The Dead Always Speak: Chapter One

                                                                                                                      Chapter One



  I stared at myself in the mirror. The person staring back at me is five feet tall and a hundred pounds. I guess that isn’t bad if that’s all people would see. The reflection showed jet black hair that was waist length and very straight. Eyes that were almond shaped with the most extraordinary light violet color most have ever seen. My mirror twin’s nose was tiny. The lips were full and red. My twin had a heart shaped face with a figure that usually had men panting in heat.

    Many considered me to be strikingly beautiful. I guess I was if I put a lot of faith into looks. Fact is beauty doesn’t last so why put so much into it and not into one’s soul. I just had my twenty - fifth birthday, though I tended to look younger than my real age. I knew that my looks caused a hell of a lot more problems than I cared to think about. Oh well time to get dressed, I blew a kiss at my twin, we both turned our backs on each other to look in the closet.

    “What am I going to wear today?” giggling at myself I rummaged through the closet. I’m always talking to myself. Who better to listen to me than me? I knew that one day men in little white coats will cart me off to the loony bin, at least I will have fun before I go. Giggling more I found my favorite pair of jeans and a red button down shirt. Just as I finished getting into my clothes my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Sergeant White calling me.

    Sergeant White’s name was Robert White but most people called him Bob. If you want to piss him off you can call him Bobby. If you do that though be prepared to get your ass kicked. Bob and I grew up together in a foster home. As far back as I can remember we have always been together. We weren’t brother and sister by blood. Though we were just as close, we had always watched out for one another.

      Bob was a very big boy. With his slightly wavy white blonde hair, sapphire blue eyes, large muscular frame, he could be the poster child for the all American boy. He didn’t have an ounce of fat on him. For all his sheer size he was fast when he wanted to be and a force to be reckoned with if anyone hurt someone he loved, mainly me.

  “What does he want I just want to enjoy my day today,” I picked up the phone and answered.

  “This is my day off I don’t get many so this had better be you asking me to lunch,”

“Hey Tenny, umm yeah actually it’s a request for you to come in. It isn’t like I have a choice, when crime happens it happens. Besides is it my fault that you are the best at what you do?” 

  “Yeah, well I don’t want to be. I just want a day off to go shopping or hell just to sleep all day if I wanted to.” I was being a bit snippy but it was true. I rarely got a day off anymore.

    “I know but we still need you. I can take you to dinner afterwards if you want.” Bob said soothingly.

    “Bet your ass you will. Ok so do I need to come down to the station?” I was resigned to my fate plus when Bob and I went out to dinner we always had a blast.

    Bob hesitated before talking “No, I need you to come to the victims’ house.”

  “The victims’ house, are you sure Bob. I mean I will if I need to, I’m just not sure if I can handle anything super disgusting,” I could already feel my stomach getting ready for a cleansing.

    “You can handle it Tenny, you’re a big tough girl,” I heard Bob laughing on the other end.

    “Ok smartass, if I throw up I’m going to make sure it lands on you,” I retorted.

Bob gave me the directions then we hung up. I went into my living room and grabbed my shoes. I felt the air stir next to me, I looked up, and just as I thought Seth was standing there.

    “Not now Seth, I’m in a hurry, I really can’t handle this discussion now, I have to leave.”

“Tenny, I don’t know why you fight me. I love you, we are meant to be together. Even Bob knows it,” Seth said in his rich deep voice making my knees quiver.

    “Seth, I don’t have time to hash this out with you right now. Can we talk about it later,” I was getting exasperated with him even if I did want to take him into my room to play for an hour or two.

    Seth was eyeing me suspiciously. “If you promise that we can really talk about this later then I’ll be quiet,”

    I noticed he said be quiet, not leave me alone. “I take it then that you’re going with me?”

    “Of course, in case you need me.”

    “Why would I need you at a crime scene? There are police all over the place what could possibly happen?” I was a bit less happy than I was when Bob first called. If Seth was coming with an ‘in case’ comment then whatever I was about to walk into was going to be bad. His next words confirmed my suspicions.

    “There is more than meets the eye with this case. I have very bad feelings about this. Whether you want me there or not I will be going,” he said in an extremely firm ‘you can’t stop me’ voice.

    “Fine, suit yourself,” secretly I was sort of glad he was going.

    I went out the door, got into my car and headed out to where Bob was waiting.





    I made my way to the older section of town. When I arrived I saw the reporters surrounding the front of a two story house. God, I hated reporters. They always got in the way just like ants at a picnic, especially the one that was making a beeline for me.

    His name is Matthew McHale. He is a reporter for The Town Paper. Matt was five feet four inches, a hundred fifty pounds and annoying as fleas on a dog. Matt was under the impression that he was irresistible to women. Matt had plain looks. They were okay if one liked stringy brown hair and eyes attached to a skinny body.

    “Hey Tenny, how are you?” he shouted at me. He seemed very cheery today. Of course when he had the scent of a good story he was always cheerful.

    “Not now Matt, I’m not in the mood for you nor do I have the time.”

    “Oh come now sweetie, if you’re here then something has happened, which always means a juicy story.”

    I raised an eyebrow at him. “Sweetie? I’m not your sweetie, if you call me that again I’ll make sure you won’t be able to enjoy any sweetie’s that may cross your path. I told you I’ve nothing to say to you. Hell, Matt I just got here.”

    “Ok, I’ll let you off the hook for now. I’ll want an exclusive interview later babe,” he said with a cheeky grin. He did make a hasty retreat when I took an aggressive step towards him.

    I spotted Bob walking towards me which made me happy because that little twit was lurking around the bushes just waiting to ambush me.

    “Hey Tenny,” Bob greeted me with a kiss on the cheek. “I see that our favorite reporter is skulking about.”

    “Yeah, I already had a run in with him. I’m telling you Bob one of these days I’m going to squash him like a bug if he buzzes around me again. He’s really annoying me,” I nodded my head so that Bob knew I was serious.

    “Down girl,” he chuckled.

    “By the way Seth’s here. He says this one is real bad,” I said changing the subject.

    “Good, I’m glad he’s here. Maybe he can see things we don’t,” There was a haunted look in Bob’s eyes that had me worried.

    “Is it really that bad?” concern laced my voice.

    Bob shuddered then rubbed his head like a headache was coming on.

    “God, Tenny this is awful. I need you to come in to look,”

Bob took one look at the face I made at the thought of going in to see a fresh crime scene. He quickly started to explain.

    “I know that you usually do this at the morgue. We feel that this is important. Seth’s right, this one is the worst I’ve seen since I’ve been on the force.”

    “Uh, Bob I’m not sure I can handle a fresh crime scene, I mean, yeah I’ve seen pictures of crime scenes, but this is so not something I want to do,” I knew that if Bob was this upset over what was in that house then I really didn’t want to go in.

    “I understand Tenny. Point is we need you on this one. Then depending on the outcome and your strength, may determine if this will become a permanent arrangement.” He sighed. I could tell he was hoping I would go along with it.

   

 

    The house was painted white with maroon colored trim. It kind of reminded me of those Victorian doll houses. The yard was huge and well taken care of. On either side of the house were two large weeping willows. Flowers lined the pathway like little runways.

    I walked into the house noticing that the inside was just as cared for as the outside. Bob led me through the house and up the slightly spiraled staircase.

    He took me into the master bedroom. He opened the most beautifully decorated set of French doors. The bedroom was huge, my whole kitchen plus living room could fit into it. To my left was a sitting room with a real fireplace. I looked around the room and saw a four poster bed.

    I’ve never seen a bed like this in my entire life. The posts were carved with fairies, unicorns and mermaids. The curtains were a mint green color which looked gorgeous with the dark cherry color of the wood.

    There was a mural that took up the entire wall next to the bed. On the mural was a garden full of all kinds of colored flowers and it had the same type of mythical creatures that decorated the bed posts. In the garden was a fountain with a Pegasus at the top. Around the fountain were marble benches. Sitting on one of these benches was an exquisite young lady. She had the longest hair I have ever seen. It was a lovely shade of strawberry blonde. Crowning her head was a bunch of flowers that were obviously gathered from the garden that surrounded this fairy princess. What drew my attention though were the eyes. They were the most amazing light green color. I started to walk closer to get a better look when Bob got my attention.

    “Tenny, over here,” He was standing on the other side of the bed holding one of the curtains aside.

    I walked over slowly. I really didn’t want to see what was on the other side of that curtain. I stood next to Bob and looked at the bed. What I saw shocked me to my core. Lying on the bed was a body.

    I was seeing what used to be a woman. She was on her back. Her hands were cuffed with a thick rope tied to cuffs so that her hands were above her head. One end of the rope was tied to one of the posts. The other end was tied to the other post. Her face had been beaten so badly that it was hardly recognizable as a face.

    The woman’s body was mutilated beyond anything I had ever seen in any crime scene photo. The woman’s legs were spread wide apart and tied as well. Her hair was fanned out under her. It was the prettiest shade of strawberry blonde I have ever seen, even if most of it was covered in blood. Strawberry blonde! My eyes went to the lady in the mural.

    “Oh God, Bob is this the lady in the mural?” I was trying not to look at her.

    “Yes, this is Aurora Blaine.”

I noticed he was trying to avoid looking at the bed as well.

    “The Aurora Blaine? The one that writes those fantasy novels and the owner of the House of Elves restaurant,” I was talking just above a whisper. I remembered seeing her just a few nights ago. She was so full of life and so beautiful. I just couldn’t believe that this was the same woman.

    “Yep, the very one.”

I looked at her again. Something caught my eye up on the wall behind her. It looked like it was a message on there. It was written in blood.

    “Hey, Bob what’s that on the wall behind her?”

    “I’m glad you noticed that. Apparently the killer left us a message in Ms Blaine’s blood,” he said tightly.

    I read the message:

This is only the first, it won’t be the last

I felt all the blood drain from my face. “What does this mean?”

“We don’t know Tenny, which is why we need you to talk to her. See what clues she can give us,” Bob’s face was pinched. I could see that this murder had him rattled.

    I looked back at Aurora then whispered to her. “What the hell happened to you? What horrors did you go through?” I was having trouble breathing, my stomach choose that moment to inform me that I was about to get an encore performance of my breakfast.

    Bob was looking at me with a very worried face. “Do you think you can talk to her?”

“I-I can try” I squeaked out. I took several deep breaths got myself under control then tried talking.

    “Yes, I’ll see what she can tell us, if she can say anything at all. She may not due to the things she endured,” I turned to one of the officers that were in the room and asked for some scrubs.

    “Bob, do you have everything you need? If I get on the bed and move her it won’t disturb anything?” I needed to know because I was going to have to get on that blood soaked bed.

    “Yeah, the unit has already been here so you can do what you need to do. Tenny? We’ll need to video tape you talking to her. Will that distract you or cause any problems?”

    “No, it shouldn’t bother me. I’ll need most of the officers out so I can talk to her without her getting scared.” I put on the scrubs as Bob got the majority of the officers out of the room.

    When they were gone I turned back to Aurora.

    I took a deep breath to calm my nerves then climbed up onto the bed. I placed my hands on either side of Aurora’s poor abused head, and then centered myself. I took my energy and pulled it to my center. When my energy was gathered in my center I spindled it outward to connect to the realm world.

    The realm world is where souls go before they move on or stayed as ghosts. This is how I’m able to contact and speak with the dead.

    “Aurora, Aurora I need you to tell me what happened. Help us catch the person who did this to you. Can you do that? I’ll keep you safe, no one can hurt you anymore,” I could hear the strain and power in my voice as I talked to Aurora.

    I started glowing, this happens when I connected to the realm world. The glowing meant that the soul of the person I’m trying to reach is answering. They use my energy to communicate, the more energy I send the clearer the soul can talk.

    Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Bob and the officers that were left in the room jump when Aurora’s hollow voice came from her ravaged body.

    “I was sitting in my kitchen thinking about the new menu I was going to launch at the House of Elves. When there was a knock at my door. I answered the door, he was standing there. He had flowers. I invited him in. He asked if I had eaten yet, I said no. We ordered Chinese. After we ate I got up to clear the table then everything went black. When I woke up I was lying on my bed I couldn’t move my hands or legs very well. I can see him standing in front of me. He has a knife in his hand, he is aroused as well. He gets on top of me. I can feel him enter me then he raises the knife, he cuts my breast. No please don’t ….. NOOOOOOOOOO!” the body let out a shrill hollow scream. Abruptly the scream stopped. All I could hear was the officers breathing harshly and one saying shit.

    “Aurora, you’re okay, safe, no one can hurt you anymore. Can you tell me anything about this man?” I asked her in my most soothing, calm voice.

    “I’ve seen him around the restaurant. I did notice that he tended to show up at the same places I was at. This happened for a couple of months. I just thought that he was a fan of my books and wanted an autograph but was trying to work up the courage to ask me. I remember thinking he had the most beautiful bright blue eyes. I’m very tired I need to sleep, I’m going to sleep now,” then she was quiet.

    I pulled the energy back into myself absorbing the shock as it returned from the realm world. I took my hands off of Aurora’s head. I felt myself start to fall off of the bed. Bob moved quickly to catch me. I was in shock. I had felt everything that happened to Aurora. She didn’t say everything that happened to her but I was there feeling everything she had felt. All the fear, the pain all of it.

      “You okay? Tenny, Tenny?” Bob’s voice was getting louder waiting for me to answer.

    “Oh God, Oh shit, Bob I felt everything. He loved every minute of his torture of her. I could see and feel his joy. I went through it all, every sick evil thing he did to her. Bob, he’s pure evil,” my voice was whisper soft, my body was shaking so bad that my teeth were rattling.

    “Oh Tenny, I’m so sorry. Sweetheart, I have to ask. Could you see him at all?”

    I could see his face, he was horrified yet there was also a hopeful look. I knew he was hoping I could give him a description so he could arrest the bastard before he killed again.

    “No, he was blacked out in Aurora’s memories. All I could see were his eyes,”

    “Thank you for helping. I know this is hard on you. Seeing and feeling what happens to the victims. I.”

    I interrupted Bob. I’m going to help you find him. What he did to her, how he reveled in it, is just sick. He needs to be caught. I know he will do it again. She needs to know he’s caught so she can rest in peace,” I looked over at the body that once was Aurora Blaine. My voice was getting stronger, the shaking was starting to go away as the anger I felt for this bastard surged through me.

    “I’ll help you downstairs. Will you be able to make it to your car? I have to stay here a little longer.”

    “Yeah I’m fine, I can make it. Please don’t work too hard. I love you,” I gave him a kiss and hugged him tight. I didn’t care that it wasn’t professional we both needed that contact.

    I took one last look at Aurora Blaine then the mural on the wall. I will find him Aurora I promise you, I thought to myself. I turned went down the stairs and straight into Matt.





    He watched her get out of the car. That stupid reporter is getting in her way. He needs to leave her alone. Doesn’t that sorry excuse of a man know she is mine? He thought to himself. When she went into the house he patiently waited for her to come out.

    He knew she would talk to Aurora. He also knew that she wouldn’t get much information from her. He felt his lower body tighten at the thought of sweet Aurora, all the pleasure she gave him. He remembered the feel of her skin against his. His pleasure when he sucked on her breast as her blood ran from it. He loved feeling himself pushing into her, feeling her bucking underneath him trying to fight. The ecstasy of cutting her flesh with the knife, feeling the blood run over his hands. Seeing her fear when she realized that she wouldn’t survive the night. His release was powerful while he rode out her death throes. As he continued thinking about Aurora he started to rub himself. His thoughts switched over to her as he was getting close to his climax. Thinking about what he would do to her if he could, sent him over the edge.

    He just finished cleaning himself up when she came out of the house. She looked pale, good. She appreciates my work he thought. He swore when he saw that reporter corner her for the second time. I may have to take care of him. He needs to know she’s mine. He watched her deal with the reporter and head to her car. When she pulled away from the curb he followed her.

    He arrived at her house just in time to see her disappear behind the front door. Quietly, he went to her window. Watching her undress and walk into the bathroom excited him, he wanted her so badly. When he was sure that she was in the shower he went to her back door. He fiddled with the lock, when he heard it pop open he crept into the kitchen. He made his way to her bedroom. He took a deep breath to capture her scent. He walked to her bed and placed the present he brought her on her pillow. He left as quietly as he came in. He knew he would be back, he would claim what was already his.



    “Hey sexy, ready to give me my interview?” Matt was leaning on my car just waiting for me. I was really so not in the mood to deal with him.

    “Yeah Matt, you ready?” He quickly got out a small recorder.

    “Ready Babe,”

“Go screw yourself. I’m still not in the mood for you or your annoying questions,” I was gritting my teeth so hard I was afraid they would break.

    “Come now baby, all I want is to know what happened up there. We all know you talked to the victim. Which is none other than Ms Aurora Blaine, famous writer and restaurant owner,” Matt said smugly as he got off my car and walked toward me.

    “Back off Matt, I’m not kidding. On second thought, keep pissing me off, that way I’ll have an excuse to beat your ass,” I was glaring at him, if the saying ‘If looks could kill’ was true Matt would’ve been six feet under,

    “So hostile, ok honey, I’ll leave you for now. I’m gonna warn you, I’ll get my story, one way or another,” He blew me a kiss, and then winked. He walked over to one of the few officers that were left.

    I got into my car and went home. I tried not to think about Aurora. My mind however, decided otherwise. I kept thinking about that message. I’m not sure what it means, I do know that unless this guy was caught and soon more horrors are heading this way.

      I pulled into my driveway then went into the house. I went to the bathroom to start the shower. Turned and went into my room stripped my clothes off, brushed my hair, then stepped into the steamy hot shower. As the water was hitting me I started to cry. I cried for the horror of what Aurora went through. I cried for the nameless woman who was going to be next unless we caught the guy. After I had cried myself out, I washed my hair then stepped out of the shower. I wrapped my body in a towel I padded into my room.

    I stopped short. Lying on my bed was a bloody severed finger with a big diamond ring on it.