Page 90 of In You
I keep my eyes locked with his, and then tilt my head.
"Guess you don't like it when someone fires one off inside of you, huh?" I readjust the angle of the gun and press the trigger again, watching him jerk. I get closer to his face, my jaw clenching as I pull the trigger again. "I wonder if this is how your son felt in that picture?"
Blood snorts through his nose, bubbling up on his lips. As he trembles, his eyes flicker aimlessly, unseeing. A muscle ticks repeatedly in his face, contorting his features. I ignore the squelch as I yank the nail gun out of his ass and then hold it to his temple. Smears of shit and blood along the red plastic resigns this particular tool to the stove because I'll never use it again after this.
"Please," he whispers weakly.
"Someone like you doesn't deserve a quick death," I say, firing off the nail gun in the side of his head. He twitches, his eyes fluttering.
I press the nail gun in another spot, firing shot after shot into his head until I see the light leave his eyes completely.
I rise up off the floor and toss it into the fire, spending the next hour chopping up and disposing of his body so he'll never be found again. Just another sick predator deleted from the earth.
God is good.
A week later I tilt my head against the back of the couch chuckling."Stop it,"I tease quietly, throwing Tamyra a mischievous grin.
It's a beautiful winter night in front of the fireplace. My feet are propped up on the corner of the living room table, more relaxed than I've ever been watching Tamyra contently sitting cross legged on a cushion in front of the low wooden table, putting together a puzzle. Every now and then when she catches me not looking she reaches over to run a nail down my foot, tickling me.
The fire crackles, muted against the low background noise of the television. A mystery thriller plays on its fourth episode, a show I'd been trying for the last year to get into, but apparently I'd just needed to have a reason to want to stay in the house. And she was that reason for me.
I haven't even taken a client since Tamryn's been here, and I must admit it's been peaceful.
The noise I call demonic chatter that always lingers in the back of my mind has dulled considerably, affording me a glimpse of relief. Of a look into a different kind of life that doesn't involve me slaughtering others. I don't know if the beast inside me would be happy, though.
"You're really getting it together, baby," I say, taking a sip of my drink and lightly clapping when she gets the last piece of the perimeter in.
On the television an ad for tampons pops up, and I frown, suddenly getting a hot shiver up my spine. My throat goes dry, and my palms tingle as the hair on the back on my neck and arms stand on end. My eyes slide to her, watching her smile as she finds another piece to start building it out in the corner. I get up and go into the guest bathroom. The one she uses the most.
Trying to be as quiet as I can, I open every drawer, tear through the linen closet, then go into her room and rifle throughall the drawers. Panicking, I stand in the middle of the room, feeling my heart begin to go into overdrive as my anxiety and disbelief spikes at how irresponsible I've been. At how I didn't catch this.
I hadn't bought a tampon, or pad since she's been here and I didn't evenrealize.
Walking back into the living room, my heart switches back and forth between racing at an alarming rate, to skipping every few heartbeats.
Sinking back down on the cushion, I pick up my glass and toss the rest of my drink back, resting my gaze on her beautiful face as she twists her lips together, trying to put two pieces together that don't quite fit right. They're but a millimeter off from being a perfect match. I stare, because it feels so much like what's happening between us. But I don't see that particular puzzle piece falling into place for me.
No. She keeps trying as I stare, and stare some more.
33
With You
Tamryn
"Wheredoyougo?"I murmur quietly, tapping the little puzzle piece against my lip as I try to find the little oblong shape it goes in.
I'm at the living room table, concentrating with everything in me to put together the perimeter of a puzzle when Caleb's low voice breaks my concentration, startling me out of my focus.
"Baby, when's the last time you had your period?"
I look up sharply, sucking my bottom lip between my teeth. Goosebumps pebble along the flesh of my arm, and I frown as our gazes clash. We stare at each other for long moments; him, waiting patiently, and me trying to process and figure out an answer. Because…
I don't remember.
"What?" I ask, cocking my head to the side.
"When's the last time you had your period?" he repeats slowly, leaning his elbows on his knees and pinning me with a level stare that scares me. "You've been here close to five months and you haven't had a period that I know of, and you weren't on birth control, right?"
