Chapter 3:
A week had passed since the incident. It turns out that Rachel forgot everything that happened that day… to which her friends were kind of jealous. Rachel had to go a day without her medication as she had to get a new bottle of her prescription… she didn't remember running out but chalked it up to one of her blackouts. She had nightmares that night. When Katie asked about them, Rachel couldn't remember what they were about… just that she woke up crying.
Though… Rachel couldn't help but feel like Katie and Barry were keeping something from her. It was more obvious with Barry as he had a terrible poker face… and he also would look away and sweat a bit whenever he felt guilty about something. Katie was much harder to read, but when Barry was around he would glance over to the brunette as if asking for help.
On top of that Rachel's also noticed how Katie has been watching the news more often. Well… not recently from what she could tell as her friend left for her Aunt's funeral. That left Rachel alone in the apartment for three days. The first day was… rather quiet, and now that she's on day two the feeling of loneliness is setting in.
She tried sewing things to pass the time. She cleaned and even organized her closet to match the tidiness of her room. She did anything she could think of around the apartment to pass time and keep her occupied but it didn't help her at all. What did help was her phone notification going off.
Checking it she saw that she had a text from Eric… asking if she was free to hang out. Considering her options at the moment… she responded with a yes.
Great! I'll meet you outside your apartment in half an hour!
Rachel couldn't help but question what she was going to do for that half hour.
….
"I'm so glad you could hang out today," Eric smiled, having said that for the second time today in the last hour the duo had been out and about. Rachel simply sent a small nervous smile back, feeling a little uncomfortable with how often the bespectacled boy got to close to her.
"So you've said already…" Eric blushed at her words and avoided eye contact for a moment.
"S-Sorry… it's just… well the two of us haven't hung out together for a while."
"Barry said we hung out last week though…"
"N-No what I meant was… you know just us. You almost always hang out with Katie, and you hang around Nick and Barry more often then I get to… s-so it's nice that we get our own time together!"
"Oh…" Thinking for a moment on what to say next to that statement, the blond seemed to realize something rather quick. "Um… Was there a certain place you had in mind? To hang out… that is."
They had after all been walking the streets of the city for the whole hour they had been together. Normally if something took that long to get to on foot, it would have been better to get a car ride or a taxi to take them to their desired location… but seeing as Rachel doesn't have a car of her own she wouldn't be the one driving.
"Uh… No not… not really." The brunette boy's face was red like a tomato at his confession. This brewed an uncomfortable silence between the two for a moment.
"... Um… are you… hungry?" Rachel asked, feeling awkward now and just wanting to find something to get over it. Eric beamed at the suggestion and grabbed Rachel's hand.
"Yeah! I know this really nice Cafe that has some of the best coffee and sandwiches in the city," he smiled as he started leading her to the mentioned cafe. Not really noticing how she looked down at his hand over her own and for a moment… almost pictured that his hand was bandaged up and had small specks of blood on it.
It disappeared as soon as it had come, leaving a feeling of sadness in Rachel's heart that she couldn't figure out why.
….
The Lunch was going surprisingly well. She and Eric were able to chat and catch up on a lot of things. Rachel felt comfortable once again, even as Eric was telling a story from work.
"... Then my Boss comes in having heard the whole thing and says 'Well, that sounds like someone needs a vacation. To bad you used those days up.' I snorted a little at that but more felt sorry for Mark. It's not his fault he got sick after all."
"Poor Mark…"
"There was an upside though. Boss gave Mark a longer break than usual for the next three days," Eric smiled as he took a sip of his coffee. Rachel gave a small smile back as she picked at the chips that were provided with her sandwich.
"...Okay… I think I have one for you," Rachel said, remembering something that happened while she herself was working. After all since he told her a story she might as well to… it was only fair.
"Go on."
"Alright... It was one of our busiest hours. I was up front at the register when this woman comes up to me asking for a special order on a cake. Thankfully someone else was free to take over for me while I took the order. So… I was writing things down when I asked what kind of design they would like… She said a Striper Fish."
"A what?" Eric laughed, trying to make sure he heard right.
"That's what I said… The woman responded with the same thing adding a 'You know, a fish... with boobs.' I… I didn't know what to say to that, so I called Derek over. He asked us what's wrong… so the woman said what she wanted on the cake and even he did a double take."
"Yeah I would do the same thing. So did you guys make it?"
"Yes… it was weird. It was also supposed to be for the woman's 17 year old son."
"Why would someone do that?"
"I don't know… people are weird."
Eric had a hard time trying to stop himself from laughing. It sounded to weird to even be real, yet here it was coming from someone who didn't make things up. Rachel simply smiled, kinda glad that this was one thing she could remember clearly as it had the same effect on almost all her friends… Nick being the exception as he questioned the sanity of the woman.
….
The duo had finished up and left the cafe, Eric and her about to head off for Rachel's apartment only to find it began to rain outside. Rachel wasn't prepared for the rain like Eric was as he had a coat with a hood… she didn't even know it was going to rain.
"... Here," the glasses wearing boy said as he handed her his coat. Rachel's eyes widened at this and she tried to turn him down but he insisted. Hesitantly she took it and threw the hood up over her head.
"... Thanks…"
The two walked in silence for a few minutes before Eric turned to her with a smile.
"I'm really glad we could hang out."
"...?" Rachel felt a sense of Deja Vu at those words. Eric slipped his hand into her own before continuing.
"I've got something to ask you…" His face was red, probably from a mix of the cold rain and whatever he was going to say. "Do… do you want to give us a chance?"
"... What?"
"You know… try dating?" Silence was his only answer for a while and his joy almost seemed to start fading the longer she remained quiet.
He's… still on that huh? Though Rachel didn't want to admit it, she remembered the last three times he's tried this. She always gave the same response of she just wasn't sure and sometimes played off that she forgot the other times… she didn't want things to get awkward between them. This time however… she decided it was time to tell him the truth.
"... I'm… I'm sorry… You're a nice guy Eric… but I… I just want to be friends," the blonde apologized. She wasn't one hundred percent sure the first two times, the third time she had a strong feeling that she didn't feel that way… this time for sure she knew this is what she felt.
The cheerfulness on Eric's face practically melted off at that answer. Rachel could barely react as Eric grabbed her wrist rather roughly and practically threw her into a nearby alley. Surprise was etched on her face at the dark look on Eric's.
"You know… that's what they all say… and I'm SICK of it!" Eric growled as he advanced on the blond, backing her further into the alley… and finding no way out.
….
Nick was agitated… here he was heading off to the police station to pick up Barry AGAIN, when he could be at home doing some research so he could be ahead in the upcoming semester. But it seems like Barry can't even keep out of trouble for a solid two months… then again this had to be a record for the pink haired boy.
"Hey Nick!" Barry called from behind the bars as a lanky ginger haired cop let the boy out with an annoyed look on his face.
"Try to keep my cousin out of any more trouble…" the cop sighed as Barry ran over to Nick… who looked equally annoyed.
"I can only do so much James… I can only do so much…"
"I'm standing right here ya know," Barry huffed, but seemed to be ignored by the black haired boy and his own cousin.
"I'm just glad he's only sticking to minor offenses and nothing major…" James sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I'll be glad if he doesn't get arrested anymore."
"I'll be glad when you guys realize I'm still right here guys…"
"We realize Barry. We just hope you take our words to heart before you get in trouble again," Nick pointed out causing Barry to groan.
"You know that you're pretty much my impulse control Nick."
"As your impulse control I'm telling you to take these words to heart."
"As the one with no impulse control I make no promises!"
Nick sighed deeply at this and pinched the bridge of his nose, silently asking what he's ever done to be stuck having to deal with Barry… then he remembers it was his own choice to deal with Barry and he silently curses himself.
"Let's just go before you do something stupid again…" Nick muttered as he turned to leave the station. Barry however turned to James for a moment.
"Keep me posted with that case stuff next time I see ya!"
"No promises Barry…"
The two friends then began to leave… only to freeze when they saw an officer escorting a familiar face to an interview room. Almost immediately and before Nick himself could react, Barry rushed over in an instant and calling out their name.
"Rachel!" He stopped mere inches from her and what he saw made his eyes widen.
She had a bruise on her left cheek, a sure sign of someone hitting her square in the face really hard…. And the small blood spatter that was on her. Her eyes were dulled, almost completely devoid of what little life they usually showed and her blond hair dripped a little from the rain outside.
"Rachel? Hey…" Barry tried to get her to respond but it almost seemed as if she was in a trance. The officer next to her glanced sadly to the pink haired boy and the black haired one who had finally came over to check on his other friend.
"She a friend of yours Barry?"
"Yeah, she is… What's wrong with her Jamie?" Nick took a moment to glance at his friend with a 'Are you fucking serious' look when he said the cops name.
"... Do the both of you also know an Eric Halbert?"
That name immediately got both boy's attention.
"... What happened?" Nick immediately asked, both he and Barry not wanting to believe that Eric could have done something to Rachel… but also not wanting to believe something worse happened from the blood they saw on the mentioned blond.
"... Eric…"
….
Katie was sitting in one of the pews as they were going over everything her aunt did in life. The words of the ones closest to her fell on deaf ears to Katie as her mind was more focused inward at the moment.
The fact her Aunt had been one of the nine victims was one of the few things that haunted her… but what was really getting to her was all the chaos that had been going on near her current home. First was the dead body that she and her friends had found. She had never been able to get the terrified look on the person's face out of her head giving her a lot of sleepless nights.
The second thing was trying to figure out what the hell was happening with Rachel. Her friend's blackouts became worse thanks to her new medication as before that she only had one every few months and it was hardly ever drastic… but after the change it happened nearly every week and the worst to happen was the day Rachel fainted.
"Please… Get someone from your mom's company to find out what the hell is in these!" Katie had pleaded to Barry that day. They are just waiting for the results now on just what those pills are supposed to be for… after all Katie's pretty sure Antidepressants aren't supposed to have blackouts as a side effect.
Katie has also been keeping up with the news… more out of morbid curiosity if this "Back alley killer" is making more head way in the city… or if the body they found was just a coincidence. The only thing so far that she got was information on the victim and who they were. There seemed to be nothing else major since then. That was at least a relief for her. Though the night when Rachel had no medicine had been rather concerning… after all Katie had woken up to the sound of Rachel crying. When she went to investigate she found the blond curled up and muttering how she was sorry to someone.
Her phone vibrating snapped her out of her thoughts. Glancing around cautiously she snuck out with the excuse of using the bathroom. Once away from her family she answered her phone.
"Now's not a really good time…" She hissed keeping her voice down.
"I know… I know but this is VERY important Katie!" It was Nick. Nick hardly ever called her unless it was important… which really worried the brunette.
"... What happened Nick?"
"... I was off to pick up Barry from the police station again."
"Seriously?"
"Let me finish… As we were leaving Rachel got escorted in."
Katie's heart nearly stopped at hearing that.
"She was beaten and had blood on her but… the blood's not hers…."
Katie didn't know what to say at all… she was stuck somewhere between disbelief and worry.
"... Eric's been killed…"
Katie nearly dropped her phone right then and there in shock.
….
Rachel remained silent even with all the gentle coaxing from the officer and her friend. Her mind was in a frenzy after what had happened and everything was just on autopilot at the moment. Nothing seemed real… Not the pain she felt from the bruises and the hurt ribs from when Eric beat her up… nor was the fact Eric had been murdered right in front of her eyes.
She had been pushed into the alley. A dead end right in front of her, and an angry Eric right behind her. She had never seen Eric get angry before… he'd always seemed to just take things in stride and be the one who never seemed to get mad about anything.
She wasn't paying attention to what he was saying, only trying to think of a way to get out of there.
If I land a good enough kick… I should be able to stun him for a bit to run. She thought to herself. After all this wasn't like the Eric she knew at all… so she had to be careful. When she saw an opening she dashed for it, fully prepared to kick the brunette if he tried something… only to get punched hard across the face, sending her falling to the ground.
"Here I thought I got it right… found the right person… but you're just like every other bitch aren't you," Eric growled, kicking Rachel hard in the side as she tried to pull herself up. She found herself gasping from the sharp pain in her ribs as he kicked a second… a third and a fourth time, not letting up at all in his assault.
"S-Sto- AH!" she tried to plead only for Eric to grab her by the neck and pull her up. She could tell he was saying something to her… but she was more focused on trying to get air as he squeezed her neck. Almost instantly as if on autopilot, her leg shot out… and hit Eric in the nether region with surprising strength and accuracy.
"FUCK!" he dropped her immediately, letting her take the refreshing breaths of air and try to re gather her thoughts for a moment. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins and everything was telling her in this moment to run… and she was just about to as Eric was coming back in… only to stop and cough out blood. Some of it splattered onto her cheek and the coat she had but the rest found its way to the ground… and a large pool of it staining his shirt like he had just been stabbed.
No… that wasn't quite right… he was stabbed through with a large blade.
Eric's anger faded away into horrified surprise as his own life started to slip away.
"You son of a mother fucking whore monkey!"
Rachel's eyes were wide at the sudden voice. It sounded… so familiar to her… but that feeling only lasted a few seconds when Eric's body was practically thrown with ease closer to the entrance of the alley… but no one was at the other end of that blade she saw… now that she thought about it the blade seemed to vanish as well.
No… it didn't vanish… there was someone there holding it…
He was tall, from what she could tell she herself barely reached this man's shoulder. She could hear the slight rattling of chains as his arms moved. He had a hood covering his head and his back was facing towards her as the mystery man seemed more focused on Eric's dead body. What really got her though… was what appeared to be a scythe in his right hand… and the dripping blood that mixed with the rain from above.
A scream was heard from outside the alley as Rachel stood back, frozen and unable to move her eyes from the man as he stabbed Eric's body a few extra times… as if he didn't trust that the guy was actually dead. She swore he was saying something else but...
The rest was kind of a blur… she couldn't remember if she saw the man's face or not nor could she remember exactly what he was shouting as he stabbed Eric. But what she did know was that someone, probably on the outside of the alley, had called the police and here she was… alive and in pain.
"... Hey Rachel…"
Someone was trying to talk to her again… she had no idea what to even say. She also had no idea who was even talking to her… she was more focused on trying to figure out what she had seen.
"... Katie's on the phone…." Rachel could only turn her head at that. It was Nick talking to her and he looked concerned. Still she said nothing, her dead eyes simply stared. Nick frowned at this and held the phone up to her ear for her… she raised her own hand and took hold, allowing Nick to let go.
"Rachel! You okay? What happened?" Katie asked on the other end. The concern was strong in her voice.
"Rachel please… I heard Eric was killed… please just… just… just talk to me…" there was a sob at the end… Katie was… Crying? Rachel's head rose up a bit at the sound. Suddenly making her much more aware of her surroundings. The female police officer in front of her with an unreadable expression, Barry at her side with a look of pure concern and worry and Nick… Nick was looking at her with pity in his eyes.
"... I… saw a man…" Rachel started, having the three people around her snap to attention at her words… the first words she'd said in a few hours if the clock was anything to go by.
"A... a man?"
"What did this man look like?" the officer asked, a paper and pencil in her hands immediately to write the description. Rachel fell into another silence for a bit before she spoke again.
"... He killed Eric… right in front of my eyes… I… I never saw his face…" Rachel explained carefully… she wasn't as comfortable with the officer as she was with her friends to speak as freely. Even then… she wasn't sure how she could speak to them now… after all Eric was one of her friends at one point… and he destroyed it when he beat her up.
"Are YOU alright though? I… I heard you have bruises on you…"
"... Eric… he beat me up… for rejecting him…"
"He did what?!" Barry exclaimed, shooting up from the chair he was sat in earlier and sending it to the ground with a loud thud. Rachel flinched, immediately being noticed by Barry who swiftly apologized. Nick himself seemed to be lost for words… neither of them suspected Eric to be that kind of guy.
"... He got you too huh…" Rachel's eyes widened a bit from that.
"... Too?"
"After… After graduation he asked me to go out with him. I said no because I didn't think of him that way… He pushed me down the stairs after that. Thankfully the injuries were nothing too serious…"
"... Why didn't you tell anyone?" Rachel asked, earning confused looks from both boys and the officer on just what was going on now. She wasn't going to tell them… not unless that's what Katie wanted. The brunette was silent on the other end for a while. Rachel could tell though… she was still crying.
"... I was scared. I… I didn't want it to happen again… but I… I didn't want you guys to worry… I'm not the one to be worried over after all… I'm the worrier." There was a slight chuckle at the end of that… it didn't help the situation.
"He… never acted that way with you guys… and the next time I saw him he acted like it never happened… it pissed me off to be honest. Oh… sorry I've got to go. We're going to be burying Aunt Jenna now."
She had hung up after a quick goodbye, bringing Rachel's attention back to the others around her. Her eyes darted from both Barry and Nick… both of whom were now concerned for both Rachel and Katie, before settling on the officer. She was still waiting for the blonde to give her whole testimony.
"... Sorry… I'll tell you what I saw now…"
….
Hours later Nick, driving his dad's truck, stopped at Rachel's apartment before Barry offered her to stay the night at his home… after all she needed the support now more than ever. She thought it over for a bit before deciding that yeah… she would. So she went upstairs and gathered things that she would need for the night… before pausing at her work table.
… Perhaps… now would be a good time to take it with me… After everything that's happened after all… She thought to herself as she opened up a drawer and pulled out the item inside. This was the second item from her past, she could never remember when or where she got it but… just having it in her hands or even at her side always comforted her, and it made her feel safe… like an old friend.
Acquired Chipped Knife.
Rachel was about to leave before double checking her items again. She had her pajamas, an extra set of clothes for tomorrow, her toothbrush and toothpaste, hair brush and of course the knife… Her medicine wasn't in her bag.
Glancing over to her bedside table she saw the pill bottle right there, sitting there innocently. She was about to go grab it but stopped herself… Maybe… she could just go one day without it. After all… clearly the worst that happens is nightmares. After today though she's pretty sure that would be a given, even with the medication.
She turned her back and left the room.
….
Nick had just dropped the two off at Barry's home and was on his way back to his own home. He probably could have joined them on the sleepover… but his dad needed the truck in the morning and it was to short notice for him to even spend the night. Sure he was going to be 18 this summer… but his parents still had rules.
As he pulled to a stop at a light he saw that there was still a bit of light left in the sky behind the rain clouds. From the time displayed on the dash as well it wasn't that late either…
His dad could wait for his truck a little while longer as he decided that he was going to visit with Reverend Black for a while. He had a few things to talk about this time. Plus this would technically be his first visit of the week. So he wouldn't have to hear from him on how he should spend more time with his peers.
Then again he probably would anyways…. It was like the old man to chastise him for hanging around so often. Not his fault he wanted someone to talk to that would take him seriously… And someone who didn't worry all the time when he had something very serious to talk about.
….
Barry's house was big… not like a two story Upper Middle Class home, but more like a rather large home that was kinda like a mansion. However it was more in a strange grey area between the mansions of the one percent and an Upper Middle Class home. Rachel was never really sure where to put it herself.
Barry did come from a family with money, but she was just never really sure if they were super rich or just made a really good paycheck. Everytime she saw his house she always felt the need to just stop for a moment and ponder if it was considered a mansion or if it wasn't. She was just never sure.
When that moment was over Barry was already opening the door only for a small West Highland Terrier to come running up to Barry and bark happily at the pink haired boy's arrival. Immediately Barry picked up the small dog and commenced the baby talk.
"Hello! Did you miss daddy?" A lick on his nose from the white dog was his response as Barry laughed. "I love you to Cereal!"
After that Barry immediately turned to the blond and faced her with the small dog.
"Is that Auntie Rachel? Huh? Is it?" Barry grinned as the dog barked happily with its tail wagging rapidly. Rachel smiled a little at this and began petting the little dog's head as the excited pooch began licking at her arm.
"Hi Cereal… Hey Barry."
"What's up?"
"I… never got why you named your dog Cereal…" Barry just grinned at this.
"Because he's a Cereal Killer! Just like his name tag says!"
Sometimes I will never understand your humor Barry, Rachel thought to herself as she simply continued to pet the little dog.
After the proper pet greeting time, the duo made their way down to the basement and into a room with a large Television and at least three comfy couches and four bean bags all set up right in front of the screen. Rachel set her bag near one of the couches and sat down in said couch while Barry took a seat on a different, near by one, then proceeded to take up that whole couch. Cereal followed them down and jumped up onto Barry's chest with his little tail wagging wildly and licking Barry's chin.
"You wanna watch something on Netflix?" Barry asked, one of his hands reaching back and grabbing a Remote while the other was petting the little white dog.
Rachel thought about it for a moment… only to have her thoughts starting to wander back to Eric's murder. Her hand lightly touched the forming bruise on her face as she did, causing Barry to frown and try thinking of something himself… only to carefully pick up his dog and place him down gently on the ground as he got off his ass and walked over to a shelf with movies on it.
Searching through till he found what he was looking for, he snagged the DVD and made his way over to Rachel, holding it out for her to look at.
"How about we watch this?" The blond glanced at the movie before her eyes widened at it.
"... Doesn't that have killer ghosts in it?"
"Yup."
"... And… you want to watch it?"
"Hey if me screaming like a girl, cuddling Cereal and hiding in a blanket bundle will make you happy, then hell I might have to throw in crying like a baby if it would make you laugh."
"... You don't have to do that."
"Don't give me that. You're one of my best friends and you went through shit… I'm willing to go through shit to if it will help any of my friends."
"...Even a haunted house?"
"... One step at a time now…"
Rachel couldn't help but smile a little at that response.
Fun Fact 3: Two things in this chapter are based on real things. The Stripper fish story is based on something that actually happened when I was working the front counter at my job... and Eric's personality and behavior is based on someone I actually knew, and was once friends with in Middle School... Thankfully he never went to drastic because I got help as soon as possible... but I honestly fear what could have happened if I never brought the harassment up to a teacher.