2007
Arthur honestly could say the exact date and time when his entire life fell apart. It was May 28th, at 4:37 PM. The day started off like any other day, he woke up feeling completely happy and content with where he was and how his life was going. He was twenty-five years old, perfectly healthy and very much in love. Once 4:38 PM hit, just a mere sixty seconds after his life came crashing down around him, he would forever look back on that morning and try his hardest to remember ever single detail for his memory…and his dreams.
That afternoon he had left the university with a little extra spring in his step. He had the next three days off from class, and his theory pitch paper had excited the professor so much he asked to meet with him the following week. He had enjoyed his morning classes, laughing and enjoying what he did best…
Learn.
He had walked out onto the beautiful campus with his messenger bag thrown over his shoulder and a gentle warm breeze hitting his face. The weather lately had been wonderful and today there didn't seem to be a cloud in the sky. Walking down the cobble stone walkway, he looked at the cherry blossom trees gently rocking back and forth and smiled. He passed a few people who were in his classes and smiled and said hello. Heading to the parking-lot he decided he would take Regan out for dinner tonight. He couldn't wait to tell her about the reaction his idea for the paper had gotten and share the excitement he felt flowing through his body.
Reaching for his keys in his pocket, he heard them jingle before pulling them out. Opening his car door, he lifted his bag off and put it in the passenger seat. Sitting, and closing the door behind him he stopped for a second and looked at his hands resting of the steering wheel.
His right hand held his keys which gently swayed back and forth, the other rested against the wheel and that's when he stared at his white gold wedding band. For no reason at all, Arthur smiled. Looking back he knew what that exact moment was, and deep in his heart he knew something had changed. The moment passed as quickly as he came as he started the engine and slowly backed out. Reaching for the radio he switched it on and a depeche mode song came on. Remembering last summer, he had taken Regan to one of their concerts for her birthday. Gently tapping his hands against the steering wheel, he turned and took the exit to get onto the highway.
Humming along, he thought it would be nice if Regan and him went for a swim in the pool for a couple of hours. They had just opened it the weekend before and since the weather had gotten so warm in the last few days they had been using it more and more often. He thought a couple of beers, and swimming around before dinner would be a nice way to unwind. In a couple of days they were going to have a few of their friends over and the backyard had never looked so good before. They took pride in their townhouse and made their backyard their own. Regan had planted most of the flowers, mostly exotic ones that were beginning to just bloom. The two of them had made a coy fish pond, and laid down this beautiful stone gravel that was raked perfectly. He knew that to some, they would think how boning it was for a married couple in their mid twenties to do such dull things and take pride in them…but still it was their home, it was the place they loved being the best, and they had made it their own.
He thought of them lying on their back deck, looking up at the sky with his arm around her and knowing that he was honestly the luckiest man in the world.
Smiling, he drove for another ten minutes before taking the exit ramp. He loved the little town outside of the city they lived in. It was charming and looked gorgeous in the fall when the trees were brilliant colors of red, orange, and gold. Passing the brick school house, and the coffee shop, he turned up the road, passing the apple orchard and found the freshly cut green hilly lawns and the beautiful old Victorian framed town houses lining the way. Driving slowly, he saw kids on their bikes and smiled before finding his house.
Turning, he parked outside and saw Regan's civic was parked in their tiny driveway. Regan worked from home and had mentioned that morning she had an over the phone meeting with her editor and then was going to sit out back and work until he came home. Taking his keys out, he reached for his bag and got out. Shutting his door, he looked up across the road and saw the sprinklers were on. Behind the houses was the woods, and beyond that some farm land. Stretching for a second he saw Mr. Anderson sitting on his porch in his rocking chair.
"Hello Arthur, how are you?"
Arthur smiled and waved back.
"Not too bad, yourself?"
"Oh I've just planted myself down for a spell…waiting for the firework show tonight."
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"Fireworks?"
"Oh yeah, across the pond. That highway that's graduating is setting them off , they were saying at the town center it's gonna be one pretty show. Ain't anything better than the smell of gun power on the air, huh son?"
Arthur smiled, he enjoyed Mr. Anderson, even though he still talked and believed it was the year 1955. He was sweet neighbor though, in fact Arthur and Regan were the youngest people living on this street.
"That sounds pretty cool, Regan loves fireworks, we'll have to sit on the back deck and watch them."
"Oh yes, it bet you'll have a nice pretty view that's for sure."
Arthur smiled before waving.
"See you later Mr. Anderson."
"Same here boy, same here!"
Turning, Arthur walked up the walkway and checked the cast iron mailbox on the front porch. He found some junk mail and a few things for Regan, besides that nothing important enough besides their cell phone bill. Tucking it under his arm he smiled and wondered if Regan would want to have a repeat of earlier this week if she wasn't too tired. Thinking back on the weekend before he grinned and looked down at himself and chuckled to himself. Turning around, he took his keys and went to open the door when…
He stopped.
The door was open a crack.
Arthur raised an eyebrow and looked at the door was if it was some unknown passageway. They never forgot to lock the door, even though they lived in a nice neighborhood. His eyes stared at the stained glass front of the door and the curtain behind it that blocked any view of their small landing. The crack as just an inch or so, but more than enough to wake him think twice.
Slowly he held his keys and the mail and pushed the door open.
"Hey Regan?"
He called out as he usually did, but there was no answer.
Stepping inside, the lovely scent of vanilla filled the air. Sunlight poured in through the windows, causing tiny little flakes of golden colored dust to float around above the hardwood floor. Shutting the door behind him, Arthur took his bag and put it near the table where a crystal bowl held their spare keys.
"Regan?"
He knew he was probably still on the back deck. Walking through the living room, he froze again.
A table was knocked over, the same long wooden table that sat behind their sofa. The one that had the framed photos of the two of them and Regan's tiny glass dragon figures. Standing in the doorway of the living room, Arthur's eyes scanned the mess that had been made and his heart skipped a beat. The table was turned over and laid on its side. There was broken glass scattered everywhere.
His dark worried brown eyes landed on the broken photograph of the two of them on their wedding day. Right away panic filled his entire body and for a brief moment he honestly didn't know if he could move. Taking a second his insides shook.
"REGAN!"
He yelled, not taking his eyes off the table. He half expected to have her come out from the kitchen behind him, holding her hand out wrapped in a dish towel telling him how she had been clumsy and had ran right into the table.
There was silence.
Slowly Arthur began to back up, hurrying to the kitchen he saw the back glass sliding doors were open. Outside he heard birds chirping. His eyes darted around, waiting to see her come out at any moment before he hurried back to the landing and looked up the stairs.
"REGAN!"
Still no answer.
He saw a few of the photos that were framed on the wall beside the staircase were slanted and out of place as if somebody was running up the stairs and had whacked them with their hands. Arthur also noticed the thrown rug was skidded to the side.
He felt himself begin to shake.
"No, please no…please…"
He muttered, his words broken up as he nearly tripped going up the stairs. Suddenly he felt sick to his stomach and dizzy. Grabbing the railing, he hurried up the stairs.
That's when the grandfather clock in the hallway read 4:37.
He stood at the top of the stairs and right away everything went blank. He stood there with the most dreaded look in his eyes, nothing but utter heartbreak as he looked down and saw his wife laying in the hallway.
It took him a second, honestly not letting his mind catch up to what he was seeing. He blinked twice and his throat ached. Staring at her, he also saw the blood which was all over the floor. His mind unable to honestly take this all in, for a brief second he tried to tell himself it was just a stupid joke. Just a prank to scare him. He couldn't count how many times they would jump out at each other and laugh at the other one's reaction. He stood there, almost as if he wasn't himself anymore. That he was watching from above and that it was just like a play. He watched himself float a few steps closer before his knees almost buckled and he held onto the wall. Tears blurred his vision as he shook his head.
"No…"
He shook his head quickly like a child before he came close enough to truly see her.
She was lying on her back. She was wearing her plum colored sundress and black tights. Her hair was drawn back in a loose ponytail, and her earrings, ones he had gotten her at a garage sale a few months back since they were flashy and gypsy looking. He saw she didn't have shoes on either, she just laid there, her arms bent and laying across slummed over like dead wire.
Arthur's legs buckled and he fell hard on his knees just a few inches away from her. His hands were trembling and locking up as a numbness swept over his entire body.
"Regan?"
He was able to choke out in-between tears, hoping there would be any chance at all that she would open her eyes and laugh. He of course with be angry with her, but hold her tight, inhaling the faint scent of perfume she always wore and burying face into her shirt. He would hold her as tight as he could, and break down crying in front of her like that one time when they were first engaged and staying at that cabin two summers ago. She often joked that they better die on the same exact day when they were in their nineties since she honestly didn't know what the two of them would do without each other.
Her throat had been slit in a crude horrible way. The blood was still fresh and hadn't clotted or changed a brownish copper color. Instead it was an ugly purple almost black color and it had stopped trickling and dully pulsing out of her. It was stained all over her neck and the front of her dress. Underneath her was a tacky pool of her own blood which more than likely had soaked into the back of her dress and hair.
Her eyes were open but clouded, not the beautiful striking blue he loved to look at. They stared up at the ceiling with no life or expression in them at all. He saw she had been stabbed once or twice in the upper stomach and chest. The welted blood stains showed splashed patterns on her. Arthur saw a third stab mark in the center of her stomach. Blood had gathered nearly everywhere and he felt it soak into the knees of his slacks. Her skin color was paler and her lips a purple blue color. He also saw her tights had been torn as well.
Arthur looked her over, waiting for her to wake up before his face completely crumbled and he let out the most hopeless pain induced scream that Mr. Anderson from across the street heard it.
Later…
Two police cars and an ambulance were parked in front of Arthur's house. The lights were flashing and some neighbors were gathered around outside wondering what had happened. Whispers in the crowd said that something horrible had happened. Regan, that lovely young girl who was married to Arthur who wrote those children's books had been murdered. It appeared someone had broken in when Arthur was at school and had done it. Nobody knew anything besides that but pretended they did.
The most common question was how Arthur was, and how horrible it must have been to find his wife like that.
"Such a sweet young couple, I would have never expected this to happen in a town like this."
Many of the neighbors said. Mr. Anderson who had come over and found Arthur had his wife call the police. When they arrived it took three officers to drag Arthur away from the body. Now he sat inside on his sofa, in-between Bettina, a lovely middle aged woman who lived next door and the Andersons. Bettina gently rubbed Arthur's back as two police officers took his statement. Bettina was a single mother whose children were off in college. The first day Regan and Arthur had moved in she welcome them with a fresh pot of coffee and homemade apple pie. She was a sassy woman that they had some good laughs with. Sitting there, she did what honestly no one else could. Arthur had been adopted, and had no family. Lucy had an older brother who she hadn't spoken to in year seven years ever since her parents had died, besides that everyone else was so distant Arthur couldn't even say if any calls should be made. In fact, Arthur wasn't even in the state to make any decisions. One of the paramedics had given him something and now he just sat there numbed out and in shock. Bags were under his eyes and he stared blankly off into space as police men walked in and out of the house.
He heard cameras going off upstairs and a few minutes later two paramedics slowly came downstairs with a black rubber body bag. Arthur looked over one of the officer's shoulders and saw this and his face crumbled all over again.
"DON'T TOUCH HER!"
He screamed out, before Bettina held his hand tightly. Looking down at himself, he completely broke out as tears gushed out of his eyes. Bettina held him as he whaled loudly and screamed through his horsed cries. The officers eyed each other and sighed.
They said what must have happened was that there was a knock on the front door earlier. From what they could piece together Regan had answered the door and was attacked at gun or knife point. She had ran and panicked and ran up the stairs where the attacker had caught up with her. There was an all points bulletin for the surrounding areas, and police officers were going door to door questioning anyone who might have seen anyone or any strange cars or vans parked nearby.
Mr. Anderson claimed he had come out on his porch just a few minutes before Arthur had pulled up and didn't see anything nor hear anything.
All of Regan's jewelry was stolen, along with Arthur's watch and stereo in the office they shared upstairs near their bedroom. Besides that nothing else seemed to be missing. There were people still taking photos and dusting for fingerprints as well.
Arthur thought this type of thing only happened in the movies, not to him and his wife who he honestly knew he had loved with all his heart and still hadn't let the shock fully set in that this was really happening. Instead he just sobbed against Bettina as she held him.
"There must be somebody to call…"
Mrs. Anderson said. Bettina looked over and shrugged.
"I'm sure there's some family and friends, I'll look for his address book…"
Arthur cried even harder as she tried her hardest to sooth him. The two officers looked at each other and cleared their throats.
"Is there anyone who might have had something against you and your wife? Anyone who was bothering her, someone that she might have mentioned."
Arthur couldn't answer, instead he cried until his chest hurt. Bettina shot the officers a dirty look and shook her head.
"Now's not the time officers, maybe tomorrow."
Regan's body was loaded up into the back of the ambulance and driven to the state hospital twelve miles away. Everyone still stood around outside wondering what exactly had happened. Inside, everyone began clearing out.
Arthur couldn't stop crying and laid against Bettina's chest, tears trickling down his face as he moaned. He couldn't stand this, everything had gone numb. He wanted Regan, she always made him feel better. He just wanted her with him, to put his arms around her and know what no matter what…everything would be okay.
Almost in a complete daze he laid there as Bettina rubbed his back and told the officers he would stay with her tonight. That's when, out of the horrible fog that was overtaking him, he heard one of the cops say…
"She was raped…"
It was settle enough, and the officer was across the room talking with someone else but he heard it just the same. His heart feeling as if it was about to burst, he took deep breaths and honestly thought he was going to throw up. Sitting there the room began to spin.
"I…want my wife…"
Arthur mumbled as he pulled away from Bettina's grip. Right away her eyes seemed heartbroken as she tried to reach and touch his arm. Flinching away, he looked sick to his stomach before attempting to stand up. The two officers gave each other looks before he repeated himself.
"I want my wife, where…is she…"
"Arthur please sit back down honey…"
Arthur stood there for a second before falling to his knees. Right away everyone jump up to help him. Arthur sat there, on his knees with his head bent down looking at the floor. Slightly rocking back and forth, he moaned loudly before looking up at Bettina who was at his side again.
His raw exhausted eyes looked at her with nothing but pain.
"I want her back Bettina, please…"
Lowering his head he continued to cry.
At that exact moment Regan's body was being loaded into the morgue. The two doctors carefully unzipped the body bag and shook their heads before looking at the police report.
"What a shame, she's young."
One doctor noticed something; her wedding ring was still on. Several months ago, Regan had slammed her finger into her desk draw, causing her finger to smell. Since then her wedding ring had gotten stuck. Once she joked to Arthur that the two of them better stay married since it seemed fate didn't want her to ever take that ring off ever.
Her attacker had struggled with getting it off before giving up in complete panic.
The autopsy began and an hour and a half into it one of the doctors looked up at the other one and sighed.
"Jesus, how far along you think she was?"
The other doctor sighed under his mask before shrugging.
"Eleven, ten weeks…maybe."
"Jesus, what is the world coming to…"
All the while, Arthur slept over at Bettina's. The paramedics had sedated him for the night and Bettina had been up half the night making calls. Regan's aunt who lived in Los Angeles was flying out as soon as possible once she heard the news. So far this was the only family she seemed to be able to get hold of.
Arthur slept and began what would become the only thing that truly kept him sane. Something he would in later years try to master into perfection, something that would become an obsession.
He dreamed of her.