Fiery Trap

Chapter Five: Off Guard

Rachel was barely able to sleep on the day of her breakup with Dominic. When the next day came with a placid morning sun, she wasn't in the mood for its beauty. She couldn't call anyone; she couldn't risk her loved ones being found by this creep. She had to figure out what was going on and get her life back on track. She wished she did that earlier, before she pretended everything was all right. She pretended she might have been crazy, imagining things, and now a friend of hers was dead. This isn't going to happen to anyone else.

Rachel didn't want to leave her bed. It was as if a powerful, invisible force weighed her down, and she wasn't willing to fight it off. She couldn't believe she broke up with Dominic. Yesterday seemed to be some kind of nightmare, like it was all in her head. The more she thought it was real, the more her stomach knotted tight. Rachel wrapped her arms around her torso. The bitter emotion wouldn't leave. She couldn't believe she let herself hurt him so badly. The stunned look on his face was stamped on Rachel's mind. She couldn't blame him for being upset.

"It had to be done." Rachel spoke to herself. "I'm keeping him safe; no harm will come to him." She repeated these words over and over again, reminding herself why she did this in the first place. However, it didn't ease her pain. The only good thing that came out of her self-talk was that she managed to get out of bed. She lazily got herself ready for the day.

When she went out of her bedroom, her cell phone suddenly rang. She tentatively picked it up from the counter. She read the name—Josie. Rachel dropped her cell back on the counter. Her face squeezed with great sadness and she almost cried. She knew she also needed to break her friendship with Josie. She felt sick as her stomach twisted harder.

"I need to do this. I can't let what happened to Eugene happen to her too," Rachel kept telling herself, staring at her cell, disheartened. This was extremely hard, getting rid of her boyfriend and a close friend, two people that have become so dear to her. But she had to do it. She must avoid those she cares about in order to keep them safe. She couldn't even make contact with them. And to do that, she must be strong... till the police officers figure out whoever the killer was. Rachel came to realization she couldn't even go to daily devotional with Josie anymore. She realized she needed to isolate herself.

Rachel wasn't thrilled by her decision as she took her bicycle that was propped against the parlor's wall. After she locked the apartment, she mounted her bike and began to ride. The cool breeze of the morning whipped against her body. Despite her hair being in a ponytail, strings of hair slashed across her face. Once she made it to the campus, her nostrils took in the fresh, grassy smell. Her green flat almost slipped off the bike pedal, but she caught it in time, balancing herself again. She headed toward the business building for her two classes of the day.

As usual, Rachel came out of her last class of the day exhausted. She decided to brush off what she needed to read for the day and ride her bicycle to the coffee shop. It took her about twenty minutes to arrive, and she locked her bike at the iron rack. She then peered in the front glass of the shop. It didn't seem as busy as it usually was in the midafternoon. Inside, she prepped herself to start her work for the day.

"Hey, Rachel, did you hear about Eugene?" Marvin, a co-worker, said to her from behind the counter.

"Yes, and I don't really want to talk about it," Rachel replied. She ignored his expression—he appeared surprised by her impertinent tone. She took the tray of coffee and began to serve the impatient customers.

Time flew as she served the incoming customers, who seemed to stay longer than usual and eat more than usual. Rachel wasn't in the mood to work after an hour ticked by. She thought work would keep things off her mind, but instead, her memories of Eugene crept in. He was, after all, the person that helped her get this job. He was a previous employee until he moved on to another job closer to his apartment. Rachel remembered Eugene's sophisticated jokes he told her and the other workers during their off-hours and the jabs he took at certain students who tipped him very low. Those were happy moments with him. Rachel didn't want this. Now the pain of guilt bloomed again. If she could, she would stop working here, but she knew she couldn't. She needed the money. She only hoped this reminiscence would be temporary.