was in. He bent his head, tucking it close to mine.

“I got you.”

Those three words only made me sob harder. He was here. Why he was here I didn’t know, but this time, I wasn’t questioning it. He had come out of the darkness, surrounding me like my own personal avenging angel.

The other men spoke, but I focused on the sound of his heartbeat beneath my ear, keeping my eyes closed tightly. Blocking out all that was going on around me. I would be okay if I could stay like this. I could breathe. I wasn’t alone. Oz was here. But then…he was always there.

I jerked at the sound of the door slamming shut.

Oz ran a hand over the back of my head. “It’s okay,” his deep voice said soothingly. As if comforting a child.

It wasn’t okay. I knew that it might never be okay again. But I also knew Oz wouldn’t let go of me. I wept, grabbing on to his shirt.

“You’re here.” The words were hoarse and didn’t sound like my voice.

His lips pressed against my temple, and he held them there. I heard him inhale. “Where else would I be? I go where you go.”

He’d followed me. That thought no longer seemed like a massive boulder that I was afraid to move past, but a gift I wanted to dig my nails into so I could hold on. If he hadn’t been here because of his need to know where I was and to watch over me, I would have fallen apart completely. My sorrow and agony too much to navigate alone.

I turned my face, burying it into his chest and breathing him in.

---