The Trench

Chapter 35 - Red Romper

3 Months Later

After a long day of shopping I finally pull the truck back into the parking lot beside my building. The mall was packed due to it being a few days before Christmas, and like the procrastinator I am I hadn't gotten Austin anything. With the crowds and the cheer, and the awful holiday music I've never been much for Christmas. After my brother died it made it that much worse to deal with every year and I put it off as long as I can.

After hours of wandering aimlessly for any sort of gift idea, I had ended up buying Austin a Christmas ornament that looks exactly like his car and some lingerie from a store Taylor forced me to go into.  Several minutes of looking down isles and having some friendly banter with the elderly woman working the counter, she finally helped me find a super cute red romper. Made entirely of lace and entirely too short. Both Taylor and the woman demanded I try it on, and I have to admit I looked pretty hot; so I bought it.

Taylor, Aimee, and I had agreed no gifts between us; just a girls night before Christmas would work before Aimee leaves for her parents house. Although we usually spend all of our time together nowadays anyway so there really wasn't even a difference. I had done some online shopping for my parents and had their gifts shipped, so that's done. I had also gone to the tack shop and bought Titan and Hallow their favorite treats. Titan loved peppermints, so I bought him peppermint flavored horse cookies, while Hallow loved anything with molasses, so she got some homemade, soft molasses cookies.

Exhausted, Taylor and I fling the already unlocked door open with the smell of food greeting us. I look into the kitchen and Aimee was already here, making use of the spare key I had given her for emergencies. However, if she was going to sneak in and make food I wasn't going to complain.

I shut the door loudly and she jumps, whipping around with a spatula in her hand. The shocked look on her face immediately replaced with a greeting smile.

"Oh hey! I decided to come over earlier than expected. I made lasagna." She beams at us and turns back around finishing cutting the dish into squares. I walk over and look inside the pan and my stomach instantly grumbles it's agreement.

"Look what Miss Riley bought Austin." Taylor teases, holding my lace romper in the air for Aimee to see. She raises her eyebrows and turns to look at me, a bewildered expression on her face.

"Riley, Austin is a decent looking man but I really don't think that's his style." She says seriously and I swat her arm playfully as she grins before turning to grab some plates from the cabinet.

"I'm going to go change." Taylor heads into her room at the end of the hall. After staying over a month, Taylor decided she wanted to stay here permanently. After discussing it with her mom, she gave her blessing and we began decorating her room. I moved my computer and desk into my bedroom and went out and got a bed for her. The bed I leased through a local company, however Aimee had found the dresser in an estate sale for twenty bucks. After sanding it down and painting it, and adding new bronze handles, it was now a distressed white color that matched my vanity that was still in her room.

I took comfort in having another person living here. I've never lived on my own and even though I had gotten used to it, it was still nice to know I wasn't alone. Austin came over often, but it was still way too early to even think about being roommates.

"She also gave into the sales pitch the old lady working the counter gave us, and bought two bottles of caramel coffee flavored lube." I look at her and raise my eyebrows at her confused expression. She sat there a moment before responding.

"You mean she bought delicious lube and didn't even ask if I wanted any?" She imitated a disappointed look towards Taylor as she walked back in the room. Taylor rolled her eyes and tossed Aimee a bottle and she grinned as she caught it.

"Now I have something fun to use with Amber this weekend." She smirks as she dishes out lasagna on three different plates, Taylor and I looking at her quizzically wondering who Amber was.

She uses her previous waitressing skills and takes all three plates into the living room and sets them on the coffee table and comes back in and carries the three sodas out. She stops and looks at us as we're patiently waiting for her to explain. She shrugs and puts her hands on her hips.

"I guess I forgot to mention her, I met her at that frat party a few months back. That girl from the bar, Jess, had come to the party and got super drunk so I was watching over her in the bathroom. We got ahold of her sister, who was actually way cuter than Jess and apparently actually interested in girls, and she texted me a few weeks ago. I had called her from my phone because Jess lost hers, we've been on a few dates and I think I really like her." Aimee blushes and smiles at the floor and she fiddles with her fingers in front of her.

"Damn girl, get it get it." Taylor playfully elbows Aimee before walking into the living room and flipping the TV on. "What movie are we watching..."

She's silenced by the news reporter on the local station, the face we've come to know over the past four months. The older woman is always the one on air when bad news comes forth, quietly she motions for us and turns the volume up.

"As murders across the area are steadily rising in number, the FBI and police force have been diligently working to determine a modus operandi, or a M.O., for the suspect. Finally, Chief Wessler has agreed upon releasing a statement including their findings in this case. Here's the footage." Her grim expression is replaced by the reporters camera footage from a press conference dated this morning. A large dark complected man stood at a podium flanked by security, the news banner at the bottom of the screen labeled this man as the chief.

"I would like to start off by giving my full condolences to the families and friends of the victims. All seven of the young lives lost these past few months have been tragic. That being said I feel as if we're getting closer with our evidence. There are a few things these people had in common: gender, physical appearance, and age. We believe the suspect is targeting men in their early to late twenties, all victims have light brown hair and blue eyes with a slender athletic build. The victims in this case were all shot from behind or from the side, which leads us to believe the suspect is targeting a certain someone or taking something out on look-alikes for this certain someone. If anyone has any evidence, or leads, that you think may be of some use please call your local police department."

Without words Taylor slips the dvd into the player underneath the TV, I walk into my bedroom to half-heartedly change into some pajamas for out movie night. As I pass by the window I see Kane leaving again, dressed in all black like he usually is nowadays. However this time he doesn't get in his car, he gets into a black Lincoln parked on the side of the road and it eases into the street.

That kid is weird. I think to myself as I walk back into the living room and devour my lasagna.