Foretold

#15

Caroline

I open my eyes to find myself in bed, covered with a blanket. My nose feels itchy. I touch it and it's covered with something soft, like gauze. Everything comes rushing back to me, about what happened at the asylum. I try to get up and get a head rush and I'm forced to lie down again. I mutter Mark's name. He's asleep on the couch. I don't want to wake him up but I need to. "Mark! Wake up..." I say with all my strength, yet my voice is too weak.

He wakes up with a jerk and rushes to my bedside. I sit up with support and he hugs me tight. I'm somewhat surprised. "Mark? What happened...?"
"Shush... Carly... I'm so glad you're okay." Mark said in his heavy voice. I hug him back and hold him tight, he needed that.
"If something had happened to you... I would've... I would've not survived Carly..." Mark said.

"Nothing is going to happen to me, Mark. I'm here. Right by your side." I tried to reassure him.
He withdrawed from the hug and when I looked at him, he had tears in his eyes. Jim was sitting next to me, staring at him with a confused look. I had the same look as Jim did. And once again, he looked like he was about to say something as he looked deep in my eyes, but he turned away and didn't.

He put on his watch, looked at me and said, "I need to go."
"Where?" I asked.
"The woods. A murder is supposed to take place there tonight." He reminded me.
"Wait. Let me get dressed." I said, getting up.
"No, you're staying here." Mark said, in a strict tone. I'd never seen him in such a mood.
"Excuse me?" I said, confused.
"Look at your condition, Caroline. You can't walk properly. I can't take you there. It's dangerous." He said.

"And you going alone in the middle of the night isn't dangerous?" I said.
"I don't care." He said.
"Well I don't either." I said, getting up, stuffing my pistol in my jeans, straightening my shirt up. I tied my hair into a neat ponytail and put on my sneakers. Mark just stared at me.
"Why won't you listen to me for once?" Mark said.
"Because this is my job." I said, getting up, "Jim, come on boy. We might need you."

Jim trotted behind me and Mark followed unwillingly. I wouldn't lie, my nose did hurt really bad. But we had more important things to care about. As I got behind the steering wheel with Mark on the passenger seat and Jim on the long backseat, I asked Mark while driving, "What happened to my nose?"
"It's broken. Madison got it plastered. It'll heal soon. It's a borderline fracture. It'll hurt a lot for a few days though."

"Cool." I said as I drive to the other side of the city, towards the woods. The air is chilled at this time of the night, I felt relaxed. I've felt this void in my life ever since Brian went insane, that is never filled. Work kept me busy, but didn't satisfy me. I never had purpose in life. Now it feels like, I do. Without me, these women won't be saved. Only I know about Brian's drawings, and Mark. And we're together in this. And we'll save the women.

After a long drive, we finally reached the woods. The problem was, we didn't know where in the woods the crime would take place. We got down the car, checked our revolvers. I bent down and said to Jim, "Follow any fresh human scent, boy. I'm depending on you." Jim licked my face and got to work. It's surprising to many that Jim understands almost everything that I say. They don't understand the kind of connection we have. To them, he's just a dog. I follow Jim with Mark quietly as he keeps walking deeper into the woods.

Even as a cop, I'd never been to this side of the woods before. It was denser, quieter. It was night and yet I could say that daylight would hardly break through the dense canopies. We kept walking. The forest smelled of fresh rains. I could hear the sounds of the creatures lurking at night. Until when Jim came to a halt. He didn't bark, he wasn't sure if he should.

We spotted two figures. One of them had dark black hair, dark skin. Her face resembled the drawing. And the other one, we couldn't see the person. His or her face was covered with a hood. They were talking, the girl seemed scared. We didn't have much time. And that's when I recognised her. The girl with dark black hair. It was someone I knew.

And within some seconds she fell to the ground. The hooded figure knelt down and started doing something to her. We rushed towards them, the figure turned around. His or her face was completely covered, I couldn't make out any features in the dark. And the figure ran. Mark ran after the figure, I rushed to her lying on the ground.

"Melissa! Keep your eyes open. We'll get you help." I said to her, keeping her head on my lap.
"Caroline... Is that you?" She said, looking at me.
"Yes... Mel... It is me... I am so sorry..." I said.
"Caroline... It's good to see you after so long." She said. She couldn't breathe well, she wasn't going to survive. Her body was going blue.

"Melissa... Who was it? Who did this to you?" I asked.
"You're not safe, Caroline... Take care. It's all because of him. He's the reason." She said as she breathed her last. I stared at her face, her words repeating themselves in my mind.
'You're not safe... It's because of him.'
Who's the 'him' she was talking about? Mark? Brian, perhaps? My mind went crazy with thoughts.

That's when I noticed it. The signature on her neck. That's what the killer was doing when they bent down. And again, realisation hits me. If only I'd reached there a few minutes ago, if only I'd acted earlier. Melissa wouldn't have died. Mark came running back to me, trying to catch his breath. I looked at him, hopimg for the good news that he didn't have.
"The killer got away. I chased the hooded figure for as long as I could. But the person was fast, vanished into thin air."

"This isn't good, Mark." I said, staring at Melissa.
"Wait, is she... Melissa Johnson?" He asked, bending down.
I nodded. Melissa Johnson was one of the best spies the police department had a few years ago. She worked under Brian, just like I did. I developed a good friendship with her in a few days until we drifted apart. The reason was her developing feelings for Brian.

We were young, stubborn, selfish. It didn't rest well with us that we loved the same man. I don't blame her, Brian was amazing. He didn't favour any of us, but that didn't stop us from being jealous of each other. After Brian went crazy, I lost my senses for months and she retreated from the police department. I hadn't heard from her since. I never hated her, she was a good person, and a good friend when it lasted. A very close friend actually.

"Mark, do you think we're doing the right thing? Meddling into this thing alone? This is serious. Should we just let the department know?" I said.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but that'd take away the chance at life from Brian. He'll be the prime suspect. And... We might stop getting the drawings if he's kept under constant watch. We need the drawings Carly." Mark said.
"But is it worth someone's life? We don't know who's next."