Dusk Till Dawn

IV

I opened my eyes as I heard the beeping. "Maria..." I blinked over to the side to my mother, her long brown hair, and her gentle eyes, coerced with worry and concern as I smiled at her slightly. "Hi...mom..." I spoke with a hoarse voice. "How long..." I croaked out in a small voice. "A week... your wounds got infected," I pushed myself further into my pillow. "Mom...can you hand me my phone...please," I told her as she nods. "Y-yeah," She says as she walks over to my bag which I had left behind in my car. I guess they found it which was good. She walked back over to me as I took my hand and pulled the phone up to me and unlocked it and went to the phone dial. I dialed a number as my mother looked at me as I looked at her. "Can I have some privacy?" I asked her as she nods and gets up from her chair and walks out leaving me alone in the room. Once finally getting to what I needed I waited patiently before hearing a woman's voice. "Hello?" She answers as I sighed deeply. "Hey, Kelly," I answered her as I hear her voice hitch in her throat.

"Maria?" She says. "I'm surprised you remember me," She adds as I smiled at her. "It's been a while...the shooting right?" I questioned as she gulps. "Nah, don't be scared. I just want to say. Smart dad," I told her as I hear her lean onto the payphone like phone, that I know the jail has. "Nick Stokes was saying that there was another girl," She says as I nodded. "Do you know why he did, what he did?" I asked her as she answered in a quiet voice. "No," She says as I nodded. "Because of Duncan and Dominic. Your father wanted me dead because he was dead, so go after the girl he dated," I huffed. "Look I'm sorry about Duncan and Dominic's decision and I don't blame your father for any of this. Not once and I'm not blaming you. That's why I wanted to tell you that I don't blame you. And I hope in the future when you get out, we can go get's some coffee and talk, for real," I tell her before she spoke. "I would like that, honestly," She says as I smiled. "Alright, until then," I smiled as she says the same thing before ending the call. 

I smiled and leaned back as my mother comes in and stays for a moment before leaving to her hotel room at the Circus Circus that Jim and Aiden were. I took a deep breath as I closed my eyes and put earbuds into my ears as I fell asleep. After a minute, I jumped as if thinking I was in a box. "Oh jeez, this is gonna be interesting for a bit," I yawned and laid my head down once again. I fell back asleep before I was awoken once again by the doctor coming in as I looked over and smiled. "Hi, Maria," A man who looked well with black short hair greeted me as my doctors were checking on my vitals and everything. "Mr. Stokes, what is the pleasure of you being here?" 

After weeks of being in the hospital, I was let go and was now staying in a small room in one of the many luxurious hotels while going through some notes and looking through my yearbook photos from Jr. high to High school after the shooting. Suddenly I heard my phone go off as I looked down at my screen and pressed the green button before hitting the speaker. "This is Maria speaking....who am I speaking to?" I asked as I crossed my feet by the ankle and kept looking through the notes. "Hey Maria, I didn't know you would be greeting someone like that. Making someone feel guilty and/or in trouble," Nick jokes as I started to write down on a notebook of the kids who survived in the aftermath. "Uh-huh. It's how I greet, have a problem, Nick?" After he pauses as I scoffed. "Didn't think so. So what can I do for you?" I asked as I bit down on my ben while looking over to my desk where my laptop stood with obituaries of kids who died that day as I crossed them out of the yearbook. "So interesting thing about something that I was told," Nick starts off as I stopped what I was doing and looked at my phone. "And what's that?" I asked him as he answered. "You knew our abductor," He says as I smiled at the phone. "His daughter went to high school with me. Blamed Duncan and Dominic. He would have kept them both in those coffins, but they've been dead since the shooting. So the next person that could be blamed. Me," I explained as I slammed my book that was on my lap and got up from the desk and put the book on the desk and walked around the room with the phone. 

"Kelly was traumatized by the shooting. I mean it would fuck with anyone's mental health. It screwed with mine really bad. So it wouldn't surprise me that she was screwed up too," I told him as I looked out to the window of my Las Vegas hotel window to stare at the bright lights. "I don't blame her father being angry at me. I was the one dating the shooter in the first place. Did I know he was going to do that? No, but I got wounded really bad," I laughed half-heartedly. "Then why me?" He asked as I turned away from the window. "Probably you were working on the same case that'll involved Kelly," I told him as I sat on my bed. "That's a possibility," He says as I put the phone on the bed. "Is that what you wanted to talk about? Or is there more?" I looked down at my phone. "Yeah, you know. I did promise you a date, and you promise me you would tell me more about your family," He says as I nodded. "Tomorrow, Noon, I'll text you where to meet," He says as I nodded. "I'll see you then," I told him as I hear him chuckle. "Have a good night, Maria," he says as I nodded. "You too, Detective Stokes," I then hung up and sighed deeply. "You too," I smiled and then looked out my window and walked over to the glass and leaned onto the curtain. 

Suddenly I heard my phone go off as I sighed and walked back to my phone and saw on my screen it was an unknown number as I picked it up and held it to my ear. "This is Maria speaking...who am I speaking to?" I greeted as I heard a male's voice. "You up for deja vu task?" I blinked and turned to look over my shoulder to see a skeleton passed all the lights of a building that was still being built. "Skylar... what number?" I asked as he answered. "Task number 22, you know what to do," The call dropped as I looked at my phone and sighed. "Dumbass," I threw my phone onto the bed and walked over to the closet where I had my clothes in and walked towards the bathroom as I changed out of my casual clothing. Pulling up a black joggers streetwear pants, Black tank top, black combat boots with heels instead of platforms. Then to add to the look, I put a long black streetwear hoodie, with a black face mask that was wrapped around my neck. I also put on some makeup with just some black eyeliner, a little bit of eyeshadow. After I was done, I grabbed my key card, my phone, and earbuds and I was out the door. 

I stood at the top as I took a deep breath and walked on a steel beam and sat down on the edge while my legs were dangling as I smiled and swung them a little as I watched the cars pass below me as I heard footsteps behind me. "What's with everyone from my past coming here to Las Vegas and causing trouble for me?" I asked without looking back but still had my turned a little while I heard a step forward before they spoke. "Would you have met me in public, where many eyes would be on us, watching staring the most beautiful person there, who men would love to take advantage of?" He asked as I shrugged. "It's not like I haven't already been in trouble with this place," I commented as Skylar huffs. "Still, you know what I mean," He says as I pushed myself up onto the beam and walked back to the man who stood in front of me. "Why'd you call me? I know you need something, let's not waste time and tell me what's going on," I told him as he sighs. "I have this cousin that lives here in Vegas, but for the last month or so. I haven't heard from her. I know you are good at tracking," He hands me a folder of the woman he was talking about as I opened the folder. "I may be hoping you could find her," He says as I nodded. "I'll try, Vegas is big but also shady. But I'll try, I'll give you updates if need to be," I told him as he nods. "Her name is Messalina De Rosa," He says before walking off. I looked back down at the folder as I stared at the woman who smiling brightly at the camera.