I'm Not Dead

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Leaving her apartment in the morning I felt like a complete slut.

I left in the clothing I came in—a suit that I wore to my wife's funeral—and drove away.

"Fucking man-whore." I mumbled as I pulled onto the main road and towards home.

I snuck inside, hoping my parents would still be asleep—the walk of shame still not over—and went upstairs to shower. My phone buzzed almost as soon as I was finished getting dressed and I checked it, a text from Rebekka: dropping Gus off in ten.

FUCK. I completely forgot I said I'd watch him for today. Dammit. Dammitdammitdammit.

I went into my parents' room and woke Mom, telling her that Rebekka was dropping August off soon. Then I went downstairs and hurried to try to start to baby proof the house. Then the doorbell rang and I let out a breath.

I opened the door, and was answered with a fist.

When my senses came back, I blinked a few times. "What the—"

"You fucked my girlfriend?!"

"Theo?"

He punched me again. I reached up to my nose, blood trickling down.

"The fuck is wrong with you?!" He kept at it, using my face as his punching bag.

I pushed him off of me. "What the fuck, Theo, stop for a second!"

He stopped, breathing heavily, his knuckles broken open. I looked over his shoulder, my front door hanging wide open, to see if my in-laws had arrived yet. "Theo you need to go."

"You need to explain yourself you fucking fucker."

"Theo, my mother-in-law is going to be here any second with my son and she'll flip shit if she sees you."

Theo looked down at his fists. "I'm going to clean up in the bathroom. Once your son gets here. You're explaining yourself." Theo walked off to the main bathroom.

I let out a breath and went to the kitchen to wipe the blood from my nose.

Once I got Augustus happily off in his own infant mind, Theo sat down on the couch while I kept my eyes on August.

"Talk." Theo spat.

"Do we have to do this in front of my son?" I asked. Augustus happily smiled at me.

"Quit stalling, fuckface." Theo said.

I looked up from August. "Remember when you had sex with my girlfriend, Theo? You and Laura told me that it just happened. Well, with Gen and I, it just happened."

"It was different with Laura and me. You were dead. I am very much alive you ass!" Theo balled his hands into fists. I tensed.

"Theo, just calm down."

"You fucked my girlfriend, Elliot!"

"You fucked mine too. Consider us even." I said bitterly. "Now leave."

Theo gritted his teeth but left without another word.

A week following Laura's death, I was over at Rebekka's. The doorbell rang and I went to answer it. It was the detective assigned to Laura's case, and my stomach dropped. "Detective Winsor." I said, opening the door for her to come in.

She didn't smile. "Elliot. How's your son?"

I smiled. "He's doing well. What brings you here?" She isn't just here to talk about my son. There's something much more important.

"Could you get Rebekka and Brad?" She asked. I nodded.

Rebekka was changing Augustus's diaper. She didn't turn around when I came in the room. "Who was at the door?"

"Detective Winsor."

Rebekka sighed. "What does she want?"

"Nothing good."

"I'll be down in a second. Brad is still at work."

I nodded and went back to the living room. I told Winsor what Rebekka told me, then offered her water. She declined and I noticed a fat manila envelope. I wanted to know what was in it, but at the same time I didn't.

Rebekka came downstairs and sat August in his swing. "Sorry. Nice to see you again, Ms. Winsor,"

"You too, Rebekka. I just wish I had better news." She opened up the folder. "The good news is that we've found the murdered, the bad news is that we've found all the rest of the evidence." Winsor glanced up. "Are you ready?"

Rebekka looked at me. I had pulled Laura's ring out from under my shirt. It was around a ribbon on my neck, and I rubbed it between my fingers when I got nervous. A nervous habit, I could hear my mother explain. I rubbed it now. I nodded.

"The man who murdered Laura is named Boyd Fowler. He bounded her, and striped her. He raped her—that was discovered through the autopsy, and through his confession—then he forced her to pose for pictures." Winsor held up a picture packet, labeled with Laura's name and case number. I took it, Rebekka already falling apart. I pulled them out, looking at each picture. They were professional quality, not grainy. The lighting was good, too. This man, Boyd Fowler, put a lot of effort into making Laura like this.

In the pictures, Laura was naked, her eyes red, and lip quivering. Her hands were cuffed in front of her, a chain dragging on the ground. You could tell that she was forcing back tears. She looked small, petrified. Exposed.

"Do you want to see them?" I asked Rebekka.

She took one from me, just a single one. That was enough.

"Continue." Rebekka said, forcing the word out.

"After the pictures, she was carved with the symbols seen in these photos." Winsor handed us the pictures taken when Laura was found. Some were taken after she was cleaned up.

Carved into her stomach was a pentagram, the largest of all of the carvings. On her back the satanic cross. Running up and down her arms and legs were other various signs and symbols. Written on the back of each picture was what the meaning of each sign was. I felt sick. Where there wasn't a sign of symbol there were straight lines, like lines of red ink.

All of the blood was dripping down her skin in the photos, only some parts of it wiped away.

"As you can see, she would've lost a tremendous amount of blood." Winsor said, continuing. "After the carving, he continued to rape and beat her. Once he was finished with her, he stabbed her six times, and cut out her throat. At this point she was dead." There were also pictures of the stab wounds and her throat. There was one picture of her whole body, laying broken and nearly dead. On the back it said, taken by Boyd Fowler.

"She was found in the City Park, four days after her disappearance."

Rebekka was crying. I handed her a tissue. Then August started to get fussy. I went over to his swing and picked him up. I started to bounce him, trying to keep him calm.

"According to Fowler, he murdered Laura because she gave birth to 'the anti-Christ'." Winsor looked at August. "He believed that because of Elliot's reincarnation, and Laura becoming pregnant, that Augustus might be the next anti-Christ. He then waited for Laura to have August to see if he exhibited any signs of being said anti-Christ. When he showed none, Fowler got angry and took Laura and proceeded to, well," Winsor looked at the array of photos on the coffee table. "He had a small cult of his own."

There was a long period of silence. I looked at Augustus. He wasn't fussing anymore, but I didn't want to put him down. I wanted to hold him even closer.

"Do you have any other questions?"

I looked at Rebekka. She was a mess, her makeup smeared to hell.

I stood up, gathering all the photographs and papers. "We'll contact you."

Winsor nodded.