Devil in the Details

Chapter Seven

The cool breeze carried the scent of decaying leaves. Evelyn took a deep breath and tried to relax, turning to look at her surroundings. Every house nearby had some kind of outdoor light on, brightening up their porches and lawns. There weren't many cars parked in the driveways, most people having chosen the safety of their garages instead. People didn't feel safe, and that was fair after the press conference. There was a killer on the loose. The gun shops would be packed first- then, come Sunday, the churches. That was how small towns like Garret Falls dealt with these sorts of things.

A soft noise drew Evelyn's attention, and she turned, looking for the source. Immediately, her eyes widened, and she reached for her weapon. It wasn't there. Looking down, Evelyn realized she was in her pajamas. She looked back up, confused. Splashed across the bright white garage door in front of her, in big, bloody letters, was the word 'WHORE'. The noise came again. Evelyn leaned to the side, trying to find the cause without walking between the vehicles. There was plenty of room there for an attacker to hide.

Instead, she found a woman. Her body was laid out in front of the vehicles, not easily seen from the street where Evelyn stood. The killer had pushed her shirt up around her neck but had left her bra intact. She had the usual cuts, a H carved into her torso with the skin laid open for the world to see her insides. Her eyes were closed, this time. There was no look of abject fear permanently etched on her face, only emptiness. Her short blonde hair was tousled, sticking to the blood pooling on the concrete. Her lipstick had been smeared across one cheek. She had been beautiful in life. Evelyn reached for her radio out of habit. She stopped when she heard the noise again. She looked around, allowing her eyes to adjust to the light.

The same woman stood not far off, but she wasn't paying attention to Evelyn at all. This was another dream. Instead, she was standing at the corner of the garage, looking toward the house. Her big blue eyes filled with tears. She looked over at Evelyn as she approached. She was making her way around the bloody mess to stand beside the corpse.

"Can you talk too?" she asked. The woman did not answer, just continued to look around the garage. Evelyn looked with her. Through the large picture window, she could see two small forms curled up at opposite ends of an overstuffed couch. They slept in front of an enormous television. A video game was paused on the screen, but gave enough light to see. The sound came again and Evelyn looked back at the woman, confused for a moment. She was crying. She looked away from the children and to Evelyn.

"Please don't let them find me." She said in that same echoing voice. Evelyn blinked and looked back at the kids and at the body. "Please don't let them find me." the corpse repeated, "I don't want them to be scared. You can't let them find me."

"Who did this to you?" Evelyn asked. The corpse turned and looked back through the window. Evelyn sighed, shaking her head, and reached out to touch the woman's shoulder. She repeated the question. "Who did this to you?"

"I don't know." the woman replied. "I saw him hiding there when I got home." She gestured toward the vehicles. "I thought it was one of the children, trying to frighten me. I pretended not to see." She looked forward again. "Please, please don't let them find me." She let out a sob, lowering her head for a moment, "don't let them remember me like this."

Evelyn sat up with a gasp, taking several deep breaths to steady herself. It took a moment to shake the feeling of having been outside. It had been another nightmare. She looked to the side, trying to make excuses for this one. She was cold because she'd been laying in front of the fan. The night before, she had had too much to drink. Besides, ghosts weren't real. If they were, she would have seen her mom. Or, if they were real, she would have seen the ghosts of the victims she'd seen before. She was not seeing dead people. Her life was not a horror movie. She didn't even like horror movies.