Page 84 of The Dark Obsession

The lady behind the counter, eyes wide with shock, sits slumped in her chair.

I head towards the entrance. “Call the police!” I hear no reply so I turn, irritated at her lack of response. I notice her red necktie, one she wasn’t wearing before. A heave of vomit leaves my lips. My feet are stuck in place.

Her head leans precariously on her shoulder, blood seeping over a fold of skin.

I scream silently as I approach her, then turn my face away.I must get to the car!I throw myself out the door, and the cold, wet air slaps my face as I run. I gather speed as I turn the corner and spot Rafael’s car. I press the key to unlock the doors and skid to a halt. Scanning for any signs of trickery as I climb into the car. “Not now!” I scream, unable to find the ignition.

A slow moment passes before the car sputters to life. I tap the steering wheel, urging it to move, and the car’s acceleration flings my head into the headrest. I pull to the front of the hotel.

Rafael’s burley shape escapes the hotel entrance as I slow down.

I scoot into the passenger seat, unwilling to risk driving such a fast-moving car with such shaky hands.

Rafael is in the car before I can buckle in. His chest heaves, and I stare at his bloodied face, my stomach in a tight knot. He glances at me, his one eye fully bloodshot. The car speeds off, and Rafael doesn’t watch the road, he’s eyeing the hotel as he swings the car onto an empty road. The seatbelt signal screams at us until we force our belts around us.

“Rafael,” I whisper, my lips trembling.

“I’m all right.” He shrugs. “Dale will be leaving the hotel at any second. We need to step back. We need to wait.” He leans back awkwardly to grab his phone from his pocket and drops it on my legs. His bloodied face is painfully sad, his hands unsteady and bruised, still cut up and sore from the hours before. “Call Adriel.”

“What about the police?”

“No. No, not yet. Something doesn’t seem right, Rose. I’ve begged them to help you several times. Something’s not right. Just call Adriel and tell him we’re coming back and to meet us in the basement.”

My mouth hangs open. “What do you mean? why haven’t you told me—”

Rafael waves away my speech. “Call first.”

I find Adriel’s contact and call, explaining in under ten seconds to get into the basement and wait for us. My mind is stuck on Rafael’s words.“Something’s not right.”I cross my hands over my chest. “Now, spit it out.”

“We know he had a relationship with poor Eliza. He was her last known boyfriend. He tells us it wasn’t serious, that she was obsessed with him after a date and a one-night stand.” Rafael breathes deeply, then winces. “Now, one of her friends came forward. Adriel heard when he was talking to some colleagues about Dale that she said they had been dating, and she had tried to break it off when Dale got rough.”

I stare at the empty road ahead. “I don’t get what you mean.”

Rafael looks at me, the creases by his eyes making him look older. “The police officers who took the statement pushed it aside, hid it.”

The car speeds through the town, and I stare out the window, trying to understand. If the police wouldn’t take into consideration that Dale was the stalker, they must already know. My thoughts race, and my joints stiffen with each heartbeat.

“So, I think they know. I think they’re covering for him. I think he killed Eliza, then got a taste for murder.” Rafael’s rough voice shakes at the end, his watery eyes stare ahead. “He’s getting away with way too much. I just don’t understand why.”

My body is frozen; my heart seems to have stopped. I can’t hear nor feel anything. I try to speak, but nothing, not even a breath, can leave my lips. The emptiness feels heavy, as if my dark, gut-wrenching emotions are squashing and holding me down. I hear nothing but my own screaming thoughts as a dark shadow invades my vision and replaces it with a reel of my mother’s eyeless face, the gaping holes, my father’s clouded eyes, and Ben—oh, Ben. Finally, my cries break through, and Rafael holds my leg.

“We’ll find him,” Rafael coos as we pull up outside his house.

Without wasting any time, Rafael’s already at my door and pulls me out. We run to his house, Rafael limping heavily. I slow down, my conscience screaming at me to hide, but he doesn’t let me slow down. We burst through the door, Rafael stops wearily for a moment and snatches his glasses off of his squinting eyes which the lights must be burning into, all the lights seem to be on. He must think it’s safe enough because he tugs on my hand and we barrel down the vast corridor to the door at the end. Rafael heaves the heavy door open, and a rush of cold air hits us both. We run down the steps, Rafael’s hand tightening over mine as if expecting me to fall.

“Rafael,” Adriel says in a heavy breath, his eyes big and bright.

“Look, Dale has Rose’s brother at the old farmhouse. I think the police are ignoring the situation.”

“I agree.” Adriel sighs sadly.

“Why? Can you think of any reason?”

Adriel steps closer. “I think he’s paid them off. I think he has links in the department, and he’s been able to slide under their radar. Sadly that means until he’s caught red-handed, and they won’t do much.” Adriel takes a deep breath. “I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve heard of police turning a blind eye to drug dealings but never a murder.”

Rafael releases my hand and paces the basement.

I look around nervously. Shelves of bottles line the bright white walls, adorned with angelic writing in silver dotted in several different places.

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