Lilith:
I’m asking.
Reaver:
So ask then.
Rage flared inside me. Of course he was going to make this as painful as fucking possible. Absolutely fuming, I forced myself to type out what I knew he wanted me to say.
Lilith:
Reaver, may I please go to the store to get groceries?
Reaver:
No.
I screeched and nearly threw my phone across the fucking room when it vibrated, indicating that he had sent a second message.
Reaver:
Send me a list of what you need. I’ll go for you.
I frowned. This was… not what I had expected. He wanted to get my groceries for me? Fucking weirdo. I bit my lip but started typing. If he wanted to run my errands, that was fine with me. I sent him a list of all the things I needed, and he ‘liked’ my message.
Reaver:
Be there in twenty.
“This guy is deranged,” I muttered out loud to Chaos, who chirped at me in agreement. Shaking my head, I flipped on the TV and put on Gravestone Twenty-Four to listen to the news highlights. I dug through the cupboards to pull out the ingredients Ididhave to make the gnocchi. I was pretty much just missing the pumpkin puree and fresh sage for the sauce, but I had the sweet potatoes and the flour. So, I went to work making the dough for the little pillows while I waited for Reaver to show up with the rest of my ingredients.
I was just rolling the little gnocchi with a fork when my ears pricked at one of the highlights mentioned on TV.
In a chilling incident, thirty-two-year-old John Knox met a gruesome fate last night in an alley off Crypton Ave. Authorities responded to a midnight distress call and found Knox brutally dismembered, sending shockwaves through the community. A seemingly random and savage attack, the motive remains elusive. Knox was last seen leaving Voodoo on 5th after a night out. This is the second murder that has been attached to the notorious steakhouse; however, authorities have yet to comment on whether these two deaths are connected. As the investigation unfolds, fear grips the city, and residents demand answers about the safety of their streets.
I stopped what I was doing and rushed to the TV.
No. Fucking. WAY!
Yep, sure enough, there he was. Sara’s ex was staring back at me from a picture I’m sure his family had provided right there on the screen. In the picture, he was smiling and looked like a nice, average guy. Nothing in that smile betrayed him for the violence I knew he was capable of.
I felt a swell of happiness for a moment, knowing he wouldn’t be able to hurt Sara again, followed immediately by an aching sense of dread.
Fuck.
Ihad done that. I felt the blood drain from my face. This wasn’t like all the other times when I could blame it on my demon. I hadintentionallyset this man up to die. At the time, it had felt justified, but now…
I felt myself begin to shake. Now, I just feltguilty.Who was I to play God like that? Who was I to decide who lived or died? I had made a horrible mistake, and now John was dead. He would never have the opportunity to learn or grow or try to be a better person. I had taken all those chances away from him, and I hadn’t even thought twice about it.
Chaos meowed and rubbed against my legs as I stood frozen, staring at the TV. It was almost as if he could sense that I was about to pass out. I had seen somewhere that animals were sensitive to shit like that… maybe I should sit down.
Knock, knock, knock!
I nearly jumped out of my skin. My heart was pounding, and I whipped to face the door. I remembered suddenly that Reaver was on his way with my groceries.
I rushed to the door to let him in and found him leaning against the frame with a plastic bag and a smirk on his face. He took one look at me, and the smile dropped from his lips.
“What’s wrong?” he asked abruptly, straightening. He glanced over my shoulder and pushed past me as if he was going to find an intruder in the apartment. Almost immediately, he noticed John’s picture still on the TV and relaxed.
