Apathy by L.K. Reid

Skylar

The police sirens echoed around us, as I sat shivering in the paramedics’ ambulance, trying to grasp what I saw. Lauren was next to me. We huddled together underneath the blanket one of the paramedics placed on us, but it did nothing for the shivers both of us had coursing through our bodies. I couldn’t look at my hands, keeping them under my legs, because I knew I would see the blood.

My blood, from the cut, mixed with hers.

Her cold eyes kept flashing in front of me. My name carved on her skin, her hair, the same color as mine… Jesus fucking Christ, who did this?

Neither one of us said a word after the police arrived. After we saw my name on Megan’s skin, the adrenaline kicked in, and we went up the hill almost running, trying to get away from the gruesome scene we witnessed. She’s been missing for seven days, but according to the policemen I overheard talking, she was dead for less than twenty-four hours.

Apparently, that explained the amount of blood on her and the lack of bugs eating at her flesh.

Who fucking did this?

That one question kept coursing through my head.

Winworth was many things, but it wasn’t a home to killers, especially not serial killers. And who would carve my name? Why?

“The second victim,” one paramedic whispered to the other when they thought we weren’t listening.

The second victim. I couldn’t comprehend how someone could do something like this to another person. I saw enough documentaries, enough horror movies, enough pain and sorrow, not to be fazed by these things, and yet when my hands touched her cold ones, I recoiled.

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to run away. The fear that I felt in that moment was greater than anything else I had ever felt in my life. It was slithering, like a snake in the grass. It crawled up my spine and took residence in my head, refusing to leave. Its cold fingers touched every part of my body—they touched my soul, spreading the festering darkness throughout.

Fear was a familiar thing for me. I grew up surrounded by evil, but seeing it like this… Unhinged, left loose, it woke something primal in me—the need to run and never look back. Whoever did this was not in their right mind.

And my name… My name was there. Somebody hurt her. No, somebody killed her and carved my name on her pale skin.

My stomach lurched again as her face flashed before my eyes, the utter terror obvious on her. The violence that wrecked her, that took away her life, it couldn’t have been inflicted by anything else but a monster.

I’d always believed that there was always something good left in people. That there were parts of them you could love, parts you could cherish. But whoever had done this, they were the worst kind of monster.

Even animals wouldn’t attack unless they were in danger. Even the biggest predators roaming our planet wouldn’t attack for the fun of it.

But people… Us, human beings, we were the worst monsters.

We fed on the weaknesses of others. We took and took and took until there was nothing else left to take; until we sated the dark desires coating our insides, turning us into something vicious.

Something evil.

The monster that caused this malevolence—I couldn’t call them a person anymore—they terrified me. It scared the living shit out of me, knowing that there were people out there who could do such a thing. This brought back what happened to Zane, and I couldn’t help but think that all of this was connected. That somehow what happened to him, whoever happened to him, was now killing other people.

“Are you girls okay?” A masculine voice tore through the thoughts occupying my mind, and as I looked up, I noticed that it was one of the first officers who came to the scene.

“We just found a corpse with my name on her body, Officer. You tell me. Are we supposed to be feeling okay?”

I was bitter, cold, chilled to the bones from what I encountered, and he asked us if we were okay.

No, I wasn’t okay. I was angry. I was devastated by this whole ordeal and the only thing I wanted to do was to get home and sleep for a year. But I had a feeling that every time I closed my eyes, her face would flash before them, and the peace I yearned for would never come.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Blackwood. I can’t even imagine how hard this must be for you.”

“No, you can’t…” I paused. “Or maybe you can, I don’t know.”

“Still…” he paused. “I am sorry. I have a daughter that’s a few years younger than you, and I hope that she never has to encounter such a thing.”

“I hope so too,” I replied, staring at the badge on his chest.

“I do need to ask you a few questions.” He crouched in front of me until his face was leveled with my knees. Lauren kept staring at the spot on the ground, quiet, in shock. Shortly after we called the police, the sky opened up, washing away the sins on the ground. It felt as if the sky cried for the young life that would never walk this earth again, and the rain that felt soft in the beginning, gradually increased, hitting my face with a punishing strength.

Was I to be punished for a crime I had no part of?

“Did you know her?”

I gripped the blanket tighter, as the shivers wrecked me. My teeth chattered, causing additional turmoil in my head. I couldn’t escape the noise—the sirens of the ambulance, police cars, radios, and the white noise buzzing in my ear.

I couldn’t escape the pitiful stares from the officers and paramedics that came to the scene.

“I did,” I answered. “Well, we were in some of the same classes, but we weren’t friends, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Another sob lodged itself in my throat, but I wasn’t going to cry. I wasn’t the one whose soul was now restlessly looking for absolution, traveling far away from her family and friends. I wasn’t the one that was violated so badly, that even the officers who have seen terrible things in their lives had to turn away before continuing to mark the crime scene.

They ripped her body in half, leaving her disposed as if she never meant anything. They left her there so that the wolves roaming these woods would find her and finish the job. I wasn’t sure if they expected anyone to find her, but they must have known that leaving her body so close to the trail meant that somebody would.

“Have you seen anything suspicious?” he questioned, and I almost laughed at the absurdity of it.

“You mean, apart from the whole corpse in the woods?” I asked, blinking slowly. “What else would there be?”

“I mean,” he cleared his throat, “did you see anybody else there?”

“No, Officer. It was only Lauren and me. Well, it was only me at first, but you get what I’m trying to say.”

“How did you end up down there?”

“I fell. We were going down to the cabin next to the river. Once we reached that clearing before heading down the path, I fell.”

“And you’re sure you don’t know anything about this?”

“I knew she went missing. I was at school that day, but that’s all I know.”

“It’s just weird.” He started scratching his beard. “You two went to the same school, and now we find her here with your name carved into her chest.”

“Officer, are you accusing me of something?” I narrowed my eyes at him, disbelief passing over my face.

“No, not at all.” He smirked. “We just have to remove all the possibilities.”

“Listen. I don’t socialize with a lot of people at school. You can ask anyone, and they’ll tell you the same thing. I don’t go out unless it’s with our group of friends. That’s all. My life is extremely boring, Officer,” I squinted at his badge, “Parsons. Do you really think that I would carve my own name on a person I killed?”

“So, you did think about killing somebody before?”

“I’m seventeen!” I roared. “Why in the ever-loving fuck would I want to kill somebody? Who does that kind of thing?”

He seemed like he wanted to ask something else, but when a shadow fell over us, the relief washed over me and the officer stood up, coming face-to-face with my brother.

“I believe you’re done here.”

The cold expression he reserved only for those he didn’t like was now directed at Officer Dick, and if his annoyed scowl was anything to go by, he didn’t expect to see him here.

Dylan and I looked so much alike that some people believed we were twins. In reality, he was four years older than me, and the only person I could turn to when I needed help.

He kissed my boo-boos and wrapped my hand when I cut myself. He was the one that explained to me how my body was going to work once I entered puberty, because our mother was too busy ignoring me.

When I managed to find my phone, while climbing up the hill, and once we reached the area where we had some reception, he was the first person I called. I knew he was in Seattle, busy with school, but I didn’t know who else to call.

Dad was in New York, attending a funeral of an old friend, and Mom… I wasn’t gonna go there.

I all but jumped from the ambulance, throwing myself at him. Without missing a beat, he caught me, turning us away from the officer that still stood there, gaping at Dylan.

The familiar scent of cinnamon and apples wafted through my nose, calming all of my senses. Dylan felt like home and everything good in this world.

“You’re here,” I mumbled against his chest, my voice muffled. I clung to him, and I couldn’t care less. I wanted him to hold me forever and take away the monsters trying to crawl into my mind. I wanted to forget Megan’s face, those lifeless eyes, the questions the police had asked me and the cold that clung to my bones.

My brother always kept the darkness at bay, shielding me from everything and everyone that wanted to hurt me.

“Are you okay, Little One?” he asked against my hair, cradling my head to his chest.

“Ms. Blackwood,” the officer started again.

When my brother turned around, his icy tone slithered through the air. “I said, you’re done here.”

“But—”

“She’s a minor. Do I have to report you for questioning her without a guardian present with her?”

“No, not at—”

“Good.” He dismissed him before he could utter another word. “We’re going home.”

“But—”

“I said no,” he gritted. “It is a very simple word. No. My sister is freezing, in case you haven’t noticed. After what she saw, she needs to rest. How would you feel if you were in her skin right now?”

“I-I didn’t,” he stammered. “I didn’t mean to—”

“You didn’t mean to be caught.” Dylan pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to the officer. “If you have any other questions, you can reach me or our lawyer. Whatever suits you best.”

He stroked my hair, again ignoring the officer, and as soon as his hand landed on my head, my breathing calmed down, and the thundering of my heart silenced, leaving behind just the soft thud against my chest.

“Let’s go home, Little One. You need to get out of those clothes, and you need to eat.”

“I’m not hungry.” I buried my face deeper into his chest, hiding my face from him. “I just want to sleep.”

“Okay.” He chuckled. “Then we’ll just sleep. Come on.” He moved away from me and took my hand. “My car is close by.”

“What about Lauren?”

“I’m taking both of you home.”

A smile spread over my face, momentarily pushing the horror I had experienced to the back of my mind. There was a certain kind of comfort in knowing that someone out there cared about you, and that they came when you called.

“I think she’s in shock,” I murmured, looking at Lauren. “I tried calling her parents, but they didn’t answer.”

“It’s okay.” Dylan put me down and walked toward Lauren, who kept staring at the spot on the ground. “Lauren?” he carefully asked. “Let’s go home.”

“I can still see it… her and her eyes.” Her voice trembled as she spoke. “She looked so scared, terrified.”

“I know,” Dylan answered.

Officer Dick walked away as Dylan took a hold of Lauren’s arm and started pulling her up.

“You’re gonna be okay,” he started, reassuring her as tears cascaded over her cheeks.

I have never seen Lauren this shaken. She seemed stronger and braver than I was when we first found Megan, but as soon as the police arrived, she shut down, refusing to talk.

She finally looked at Dylan and then at me, her lower lip trembling.

“I’m scared, Sky,” she whispered. “I’m really, really scared. And I don’t—”

“Lauren!” a voice boomed through the clearing. When I looked to the left, her father, Sheriff Benjamin, was rushing toward us, his eyes on Lauren. I had no idea why he wasn’t the first person to arrive at the crime scene, but I didn’t want to ask.

“Dad?” She moved away from Dylan. “Oh God!”

She ran, meeting him halfway, clinging to him as I clung to Dylan. I couldn’t hear their voices, but as Sheriff Benjamin started stroking her back, I knew she would be better off with her family than with me and Dylan.

“Hey,” Dylan spoke, his hand on my shoulder. “You’re shivering.”

“I-I’m just so cold.” Cold like Megan.

“Hey, hey.” He pulled me into his embrace. “No one’s gonna hurt you, okay? I won’t let them.”

“But you weren’t here,” I sobbed. “You’re not here anymore. She had my name carved into her skin, Dylan. She—” I choked. “She looked like me. The same hair color, the same color of her eyes…” I trailed off.

“But she isn’t you.”

I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that everything was going to be okay, but how could it ever be when there was a killer in town, targeting girls. Girls that apparently looked like me, carving my name in their skin, and butchering them.

“I know, but—”

“No, I don’t wanna hear it, Little One.” He placed his lips on top of my head and squeezed me tighter. “Nothing is gonna happen to you, and that’s a promise.”

I lifted my head, meeting his eyes, soaking in his strength, in his confidence.

“Okay.” I nodded.

“Okay?” He smiled at me. God, I missed seeing that smile.

“Yeah, okay. I believe you, but can we please go home now?” I pleaded.

He wrapped his much bigger hand around mine and started pulling me away from the paramedics, and through the throng of officers gathered around, toward his car.

Walking next to him, I felt like the world couldn’t hurt me. Like what I saw would just disappear because he said so. I couldn’t even count the number of times he defended me against our mother. The number of times he held me throughout the night when the nightmares I was trying to escape from decided to take a hold of my mind, holding me captive until the very next morning.

And even when I couldn’t tell him what my dreams were about, he still held me, no questions asked.

But the most important thing, I realized as he opened the passenger door of his car, ushering me inside, was that he came.

He always came for me.