After a grueling day at work,especially after Dan's fifteen minute long disapproval of her usual lateness,Leah sat back on a bus seat and retrieved her notepad and headset from her bag. Her rainforest came growing back as she played natural sounds against a rainy background. There was something about hearing chirping insects and cawing animals,heavy winds slapping trees,a great downpour of rain and the never ending rolling thunders which grumbled at intervals that soothed her. It also kept her in the zone. The bus moved now and timing herself,she got to work. And as always,got lost in it.
It was almost midnight when she woke up,still in the bus, having drifted off somewhere in between writing about the kiss Bella,her British female lead had shared with Arthur and concentrating hard to figure out which insect chirped a particular way. Luckily,the driver hadn't locked her inside the bus and seemed surprised someone was still in. The old man had tapped her up a little roughly,probably pissed at her unwanted presence.
"I'm terribly sorry,sir" Leah apologised again after directions to the closest motel was given to her. Far from home,she set out clutching her flannel jacket- which seemed too light now- to herself with her bag in front of her. Her head kept going one eighty degrees;the fright in her stronger than the cold she felt.
With forced breaths and lingering fear,she kept nudging herself forward. The night air was too cold and the sky seemed lifeless. It was all houses,too quiet houses. Then again,it was past midnight. She tried looking at the bright side before she scared herself with one of those creatures from the horror movies she had always binge watched. A night walk was vital to one's wellbeing. If only she could stop being so anxious,she may better appreciate the solitude. Except,she didn't like the quiet right now.
A scream,however, shattered the illusion of quiet. It sounded pretty close so she turned around under reflex and walked faster,only turning back towards the scream when she realised she was heading back to the bus station. She most certainly couldn't pass the night at the station. It was safer to get to a motel. Right? Maybe not? It'll be easy;she just had to go past the sound. It was moonless anyways so she could do it,she thought in a desperate bid to quieten her nerves.
'Help' A female voice called out again and a short but pain filled 'ah' followed. Leah was scared to her bones but she kept walking away from the station and towards the source as that was the only way to the motel she had been directed to. The road seemed too long! She wrote bravery in all her books,it surprised her to catch herself swallowing a lump and knotting her stomach in fear. She prayed she didn't pee herself out. Stealthily,she walked past the start of the dark alley where the scream had sounded from;only stopping when a gunshot boomed. She whipped her head towards the alley but was unable,still,to see anything. She heard a body drop and what sounded like a 3 year old cry. A scream left her lungs before she could rein it back in.
Her mind registered the foolishnesses of screaming and simultaneously, her legs quickened to scurry out of there. She ran. Leah knew when they pursued after her. The steps were too uncoordinated to belong to just one person. 'Help' She bellowed as she ran some more. Her bag,with her laptop and whatnot, weighed down on her. It slowed her considerably so without thought,she threw it away when she saw the main street up ahead.
In a loud voice,she beckoned for help again. The road was dead quiet and she ran scatteredly;just so they couldn't get an aim on her. They had killed with a gun. One of them must still be with it!
She whipped her head over her shoulder and surely,two guys on black leather jackets were hot on her heels. Her theory was up to date as she could make out the shape of a gun wrapped around the hand of the bigger man. The headlight of a car as it turned from an adjoining street made her almost break down in tears. She wove her hands frantically. The car halted in front of her. She wondered for a split second if the driver was one of them or a random person. The thought didn't last.
Boom! The gunshot rang through her head as the bullet went into her back. The last thing she remembered was the sad tears dropping off her face as she fell. She peed.
~
It was midnight. And it was moonless. The world was at a halt and the grave Dennis Hilton sat on was cold like Russia's January. Impossibly,it was the start of summer so the cold wave tonight was probably a tease from mother nature. Nature. Marilyn had always been in love with nature. And now,he brought some of nature to her.
He placed the bouquet of lilies on the grave and out of habit,began reciting how his month had been. "I got a new pet. She's a beautiful Rottweiler. Purely bred. I named her Nova,mainly because she's a Casanova. According to the pet store,she's always in love a new dog each week. I ended therapy last week;it's all so unnecessary. I burnt food twice this month but I've been eating more healthy. The house's quiet if we remove how loud Nova could get. My Nan went on a cruise with this guy she met,would you believe that!? She misses you too. Garrett's still a pain in the ass so I try to be same to him."
His hand rubbed on the headstone. "Your ma said how pretty your stone was." He suddenly turned introspective. His voice dropped more than two notches. "Are you okay where you are? Is it as cold there? Cause it feels like I'm freezing over here." He looked at the sky,empty as he felt.
"I would've gotten here earlier but I couldn't get a break on time." He stood up and placed his gun back in its holster. "I love you so much,May. And I miss you every single fucking day."
He turned to leave;only looking back at the grave to whisper goodbye and "I'll bring Nova next time. I hope you like the flowers."
The first thing he did when he got back into the car was to turn on the warmer. Feeling much normal,he started the car and drove off. The road was just as he liked it;no traffic. The loudness of the silence untainted by humans,specifically the loud ones in NYC.
He heard the gunshot first,paused a while before reversing to go after the source. He parked only a minute to remove his gun's safety then throw it onto the passenger's seat.
Taking a left turn,his headlight caught a woman running towards him. She seemed to hesitate one second and began waving like a mad person. The mistake she did was stop running;he saw her drop. She had being shot. All too soon,bullets shattered his window frame and headlights. He ducked quickly to retrieve his gun. He waited one minute but they didn't come towards the car. Or maybe they were? Maybe they were moving as slow as possible. Adjusting the seat backwards,he entered the back seat and stepped out quietly. His first shot hit one of the two guys. They took off but not without shooting back. That,he had expected so was fast to jump into the open car.
With his headlights off,he couldn't make out the men so he pursued after the sounds of their boots hitting gravel. The sound of an hydrant being hit made him run more carefully than quickly. The fuckers were shooting back at him. Water sprang out,a little wetting his hair and face. Taking his chances,he shot twice. The second bullet got the same guy he shot first or so he thought because of the frustrated 'sonofabitch' that escaped his mouth. They entered alleys and Dennis gave up when he kept running in circles. These guys knew the block too well...he lost them.
Suddenly remembering the shot woman,he changed course to run back to the main street. He kicked something -someone- and almost fell. There was a tear streaked on her eyes when he finally thought to turn on his flash. She had obviously been long dead.
Garrett picked on the first ring. "Jonas."
"Garrett,it's Hilton."
"It's fucking 1am. It better be worth it if you're taking me from bed."
"There's been a murder." He reported.