Slater | Nick Goode

4.1

"Are we sure about this?" Josh questioned from the backseat. He sat beside Deena, with Ellie driving and Ziggy in the passenger seat.
      "Do you have a better idea?" Ellie asked, looking into the mirror, Josh was silent, "I didn't think so. All of you, just stay in here. If I'm not out in an hour, don't call the police, just leave."
       "Ellie, how would we call the police? You are the police."
       "I meant the other police," she corrected, shutting the car door.
        The night air was cold on her bare skin, she was only wearing a tank top and shorts. A shiver ran down her spine as she made her way to the front door.
        She looked around, making sure nobody was looking, then picked up the rug, taking the key from underneath it.
         She unlocked the door, slowly opening it and creeping inside. There was no noise, the house was completely silent. As Ellie walked further into the house, she scanned the pictures hanging on the walls.
The perfect, Sunnyvale, happy family, Melissa, her husband, and her daughter. Sitting under a tree, pretending that they were good people.
         Ellie called bullshit.
         Her steps were light as she silently made her way through the house. She crept up the stairs, walking until she saw what looked to be Melissa's bedroom.
        It was very average, it didn't look at all like a Devil worshiper's room. The walls were painted white, the bed and rugs were gray.
The more she looked around, the more her nerves worked up. If she was caught rummaging through Melissa's house without a warrant, she could lose her job and be sent to jail.
She walked over to the nightstand on the left side of the bed. It was painted white and held a silver lamp. When Ellie opened the drawer, she saw that it was almost empty. It held a phone cord, condoms, an empty water bottle and a glasses case. This must have been Melissa's husband's side of the bed.
         She had never met him, but Nick told her enough. His name was Collin, he was a doctor, and was entirely too nice to be with Melissa.
        Ellie walked to the other side, opening the drawer and rummaging through it. It was much fuller than the other, it held random junk. There were pencils, notepads, tampons, hair-ties, cassette tapes and batteries.
         It gave Ellie no evidence as to whether or not Deena's flashback was true.
         The woman walked over to the closet door, sliding it open and looking up at the top shelves. It held shoes, and many of them. Melissa was exactly the type of person to wear expensive shoes once, then call them too used to wear again.
         There was nothing special about the clothes hanging, either. They were all just expensive fabrics that held no importance. But there had to be something here.
         Ellie sighed, spinning around and trying to walk over to the dresser. She tripped over her shoelaces, causing her to groan and bend over to tie the converses.
         With her knee to her chest, tying the laces, she noticed something in the corner of her eye. A floorboard at the bottom of the closet had scratches and marks. Ellie scooted closer, observing the wood.
         She tried to pry it up with her bare hands, but failed miserably. The switchblade that had been tucked into her pocket had done the trick just fine, though.
         Inside of the floors, there was a single thing. A plain blue shoebox. Ellie pulled it out, impatiently.
        The shoebox held three objects. An old leather book, much like Ms. Lanes but older and dirtier, a glass jar filled with red liquid, and a golden necklace.
        Ellie's focus was on the glass jar. It had to have been blood, Melissa was just that freaky. She picked it up, flipping it upside down to watch the liquid slowly make its way downwards. It was thick and had solid objects inside of it. She put it down, shuddering and picking up the book.
         Ellie understood at that moment that Ms. Lane's was a replica, and this was the original. This book was enough for Ellie to be able to go back out to the car with Ziggy and the teenagers, but something stopped her.
         She picked up the locket, it looked sort of like Ruby's, the one she picked up on the street last night, but Ruby's was at her own house. She had kept it, planning to give it back to Ms. Lane. This one had looked even more familiar to Ellie. She had seen it before, she knew it. She couldn't put her finger on it. It dangled in her hands as she examined it. It had a single initial carved on the back, "S."
          The girl flashed in Ellie's mind. Sage, Melissa's only daughter, Nicks niece. He spoke  very highly of her, she was intelligent and the top of her classes. It was cute, how proud he looked when he had told her that she was going to be a doctor, like her father.
           She sighed, placing the locket and blood back in the shoebox and putting it back in the hole. She kept the book, clutching it to her chest as she marched down the stairs.
           Ellie had gotten to the door, but stopped suddenly, noticing a calendar placed next to it.
           A date was marked, October 13, next Thursday. Ellie's eyes went wide as she read it, "Sage's thirteenth birthday."
           Ellie let out an audible, "fuck!" As she ran out of the house, making her way back to the drivers seat of the cop car.
          She slammed the door closed, letting out a loud sigh as she put the book on her lap.
          "What did you find?" Deena questioned, leaning forwards.
          "Is that Ms. Lanes book?" Ziggy asked, eyeing it in her lap.
          "No, it's the original. Ms. Lane's is a replica. But listen to me," Ellie warned, "remember when I told you that if we do have to kill Melissa, her daughter would take up the curse?"
         "Yeah."
         "Well, I thought her daughter was well over 17 or 18. She's not, she's fucking twelve."
         "Oh, fuck. We can't kill a twelve year old," Ziggy frowned.
         "We were never going to kill her, Ziggy. But we can't kill her goddamned mom."
         "Why not?"
         "She's just a kid!"
         "Yes, Ellie. Let's leave the kid to grow up with a fucking psychopath. We'd be doing her a favor."
         Ellie groaned and started the engine, rubbing her face with one hand, the other on the steering wheel.
         "I thought you said that she was about to graduate high school," Josh inquired from the backseat.
         "Well, I thought she was. Nick never told me her age, just that she had her whole fucking future planned out. I should've known, though. The Goode's have to know what kind of flowers they want at their funeral as soon as they can talk."
          "What are we going to do about Melissa?" Ziggy questioned. Ellie pulled into the police station, parking in her usual spot.
          "I'll be back in a second," Ellie muttered, opening her door and jumping out.
           She ran in, hoping to not have anyone try to stop and speak to her. She opened the door to her office, slipping in and closing the door behind her.
          After rummaging through her drawers for a minute, she pulled out the replica book and quickly jogged back to her door.
          When she was so close to leaving, she heard a voice from behind her, "Ellie?"
          She cursed herself before turning around and giving a soft smile, "hey, Nick."
          "What are you doing here so late?" He asked, then looked down at her outfit, "and not in uniform."
         He noticed the slight change in her posture when he looked down at her legs. He internally flinched, cursing himself for making her uncomfortable. His eyes had ran over the scars on her leg, the ones she had gotten from that night.
       "I forgot something. But I really should go," she urged, "Ziggy's out waiting in the car for me."
       He smiled and nodded, "alright, I'll see you tomorrow, then."
       "I'll see you tomorrow," she repeated, smiling and slipping out of the door.
       She jumped back into the car, giving a huff and placing the replica next to Melissa's book.
       "We've got a plan," Josh told.
       "Shit," Ellie cursed, turning to the kids, "get down."
       "What?" Deena asked.
       "Just put your heads down," Ellie ordered. The kids ducked into the backseat, and Ellie watched as Nick walked out of the door.
       He gave her a wave and a smile, and Ellie returned them, putting her gears in reverse and backing out of the parking spot. Once she was out of the lot, she gave the thumbs up, "okay, you're all good."
       "Jesus," Deena muttered, her and Josh getting back up and buckling their seatbelts.
       "What's the plan?"
       "We need to stop somewheres first," Josh demanded.

-

"Are you sure it's here?" Ellie asked as she turned into the street.
"Yeah, it says right here. 99 Fier St," Josh confirmed, reading off of the small card he held.
Ellie pulled up to the address, and Martin was sitting on his porch, smoking a joint. She flashed her lights jokingly, and Martin stood with his hands above his head.
"You've gotta be kidding me. I wasn't doing nothing, minding my own business. I- oh! Ms. Slater!" He called.
"Hey, Martin," she greeted, putting the car in park.
Josh put his window down and spoke, "wanna help us kill someone?"
Martin was silent for a moment, he then shrugged, "let me grab my coat."
The group waited for a few moments before Martin came back outside, coat in hand. He slipped into the backseat and sighed.
"Ms. Slater, this ain't a setup, right?"
"Course not, Martin. We have some... problems we need to solve."
"Who are we killing?"
"The Goode's," Josh told, making Ellie quickly correct him.
"Um, no. We are not for-sure killing anyone. But if we do, it's Melissa Goode, and that's it."
Martin looked over at Ziggy in the passenger seat and smiled. He held his hand out, "I'm Martin, it's nice to meet you."
Ziggy looked back, giving him a smile and shaking his hand, "Christine."
Ellie furrowed her eyebrows, she had never heard her introduce herself as her real name before.
"Do you have the keys to the Shadyside mall?" Deena asked.
"We're killing Melissa in the mall? Won't I have to clean that up?"
"Guys! The goal is to not have to kill anyone, okay?" Ellie scolded.
         "Whatever you say, Ms. Slater. But, we need to stop at a few stores."
      

{August 29, 2021. 2:03 p.m. 1873 words.}
Short, but an introductory to what's going to happen in the next chapters.
Thank you for all your support.
I'll try to get the next chapter out quickly.
Disclaimer; act four will probs only be two or three chapters, is that okay?
Also; I want you all to know; I HAVE A PLAN! This book is officially all figured out!
Twitter for updates; @dokiewrites
Have a good day/night/evening/morning
<3