The Blind Man

TWELVE

The killer clearly comes around the house at night, so if Maggie waited outside for him she could possibly talk to him. Of course she would have a knife in her hand at all times, but she needed to try and talk. This guy was waiting on her to remember something from her past, and maybe if she saw him, she would remember. And since Jae had spoken with him without being hurt, maybe he was just a lunatic that could be talked down.

Jae and her lay in bed at the moment, both of them restless. They had burried Rosie yesterday and Jae still didn't want to talk about it.

"I can't fall sleep." Jae said with his cloudy eyes locked on the ceiling.

Maggie sighed looking over at the clock. It was a little passed midnight and if she was going to confront the killer she needed Jae to fall asleep soon.

"Same here. I'm not sure we can do anything to make ourselves fall asleep either."

"There's just so much happening. I can't stop worrying about Luis and Cristal and I'm still trying to understand why Mark is alive. I can't find any answers to what's happening. Can you?"

She let a beat pass. "No, I wish I could."

"Maybe we need to get our minds off this to sleep."

Maggie's laugh was bitter. "And how do we do that?"

"We can talk about something else." He offered.

She tensed hoping he didn't want to talk about them. The memories of him have still been lingering in the back of her mind through all this. There's still so much of the puzzle left to find, it hurts just trying to think about it.

"Tell me about your childhood." He said.

She sighed, that also wasn't a sweet topic, but it was better than the other. "I was raised here and from what I remember it was nice. I had fun and enjoyed life until," she paused feeling the memory wash over her. It had been one of the memories she wished had never come back to her mind, but it haunted her. "My father killed himself."

"Why did he do it?" Jae asked.

"I've been asking that same question for years. All I remember is walking into the house and finding him on the floor." She took in a breath suddenly reliving the moment. "Blood was everywhere, and his gun lay in his hand. My brother went missing a week later and it was just too much for me and my mom to stay here. So we moved and never looked back."

Jae's tone was thicker now, and Maggie could tell he was starting to whined down. "I'm sorry about your dad. Was he a good man?"

"He was one of the best. I can remember sitting with him all the time when he would whittle with his knife. He carved me several pieces of wood all in different shapes; flowers, dogs and sometimes people. In many ways he could have been considered an artist."

"I would have liked to meet him."

Maggie smiled. "He would have liked you."

Jae's lips opened into a smile. "I think the feeling would have been mutual."

Maggie stayed quiet after that as Jae slipped into a deep sleep. She stayed there a moment thinking about her father. He had been so sweet and happy, she had never been able to understand why he'd killed himself. It was just another thing in her life that didn't make sense.

~~*~~

It was almost two in the morning and the man still hadn't showed up. The cooking knife still lay at her side as she rested against the front door.

Just when she was about to give up and head back in, she heard a noise over to her right on the end of the porch. She looked over and stood. "Is that you?" She asked.

She walked over to the edge on the porch with her hand clinching the knife. "Show yourself coward. I want to talk with you."

A moment later everything happened like the first time she had come in contact him. His hand came from behind and covered her mouth while the other squeezed her wrist until she was forced to drop the knife.

So much for that.

He held her close to his body as she felt his warm breath blow against her neck. "The time for talking is over. I've been trying to wait on your memory to surface but I can't wait any longer. You will remember once you're with me again."

She had made a terrible mistake of coming out here alone. She didn't think that he would take her. The man began walking off the porch and she tried screaming or fighting him, but he was strong and his hand never once slipped from her mouth. She tried digging her feet into the ground but he was like a power house and just kept walking backward down the driveway.

This couldn't be happening, she couldn't let him take her. She needed Jae's help.

With everything in her she turned just a hair before letting him trip over her feet. They went down and his hands released her. She tried to run but he grabbed her ankle and she fell back into the gravel. She screamed with everything she had as the man began dragging her off. She dared a glance at him but what she saw terrified her. He wore nothing but black and his face was covered by a white hockey mask.

God please let Jae hear me.

~~*~~

He jerked awake but he wasn't sure what woke him. Something was wrong though, he could feel it. He reached over to touch Maggie, but found the bed empty. His heart began pounding as he called her name.

He jumped out of bed and rushed toward the stairs. A noise sounded and he paused. It came again and this time louder. It was Maggie screaming from outside.

He went down the stairs as fast as he. He ended up tripping once or twice to get out. He didn't think to stop for a weapon or anything, he just charged out into the darkness around him.

"Maggie!" He called.

Her scream grew more desperate, but it sounded further away. "Jae! Help me!"

It was toward the road. He went as fast as he could knowing that if he felt the gravel under his feet he was still on the driveway. Straying a few times to the side wasn't helping his chases and he found himself cursing his useless eyes.

Jae kept calling her name frantically know that if he lost her sound he wouldn't know which direction to go. Within moments she gave one last scream into the distance, and he heard tires squeal on the road.

He fell to his knees in disbelief. Maggie was gone, the man had gotten her. Defeat and anger rushed over him as he screamed into the night air. How could he have let him take her? What kind of man was he if he couldn't protect his friends?

His adrenaline shot higher as he rose to his feet and started finding his way back to the house. An unrealistic surge of anger weaved it's way through him. Jae had never hated a person so much in his life, and he was determined to get to him.

Finally reaching the house, Jae found the phone and got 911 punched in. After ending the call, he walked out onto his porch to wait on the sheriff and his deputies.

"I'm gonna find you!" Jae screamed out. "And when I do, I'm gonna kill you!"