Wait and See

Chapter four: One thing leads to the next

Chapter Four

by XxNightStripexX

I woke up groggy and disorientated as I opened my eyes to a full white room. The light seemed to bounce off the walls, ceiling and floor start into my eyes like daggers. Even as I adjusted to the veil of light, the pain didn't leave my heavy, tired eyes. There was a dark figure in the room, making me instantly tense as they approached my bed side.

"Alan Michaels, how are you feeling today?"

"Like crap." I tried to move my arm but an intense pain came over me and instantly spread throughout my body. The memory of everything that happened flooded back into my mind, blinding me from reality for a moment. "How are Jane and Kim?!"

"They are stable, unconscious for now but they are doing well. Kim left the house just in time, she had the least amount of gas in her lungs but your wife had the most and a speedier reaction to the mixture. Probably from inhaling the 'rosy' smell that Kim described."

"Can I go see them?"

"Yes you can. Someone called for you earlier, we didn't catch a name but they said they would call your cell phone later." He said assisting me out of bed.

I followed the doctor to Jane's room. Kim was sitting in the chair next to her mother's bed with tear stains on her face. While Jane lay unconscious in the bed, with tubes and needles inside her arms, the doctor explained the extent of her injuries. Even though she was stable her body was under distress, he asked if she had received any bad news before she passed out, but I didn't offer an answer.

Soon after he left Kim's doctor came in to take her away for tests, they feared that the gas could have caused damage to her lungs because of her asthma. I sat there, holding Jane's hand, and explained everything that happened that night with Mellissa, the case, and everything I've never said to her before now. I kissed her hand before leaving her side, placing a note, reiterating everything I told her while she couldn't hear me, and went to the main lobby to collect my possessions to see if I could finish the case before more ended up injured.

Everyone in the lobby was staring at me as soon as I stepped through the sliding glass doors. The chatter and whispers caused me to make a detour to the bathroom to see the damage from the ‘incident’. The men’s restroom had no one in it, deserted and devoid of life. The lights seemed dimmer than the lobby, almost like one night light was lighting the whole room, it made it harder to see the extent of visible injury. I could see a black eye, emphasized by the dark circles around my eyes, and a few stray scratches from falling but what had caught everyone’s attention was a deep gash on my forehead. When I tried to get a closer look at it the lights shut off, leaving me shrouded in darkness.

“Hello Officer Michaels….” I turned but all I saw black, I knew who it was, but I didn’t know where they were. The lights turned on a few seconds later, the same dimmed tome as before, allowing me to see the mirror behind me had been written on with blood. “Feel better soon,” signed The Artist, I felt a shiver travel up my spine, and turned to leave the restroom with nothing more than a shaken nerve.

"What time is it?" I asked the deskman before leaving the hospital.

"It's 11:10." I nodded, I needed to go down to the station, help move this case along but at this last hour no one would be there and it was probably locked up.

I stepped out into the chilling November air. All I could think was about The Artist, what was so “artsy” about November? The color of changing leaves, pumpkins left over from Halloween, the food cooked for Thanksgiving? What is it? The second I was able to catch a cab, my phone vibrated in my shirt pocket.

I didn't say anything when I picked up, I knew it was him from the unknown number and nasally breathing pattern. The feelings that arose just from hearing it in my ear sent slight chills as well as a sudden surge of anger. He had killed numerous people, in horrific and bloody ways, including a fellow officer, without leaving evidence and only contacting me. Why just me?

"Come on now Officer Michaels, it's not fun if you don't answer. Did you make a wish for 11:11? It's such a whimsical time of day. The wishes of little girls, just like yours, floating through the air in hope to make that wish come true."

"What do you want from me?"

"What I have always wanted. Understanding for the arts and color in this dark dull life, would you have had such an exciting day yesterday without my master piece? Let me answer that for you. No, you wouldn't have."

"What's your plan?"

"Straight to the point today I see. Although for you to understand you should really go home and meet me there. Your daughter's room hasn't changed the past few months, maybe adding something but it's still the same."

"Get out of her room!" I said as the cab pulled around the corner of my block.

"I can remember my first time in here. She let me in of course; it would have been rude of me to barge in. Although at the time, she thought I was her friend but she was downstairs with the boyfriend." He sounded angry about that. "I walked in on her changing."

The cab stopped, I quickly paid and ran into my house. The only light on was upstairs in Kim's room.

"She was and is beautiful still, oh but I couldn't stop watching, not that she tried to stop me. In fact, she encouraged it from the way she swayed and put on a short skirt."

I burst through my daughter’s door, but nothing and no one was there. Her room was the same as she had left it this morning. Nothing seemed different or moved, I looked through the room. In the closet, under the bed, in the bathroom, but nothing was there.

"But I guess when I first came here it wasn't Kim's room. It was Sarah's wasn't it?" Fear shot through my veins at the mention of that name.

"What do you want with Sarah!?"

"I got what I wanted from her that day. Now she was a work of art, a beautiful sculpture, the epitome of attractive, and an unscathed painting-"

"Where are you, you sick bastard!?"

"Still cursing I see, Alan, may I call you Alan? You didn't think it was actually time for us to meet? No, not until you see my masterpiece. I know I've made you angry; you'll need to calm down if you wish to find me. I'd say good luck, but you'll need more than luck."

"What do you want from me!?"

I’m really starting to like you Officer Michaels, because of that I don’t want you to just see my art; I want you to live it. I’ll lead you through my art; you will follow my lead and watch my art as it happens. That is, if you can understand my previous artworks. There’s a gift for you in your mailbox; I hope you like it.

I ran out of Kim's bedroom and opened the mailbox to find a brown paper bag wrapped box. On the outside was a stenciled handwriting that only read my name. Ripping the paper off, forcefully, a plain box lay in my hands releasing an odd cooling sensation through my fingers.

Inside the box was blood stained towels covering the object inside. I lifted the towels to reveal a pair of ice blue eyes, surrounded by cold packs, that penetrated my soul. A note was placed next to the left eye, it read:

Have you seen me? Because I know Mellissa and Sarah have.

At the bottom it showed a picture of a girl, seemingly from Halloween night. She had red and black hair, with paint covering the true features of her face, but there was no mistake that it was my sister, Sarah. His main target was me; his big show would be held with my family and friends. In the corner of the printed note, was a numbered page. One of two.

Someone else was being played with.

I heard footsteps behind me. I should’ve checked all the rooms.