It's been a few weeks since the car accident and John looks like his arm is not healing, he looks pained a lot more often and I try to give him something for the pain but he just shakes his head at me.
"I can handle it. Your touch is better then any drug." He tells me smiling and I can't help but hold him closer to me. He has his follow up tomorrow and it he seems really bugged by it.
"John what's the matter? It's just a follow up, are you worried because it's still hurting you? You've broken bones before, you know it takes a while to heal. Is it really hurting that much?" I ask because his demeanor is really starting to concern me. He's not been the normal happy man I know. He's barely been the pervert I know, which is scaring me more so.
"I'm sorry Sin, I didn't mean to make you worry. I just keep going over things in my head and something is not right about the situation. When I was halfway through the turn I saw the van and I braked and swung the car the car the opposite way he would have been going. I feel like he didn't swerve but aimed to hit us. Why would someone try to hit us? We just got the car out of the shop, so if I was the target, it still shouldn't have happened. How would they know we'd be there at that time? It was my day off?"
He spilled a lot out on the table and a new dot formed to my previous questions with the council.
"We need to get the police report and make sure you go over things with them and there are cameras from our buildings parking lot, lets see if we can get a view of the intersection. We should look at the videos first before going to the SDPD."
John sits up more straight, "Sin, what are you thinking? You believe my intuition is right?"
Nodding to him, "Of course I believe your intuition, it helped you in marrying me, didn't it?" I bat my eyelashes a bit at him. "Seriously though, I have a hunch and need all the information on the driver we can get too."
"You can get some of his information from the insurance paperwork and copy of the report from the scene that day from the witnesses." He points to the stack of paperwork on the counter, before I can even move to get it he pops up and grabs it instead.
"Sorry, I just had certain things put a certain way for when I'm discussing things with the lawyer it makes it easier for me if I need to go to court." He explains when I'm looking at him weirdly for jumping up so fast.
"Okay, I wouldn't have tried to mess up the order of your paperwork honey." I'm a little taken aback, I guess I can mix things up a bit I guess, but I didn't think it was that bad. I get the information I need and hand the papers back and watch as he carefully puts them back in order.
"Thank you Honey. I'll go see what I can find out for now." He nods and puts his paperwork away while I go up to my office and start looking into this guy.
I open the door and notice right away there's a note on a weird looking piece of paper. I get closer and realize the paper is made of compressed dried leaves and plant fibers.
"Huh, that's weird." I mutter looking at it.
"John, BABE! Can you come here. Like, I'M HUNGRY NOW." I call out down the stairs. He comes jogging up the stairs and pauses when he's see's I'm on alert checking my surroundings.
"Sin...? He looks around and asks me, "What, are you that hungry? I can see about ordering out if you want?" (hungry= unknown situation) (ordering out=I've got your back)
He uses our code phrasing when a situation may have an unwelcome listener.
"Have you balanced the checkbook?" I nod to the shelf behind him.
(balanced the checkbook= have/need protection)
He turns to the shelf on the wall pressing the hidden button and grabs the .45 and extra magazine clip. "I checked it earlier, what do you feel like for dinner?" (checked it earlier=good to go) (feel/want for dinner= you take lead)
I notice John is having slight trouble holding the .45 in his right hand, he's a lefty and his arm is still broken. I motion for him to stay close to me as we do an entire sweep of the house and grounds. There's nothing, not a thing out of place or missing.
We go up to the office again and I put on gloves and carefully open the letter.
*****
'Be cautious of what you seek, there is a greater evil playing meek,
waiting to catch once you're weak, that web of theirs turns life bleak.'
*****
"What the hell does this mean?" John asks rhetorically.
We look at it all over and don't see anything else. So I pull up the security footage of the entire house and we start scanning the footage since this morning.
"Wow, Sin I didn't realize you had so many cameras, all over the house. I can't even pick which ones to try and pay attention to." John looks a little blown away. I can't say I blame him, I have hidden cameras everywhere and microphones too. I'm leaving that part out, I don't listen unless there is a need to.
"Just look for movement of any kind, anywhere." I said splitting the multiple angled videos to the second screen next to the one I was on so we could look together. It took us a while before we saw anything.
"Hey Sin, I got something over here." He motioned for me to look at the hallway cameras video from just an hour before I came up the stairs.
I pulled it up full screen and sure enough there was something moving from our bedroom to the office and then back out again. It was small and the letter was wider then it but it was as tall as a toddler. We look at each other and in unison said.... "FAE."
We went on to checking the bedroom videos and it had came through the open balcony door and left the same way. Sinatra sat watching it on the bed as it went by to the office. When it came back Sinatra sat up and the little elf stopped, went over and petted Sinatra like nothing. It then took off out the door of the balcony. I went back and turned the volume of the videos microphone all the way up and we listened as it came back.
Sinatra sat up and meowed. That's when the elf went and petted him again crooning to Sinatra, "Good little kitty, mistress likes kitty too, be good kitty, keep her safe. Bye Kitty." Before taking off and Sinatra meowing sounding sad and laying back down.
John is looking at the video weirdly and I knowing the time now, look to the office video and pull it up with the sound.
You see the door open farther before the elf comes in and puts the letter on the desk talking softly to him self. "Quickly, mistress said quickly." It goes to leave stopping and bowing to the wall, "Mistress." It then heads out the door and we know what happened after that.
I save the time slots of video and audio and put them in my documents folder marked 'tagged'. John is looking over my shoulder as I'm doing this and before I can exit out he stops my hand.
"What's in the folder marked 'Memories'?"
'Damn it, I've been found out.' Is all I can think. I figure I might as well and open up the folder.
There's video and audio clips and pictures as well in the folder, some marked as just dates, while others have titles.
"Click on 'SMJ Great' for me Mary." I'm turning beat red as a video and audio come up of one of the times John is punishing me in a way I really liked. Hearing the sound and watching it was making me heat up again.
John cleared his throat. "That was a lot of fun. Can you go back to the one marked '1st L J '?" I pull it up as he asked and its the video of the night he first told me he loved me and he knows now I have a camera on my headboard somewhere. I'm embarrassed and know that's there no point in trying to say anything if he feels uncomfortable now.
"Let me see one last one, 'JMC fun'." I show him and its video of Cass, John and I horsing off together around the house. He takes a deep breath sitting on the desk and looks up at the ceiling.
"Do you watch and listen to everything around here?" He looks me dead in the eyes.
"NO, I only go back and save the days that I don't want to ever forget." I say honestly, "I have never listened to any private conversations with this and do not plan to. I started this when Sarah could still come over so I would have good times with her to remember." He looks back up to the ceiling.
"When did you start recording us?" He's still looking at the ceiling. I'm not sure what's going through his mind.
"Since the first night." I tell him the truth, why lie, even though I feel guilty about not telling him before.
"Okay, we can talk about this later. Now why would an Elf bring you a warning letter? What is it implying to when it says 'be cautious of what you seek, a greater evil is playing meek?' "
He starts to pace a little thinking and I'm kind of flabbergasted he switched lanes so quick, but he's right, the letter is more pressing at the moment. I read it over again and again.
"In the video it says Mistress, must be quick. Then bowed to the wall before leaving." I go to look to where it was bowing and John cuts in.
"It bowed and said 'Mistress.'"
I gaze at the wall and stop because it's the picture I painted of the fairy, only she's not there on the canvas. Where she was is an empty spot with the background of the cave and light being the only thing visible.
My heart starts to race and I look at John wide eyed, "How did.? Where...?" The words come flustered and I can't make a coherent sentence. John is looking away from me at the wall and I reach for him as the colors in the corner of my eyes start to darken.
"John!" I keep reaching for him but he keeps getting farther away. I finally am able to grab him and he looks at eyes wide and blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. That's when I see it.
Blood it's everywhere, my hands, clothes, and all around me. Then the intense, agony and pain sinks into me and I scream in anguish.