How to Survive Your 19th Life [BL]

Chapter 52: Police

"Without a crime, we can't just arrest someone," Officer Howard told me at the Javernick Hills Police Department. 

I didn't know why I thought this would be different than campus security. I claimed I was in fear of my life. They said they would file a report. 

I claimed he was stalking me, but at this point, I had no proof of that because it hadn't started yet. We went to the same school so I was bound to see him around. No crazy texts or voicemails to prove anything that happened to me in the life before. 

I didn't even bother claiming he attacked me, because if any footage was recovered from earlier tonight, it would show the exact opposite.

And Tariq... He was alive. I stayed at the station until daybreak and managed to get him on the phone. Relief flooded me. 

After wasting Officer Howard's time, I filed my report against Emiel and drove back to my dorm. I needed to create some sort of game plan on how to handle it this time.

Maybe I'll just stay broken up with him and document his crazy behavior this time around, for the cops.

I made it back to my dorm a few hours before I needed to be up for class. Finn was sleep in this room. I took a long shower, cried a bit, and changed into boxers and a T-shirt for bed.

I didn't notice anyone in my room until I was already laying down on my bed. My mind was so cloudy with all that just happened, I simply wasn't paying attention. My dorm felt like a safe place. He rarely even came into my room since I first knew him.

So when my closet door slammed open and Emiel's figure emerged from the darkness, I thought he might have been a ghost at first. A ghost would have been less frightening. He wore all black. The silvery shine of a butcher knife hung at his side. I scrambled back in bed, flattening myself against the wall.

Fear was palpable. It rushed through my blood. It drowned my lungs. I could scream. I could call for help. But would help even come in time? 

"Finn," I shouted hoarsely. 

"Dead," Emiel said simply.

My eyes teared – not out of any sadness for my roommate – but because I was too afraid to blink. Taking my eyes off Emiel for a second would leave me exposed to anything.

"You said you wouldn't hurt me," I stammered. Reasoning with him might work. I didn't really get to try that before.

Emiel scoffed and took a menacing step towards me. "Why would I spare someone who hurt me so badly?"

"I'm sorry, Em. I'm sorry." My gaze flickered from his knife to his face. "M-my dad is sick and it's really put me in a bad place emotionally. I love you, I do."

"Then why the cops? That's a bit extreme, isn't it?"

He had a point. "That wasn't about you. I got a call--"

"They told me you accused me of stalking you."

Does he have moles in the police department? I realized how little I knew of Emiel. How was it that he kept his connections so vibrant? He had the means to find dirt on the Student Life Coordinator. He had a stunning girl like Sylvia at his beck and call as well. 

"I waited for your love, Solomon," Emiel said, moving closer. "I've loved you all this time and just when you finally reciprocate my feelings... it's all a ruse?"

Lies came pouring out of me. I blamed it on my dad's cancer, drug addiction, mental illnesses... I tried to explain my odd behavior away in every way. He didn't buy any of it, but he listened to me for a while. Just when I had hope that he might have believed me, Emiel came at me with the knife.

From how much force he put into it, the blade sunk easily into my chest. Pain exploded through my ribs as my heart struggled to beat around the hard metal. He pulled the knife out and blood shot out of me like a waterfall. I tried to use my blanket to pack the wound but it was too late. My vision blurred. 

Blood was everywhere. 

Emiel dropped the knife and walked out of the room. I managed to grab my phone and tried to call 911, but the phone slipped from my bloodied hands. I fell on the floor of my bedroom, twitching as my heart came to a stop.