I pull into my carport and get out before realizing that the place should be under investigation. It's quiet. Like nothing had ever happened.
Karl's connections are awesome and unsettling.
As I step into the living room, my phone buzzes in my pocket.
I pull out the phone, prepared to tell Karl off.
Syd is calling me
I let it ring a few more times, staring at the screen. There's no way she is that crazy.
I answer it.
“Dimitri,” she says, on the verge of tears.
I stand corrected. She is that crazy.
I don't reply. What am I supposed to tell her?
Her voice is soft. “How do we stop this?”
I flip on the light to my bedroom, then remove my jacket and toss it over the computer chair. Her breath shudders in my ear. I know she's crying, but nothing I can say will make any difference. I really can't help her, just like I always feared about finding out her truth.
I sit on the edge of the mattress and work off my shoes.
Syd used to lie in this bed with me. We have done so many amazing things here. It wasn't just about the sex though. It was the fact someone as amazing as her would want to spend so much time with me. Would want to know me.
Well, here I am.
This is me: Dimitri Hayes.
I really am a monster.
“Dimitri.” Her voice quivers. “I'm scared.”
I lie on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
“Me too, Syd,” I say at last. “Me too.”
I hang up the phone and drop it onto the bed next to me. Part of me thinks she will call back. The other part of me knows she won't.
She doesn't.
I close my eyes against the overhead light shining in my face. It is time to sleep. Just like I do before any kill.
God, I hope Syd has a plan. I sure as hell don't.
***
I wake because my head is throbbing. As soon as I open my eyes, nausea spreads through me. I take a few deep breaths until it passes, then push to a sit.
The windows are dark, and the hum is demanding action. I have to get rolling. Despite how much I would like to linger—linger until I never leave—the hum knows me better than that. It knows my intentions. If I'm not actively hunting Syd, the monster will rattle its cage.
Its cage being my skull.
My phone beeps. I pick it up. The battery is low.
I lean over to the nightstand and plug the phone into the wall charger and set it down. A piece of paper catches my attention.
I pick it up and unfold it.
Scrawled across it is an address. Underneath the address, a heart and the words, “Runaway with me”.
Santa Fe, New Mexico. One of the many promises I made to Syd and never fulfilled.
I frown and place it under the phone again. Time to get ready. Not like I feel safe hanging around here anyway. I assume Karl took care of law enforcement, but I don't know that for sure. I don't know if they will be back.
I shower and shave, then spend more time picking out clothes than I have in my entire life. A jab in my brain makes me wince. The beast inside is telling me to get with it.
I dress, grab a random wallet, add some benzos to the jacket pocket with the guns, and contemplate making a cup of coffee.
The delay tactics are only going to make things worse in the long run. The longer I wait, the more insistent the hum will grow. There's only ever been one way to stop it: fulfill the wish.
Why Syd this time? What sort of sadistic streak made Karl think this was a good idea?
Two feathered fowl with one chunk of mineral matter. He can rid of the girl who was obviously becoming a pest, while showing his greatest display of power over me: forcing me to hunt the one person I care about. I know he figured it out. I saw the expression on his face.
Even if I wanted to find Syd, I wouldn't know where to look. I have never been to her house. She goes to ASU, but I can't exactly storm the campus. I don't even know Coleen's last name to track her down for information.
But not knowing how to complete the task has never excused me from it.
I start for the door, then halt and pat my pockets. No phone. Left it charging on the night stand. I trudge back to the room, unhook it from the adapter, and stuff it in my pant pocket.
The paper flutters to the floor. I reach down and pick it up, then unfold it again.
Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her grandmother's house. The place she always ran away to when she upset. Or scared.
I'm torn. Part of me wants to un-think the realization. But the other part of me is gloating.
I always figure it out.
***
I head east on I-10. Santa Fe is about an eight hour drive, and I have no intentions of flooring it. Not if I can help it.
I contemplate dialing Syd, but I know myself better than that. For fuck's sake, I located Mark's kid and girlfriend in a two minute phone call. Any communication between Syd and I will be lethal. For her.
I blast the radio and maintain speed.
I like Phoenix at night. The air is warm, but pleasant. Not like the grueling daylight sun. Traffic is light, but the roads are not vacant. Even a few stores are still open. Just the ones needed for a midnight snack run or box of condoms. The important things.