The Killer Among Us

Chapter 33

Six days left

Jacob

The idyllic landscape that stretched out in front of me left me with nothing but a feeling of bitterness. Dawn was slowly painting everything in a golden glow. How could beauty like that exist when everything in my life was ugly, void of meaning, void of sense? Why was it that I was sitting in a tin box, looking out into nature, untouched by my tragedy?

I fumbled through my glovebox, looking for that all too familiar sound of the rattling Adderall. When I finally found a pillbox that wasn't empty, I popped a few pills, leaning back in my driver's seat and letting the sweet numbness soothe my brain.

Now that Eddie was gone, I needed to find someone else to help me. If I had learned anything from trying to fight this on my own, it would have been that I was too limited, too useless, to protect the ones I loved. However, the only option that I had left, didn't please me. If anything, it worried me.

Trust doesn't come easy to me and I wasn't sure if there was a part of me still willing to trust anyone. The loss of Eddie left a gaping hole in my chest, one that couldn't be filled with anything and I knew that.

I wasn't trying to replace him or shift the responsibility of his death away from me.

The only thing I tried to accomplish by doing what I did next was to not lose my sister too. I wasn't sure if I could take another loss, another death on my conscience.

My engine revved as I turned the ignition, hitting the road once again. Eddie's blood still stained my hands, reminding me that what I was doing was no longer just about Aria, no longer just about survival. I thirsted for retribution as well.

As I dialed his number on my normal phone, Burke's words were etched on my mind, "I'm detective Isaac Burke of the Carlisle police department. I was assigned to your sister's case."

Eddie didn't like him and neither did I but he was the only one capable, and still willing, to help me. It was his job after all.

The dialing sound didn't ring for long before his confused voice called out for me, "Jacob?" he paused for a moment, "Is that you?"

Without missing a heartbeat, I sighed, "Yes, did you not expect me to come to you for help?"

He chuckled softly, comforting me with his laidback attitude. Playing along with the joke, he answered, "No, not that soon at least."

I looked out the window, taking in the unfamiliar scenery before me. Tall oak trees and wet asphalt were some of my favorite things and yet they didn't bring me any joy. The roads were relatively quiet, only a few cars drove down the road every now and then, and I maintained a steady speed, not wanting to stick out and raise suspicion.

"Can you help me find her?" I asked after a few seconds, desperation clear in my words.

In classic detective fashion he promptly responded, "Yes, Jacob. I can help you. But in order to do that, I need you to help me, okay?"

I thought for a moment, contemplating simply hanging up the phone and not risk getting involved with the police. The last time I tried didn't end well, after all.

"Tell me, Detective. Why haven't you caught him yet?"

Not stung by the directness of my question, he responded, "To understand that, you need to understand that this killer is on a personal rampage. He -"

Instantly, I interrupted him, "What makes you think that?" I needed answers and most of all I needed to know if he could give them to me.

When I looked into my rearview mirror, I noticed that the car behind me was driving a little too close and so I checked to see if I was going below the speed limit but quickly determined that I wasn't. I squinted my eyes in confusion.