Unlucky Combination
It was ten thirty p.m. A time to what usually Juliet would already be in bed, sleeping to be fresh and strong for the next day. But today she was still awake. More than just not sleepy, she felt as if she could have worked double shifts and maybe she would have done that if she would have been allowed to. It would be a much better use of this energy she felt, than to sit at home and read a book.
But of course she knew that it was the only thing she could do. The energy she felt was no good to be used in the line of duty. If it had been natural it might have improved a lot of her work, especially in a pursuit. She felt as if she could run the marathon right here and now. But the energy she felt was not natural and if she would arrest someone in this state, the lawyers would probably call for a mistrial. Because they always called for wrongful accusations when the arresting police detective was under the influence of drugs. Even if it was just a medication to support the healing process.
It had been three days ago, since she had been shot. A robbery she and Carlton had been called to. The culprits had resisted and started to shoot. She had caught a bullet in the shoulder, right at the place where the bulletproofed vest had ended. Stupid. Just stupid. But it had happened. And all that was left for her to do was complaining about the old saying that it was just a fail that these vests didn´t have sleeves.
After she had went down, Carlton had quit trying to aim properly and had stuck to his own ancient wisdom: accuracy through volume. The robbers had been in custody barely five minutes later, each of them with a gunshot wound in the leg. The prize for shooting down Carlton Lassiter´s partner.
Juliet had been brought to hospital and within an hour after she had been bandaged, she had had at least five visitors. The first one had of course been Carlton. He had been waiting in the hall all along, what was the only reason why he had been faster than Shawn. He had been there just a few minutes after the doctors had finally released her from this torture they called so ironically treatment.
Carlton had just been about to tell her that they had booked the bastards that had shot her and that they would charge them with assault of a police detective along with armed robbery, when Shawn had rushed in. He had just pushed Carlton aside, probably not even noticing who he had pushed, and told her over and over again how glad he was that she was okay and apologizing even more often for not being there when it had happened.
It was probably the similarity in their relief that had kept Carlton from lecturing Shawn about pushing him aside when it was absolutely obvious that everything was fine. Or maybe her partner had just not wanted to break loose an argument while she was still lying in her sickbed. Either way, the two of them had gotten along with each other surprisingly well as long as they had been with her.
Carlton had said his goodbye pretty soon though. He knew she was all right and would go back to work now. So he had left and given them some privacy. This privacy had lasted ten minutes and then Gus had arrived. He had heard about the shooting on the radio and called the chief. When she had told him Juliet had been shot, he had quit his next appointment on his route to see her.
Another twenty minutes later it had been Henry who came in to see how she was doing. He had tried to pretend he was calm but she had seen the concern in his eyes. She told him she was fine and that the doctors had said she could leave hospital in a few days. He had smiled and patted her shoulder as if she were a wounded soldier. Slowly she had started to feel like one. Especially when even chief Vick had showed up some fifteen minutes later. Buzz had been with her. He had brought flowers. A bouquet of pinks, her favourite flowers.
She had thanked them all for their care they showed but after a while she had been glad that hospitals had visiting hours and that they were limited. Shawn of course had made full use of it until the last minute, before he had allowed the nurse to throw him out. When he had kissed her goodbye (Juliet not the nurse) he had whispered into her ear that he could camp in the waiting room if she wanted him to stay close. But she had assured him that she was fine and that he should go home. She would be back home herself in just a few days anyway.
That had been three days ago. The doctors had been pretty confident about her healing process. The bullet had went right through her muscle and her leucocytes did a good and efficient job with the closing of her wound. So they had given her some last supporting medication this morning and released her to go home. Shawn and Gus had driven her home and literally carried her up the stairs, despite her constant reminding that it was her shoulder and not her legs that were temporally disabled.
When she had been back in her own appartement she had lay down immediately and when she had woken up, she had learned that she had slept at least five hours. Probably a drug-induced nap. But now it was as already said, ten thirty and she felt not a bit sleepy anymore. Quiet the contrary. And to know that she was on leave for at least two more days, didn´t help to deal with this restlessness any better. She wanted to get out, to do something. But she also knew that there was no way. She would have to sit it out.
She stood up probably for the tenth time in the last fifteen minutes and walked through her appartement and into the kitchen. She wasn´t that thirsty but she got herself another glass of water anyway, just to have a reason to make this way. It was unbelievable but she really couldn´t sit still for long tonight. It was as if her nerves were on the edge and had forgotten to tell her that they would go there to begin with. That might be the reason why she almost jumped out of her skin when the phone started to ring right in the moment, when she passed it. Her hand flipped up along with her heart and half of the water jumped out of her glass. She skipped back and managed it to avoid most of it. It splashed down on the carpet instead. Good that she had only gotten a small glas, she thought. Another trick she had used to give herself excuses to stand up and occasionally walk into the kitchen. She breathed a tiny curse about her own jumpiness and then picked up the phone.
„Hello." she said.
„Jules." Shawn cheered on the other end. „Hey. I knew you would be awake."
„Oh, you knew that." she said.
„Yeah, the spirits told me."
„Oh, and did they also tell you that it is the first step to being a stalker to call your girlfriend in the middle of the night?" she teased him with a smile.
„You don´t wanna talk to me?" he asked.
„I didn´t say that."
„Then what?"
„Well … I don´t know. I´m sorry. I´m actually glad that you called. I can´t sleep and I think I´m starting to go crazy in here."
„Well, if that is so, why not going out for a while? Just you and me, what do you say?"
„Going out? Where? Is there a restaurant that is still open?"
„I wasn´t thinking of a restaurant." he said mysteriously.
„Then what?"
He told her what he had in mind and she frowned while listening to him. The idea was rather strange. There were a lot of places she could think of for a romantic meeting in the middle of the night, but the roof of a parking garage was certainly not on the list. She told him that but he only told her to trust him. He wanted to show her something and she wouldn´t regret it. Juliet surely was hesitant about this last part but she agreed anyway. This was Shawn after all and she knew him for coming up with some crazy ideas sometimes that had the tendency to turn out absolutely wonderful at the end. Wonderful in their own kind of way that was. So she told him that she would be there and hung up.
She had half an hour to get dressed and to drive over to the parking garage he had named. Fortunately she hadn´t changed into her night dress yet so she had not much to put on. What also left her some time to refresh her makeup a little. Not that she thought Shawn would expect her to put on like for a gala dinner, especially with one arm in a sling, but she wanted to look at least acceptable. No matter how weird it was, a date was a date. And there were just some things a girl couldn´t bring herself to ignore. Some simple but substantial rules of engagement.
She smiled about the pun in this and grabbed her coat. Since it was her left shoulder that had been shot and thanks to the medics it didn´t hurt too much, she was able to drive her own car pretty convenient. She had to go a little slower but the streets were free and it wasn´t far anyway. She needed barely twenty minutes to get there. She payed the ticket to get into the garage and drove all the way up to the roof. She parked the car and got out into the cool air of the night. Everything was quiet. Just a slight wind was blowing. Otherwise there was nothing. No sound and no Shawn. She looked around if she could spot his bike somewhere on the roof but there was nothing. Her car was the only vehicle on this roof. Well, maybe she was just a little early. She certainly would hear it when he came driving up with his motorcycle.
So she waited. She waited five minutes. Then ten. Fifteen. Still no Shawn. Slowly she started to get impatient and not just because of the drug-induced restlessness she was suffering from all evening long. Where the hell was he? Twenty minutes went by. Twenty-five. When half an hour had passed she took out her cell phone and dialed his number, ready to give him a how dare you speech as soon as he picked up.
It rang two times, three times, four times. At the fifth ring she started to get worried. No, that wasn´t entirely true. She had started to get worried after the third ring. Now she was really really worried. Even if he was driving his bike he could have stopped and answered after three or four rings. That there was a fifth ring was just not like Shawn.
But then he finally did answer. Right in the middle of the sixth ring. „Yeah?" he said. He sounded sleepy.
„Shawn." she snapped at him, too confused to take the sleepiness in his voice for real.
„Jules?" he asked. „What is it? Is something wrong?"
„You bet there is something wrong." she snapped. „What the hell is this? Where are you?"
„Where I am?" he asked. „What is this? Are you checking me out?" he sounded halfway amused.
„This isn´t funny, Shawn." she said. „I´m here. Where are you?"
„I´m in bed." he said and then added empathizing: „Alone."
„You´re what?" she snapped.
„You know, most women would actually be glad to hear their boyfriend is sleeping alone." he said.
„Shawn, stop fooling around. Where are you?"
There was a brief silence in the line before he repeated: „I´m in my bed." He chuckled bemused. „Jules, what is all this about?" and after a short pause he asked: „Where are you?"
„I am exactly where you asked me to be." she told him still pissed as hell. „But this one thing I can tell you. This date is over."
„Jules, wait. Just a second." he cried and this time she heard his voice not just on the phone but also from somewhere ahead. She swirled around and searched the roof but she couldn´t spot him. „Start over again." he asked her now. „What date?"
Juliet didn´t answer. She was still searching her surroundings with her eyes. She had heard his voice coming from somewhere over there where the entrance to the garage was. He had to be hiding there. She just had no idea why he should do this. This was far too ridiculous for a prank. Even if she would believe that he would have a reason to play a prank on her. Now from all the times in the world.
„Jules?" he asked, a slightly worried tone in his voice. This time she was sure he was there at the entrance. She hung up the cell phone and called out his name.
„Shawn, come out, I know that you are there." she demanded. When he didn´t answer, she lost her patience. „This isn´t funny." she cried. „If you don´t want to look for a new girlfriend, you come out now."
Her cell phone rang again and she jumped again. This was ridiculous. What was he trying to do with that? An imitation of the Scream movies? If she should answer him now and he would actually ask her what her favourite scary move was, so help her god, they would be so off this relationship.
„Stop this nonsense!" she yelled over at the entrance and walked over to it. She reached it but Shawn wasn´t there. Her cell had rung four times by now. She answered it.
„Jules, what is going on?" he asked her, his voice coming from deeper inside the garage now. The echo made it impossible to miss that he was in there. „Why don´t you answer your phone?" he asked and she had to restrain herself to not to yell at him. What the hell was he thinking that he was doing here? Did he really think that was funny?
„Shawn, if you don´t stop that right now, I swear to you, we´re over." she told him as calm as she could manage it.
„Stop what?" he cried and the echo carried his voice up to her from where ever he was hiding in that garage.
She lunged forward and ran into the garage. She would find him and knock the nonsense out of him. But the garage was empty. A few cars were parked in there but that was all. He had to be hiding in some corner, she thought.
„I know that you are here." she cried out. „I can hear you."
„What do you mean you hear me?" he asked and she tried to figure out where his voice came from. „Of course you hear me." he said. „I´m talking to you." She searched the place with her eyes but the echo made it impossible to tell where the sound came from. It started to get really creepy by now.
„Shawn, please stop this." she said. „You had your laugh but now you start to scare me. This isn´t funny."
„You start to scare me, Jules." he said. Again his voice seemed to come from three different directions at once. „Where are you? I come and get you."
I come and get you, the echo reverberated. I come and get you, I come and get you, I come and get you. She had to put a hand over her mouth to contain a scream.
„Why are you doing this?" she asked when she could breath a little slower again.
„Jules, tell me where you are." he demanded. This time his voice seemed to be directly behind her and she swirled around with a shriek, dropping her cell phone in the process and disconnecting the line. She had been certain that she would now look into his face, maybe grinning at her over his fabulous joke, maybe apologizing to her for scaring her. Everything would have been better than what she really saw. Nothing. No one was there behind her. The whole place was empty and the next possibility to hide was at least five feet away. Even if he would have sneaked behind her and then ran away to hide again, she would have seen him. There was just no way that he could have been that fast.
Next to her feet the cell phone started to ring again. She shrieked again and backed away from it, as if it were a snake that could bite her any second. She looked down on it how it lay there on the ground, ringing. Two times. Three times. The ringing echoing from the walls of the garage but not as loud as Shawn´s voice had sounded. It rang a forth time. A fifth. She looked around and listened. Except for the ringing there was no sound at all. No voice and no footsteps. She was a cop and after so many years she knew if someone was there or not, even if they didn´t walk around. But there were always sounds a person made. Shuffling of the feet, rustling of the cloths, breathings. There was nothing of this. Only the ringing of her phone. And it would keep ringing until she answered it. Or until Shawn found her through a vision or something. So she mentally kicked herself and went back and picked it up.
„Yeah." she sniffed when she answered the call.
„Jules!" Shawn cried now almost worried to death. Immediately his voice was in the echo again, this time from somewhere further ahead. Juliet spun around, her eyes wide in fear. What the hell was going on?
„You tell me." Shawn said and she realized that she had asked this question aloud. It might have helped her to know that he was asking himself that question, if it hadn´t been for the fact that his voice was back at her now. And there was something in his voice now that she could almost physically feel. Something bad that made her duck down and run.
Shawn who had heard her shriek when she had started to run, was calling her name now. And from all over the place his voice, this voice, was calling her now. Following her. Jules. Jules. Jules! JULES! Until it echoed not only around her but also in her head.
„Jules tell me where you are." he cried.
„Sunhill parking garage." she cried desperately while running down the drive.
„I´ll come and get you." he promised but the echo made his promise become a threat all over again. I´ll come and get you. I´ll come and get you! I´LL COME AND GET YOU!
She screamed and switched the phone off. But this time the echo didn´t vanish. It was still there, fainting but it was still there. I´ll come and get you. It was now whispering the words. I´ll come and get you. Juliet. I´ll come and get you. Juliieeetttt.
She ducked down behind the ledge, pressing herself against it in order to become invisible. It was useless though. Even if she would have been able to really become invisible, her heavy breathing betrayed her. She just couldn´t stop gasping. What was happening to her? Why was she haunted by Shawn´s voice? This couldn´t be true, could it? Maybe she was just dreaming. Maybe all of this was just a horrible nightmare, caused by the drugs she had gotten earlier in the hospital. But since when were dreams pinching little stones into her skin, while she was lying on the ground? No, this felt far too real to be a dream. She was here. And she was haunted. Haunted by the voice of the man she loved. Was there anything more cruel in this world than that?
She tried to steady her breaths. To breath slower, quieter. The voice hadn´t spoken again. Maybe it was gone. Maybe it really had been her imagination. Some sort of an audio hallucination that had made her believe she would hear Shawn´s voice behind her though he was just on the phone. Yes, maybe it was that way. But if it was … why was she here in the first place? He had called her, hadn´t he? She had talked to him and he had asked her to come here. But just now he had claimed to be in bed and that he didn´t know where she was. How was that possible? If he hadn´t called her, who had?
Again there was a sound, right next to her ear. It was nothing but whisper this time but she jumped anyway. Because it hadn´t felt like just a whispering wind. It had felt as if there was someone next to her, whispering into her ear. She spun her head around, sure she would see this someone. But nothing was there.
The whisper was farther away now, somewhere in the depth of the garage. When she was honest to herself it could be just a draft. But it sounded too much like whispered words to really convince her about that. She couldn´t understand the words but she could feel that it was not just wind. Wind didn´t move around. It didn´t come closer and went away the way this one did. Juliet lay on the ground, hearing those inarticulate words flying through the air over her and tried desperately not to scream. Several times it was so close to her that she could understand what it said: Juliet – Juliet – Juliet.
But it went away again, like a bird that flew around without a target. Maybe it didn´t know where she was. Maybe it really didn´t see her. If she just stayed where she was, without moving, maybe she was save.
Juliet – Juliet – Juliet.
It was Shawn´s voice that was whispering there, but the same time it was not. She clung her hands into the ground as if she was afraid the wind would blow her away if she didn´t hold onto. The pavement ruined her nails but that was the only result she got with that. The whisper was still all around her, closing in, heading away, closing in again.
It doesn´t see me, she told herself. I´m save. I´m hiding. It doesn´t know where I am.
Her cell phone started to ring again and she shrieked. When she realized that it could be Shawn, she hurried to answer it.
„Shawn!"
„I´m coming to get you, Juliet." the voice whispered and all the sudden the wind around her blew stronger than before, carrying the strange whisper to her. The whisper was like a snarl now. The kind of sound that came from deep inside of a human throat. Only that there was no throat. Just this snarl. And it was all around her now. Blowing in her hair, her face, behind her. Juliet. I´m coming for you. I´m here. I´ll get you.
She jumped up and ran. Her own steps were echoing from the walls and so did her breathing. The wind was still there and so was the whisper. She tried to look around, to see where it came from. There had to be a face to that voice. Voices didn´t come from out of nowhere. But she didn´t see anything.
One of her ankles gave way when the heel got stuck somewhere and she fell. The pavement scratched her legs and palms but she barely felt it. All she felt was this rising terror, when the whisper was suddenly at her again. Like a predator that had jumped on its fallen prey.
„I get you!" it hissed at her and then there was that snarl again. Much deeper now, almost like a dog. Like a wolf. Or something much bigger. And it didn´t just come from behind her anymore. It was like the whisper before, all around her, bouncing off the walls, the ceiling, even the pavement was vibrating.
Juliet screamed and struggled to her feet again. She had to get away from here. Or it would get her. It was already here. So close. Close behind her. She spotted a staircase and headed for it. If she could just get out of this garage. Maybe it wouldn´t be able to follow her any further. But she had to get out. Had. To. Get. Out.
„Juliet!" the voice yelled behind her.
She reached the door and forced it open. When it first didn´t move she almost died of fear but then it went open with a horrible squeak. The snarl of the beast was right behind her now. So was the voice. Juliet ran. She had just started down the stairs when something grabbed her from behind.
„JULES!"
She screamed and swirled around, shaking whatever had grabbed her off and backed away the same time. She saw his face just a second before her back collided with the railing and she lost her balance.
„NO!" Shawn yelled. He couldn´t believe what just happened. He had raced here as fast as he could after she had told him where she was. And now that he had found her, he saw her falling. Falling down the staircase. A second later he heard the cruel sound of banging metal when her body hit the next landing and the noise she made when she rolled down even further. Another ten seconds later everything was over. Something inside of him had frozen dead when he had seen her falling. That was the reason why he was still standing at the same spot where she had slipped through his fingers and would probably stood there for the rest of the night if it hadn´t been for her groaning. That finally woke him up from his stroke and he could move again.
As fast as he could he rushed down the stairs to her side. The sight was gruesome. She was bleeding and one of her legs was bowed back, hidden under her body. She coughed and blood came out of her mouth. But her eyes were open.
„Jules." he cried scared to death and knelt beside her. He wanted to take her in his arms but he didn´t know if he should. If there was anything broken – hell of course there was something broken, she looked like a goddamn bag of bones – he would probably cause more damage with that.
„Shawn." she brought out, almost just a whisper.
„Just hang on, Jules." he told her with a shaking voice. „I call an ambulance. You´ll be fine."
He had already his cell phone out when she reached out a hand for him. There was a smile on her lips that made his blood curl.
„I knew you´d come." she said and her hand touched his cheek. It was the last thing she ever said. Then her hand fell down.
...
Coroners Report:
Subject: O´Hara, Juliet (Junior detective of the S.B.P.D.)
Cause of Death: multiple fractures after tumble down the stairs
It is believed that the victim suffered from acoustic hallucinations before her death, probably caused by an unlucky combination of medication, that had been given to her this day, in order to support the healing process of a recently taken gunshot wound. The tox-report indicates that the painkillers disagreed with an allergy medication the victim used to take around this time of the year. According to the victim´s boyfriend, she was under the delusion to be haunted, what probably caused the fall she suffered, when he tried to reach her. The autopsy as well as the surveillance material from the parking garage, has proven his statement to be correct. Aroused suspicions that he could have caused her fall intentionally are to be lay down. It is the coroners believe that the death of Junior Detective Juliet O´Hara was a tragic result of unfortunate circumstances.
Case-status: Closed.
I know its not a nice ending but you have been warned so I guess you took the risk.
And thanks for reading.