Friends List Page 15

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  A CHANGING OF MINDS

  The next morning, the doorbell rang. Lexa opened it to see Dr. Cross standing on the porch.

  “Hello, Lexa. I hope Claude and Amanda didn’t have too much trouble last night getting you to agree to this last session.”

  Lexa snickered. “I wasn’t the one they had trouble with.”

  Alex stepped out of Lexa’s room and watched from the top of the staircase.

  Dr. Cross looked past Lexa. “Don’t they want to say goodbye?”

  “They did, but Alex said they changed their minds.” Lexa called up to Alex. “Let’s go, X-Man.” She brushed past Dr. Cross.

  “You and your brother wait for me in my car,” Dr. Cross instructed, heading into the living room. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

  ***

  CK ran up and crouched down behind a car parked across the street from the Rhodes’ house. He waited a few moments, carefully scanning the area. After a couple of deep breaths, he hurried across the street toward the house. He crept up to one of the front windows and saw the backs of the heads of two people sitting on the loveseat.

  Okay, first I have to convince Claude and Amanda this is all a big mistake, then the three of us can convince Lexa, and we’ll all go down and convince the police. Yeah, right.

  CK walked up to the front porch and rang the doorbell several times, but no one answered. He went back over to the window and saw the two people still sitting on the loveseat.

  “Hello?” He banged on the windowpane. “Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes?”

  The two figures remained motionless on the loveseat. CK tried the door handle and found it unlocked.

  He opened the door and entered the house, focusing on the backs of the heads of the people on the loveseat.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes?” The two on the loveseat still made no reply. CK approached the back of the loveseat. “Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes, are you all right?” He walked around to the front of the loveseat and faced the lifeless bodies of Amanda and Claude Rhodes sitting hand in hand. He gasped when he realized that someone had severed their heads and then switched them, putting Claude’s head on Amanda’s body, and Amanda’s head on Claude’s body. CK backed away, running wildly through the house. “Lexa! Lexa, where are you?”

  He ran up the staircase screaming, “Lexa! Lexa!”

  He burst into Lexa’s bedroom and searched it from corner to corner. A laptop displaying her Roommates homepage caught his eye. He saw the cursor resting on the journal icon, clicked it, and a table of contents menu appeared. He selected “LAST ENTRY.” The display on the computer screen changed to a virtual journal page and he read it.

  Cross wants to have one last session—for closure. He wants to have it at Mom and Dad’s old cabin out at Lake Arrowhead, and he wants Alex to come with us. How apropos that this all ends at a place called Twin Peaks, California. Ha ha…

  “Fuck!” CK picked up the phone and dialed 911.

  “Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”

  CK paused for a moment, then hung up the phone. He glanced at a picture of Lexa on the desk.

  I love you, Lexa Rhodes.

  He ran back downstairs and frantically searched until he found Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes’ address book. “Keys…” CK frantically scoured the room for the keys to Claude’s car. After a half hour of fruitless searching, he spotted a wooden key rack hanging on the wall of the entryway. He raced over to the rack, but the hook labeled “Car Keys” was empty.

  Damn!

  He shut his eyes in defeat. When he opened them again they were intuitively drawn to the loveseat upon which Claude and Amanda sat together in death.

  Oh God, I don’t think I can do this.

  He paced in the entryway. After a few stress-riddled minutes, he gulped a couple of deep breaths and took the first of several spine-chilling steps he must make to reach his target.

  With his eyes remaining on the floor, CK stepped around in front of the loveseat and knelt between the desecrated corpses, sliding his hand into one of Claude’s front pants pockets. As he dug around inside the pocket, he accidentally shifted the body and rocked Amanda’s head, which was precariously perched atop Claude’s neck.

  Please God, please don’t let me knock his—I mean her, head off.

  After finding the pocket empty, he carefully removed his hand and slid it into the other front pocket until it touched something metal.

  Thank you, God!

  He pulled Claude’s car keys from out of the dead man’s pocket, jumped up, and rushed out the front door.

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  ENDGAME

  Speeding down the highway, CK nervously checked the rearview mirror.

  What am I doing? The killer’s already been to her house and killed her aunt and uncle. I gotta tell her. I gotta warn her. But will she listen, or just run away from me? What if the killer’s up there right now? Will I be able to stop him, or will I be killed too?

  CK grabbed his cell phone, took out Styles’s card, and dialed the number.

  “Homicide.”

  CK exhaled. “Get me Captain Styles.”

  ***

  Sitting at her desk, Captain Styles was staring at CK’s picture. “I must admit, Mr. Kane. You don’t give the impression of being a bloodthirsty maniac. But then what do I know? I’m just some dumbassed cop.”

  Excited, Lieutenant Sternn rushed toward his captain. “Cap, it’s him! On the phone!” he whisper-shouted.

  Styles looked up from the picture. “Him?”

  “Kane!” he hissed. “On line three!”

  Styles’s eyes opened wide and she dropped the stack of papers she was holding. Her vision narrowed on one of the landline phones sitting on her desk. “Is the call being traced?” she asked. Sternn nodded. Styles pressed the button for line number three and picked up the receiver.

  “This is Styles.”

  “Captain Styles, this is CK.”

  “Hello, CK, what can I do for you today?” She motioned for Lieutenant Sternn to pick up the other phone on her desk and listen in, which he promptly did.

  “I’ve been to Lexa’s house.”

  “Have you now?” Styles cupped her hand over her mouthpiece and whispered to Sternn, “Get a couple of units over there stat.” She removed her hand from her phone and prodded, “So did you talk to her?”

  “No, she’s not there. And her aunt and uncle are dead. Murdered.”

  “I see.” Styles gritted her teeth. “Did they do something to make you angry?”

  “Don’t jack me off, Styles!” yelled CK. “I haven’t killed anybody!”

  “Really?”

  “Really. All I want is to make sure Lexa’s safe. That’s all, I swear to God.”

  “If that’s really true, CK,” Styles said soothingly, “why don’t you come on down to the station so we can sit down and try to figure all of this out? Or if you want, you can tell me where you are and I can have a unit pick you up and bring you straight over here. What do you think? Lexa is probably counting on your help right this minute.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m not gonna tell you to go fuck yourself, Styles. Now listen to me, and listen good. I think that the real killer is after Lexa, and I think I might know where they’re headed.”

  “You do? Then tell me, CK, where do you think they’re going?”

  “I’ll let you know later. I’m on my way there right now, and I have the feeling I’m gonna need your help after I get there.”

  “C’mon, CK, use your head. How am I supposed to come and help if you won’t tell me where you’re going?”

  “I’m not a moron, Captain. I don’t want to get there and find myself surrounded by the local police force. When I get there, I’ll dial the number on the card you gave us and leave the line open for you to trace.”

  “Hold on a minute, CK. You should take a moment to think this through.”

  “Sorry, but this conversation’s over.” CK hung up and tosse
d his phone onto the passenger’s seat.

  “CK? CK!” Styles closed her eyes and hung up the phone. After a lingering moment, she opened her eyes and turned them toward the anxiously awaiting Lieutenant Sternn. “Let’s go.”

  ***

  After what seemed an eternity, CK spotted a sign up ahead that read ‘Welcome to Twin Peaks.’ Several miles beyond the sign was a private road that led into the woods. At the entrance to the road was an old, beat-up mailbox with Rhodes on the side of it.

  CK turned onto the road, which ended about a mile down and opened up into an oval parking area surrounded by densely packed woods. A late model sedan sat parked near a dirt path. CK pulled up behind the sedan, retrieved his cellphone, and hopped out of the car. He felt the hood of the sedan. Still warm. He dialed Styles’s private contact number.

  “This is Styles.”

  After she answered, CK left his phone on and placed it atop the sedan’s hood, taking off into the thick woods.

  ***

  A deserted, burnt-out cabin sat in the middle of a barren clearing. The picturesque landscape was disfigured by the scorched ruins occupying its center.

  Inside the derelict cabin, Dr. Cross sat Lexa on top of the charred dining room table.

  “I’m glad you and your brother agreed to this final session,” he said, walking to the other side of the room for his medical bag. “I believe it will give you the closure you’ve been searching for all these years.”

  “Lexa,” Alex whispered, “maybe this is a fucking mistake. Let’s just get outta here. He can’t help you anymore.”

  “But Alex, it’s just one more session,” Lexa argued. “Let’s just get it over with and move on.”

  Sneaking a peek at Lexa, Dr. Cross removed a syringe and a bottle from his bag.

  ***

  CK stumbled upon a path that forked in two directions. He looked back and forth, then took the path on the left.

  ***

  Dr. Cross walked back across the room with his hands behind him.

  Without taking his eyes off Cross, Alex moved closer to his twin sister and whispered into her ear, “Lexa, you’ve got to trust me now like when you trusted me in CK’s apartment. Please, for both our sakes, let’s leave now while we both still can.”

  “But Dr. Cross—”

  “Is a sick fuck,” Alex spat. “He’s a manipulating perverted liar. I didn’t want you to have to know about this part of it, but it’s true.”

  Lexa felt the familiar nausea-filled twinge in her stomach. “Okay, Alex, we’ll leave.”

  “And go where, Lexa?” Dr. Cross questioned.

  “Um…no, I, uh…”

  “It’s okay,” Dr. Cross assured her. “Tell me.”

  Lexa saw Alex shaking his head with urgency, a critical warning for her to terminate her discourse with Cross. “Alex doesn’t think I should be here.”

  “I know. Would you like to know why Alex doesn’t want you here?”

  Alex clenched his fists and yelled to Cross, “You swore, you fuck. You swore you’d never—”

  Lexa flinched when Dr. Cross injected her arm with the syringe.

  Alex lunged forward and froze when Cross raised a scalpel to Lexa’s neck.

  Cross’s unhinged leer wantonly assaulted Lexa’s drooping eyes. “You deserve to know the truth…before I kill you.”

  ***

  CK continued along the path. He sniffed the air and grimaced as he made his way through the woods.

  What’s that smell? What is it? It’s upwind, and it’s strong.

  ***

  Lexa struggled to remain upright, sitting between her scalpel wielding doctor and her on-the-verge-of-a-meltdown twin brother.

  Cross moved his face close to Lexa’s right ear, deeply inhaling the scent of her perspiring skin. “You want to know a secret? Alex knows, but he’d never tell you. Those pills you’ve been taking all these years, they weren’t for headaches.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Sis,” Alex pleaded in his sister’s left ear.

  Struggling to remain conscious, Lexa also struggled to understand what was being said to her. “What…? Pills? What they’re for…”

  Cross used his scalpel to shush Lexa’s lips. “Their real purpose was to keep you from remembering certain things. Certain bad things, like what happened here the day your parents died.”

  “Don’t listen to him, he’s insane!” Alex pleaded.

  “You see, my dear, your headaches were a result of your brain trying to remember. We can’t have any more of that.” Dr. Cross took out another syringe. “It might uncover some…unprofessionalism on my part.”

  Alex’s eyes spewed pure hatred at Dr. Cross. “If you touch her, I’ll kill you. I’ll fucking kill you!”

  “I’m sure Alex thinks this will do you harm,” Dr. Cross said, tapping the syringe. “Alex never did trust me, not even at the age of seven when we first started our sessions.”

  “Shut your goddamn mouth!” Alex shouted.

  “Yes, Lexa. Yet another skeleton in that big closet of yours. Well, your family’s closet anyway. You see, your parents thought you’d be better off not knowing about Alex’s…problems.” Dr. Cross lifted the syringe. “In any case, this will help you remember something that happened a long, long time ago.”

  Hardly able to contain himself, Alex screamed, “I swear I’ll kill you!”

  “Hold still now.” Dr. Cross injected Lexa.

  “No! Lexa! Lexa…” Alex’s shouting started to fade. Dr. Cross removed the needle and moved up close again to Lexa’s ear.

  “Clear your mind, Lexa. The only voice you’ll hear is mine. The only voice you’ll respond to is mine. Is that understood?”

  Lexa nodded. “Yes, doctor…”

  ***

  CK stumbled upon a lonely clearing and saw a man waist-deep inside a pit.

  “What the fucking hell?” He ran to the pit and found Bastian hanging by his wrists. Empty water bottles and drums marked “LYE” lay strewn about.

  “My God. Bastian.” CK’s eyes followed the rope up from Bastian’s hands, over a branch, and down to a large rock where the end of the rope was anchored.

  CK ran over to the rock. “Hold on, Bastian!” After working wildly on the huge knot, he managed to untie it, gripped the rope, and pulled with all his might.

  Bastian’s body slid upward painstakingly slowly. As his feet cleared the lye pit, his face contorted, the flesh below his waist pulling down and away from his torso back into the pit. The horrific sight weakened CK’s grip on the rope. Bastian cried out as the rest of his dermis and muscles slid down into the lye pit. His intestines ruptured, spurting where they dangled from his midriff. Struggling to hold on to the rope, CK dropped to the ground and retched. After steadying himself, he pushed backward and tied the rope back around the rock. Through reddened and tear-filled eyes, he looked at Bastian with utter helplessness.

  ***

  To Lexa’s bewilderment, Alex stood in docile silence while Dr. Cross caressed her cheek, running his finger across Lexa’s lips.

  “Lexa?” he called.

  Lexa weakly answered, “Yes?”

  “I want you to remember when you and Alex were eight. Do you remember?”

  “Yes. I remember…”

  “Good girl. Now think back to the last time your parents brought you and Alex here. Think back to the day of the big fire. Think back…”

  ***

  Eight-year-old Lexa and Alex run about carefree, having pure and natural fun as only children can. Sadly, the loud voices from within the cabin rise up and cut short their bliss-filled frolic.

  “Is Daddy yelling at Mommy again?” Lexa asks her brother.

  Alex nods, then takes her hand and leads her quietly inside.

  Behind the closed door of their bedroom, Carl and Lisa screamed at each other.

  “That settles it!” Carl shouts. “We’re getting a fucking divorce!”

  “Well it’s about goddamn time!” Lisa yells back.

/>   “You don’t have to worry about a long, drawn-out court battle. I’ll live here, and you and the kids can have the house. It’d be worth it not to have to see your goddamn face again.”

  “Oh no, you’re not sticking me with both of them.”

  “Okay, fine. We’ll split the deck. You’ll take one and I’ll take one.”

  The twins hug each other tightly. Alex strokes Lexa’s head and leaves her sitting on the floor with her doll. He enters the garage and finds a five-gallon gas can.

  Don’t worry, Lexa, no one will ever separate us. Ever.

  Alex splashes gasoline against the back of the cabin and underneath the window of the master bedroom. Then he enters the house and takes a pack of matches from the kitchen drawer. He passes Lexa and heads into the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

  When Lexa starts to get up and follow, her brother shushes her and motions for her to sit back down.

  Alex enters the hallway, soaks the floor with gasoline, then strikes a match. When he turns around, Lexa is walking into the hallway entrance. With his eyes fixed upon his twin sister’s, Alex drops the match. Lexa screams when the hallway bursts into flames.

  Carl opens the bedroom door, then slams it shut and he and Lisa run to the bedroom window. Alex runs out of the house and ignites the gasoline behind the cabin. Flames erupt immediately, blocking Carl and Lisa’s escape.

  Alex enters the house and finds Lexa near the hallway screaming through the orange flames for her parents. Carl and Lisa scream in agony from inside the burning bedroom. When Lexa turns around and sees Alex, she attacks him.

  “You’re killing Mommy and Daddy!” she screams. “You’re killing them!”

  Alex grips her by the arms. “I have to, Lexa. They were gonna split us up.”

  “I hate you, Alex. I hate you!”