What Lurks in the Dark

Chapter 8

I ran out of the office and frantically searched for Nathan but he was nowhere to be seen. "Nathan! Nathaniel!" I yelled, aggravated with the fact that he'd just disappeared. Tears threatened to fall but I tried to stay strong. I'm a cop, why am I crying? I said internally. I walked past the bathroom and was shocked to see Nathan walking out of the men's restroom. I sighed in relief upon realizing that he hadn't just stormed out of the office.

"What's wrong, Edythe?" Nathan questioned me, gripping my shoulders in concern. I wasn't sure how to respond. Everything was wrong at that moment. I couldn't think up so many responses but I never managed to say anything. He walked me back to the office and sat me down. "What happened?"

"The killer called your phone, I traced it right here. Right in Seattle but I couldn't get the exact location. He's here, just waiting for one of us to fuck up. There's a hidden camera in our fucking office." I fussed and I fussed. Nathan called over a co-worker and let them know what the situation was. We now had three people tearing up our office.

I stood in the doorway next to Nathan and he pat my shoulder in reassurance. I guess I was lucky to have him by my side. I didn't want him to leave anymore, unlike when I had initially met him.

After hearing the vibrating of my phone on my rummaged desk, I glanced over to see Mason was calling. I leaned over and grabbed my phone, answering as quickly as possible.

"Edy," he said. His voice was filled with sadness. His voice cracked. He was crying. He was bawling harder than when he attended Carter's funeral.

"Why are you crying, kid?" I asked. I was worried. He began to breathe heavily. The sound of his sobs broke my heart. Nathan looked to me and I shrugged my shoulders in confusion.

"Where are you? I need to talk to you, now." I closed my eyes and slowly exhaled. I wondered if he had possibly remembered everything and I regretted not telling him when I had so many chances. Sure he was constantly at the police academy but I work next to it. I should have told him.

"No, where are you? I'll come to you." I said. I needed to get out of the office. I couldn't take any of the shit that was going on any longer and I needed to fix the mess that I had created.

"I'm at home," he said. My eyes lit up in worry. I looked to Nathan and he nodded as if he knew what was on my mind. I began to panic once again. With the situation that had just occurred, it was even more obvious that the killer knew us.

"Are the doors and windows locked?" I asked. I really couldn't handle him getting hurt, again.

"Yes," Mason replied. He sounded slightly confused but he didn't question it.

"Stay where you are," I said sternly.

                                                                                            ~~~

I unlocked my front door and stepped inside. The house was eerily quiet. "Stay here," I said to Nathan. Nathan walked to the couch and planted himself there. He opened up his laptop and began typing.

I walked into the spare bedroom Mason was using, it was empty. I walked to the bathroom and lightly tapped on the door, receiving no response. As I was about to walk away, I heard shuffling from the other side of the polished door. I slowly twisted the doorknob and saw Mason sitting on the floor holding a razor blade to his wrist. "Shit! No, please don't- oh my god," I tried not to panic, so the words came out in an incoherent mumble. I didn't want the situation to get any worse than it already had been. I knelt beside him and took the razor blade from him. I sat down onto the fluffy rug and pulled him into my arms. He rested his head on my chest as he began to heavily sob. I didn't care that his blood soaked my sleeves. All I could focus on was comforting him right then.