Symphony Of A Serial Killer

Chapter 22: Rendezvous Point

There we were face to face again and I can honestly say for the first time since I've known her, she looked a mess.

Bags were forming beneath her eyes and her hair was all over the place, above all else she was clearly exhausted and needed to rest.

At least I was able to get a quick nap in before coming to see her. With everything she's been through, I wonder if she was able to get any sleep at all today?

Wait... what... in the fuck? Why the shit am I standing in front of Missy right now?! I was just dozing off in bed... a minute ago, at least that's the last thing I remember...

"Dante focus!" she whispered firmly, snapping her fingers to draw my attention.

"Huh... yeah?"

"Sure you up for this, you okay?"

Heh, typical Missy. Don't let her physical appearance fool you. Tough as ever, I should have known better.

"Of course, what do you need me to see so bad that we're sneaking around at night during a snow fall?"

She apologized in advance while unlocking her phone. There it was, in that moment when she handed me her phone, I saw my mother for the first time in years.

It all happened at once, shortness of breath, my heart sinking into the pit of my stomach and this ringing in my ears that seem to echo back and forth inside my head.

Obviously beaten and possibly tortured, there was bruising everywhere, even around her neck.

Oddly enough it didn't take long for the discomfort to go away. Well completely that is, everything I was feeling came together at a central point, giving me yet another headache.

"Hey man you feeling okay?" Lee asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, been fighting this headache all day. It comes and goes."

"It's okay to cry Dante." Stephanie added.

"I'll say this much, had anyone else been looking at this... they'd probably be a mess, but trust me I'm fine.. it's just this damn headache." I replied.

This is the first image I've seen of her since she left and for a moment I cared, but now I feel nothing.

"You should see a doctor, maybe you have migraines. You get these way too often." Missy said while taking her phone back.

Maybe there's an explanation where all of this makes me look like less of an emotionless dick, but being clinically diagnosed isn't something I'm aspiring towards.

Before knowing this was even my mother, she said the reason she took the picture was because she had seen this woman before and wanted to have proof to show me. This was the woman from this morning who had warned her, allowing her to stop me from being hit by the car.

"Wait, just so we're clear, you're telling me that you two saw her hours before she turned up dead?" Lee asked while rubbing his bald head.

There's so much happening, I can't even explain that news clip, no recollection of the press conference let alone attacking James. Probably best not to come off crazy by telling everyone that I don't even remember coming to meet up with them.

As far as my mother, figured I'd be the only one able to see her, but Missy seeing her on our way to school proved that theory wrong.

"Okay... but seriously Dante, what the hell was with jaw checking James like that? We get it, he deserved it but that's just not you man. Especially with witnesses around like that." Lee asked.