Perception

Part 19: Devon is Dead

I don't know how long I was out. All I know is I woke up in Wayne's bed, bandaged up. It was dark in the room. My head still throbbed. I felt exhausted and I just wanted to sleep. But I couldn't...not knowing what was going on. I couldn't really remember much except that I went to check on Devon...

"You're awake." I heard a deep voice say. I tried to sit up to see but it was too painful. "Just be still, you've been hurt pretty bad." he said. "Who is it?" I asked. "You forgot about me already? It's only been three days." Three days I thought. "Three days?" I asked. "Yes, it's been three days. Don't worry I already called your job and said you would be out." My job I thought. That's when he turned on the light and I could see his face. I know he should be familiar to me but I was drawing a blank. "Kelly, I'm glad you're okay." he said softly smiling at me. I tried to smile back but it hurt. "Just rest baby, you'll be okay." he told me. "Here take these, the doctor prescribed them for you." Doctor? What doctor? I guess he sensed my confusion and explained that he had a doctor friend who did him a favor and made a housecall. He said I had a mild concussion and other than a few scrapes and bruises I was fine but would be sore and disoriented for a while. He prescribed me oxycodone and acetaminophen to help with my recovery. I took the pills but I could feel the confusion was still plastered on my face. "Do you remember anything?" I shook my head slowly. "I'm not going to bombard you with information right now, just know that your problem has been permanently taken care of." Even as he spoke I felt myself drift off to sleep.

When I woke up again I felt much better. Still sore but my head didn't throb as much as it did before. There was a bell on the nightstand so I rang it. A few minutes later the man who was here before came in. "How you feeling baby?" he asked affectionately. "Better." I answered. "That's good, I been missing you." he said. I smiled. "Do you remember me at all?" he asked. "A little." I lied. The truth was even though I wanted to with everything in me, I couldn't remember him. He sighed. "Damn, this sucks." he said shaking his head. "Do you remember Devon Jones?" That name rang a bell and I immediately became upset. "It's alright, Devon is dead." he said attempting to keep me calm. "We met a few months ago, when you moved here trying to get away from him. He was stalking you, he threatened to kill you. He broke into your house and trashed it, tore up everything, even took a shit in it." he explained. I started to slowly remembering some of what he was saying. I sat up against the pillow behind me. He got up to help me adjust myself. "Who are you again?" I looked at him trying to search my brain and force myself to make him familiar. "Wayne. Wayne Turner. You've been living here with me for over a month now. We planned to kidnap Devon, chain him up in the basement and let him die." "Is that how he died?" I asked. "Almost, but you took him out before he could. You don't remember the fight you had with him? He nearly killed you down there."

"All I know is I'm very sore, I feel exhausted but I need a shower." I said. "Come on, I'll help you. Maybe I can jog your memory." He picked me up out of bed and carried me to the shower. He helped me undress and turned on the water. As I climbed in it was as though I had never felt anything better than the water running on my aching body. I didn't even care that this strange man was watching me. I stood there like a mannequin letting the water pummel me. After a few minutes he got in with me. I wanted to be offended but he was so fine I almost couldn't wait for him to touch me. There was something so familiar about him and after he touched me it all came flooding back. He put the palm of his hand on my chest and seemed to feel for my heartbeat. My eyes flickered from the constant sprinkle of water. He untied my hair and I felt the instant massage of water on my scalp. I closed my eyes as he kissed me. I kissed him back. He took my hands in his and held my arms up over my head. He moved in closer to me and pressed his body against mine. We kissed the memories back. I saw him before. I was with him this way before, lots of times. He was my lover. My protector. My confidant. The one who seemed to want to do any and everything I needed. My Wayne. "Make love to me." I whispered. He let my hands go and picked me up. He sat my hips on top of his and positioned me so that our private parts met. Softly, slowly, he entered me. He pushed so effortlessly into me and I remembered the familiar feeling of him inside me. I pushed back as we became one. He licked me and kissed me as the water rained down on us. This is what I remembered. Being with him in the shower. We were like fish, always in the water making love. "My Wayne." I whispered to him. And with that, we kissed and made love until the water ran cold.

The next few weeks I took it easy. School had been let out for summer so I had nothing to rush back to. With the house now scrubbed clean of two deaths, we could finally relax. Wayne never told me what happened to Devon's body, he sufficed it to say it was taken care of. The news later that summer told a report of a man found in an abandoned apartment, naked, beaten and stabbed. They believed he was the son of one Mayor Dennis Jones but that they would follow up with more definite details. The very next story was about a missing nurse, one Sheila Greene who was a very caring nurse that worked at Hillson Memorial for more than 10 years. They interviewed her mother who made a tearful plea for her daughter's safe return. She explained that her daughter had been dating a man named Devon for a short time. She didn't know much about him except that Sheila didn't like talking about him and always seemed afraid whenever he called her. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Sheila Greene please contact the Hillson County Police Department. Wayne and I sipped the tea we were drinking when he suddenly flicked the tv off. "I'm glad you made it through all of this." he told me. "I remember when I first met you, you were so afraid to open up to me. I understand why now." I nodded.

"I've been thinking, and I wanted to ask you what you were doing for the rest of your life?" "What?" I asked dumbly. He got up and kneeled in front of me, one arm behind his back. "If it's not too much to ask, I'd really like to keep you. Being in this big house alone, it's not good. Will you share it with me please? Be my wife." he said. I felt my face grow hot and the tears welled up in my eyes. As they spilled over making it hard for me to see, I grabbed his face and planted a kiss on his lips. "Wait a minute, wait." he said waving a ring box at me. I let him go and he opened the box. "This is what I wanted to give to you. As my wife you should have a ring." he said. The ring was a beautiful diamond, halo cut, and it sparkled so, it was gorgeous. I cried again when he put it on my finger, and it fit like a glove. Suddenly the thought of getting married became overwhelming and I remembered I had no family or friends to invite. Running from Devon had made me a loner. "What's wrong?" Wayne asked me when he saw my sudden sadness. "I don't have anyone to share this with...no family, no friends, not even a dog." "You have me." Wayne said.

The next few weeks we spent planning for the wedding. We decided to have a destination wedding where the only people invited were he and I. We were to be married in Bora Bora, a place neither of us had ever been. After we exchanged vows, we spent a month making love under the moon on the beach. Once we got caught by hotel security who escorted us back to our room. When we returned home I found out I was pregnant. Although I'd always wanted to be a mother, I was afraid. I didn't want to pass on my psychotic tendencies. I knew that I could be normal under normal circumstances, but I also knew that a monster lingered just below the surface.

Was she still there? The murdering lunatic that killed two people?