Chapter 18
The two teens eventually pulled apart and gazed into each other's eyes. Instant butterflies began fluttering in her stomach as she looked up at him. Amber suddenly blinked, snapping herself out of it. "You um... you should go find Kylie. Make sure she's okay."
RJ nodded. "Right. Okay." he scratched the back of his head. "But what about you?"
"I'll be okay. See you later." she waved her goodbye to him.
He quickly climbed out of her window, but not before peering at her one more time. "Bye." and with that, he was gone.
Amber sighed and laid back in her bed. She placed a hand over her chest and felt her heart beating a mile a minute. He's gone now, you can relax. She told herself. Try as she might, she just couldn't stop herself from thinking about him. His smoldering amber eyes, his warm hugs, the way he tries to act so tough around her, but is really just a big softie. She blushed a little at the very thought of him.
The only thing stopping her train of thought was the sound of someone knocking at the front door.
She shot up in bed, startled. She got up and headed to the door downstairs. The knocking continued, getting louder and faster, like the person on the other side was in a panic. She turned the knob, only planning on opening it a crack to see who it was when...
BAM!
The door burst open all the way, knocking Amber to the floor. When she saw the person standing in the doorway, her blood ran cold. The person standing in her doorway was "R-Ryan?"
"Hi Amber." he said in his usual shaky voice. A wide cheshire cat like grin spread across his face.
A sense of panic coursed through her as she clambered back up to her feet. She spoke with as much confidence as she could muster. "What are you doing here?"
"I came here to see you." he said, inching closer to her. "Aren't you happy?"
Amber instinctively backed away from him and shook her head. "You shouldn't be here, Ryan. You have to go."
His grin vanished and his eyes instantly grew darker. "I'm not going anywhere. Not without you."
Amber shook under his beady black gaze and continued moving back, away from him. Once her back hit the wall, she froze. "Get out of here, Ryan."
"No!" he exclaimed making her flinch. "No!...This isn't fair. I care about you, Amber. Instead, you only want to be with that Logan guy."
Amber gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about?"
"I saw... I saw him. I saw him coming out of your house, just now. I've seen him... always coming out of here." he balled his hands into fists.
"So, you have been following me?" her brown eyes darted to a lamp sitting on a nearby table.
"Yes, I have."
"How long?" she asked, trying to distract him.
"Since that asshole embarrassed me in front of the school." Ryan suddenly reached out and grabbed hold of her wrist. "All you had to do was come with me and he never would've got involved. Well, he's not here now. So, let's go." he attempted to lead her out the front door.
Amber planted her feet, stopping him from advancing any further. He still had a firm grip on her wrist though. "No, Ryan." At this point Amber wasn't sure what was more disturbing. The fact that he was following her for days, or the fact that even though she was obviously uncomfortable with the situation, he still thought that she wanted to go with him. It was very easy to tell that he wasn't good at reading social clues, which is why he doesn't have any friends. "You have to understand. I didn't want to go with you because I was uncomfortable. Logan was helping me."
"Why do you like him? Why are you friends with him? He's not a nice guy."
"And you are? You've been stalking me and harrassing me. And now you've come into my house, uninvited. This is not what a friend does. Now please, just leave." she lectured. Brown eyes locked onto dark ones. There was no empathy, or guilt in that gaze. There was nothing. It was like staring into a void. Nothing she just said got through to him. Ryan trembled and his grip tightened around her wrist. "You're hurting me." she winced as the grip tightened even more.
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a butterfly knife. "Ryan, what are you doing with that?." she tried to jerk away, but the vice like grip of his held firm.
"All I wanted was to be friends and you go out of your way to avoid me. It's not fair. I-I thought you were different, but you're just like everyone else." he looked at the knife in his hand. "Now, you'll end up like those other girls."
Amber blinked, confused. "What? What do you mean those other girls?"
"You've seen it on the news. All those girls that got killed, including Toniann. I'm glad I killed her, she was the worst."
"You didn't." Amber was dumbstruck. She knew he was weird and a bit out there, but she honestly never pegged him for a murderer.
"I did. I just killed someone else right before coming here." he brought the knife up so Amber could get a glimpse of it. It was covered in blood. It was fresh too.
Is this guy really confessing to being the serial killer?... No time to think about that now. I have to get my phone. I have to get help. He's going to kill me. "Please, just let me go." Amber cried. He twisted her arm and she yelped in pain. He pressed the blade to her throat and she gulped, while tears spilled from her eyes. "Please, don't do this." she begged him.
The glint in his eye told her that he was done talking. She had to get out of this on her own. Chest heaving, she brought her knee up, hitting right in the family jewels. He released her and doubled over. Before he could recover, she grabbed the lamp and smashed it over his head. It didn't knock him out, but he was disoriented enough for her to escape. She headed up to her room and locked the door behind her. She scrambled to her bag and began sifting through the mess for her phone. Once she retrieved it she called RJ.
XXX
A few moments earlier
RJ managed to find his twin sister wandering around in the shadows of Central Park. "Hey, Twin." he greeted. "I had a feeling I'd find you here."
She quietly wiped away her tears and turned away.
He sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry, okay. I'm just worried about you, that's all. I don't want you to get hurt." she still wouldn't look at him. "Trust me, heartbreak sucks."
"How would you know that?" Kylie asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"...I've been through it."
Kylie finally looked at him, confused.
RJ only answered by sitting down against a tree. Kylie followed, listening intently. "A couple years ago, I met this girl. I had saved her from getting robbed, but, of course, she saw me." he shrugged.
"Right, because stealthiness be damned."
RJ smirked and nudged her with his elbow. "Shut up... anyway, after that we actually started talking to each other a lot. I would meet her topside and sometimes she would come down to the sewers to meet me. I liked her and she liked me, or at least I thought she did." RJ sighed and continued. "It turns out that when I started talking to her, she had just broken up with her boyfriend. So when I saved her, she kind of clung to me. I thought it was weird at first that a human girl was willing to fall for me. But then, after a few months of seeing each other she suddenly dumped me. Saying that she had moved on to someone different."
Kylie looked up at her older brother as he continued. "Does most of that sound familiar?" he asked her.
Kylie nodded, looking conflicted. "Sounds like Logan."
"Exactly. You have to know that I was just trying to protect you and I'm sorry."
"...I understand."
"But you're also right when you say that I should let you make your own decisions." he stood up. "So I'm gonna let you. If you think he's different then I'll accept that."
Kylie stood up as well. "Thanks bro."
"But know this, if he breaks your heart, I will break his face." he said with all the intensity that his sister was used to hearing.
Kylie giggled and hugged him. "You're the best brother ever."
RJ hugged her back. "And you're the best sister." he pulled away and poked her forehead. "Don't tell anyone I said that."
She reached up and poked him in the cheek. "I'm telling everyone you said that." she teased.
RJ smirked and slung an arm over Kylie's shoulders. "Let's go home."
The twins began to make their way to the lair when RJ's phone rang. He answered without checking who it was. "Yo." he answered. He froze in place at the sound of Amber's panicked voice.
"RJ!"
"Amber, what's wrong?" he asked.
"Ryan is in my house! He threatened to kill me with a knife. I managed to get away and lock myself in my room so I could call you. Please hurry." she cried. "I don't know how long before-" the sound of a bang could be heard over the phone. Amber yelped and dropped her phone, momentarily paralyzed with fear.
"Amber? Amber!?"
Amber quickly scooped up the phone and began speaking again. "Please Raphie, I'm scared." more banging could be heard.
"Hang on Princess. Me and Kylie are on our way. Call the police." he ordered.
"Okay, please hurry." she hung up.
"What's going on? What happened?" Kylie asked.
"I'll explain on the way. Let's go." and they took off running.
XXX
Michael and Henry were out investigating another crime scene. They had recieved an anonymous phone call a few hours ago saying that another woman was killed. It was suspicious to say the least, but they still had to investigate. The whole thing seemed off. There was body, but it was nothing like the way the serial killer has been doing things. This particular victim looked much older than the previous victims. While that may not have been enough to toss this aside as a completely random attack, it still made him question what he was seeing.
The other clues included where the body was located. The woman was found in the middle of the living room floor, fully clothed. That's not the same as the others. Another indication was the shape of the stab wounds. They looked bigger and more slit like compared to the smaller holes in the other victims. Michael stepped away from the body and surveyed the room around him. It was a complete wreck, furniture was knocked over, potted plants were destroyed, walls had holes in them. There's no way this was the same guy that killed all of those other women.
He walked out of the home and met up with Henry who was in the middle of questioning a middle aged woman. "And you know the people that lived here?" he asked.
"Well, I don't really know them personally, but I've been their neighbor for years now. Janet and her son. Ryan, I think it was." she explained. "They were never the talkative types when I saw them. But they were always yelling at each other. I heard them from here at least once a week. Sometimes, it got so bad that I had to call the police for noise complaints."
"Do you know where Ryan could be?"
"He wasn't in there with his mother?" she asked.
"No, he wasn't."
The woman shrugged. "I don't know where he could've gone then. Do you think he had something to do with this?"
Michael and Henry gave each other a look. "We won't know until we've fully investigated." Henry continued questioning."Did you happen to hear anything tonight?"
"Sorry, no. Not this time. I wasn't here by that point. I was just getting home when you guys showed up."
"Thank you for your time ma'am." Henry ended the interrogation politely and the woman went back to her own home.
"So? What did you find in there?" Henry asked his partner.
"The place is a mess, the body was found on the floor of the living room and the stab wounds did not match those of the other victims."
"So he's not the guy we're looking for."
Michael shook his head. "No way, this guy was way too sloppy. If I had to guess, I'd say he's just a copy cat."
"Great, just what we need." Henry said with a roll of his eyes. "Do you think this Ryan kid actually has anything to do with it?"
"Only one way to find out." He pulled out his phone and called the station, trying to get ahold of the technical operator. "Kev, what did you find?"
"The call that was made came from the cell phone of a kid named, Ryan Jost. High school student, only 17 years old."
"The name checks out. Can you track him? Where is he now?" Michael asked.
After a few seconds of silence, the only response he gave was "Um..."
"Um... What?" Mike asked.
"It says here that... he's at your place, Mike."
"What!" a sudden surge of panic coursed through him and it was only made worse when another call attempted to come through. It was Amber. "Kev, I'll call you back." he hung up on Kevin and answered Amber's call."Hello." he said, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.
"Daddy, you have to come home now!"
"What's wrong?"
"There's someone in the house." she said quickly. "He threatened me with a knife." she looked up as the door to her room began splintering. Breathing heavy she backed herself up against the wall furthest from the door.
"Okay, I'm on my way. Just hold on."
"I'll try."
"Stay on the phone with me, okay." she heard him say before he started giving out orders. "We have to go, Henry. You two follow us."
"Ahh!" Amber screamed as the bedroom door finally gave way.
"Come here, Amber." Ryan ordered, looking none to pleased with her. Blood seeped from a wound on his head, making him look more crazed than before.
"No!" she screamed. She began to make her way out of the open window. Ryan quickly closed the gap between them, wrapped his arms around her waist and attempted to pulled her away. "Let go of me." she began kicking wildly until her foot connected with his knee. His grip loosened a bit. She took her elbow and reared it back, catching him in the side of the face. That made him let go of her completely.
"Amber!" Michael called from the phone. "Get out of there!"
She scrambled out the window and down the fire escape. She ran down the street as quickly as her legs would take her. Ryan was hot on her heels and was quickly catching up. "He's catching up."
"Where are you now?"
"A block away from the house."
"I'll be there as fast as I can."
Amber looked up to the rooftop and caught a glimpse of two shadows running across them. "RJ and Kylie."
"What was that?"
"RJ and Kylie are here." she felt relieved at that. Knowing that they shouldn't fight out in the open, Amber suddenly tuned to the right and darted into the darkness of the alley. "I'm in... an alley... two blocks away." she said, panting.
The half mutant siblings smirked as they saw Amber turn into the alley. "Atta girl." RJ remarked. They headed down to the alley just as Amber's assailant tackled her to the ground. He raised his knife, ready to strike when he felt a chain wrap around his wrist. He looked back to see a shadow and even in the dark he could see amber yellow eyes blazing.
"Get your hands off my friend, creep." Kylie suddenly yanked back on the manriki, pulling him off Amber. Giving her time to back away from him.
Ryan staggered to his feet, his arm now dangling lifelessly by his side. I guess I dislocated his shoulder when I pulled on his arm like that. Good. Serves him right. She thought.
"You bitch." he yelled to the shadow. He grabbed the knife with his good arm and ran toward Kylie. She stood there, poised, when another shadow landed in front her.
Blocking his sloppy strike with his own dagger, RJ smirked. "What a pathetic little blade. Perfect for a pathetic little man." he kneed him in the gut. As Ryan attempted to catch his breath, RJ turned to Kylie. "Go check on Amber. I got this." RJ twirled his daggers dangerously.
"Right, but you get a shot in for me." she moved further into the alley where Amber was cowering and crying.
"Damn right I'm gonna get a shot in for you."
Ryan got up and charged at the young ninja. RJ sighed and easily blocked all of Ryan's sloppy attempts at stabbing him. With one swift motion, the knife was knocked out of his hand and RJ finished it off with a quick combo of punches to the face and gut. Finally knocked out, RJ sighed and stuck his daggers back in his belt as he headed toward Amber. Kylie was trying to soothe her. RJ knelt down beside both of them and rubbed gentle circles on Amber's back as she clung to Kylie.
Blue and red lights could be seen as the cops were approaching.
"Amber, you have to go out to the street, so they can see you." Kylie pulled away.
Amber shivered then nodded. She stood up on wobbly legs and made her way back out to the sidewalk, giving Ryan's body a cautious glance as she walked by. Two cop cars pulled up as Amber stepped out of the alleyway
Mike nearly hopped out of the undercover car before it came to a full stop. "Amber!" he engulfed her in a crushing hug. All Amber could do was cry against his chest. "Where is he? Where is this guy that attacked you?" he asked as officers approached.
Amber pointed in the alley and the officers moved in. Mike looked up to the rooftop and saw RJ and Kylie looking back. He nodded graciously to them and they disappeared. Michael led his daughter to his car as the other officers dragged the unconscious Ryan out of the alley and into the police cruiser. Henry was in the driver seat and they pulled off. Henry took a peek at Amber as she continued weeping as silently as possible.
"Amber, sweetie. Are you okay? Did this guy hurt you?" he asked, genuinely concerned.
Amber sniffled. "I'm fine."
"Good...Now how did you get out of that situation?"
Mike gave his partner a stern look from the passenger seat. "Now is not the time for that, Henry."
Amber wiped her tears away. "It's fine. Two guys came to save me." she said. "I guess they heard me and came running."
Mike tried to hide a smile that crept across his face as his daughter easily lied to his partner. Henry scoffed. "More of those vigilantes." he said, annoyed.
"Those vigilantes saved my life, Uncle Henry." Amber snapped back. "Without them, I..." she paused and shuddered. "I probably wouldn't be here right now."
Henry sighed. "I understand, but vigilantes are still breaking the law. Like that hockey masked nut job from years ago."
Amber simply rolled her eyes and stared out the window. Michael could only look back at her. "Don't worry, hon. I'll take care of this."
"How?"
"I'll just... make sure you're not alone anymore."
"Well, you're off finding a killer and mom works late now, so..."
"Why don't you stay with Kylie and her family?"
"I don't want to bother them." she said.
"You won't be bothering them. I'll talk to them for you."
Amber nodded and continued staring out the window.
XXX
Seems like all the bad stuff is happening to Amber.
