OBSESSION
Part 1
(April 9th-2:43 AM)
The night was so quiet and still it could almost make one think they were walking down the street in a ghost town instead of one in NJ. This was the first real thought to enter Ray's mind since leaving Gee's birthday party to walk home 10 minutes ago. What a party it had been! Who knew Lynz could throw together a surprise like that on such short notice? That woman of Gerard's knows how to put things together fast. And before Ray could even think to stop it, an image of Christa popped passed all of the defenses inside of his head. Her face showed itself like a beautiful painting behind his eyes. Nothing he tried could push her face away. He couldn't ignore it anymore than someone could a damn pink elephant standing right in the middle of their home. Try as he might to not think of his murdered wife, she was refusing to go. Not even all the alcohol he and Frank had downed tonight numbed the pain.
(5 minutes later)
Ray Toro walked up the empty driveway and straight to the front door of his now lonely house. Out of his pocket he pulled a brass key that dangled from Christa's old key ring.
He watched the street lamp's glow shine on the gold C as he placed the key into the lock. And just as he started to slowly turn the knob he heard the footsteps behind him. For a brief moment the sound touched his ears. Then he heard nothing as the ground came up to meet him. There was no flash of pain. There was no time for it. One second he was standing on the doorstep. And then the next he feel into blackness.
(Sometime Later That Night)
Ray awoke to total silence and a very sinister headache. It felt like someone had hit him with a baseball bat. Trying to sit up he quickly realized that his hands and feet were both tied tightly behind him. Rolling his body over to his side he felt the soft texture of carpet against his bare arms. Trying to figure out if he was still in his own home, Ray lifted his blurry eyes to stare into the dark. A quick flicker of light drew all of his attention to a chair on the other side of the room. There in the chair sat a dark figure smoking a cigarette. Although the face was to shadowed to be seen, he could still make out the stranger's small formed outline. The smoker's form was so small that Ray knew this was either a very short man or a woman sitting in the chair.
"Are you comfortable?"
The voice sounded almost like a child's. Ray realized this intruder was a woman after all. For a split second he thought about not saying a word and letting her think he had just simply rolled over while still knocked out. But he needed answers damnit!
"Who are you? Where are we?'
"You're awake then? I was beginning to think I'd hit you a little to hard. Sorry about that."
"Who are you? And what the hell do you want?"
"Oh, I'm Lora. I'm so happy to finally see you Ray. I've been dreaming of this moment. I'm your biggest fan."
Ray realized real damned fast that he had been taken hostage by a crazed fan. And held hostage in his own fucking house to add insult to the situation.
"So, what do you want Lora?"
"Oh, I want you of course. I've come all the way from Britton for you."
"Britton?"
"Yes, it's a very small town just outside of London. I saw you play in a theater there years ago. But, that was before the world saw how talented you really are."
"Lora..."
"Stop! Just don't say another word right now, ok? Let me explain."
Just as fast as Ray could blink a table lamp was turned on beside the chair. Now at last he saw her. She was very small, almost doll like. Her hair a light shade of blond hang all the way to her tiny waist. Her watching eyes seemed to shine a bright blue. In her hand she still held the burning cigarette. She wore dark faded jeans with a plain black shirt and matching running shoes. She couldn't possibly be over a hundred pounds. This girl didn't look like she would be able to hurt a damned fly let alone him. Watching her stand up from the chair Ray wondered just what the hell she'd hit him with. He was positive it couldn't have been her fist.
"Now where do I start?", the doll asked while putting out the forgotten cigarette.
"Like I already side, I am your biggest fan. I saved up for nearly 2years to come to you. I sent you a letter every week telling you it wouldn't be much longer. So, imagine my surprise and hurt when I arrived to discover that you'd already married someone else. How could you? I wrote that I was still coming. I've waited years to be with you. Why couldn't you do the same? What did that woman give you that I can't? Did she say she loved you? Was that it? There's no way she'd ever be able to love you more than me. You're my world Ray. And I will be yours. You really should have waited for me."
OBSESSION
Part 2
Really looking at her face in the lamp's glow, Ray could see that Lora was very serious. This living doll thought she loved him. If he wasn't sure that he was fucked before, he sure as hell was now. This sucked!
"Would you like for me to help you sit up?"
The words were hardly out of her mouth before she began to cross the room. Walking towards him, Ray could see the very big knife she left sitting on the chair. And it was no butter knife. It looked liked she could've borrowed it from Jason Vorhies himself.
Yeah, this really sucked!
Placing her hands on his tense shoulders, Lora quickly pulled Ray up into a not so comfortable sitting position and leaned his body back up against the front of the couch. Ray's whole body felt like a fucking piece of origami. Pushed back into the couch, his tied up arms dug quite badly into his spine. His legs were laid straight out in front of him completely useless in their bondage.
"Now, isn't that better? Lying on the floor didn't look like much fun."
"Being tied up in my own house isn't exactly much fun either."
"I'm not taking the ties off. Not yet anyway. First we're going to have a little talk."
"About what?"
"Why, about us of course. What did you think I meant? We have to work this out Ray. And, I'm afraid our time to do so is running out fast."
The mere mention of time running out froze Ray's pulsing blood inside his veins. This situation just went beyond sucking, and right into screwed.
"You really don't understand my point of view do you? Look in my eyes Ray. Take a really good look if you can. Can't you see how much you mean to me there? Can't you see my heart is in my eyes for you? "
"Lora! I know you believe you're in love with me. But, you don't even know me. Hell, if you did you probably wouldn't even like me very much. I'm not exactly the most likeable person around."
"You think you're not likeable? Well, you are. Do you think you're not loveable too? You make it so damn easy to love you. And you don't even see it. How could you think I wouldn't care for you? I've crossed an ocean to be with you. I've left my home and family for you. I've killed for you. Doesn't that show you what love I have for you?"
"Killed?" With that one small word Ray's whole world shattered. He felt it in his bones. He knew it in his very soul. The message she killed Christa was cut into the mirrors inside his mind. And, those mirrors where shattering into confetti pieces as made-up images of this girl repeatedly stabbing his wife played like a silent picture show in his head. It was like she reached in and punched at the insides of his mind with her fists.
"Why, yes I killed her. I won't deny it. Why should I hide it from you? I will never hide anything from you. I am yours and you are mine. That's the way it should be. And that woman was is our way. She was trying very hard to come between us. I asked her nicely to leave you alone. I even begged her too. But she wouldn't listen to reason. And when she said she was your wife and would always be your wife, I got a little mad. I wasn't in a nice mood anymore. She wanted you and wouldn't go away. And you wanted to be loved so badly that you fell for her trap. It's ok though. I forgive you. Besides, she's all gone. Now it's just you and me."
Losing his battle to fight back tears Ray began to cry. Christa was gone. His Christa was dead. She had been murdered by this sick child.
And for what reason?
For him?
His wife was dead because of him?
Because she loved him?
Because she had said yes when he had asked her to marry him?
NO! Christa was gone because of Lora. No matter how crushed Ray was he had to remember that. He had to know that Christa's blood lay on Lora's hands and not his. Christa's death was all on her.
"YOU MURDERED MY WIFE."
"Of course I did. I already told you that."
"Why? I loved her."
"No you didn't love her Ray. She may have made you think you did. She may have used pretty words, a smile, a touch, maybe even sex to convince you of it. But, it was never true. You only thought it was love because you want to feel loved. It's alright baby, I understand that you were alone. She kept you happy when I couldn't be here to do it myself. I would have thanked her for it if she would've just known when it was her time to leave. She really didn't know her place."
"She was my wife. Her place was with me. You took her away from me."
"No, she tried to take my place. I'm supposed to be with you. We're supposed to be together. And now we will be. That I promise you."
Part 3
As Ray failed to stop tears falling from his eyes Lora moved away unnoticed. His vision was so blurry that he didn't make out the shape of the knife in her hand until the moment she held it up right under his nose. That was when realization set in. Lora wasn't here to just be with him. She was here to kill him. The phrase "if I can't have you then no one else will", came rushing into his mind like a tidal wave. This was as bad as it could be.
"Now, what are we going to do?"
"What do you mean? You're the one with the blade not me. I'm the one who's tied up remember?"
"Yes you are. I would untie those for you but, I don't think we see eye to eye yet. I don't think you understand that this is fate. We are meant to be. I knew it from the first moment I saw you in that tiny theater. I felt the weight of it as I watched you play on stage. And I knew you felt it too when you turned and smiled at me. Why don't you remember? Why have you forgotten me?"
"I don't even know who you are. So how the hell could I remember all that bullshit?"
"DON'T SAY THAT! "
"It's true. When are you gonna get it through your head Lora? I don't love you."
No sooner had the words rolled off his tongue than Ray felt the sudden impact of a fist against his left check. The strike sent his head reeling sideways to collide with the couch's metal frame. A painful throbbing quickly took hold of his skull. Lora had put a hell of a lot of force behind that blow. She was definitely much stronger than Ray had imagined her being. And to make matters worse she was now extremely pissed.
"How dare you? How could you? Why would you say such things to me? After all I've done for us you want to throw everything away? Well, that's not going to happen. I won't let it."
Faster than Ray could blink his eyes Lora had reached out and taken hold of the front of his shirt with one hand while keeping the knife tightly griped in the other. The shinning blade was now only an inch away from his throat. With just a flick of her wrist Lora could very easily pull the blade across his neck. If she were to slit his throat he was dead. With his hands still tied there would be no way to fight her off. With his legs still laid out in front of him bond together he couldn't run. However he could try to bend and pull them up. The thought of trying it shot into his head like a bullet from a gun. While Lora stood there bent over his body smiling like a crazed Barbie doll Ray forced his numb legs to bend at the knees. And just as she started to press the tip of the knife to his skin Ray kicked up with every ounce of energy he had. His left knee came up quickly to connect with the underside of Lora's chin. Ray could have sworn he heard a loud crack at the moment of impact. Lora was flung at least three feet away while the knife feel right into his lap. Turning his body slightly sideways Ray forced the blade to fall to the floor just within reach of his tied hands. He grabbed the weapon and quickly began to push its tip in between the loops of the rope. He felt the smallest sting as the blade cut him along with the cord. Not thinking about the blood running through his working fingers Ray continued to push and pull the knife against the cords until at last he felt them snap apart. Bringing both hands in front of him he griped at the cord still wrapped around his legs to cut. Within seconds the rope gave way and he was free to move around and fight back. With blade in hand he was the one armed now.
Jumping to his feet Ray spun around in mid air to face his wife's murderer. But when his eyes fell upon the spot where Lora should have laid he found her standing to face him instead. Her eyes were red and watery. Her hair looked a tangled mess atop her head. The shirt she wore was torn in places. And her jaw appeared to be slightly off balance with the rest of her face. It had to be knocked outta place.
"So this is how we end then? Will you kill me Ray?"
Ray couldn't think of what to say to that. He wanted nothing more than to hurt her like she did Christa. But standing there in front of him Lora looked like a beaten down child. He couldn't hurt her. He couldn't bring himself to do it. He just didn't have it in him to kill her. And he knew Christa would never want him to become a murderer.
"Why don't you do it? Go ahead Ray, kill me. Let me go."
"Do you want to die?"
"If you're not with me than I am already dead. If you don't want me than why should I live? I live for you. My every breath keeps me alive just for you. Please, if you don't love me let me go."
"I can't kill Lora. I'm no murderer. I don't have it inside me to hurt you even for what you've done. You will pay the price for Christa;s death. Make no mistake about that. I will see you put away. And one day I will see you die for it."
Lora stood like a cemetery statue just feet away from him. She kept her head held high but her eyes to the ground. She had to know that it was over.
Ray turned towards the phone sitting beside the chair that he had first saw Lora sitting in. His every intention was to call 911 and be done with this. His attention was so focused on reaching for the receiver that he didn't realize Lora was lunging at him until he heard her scream out. Without thinking and only reacting Ray spun his self around to face her head on forgetting that he still held the blade. Only when Lora landed against his chest and the blade slid into hers did Ray remember the knife.
Lora's body lay against him like a rag doll while her blood flowed out onto his clothes. Held completely still from shock Ray looked down at her face as she slowly brought it up to his own. Her pink lips were a mere inch from his. Ray watched transfixed as Lora parted her lips to speak.
" I lovvve y ou Ray. Pleasssse love meee?"
Her voice was no longer childlike. It was now pleading and barely a whisper to his ears. Her eyes were glazed and begging for an answer as she stared up into his face.
"Pleassssssse Rayyy?"
Holding her dying body to his he felt the exact moment all life left it behind. He watched the light go out in her eyes, all color drain from her face, and his name die on her lips. His name was her last word. It was spoken with her very last breath. Ray knew that in Lora's mind she would have thought of it as giving her last breath to him as a gift. The thought of that both sickened him and touched him. Death was not a pretty thing. During this whole ordeal he had wished to watch her die for Christa. He thought it only fair. Thought it would even please him in some twisted form of revenge. But her death brought no solace to him. It held no joy for him. It gave him no sense of healing. Instead it wounded him. Why were two lives wasted so wrongly? Why did two women dye because of him? He knew it made no logical sense to think that way. But feel that way he did. For many years after this horrible night visions of these two women would haunt his dreams. Every so often both his loving Christa and The tortured Lora would invade his sleep to simply stare in wonder at the man they both loved till the days they died. And all Ray could do was watch them stare until at last he would awake alone and heartbroken after every visit.
(Finished)
