Time Transcended
Knives in the Door
Authors note: Well, this is the chapter that shall decide a few things… I think…
It was now getting close to Thanksgiving, and the serial killer was no closer to being caught than he was two weeks ago. A total of eleven girls had now died, and the very air of Ann Arbor was tense. During the day, everyone felt moderately safe, because no one was killed during the day, but at night… That was another story. No female wanted to be left alone at night, especially they that were brunettes. Never was more blonde hair dye sold then during the time of the "Brunette Butcher" being on the loose. That was the serial killers name. Given to him affectionately by the first newspaper reporter to identify his pattern. Liz and Rebecca didn't worry for much, because they were sleeping at Elrohir's, but even then, there was uneasiness.
It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and Liz drove over to her apartment to pick up a few things. While she was gathering them, she heard a strange knocking sound on her door. One knock, then nothing. She went to the door and opened it and saw no one, then something on the door caught her eye. Slowly she turned her head and then she turned white for she saw a note tacked to the door with a knife. If she was the screaming sort, you could rest assured she would have screamed then passed out, but she wasn't. Instead she hurriedly shut the door and frantically called Elrohir.
"Elrohir!" came the unsteady voice across the line. "Elrohir! There is a note on our apartment door, stuck there with a knife!"
"What does it say?" Elrohir asked. If elves could suffer from high blood pressure, then his would have been through the ceiling. He never had done well when people he knew or loved were being threatened. His face grew fell, he would not tolerate his friends being threatened!
Liz walked back to the door and opened it and read, "No one is safe. Not even you and your room mate. You're next."
"Finish getting your things and come back here right away, okay Liz?"
"S-sure," Liz said, trying her dead level best to sound brave. She hung up the phone, flew through the apartment, and drove home as calm as she could, which lasted until she hit the first back road, then she raced back like a balrog was chasing her. She reached Elrohir's house, ran inside, and collapsed on the couch.
Elrohir knelt down next to her and said, "Did you leave the note on the door?"
"Yes. I didn't touch anything. I figured you or the cops might not like that very much," she said, out of breath.
Elrohir smiled and said, "Good thinking. Come, why don't I take you into the kitchen and I'll get you a hot cup of tea and help you relax a bit."
"But the killer…" She began to protest.
"You are safe here. No one enters this house without my leave," he assured.
"But this isn't Rivendell!" Liz cried.
She was edgy, and she knew it, but she was so frightened that she couldn't do anything about it. Elrohir knew this, so he did not reprimand her harshly.
"You forget, I am a son of Elrond. Just because Rivendell is gone, it does not mean that the power that protected it is."
He helped her off the couch and led her into the kitchen where she absentmindedly sat in a chair and stared off into space. This was obviously the first time in her life she felt seriously threatened. Elrohir wasn't entirely surprised by this however, modern women didn't seem to handle shock as well as women of years gone by. They were never taught how. He set a cup of hot tea before her, and she started sipping it absentmindedly.
"Hey… what's wrong?" Rebecca asked as she entered the kitchen.
"Liz went back to the apartment and found a note on the door. From the killer," Elrohir explained.
It was Rebecca's turn to become white. She slowly sank down into the chair next to Liz. "Did you call the police?"
"No," Elrohir plainly answered.
"Why not?"
"Because, this is our chance to catch him. If I call the police, and the killer is watching the house, then he might disappear for a while if he sees all the cop cars," Elrohir said.
"So what are we going to do?" Rebecca asked.
"You and Liz are going to stay here tonight, keep the doors locked and the curtains drawn," Elrohir said.
"And where will you be?" Rebecca asked pointedly. She didn't like where this was going.
"At the apartment."
"Elro, I don't think any one is going to like your plan much, me included!" Rebecca said.
"Yeah Elro, let the cops handle this, they're trained for this sort of thing," Liz said.
Elrohir smiled. "I sincerely appreciate your concern, but I know that the police would only mess everything up this time. Foresight."
The girls let it drop.
"Now, I must go get ready and head over there." He nearly reached the door to the kitchen when he turned and said, "On second thought, I need you two with me."
--- --- --- ---
It was seven thirty at night when a familiar car pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex. He had counted three heads when it came in, and only one when it left. The driver looked a bit like a man, so that meant his victims were now alone.
He stayed in the car til midnight, waiting patiently for the right moment to strike. He then got out of the car and casually walked up to the apartment house. Once inside he made his way to the third story, took out his lock pick, and entered the apartment. He noted that his note and knife had been removed from the door, he smiled at the gouge in it. Silently he shut the door behind him and went into the room he knew was Liz's. She would be first, then Rebecca second.
In the brief seconds before reached Liz's door, he contemplated just the way he would kill her. Typical procedure thus far had been smother with a pillow then stab. Liz wasn't his main target, though. It didn't matter how she died. Rebecca though… oh she mattered! She definitely mattered. The typical routine wouldn't work. She was the whole reason he began this madness. He entered Liz's room and didn't find her there.
"Ah, they must be in the same room, for 'safety'. Ha!" he thought to himself. He crept out of her room and towards Rebecca's. He had it! He would wake her with his knife against her bare chest. He was hoping she would wear a low shirt to bed. He didn't like cutting up clothes very much, it ruined his fantasy. Maybe it would have buttons and he could undo them… ah, he would cross that bridge when he got there. When she awoke, he would reveal himself to her and tell her how she drove him to this point and make her feel guilty. She'd beg forgiveness and to be spared, then he would grant it to her, but lie, and then press his knife through her chest to her heart… yes! That would be it. Then he would slice his mark into her skin and leave. Yes! That would be it!
He reached her room and opened the door. Sure enough, two forms in the bed, they must have been frightened. He wondered which was which. Getting it wrong would be terrible! He leaned over the bed's edge to see if he could get a glimpse of their faces. The one closest to him stirred, and then… he was being knocked to the floor.
Wait! This wasn't a girl! It was a man! What that meant he didn't have time to figure out. He had a knife, and his opponent was weaponless, so he thought, until he heard the sound of metal being pulled out of a sheath. The next thing he knew there was a sword resting on his heart. He threw the knife at the man and the man dodged. And then… all went black. Elrohir had knocked him out with the flat of his sword.
Rebecca turned on her lamp and stared at the unconscious man on the floor. "Thank the Valars!" she cried.
"Go call the police Mirë," he said. She ran to the phone and with in five minutes the Brunette Butcher was being hauled away.
"Wait, before he is hauled away," Rebecca said. "May I see who tried to kill me?" she asked, for the man had been masked.
The officer shrugged and peeled the mask off the killer, it was Elmer. Rebecca stared in disbelief then turned and buried her face in Elrohir's shoulder as the police left the apartment.
"To think that I wanted to befriend him!" she said. "I should have listened to your hunch."
"Do not be hard on yourself," he said, rubbing his hand up and down her back to calm her. "I didn't think he was the killer either."
"Then why didn't you like him?" she asked, looking up at him with tear rimmed eyes.
"I thought he would try to take you away from me, but not with death."
--- --- --- --- ---
"Did you get him?" Liz asked the minute they opened the door.
"Yes," Rebecca replied.
"Do you know who it was?"
"Elmer," Elrohir replied.
"Elmer? I knew he was a little nerdy, but… Elmer?" Liz asked in disbelief.
"Yes, we saw his face," Elrohir said.
--- --- --- ---
The next morning they turned on the television for the local news. After the weather the reporter came on and said, "Last night the Brunette Butcher was caught by a local man who remains anonymous. The Brunette Butcher was initially identified as U of M student Elmer Blackston, but earlier this morning the body of Elmer was found by a hunter in small woods. The autopsy reports have not come back as yet, but initial evaluation of the deterioration of his body suggests that he has been dead since early October, before the killings began. Two hours ago the identity of the Brunette Butcher was revealed to actually be that of a man named Kyle Langsworth. He confessed to be responsible for the death of Elmer Blackston and the serial killings. Police say that Kyle Langsworth had been posing as Elmer since his death. In other news…"
Rebecca turned off the television and stared at Liz who was staring blankly back. "How tragic," Rebecca said at long last.
"I wonder what the real Elmer was like," Liz said quietly.
Elrohir stared at the blank screen and said, "I've heard of these things going on, but I've never actually been this close to it before."
There was silence all around for a full ten minutes as everyone comprehended what had just come to pass.
Authors note: Sure! Let's cut it off here! Since everyone guessed it was Elmer, I simply couldn't let it be Elmer, as much as I wanted to, so I came up with this solution. YAY! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and the plot twist. REVIEW!
