Chapter 3:

Leena Resurfaces

The King Residence

Midnight

Howard King sat alone in the living room of his small home on the edge of town. He was sat in his old recliner, watching the TV set, and having a bowl of hot chili and a Budweiser.

For an elderly man of 72, balding, with a thick mustache and glasses, he was built like an oak tree and often dressed like a militant lumberjack. He was a retired trucker, and a former marine who was now a bit of a loner. His old war buddies along with his wife had long since passed and he was blissfully hoping to do the same soon enough, just so that he may see them all again. The life as a loner wasn't a life for anyone.

He didn't mind the thought of leaving this earth, hell, it wasn't like his own children ever visited him anymore, not that they even wanted to given his struggles with alcoholism, PTSD and trying to be both a decent husband and father, and failing badly at all of the above. Even though he'd failed in the father department, he was just glad that his sons and daughters turned out as well as they did. They were better off now, with lives and children of their own. They didn't need him anymore and he didn't need them.

As an old black & white episode of Combat! was ending, Howard glanced over at his aging chocolate pointer dog named Charlie, who was sleeping by the lit fireplace. Charlie was a great, loyal companion, as most pointers were. And even though he was starting to go blind in his old age, Charlie was still a great hunting dog. His sharp sense of smell more than made up for his fading eyesight, and he always found game, rarely coming back to Howard empty handed. Howard loved Charlie and secretly hoped that'd they'd both leave this earth at the same time, so one wouldn't be without the other for a second. But life always had a way of disappointing him, regarding his wants and desires.

Just as Howard began flipping through the channels to find something else to watch before turning in for the night, Charlie's eyes slowly opened and he lifted his head and quickly turned it in the direction of the front door. His movements were so sudden that Howard was startled, his attention leaving his TV screen.

"What is it, boy?" Howard asked, "Someone outside?"

Charlie then hopped up to his feet and began to trot over to the front window, his head disappearing behind the curtain as he stared outside. He then yipped and barked, and then began growling. Howard frowned and glanced down at his old watch.

"It's damn near after midnight," he said irritably, "Who the hell could be outside this late?"

As he was about to get up, his TV caught his attention. The words Breaking News appeared onscreen, followed by reporter Leanne Garner reporting from in front of a dark house. He quickly snatched up his remote and turned up the volume to hear what the big deal was.

"Good evening, this is Leanne Garner, Channel 7 Local News with an update for tonight's top story," she was saying, "Police have now confirmed that the adopted daughter of the Coleman family, Esther Coleman, pictured here, was responsible for the murder of this man, her adopted father John Coleman and the attempted murder of her adopted mother Kate Coleman. She was reported to have drowned in the pond you now see behind me, but police have yet to confirm if Esther's body was found in the pond during their initial search. Police are also asking for everyone to remain within their homes as they conduct their search."

Charlie's sudden barking caught Howard's attention, and he suddenly felt a cold chill run down his spine. Without hesitation, Howard got up and quickly made his way to the closet under the 2nd floor staircase. He then swung the door open and leaned in, grabbing for something in the darkness. Charlie kept barking as Howard removed his old, scoped, lever-action Marlin 336C 30-30 rifle and a box of cartridges. He then began loading it. As he did so, Charlie made his way over to the front door and began scratching at it, growling loudly.

"Hang on boy, just loading up the judge," Howard said.

Howard finished loading his rifle and cocked it. He then went over to the front door and peered out through the window. He could only see the dark wilderness beyond his property line, so he switched on his front light. A certain area of the tree line instantly became illuminated, but he still saw nothing out there.

As he grabbed the cordless phone from its stand, he noticed that it was dead. He then spotted the power adapter laying unplugged on the floor under an end table. He then realized that Charlie must've accidentally unplugged it earlier when they'd come back from their nature walk, leaving the battery in the phone to die. This wouldn't be the first time it happened.

"Aw Charlie, why do ya always have do that?" Howard grumbled, tossing it aside. Charlie ignored him, as he remained at the door, his growling getting louder.

Howard slowly opened the front door, grabbed Charlie's collar to keep him from bolting away, and nudged the screen door open a crack.

"HEY, who's out there?" Howard called into the night, "Speak now, or you're gonna get bit by my dog! I'm armed, too, so don't try anything!"

Silence. Nothing but the sound of a gentle breeze and the wisps of snow fall. Then, a lone female voice spoke out, a voice with a thick foreign accent.

"Please don't shoot!" came the voice, somewhere from within the dark wilderness, "Please, I need help! I was just in an auto-wreck a few blocks away!"

Charlie kept growling, the sound still rising.

"Why don't you come into the light, so I can see ya?" Howard asked, his eyes scanning the dark treeline for any sign of the owner of that voice.

"I would, but I'm afraid of guns," the voice said, "And dogs. I had a bad childhood experience."

"Alright, just stay right there, I'll phone 911 for you," Howard said, scanning the woods, "I just have to go back inside and grab my other cordless phone from the kitchen. Stay there-"

Charlie suddenly yanked free of Howard's grasp and bolted down the front porch and towards the tree line, barking loudly as he did so.

"Charlie! Get back here ya crazy son-of-a-bitch!" Howard called after him, as Charlie disappeared into the dark woods, barking wildly.

Howard turned and reached into his front closet, grabbing his camo-colored winter jacket and matching camo-colored baseball cap, putting both on. He then pulled on his thick, heavy winter boots, quickly knotting them up. He then grabbed a flashlight off of the top shelf and went outside, clutching his rifle.

"Damn crazy mutt!" Howard barked.

As he was locking the front door behind him, he heard a loud, high-pitched squeal, like that of a tire screeching on the asphalt. Howard spun around and stared into the woods. He felt his blood run cold, as he knew what the meant. It was Charlie, and he was hurt… or worse…

"CHARLIE!" Howard yelled, stomping down the front steps, "Charlie boy! Where are ya?"

He switched on his flashlight, held it against the barrel and entered the treeline, sweeping the bright beam of it around the dark wilderness. He held the grip of his Marlin rifle in a white-knuckled death grip, ready to fire.

"Charlie! Answer me!" Howard yelled, "Come on, boy!"

As he descended a small hill that ran into a small frozen stream, he saw bright red splotches in the snow, steaming in the frigid night air. He mouthed 'Fuck' and began to follow the splotches, his eyes wide in terror. The further he followed them, the larger they became, with bits of fur and red, wet flesh embedded in them.

"Oh Jesus, Charlie…" Howard whispered as he looked up from the blood trail.

He then came to a small clearing, where Charlie's lifeless body lay impaled on a small, freshly broken tree stump, his lifeless eyes bulging and his mouth hanging open. He also had several stab wounds to his chest and neck area, blood pouring from all of the puncture marks. His chest and stomach area were also split wide open and his guts lay messily all over, like thick wet red snakes, steaming in the melting snow below his corpse.

"FUCK!" Howard yelled, and then spun around, looking wildly around for the intruder, adding, "Whoever you are, you're fucking dead!"

WHACK!

Howard nearly collapsed onto his back, but he caught himself, kneeling down as he felt hot blood begin to pour down from the side of his head and begin soak the right side of his face. He gripped his head, trying to shake off the sudden pain and dizziness, until he spotted the large rock that had been thrown at him laying nearby, his blood bathing it.

The sound of running footsteps from behind him caught his attention and he spun around in their direction, aiming his rifle. He could see 2 small silhouettes thanks to the dizziness, both blurry, and both racing towards him. He knew that he was seeing double from the hit to the head, so he began firing at them both, hoping to hit one of them.

Deafening shots echoed off with each spent cartridge, and he knew that he was starting to run low. The gunshots kept sounding off, but the silhouettes never slowed. Finally, they merged into one just at the moment his worst fear happened; his rifle suddenly clicked empty, as he ejected the last spent cartridge.

The figure quickly closed the small gap between them, but Howard swung the butt of his rifle up at them. The small figure ducked and slashed his right leg with their knife. Howard shouted in surprise, but kicked the small shape in their center-mass, knocking them onto their back with an audible grunt. Howard then planted his foot down on their chest, pinning them down, as he brought his flashlight up to illuminate them.

In the light of the flashlight, he saw that it was a very short female, who sort of looked like a young child, but the face was all wrong. Not only was the figure's face all bloody with fresh cuts, but it also looked like that of an older woman's face grafted onto the body of a young child. The woman's skin looked gray, and she had her hair tied back, and wore a black, long-sleeved V-neck shirt, blue jeans, and black slippers. She was also soaked from head to toe, and shivered violently under Howard's foot.

She was panting as she stared up at him, barring her teeth like that of an angry wolf.

"What the fuck?" Howard huffed, as he looked over the odd little woman.

As Howard dug into his pocket to quickly reload his rifle, the woman stabbed him hard in his calf with the knife she still held and that he'd failed to spot. Howard swore aloud and yanked his foot away, blood seeping out and staining his pant leg a thick, dark red.

The short woman then tore the knife free from his flesh and quickly scrambled to her feet, quickly flipping the knife so that the blade was downwards. She then viciously swung the knife, slashing him across the throat. Blood sprayed from his torn throat as he spun away from her and collapsed onto his chest. He then rolled onto his back, clutching his throat, thick hot blood squirming out from between the gaps in his fingers.

The woman then knelt down on his hip and began to viciously stab him repeatedly in the chest in stomach area, his clothes becoming stained and then soaked in a dark red from his own blood. He lay on his back, gasping loudly, and flailing about as he choked on hot blood, which began to bubble out and ooze from his mouth down his chin and neck.

After having stabbed him over a dozen of times, the woman then slowly pulled the knife free and then slowly got to her feet, staring down at him with hateful dark eyes. She was panting as she stared at down at him, probably deciding whether or not to finish him off.

She then reached down and dug into his jacket pocket, grabbing his house and truck keys.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to have to do that," the little woman said in her European accent, "I just wanted to get out of here. They're gonna come looking for me."

"And they'll find you," Howard loudly choked out, "You can't run forever."

She glared down at him and cussed him out in what sounded like Russian. She then raced off in the direction of his home, her footsteps falling fainter and fainter the further she got from him. And then there were just sounds of the night wilderness around him.

Howard laid there for a few moments, feeling himself fading fast as he stared up at the night sky. With his remaining strength, he held his throat with his hand, rolled over onto his stomach and began to shakily army-crawl towards the body of his beloved Charlie. His shaky fingers extended out in front of him, and felt Charlie's still warm, worn fur. He began to shakily stroke it as he struggled to say his last words, to the only family that he truly had left.

"Charlie… Charlie my boy…," Howard croaked out, feeling the snow under him become warm, wet and red, "You did r-right by me-e… thank-k you my b-boy… my boy…"

But Howard didn't make it all the way to his beloved dog, before he succumbed to his injuries. Strangely enough, a warm smile was frozen on his face, as he realized in his last moments that neither he nor Charlie would be apart from each other for very long. And even though they hadn't gone at the exact same time like he'd wanted, he was at least satisfied that it was still close enough.

The King Residence

Leena Klammer stood in front of the washroom mirror of the 1st floor of Howard King's home. Santo & Johnny's 'You Belong to Me' softly played on the vinyl record player in the living room right behind her as she cleaned and patched up the cuts on her neck and face from her fight with Kate.

A black, brown handled 45-automatic sat with some spare ammo clips beside the open first-aid kit, both of which she'd found while searching Howard's home. She'd also found a decent amount of cash in a sock drawer, which would definitely come in handy during her time on the run, as well as a sheathed 6-inch Buck 119 hunting knife.

Earlier before she arrived at Howard's home, she'd reset her dislocated right shoulder, from when Kate had kicked her in the neck. Initially when she'd heard the crack upon the impact of Kate's kick, Leena had thought her neck was broken, and she suspected that Kate thought that too. Leena had sunk into the pond unmoving, thinking that she was paralyzed and would drown in the frigid water, alone in the darkness.

But when the initial shock worn had off and she realized that she could still move, minus her right arm, she made her way to the surface and pulled herself free, realizing that she'd floated to the other end of the pond. She'd watched from a distance as Kate and Max rushed towards the police that had finally shown up. It was at this moment that she'd fled to a safe distance, and reset her shoulder. It wasn't the first time she had to do it either, and she'd gotten better at it, than she had been when it first happened to her at the hands of her bastard father…

After having dealt with the gung-ho homeowner and his dog, she'd entered his residence and quickly made herself at home. She'd put on some music, showered up, cleaned, and bandaged up her facial injuries and then switched out of her wet clothes and into some of Howard's own. She now wore a light gray Henley shirt, black jeans, and some small black hiking boots that she'd found in a gift bag marked "Isaac." It was probably a gift that he never sent one of his children or grandchildren, and now never would.

As she retied her hair and looked herself over, she stopped and winced at the sight of the multiple bandages on her face. They were a definite eyesore, and she hoped to God that they wouldn't be on her face for too long. She also hoped that her face wouldn't scar permanently from the cuts she'd suffered. Fucking Kate.

"The last thing you need is more fucking scars, Leena," Leena said to herself with her thick Russian accent. Her eyes then lowered to the large scar on her neck. She gently rubbed it, and then rolled up her sleeves, looking at the ones on her wrists. Realizing that she didn't have her choker or wristbands to cover them up, she snapped.

"Kurat, I left all of things back there!" Leena said through gritted teeth, slamming her fist onto the washroom counter. The light flickered from the impact, but stayed on. She then slowly lifted her gaze back to her own reflection staring back at her.

As she stared at herself in the mirror, she began to replay the night's events in her head; John turning down her sexual advances, Kate catching onto her secret identity, Daniel surviving her attempted murder on him in the hospital and both Kate and Max having escaped her vengeance at the house.

Everything that she'd worked for, everything she'd accomplished during her stay with the Colemans had all been undone in one night of careless, chaotic violence, just as it had the past few times with the others families that'd adopted her… the Sullivans, the Albrights… it'd always ended in tragedy. Now the Colemans were added to that list of proper fuck-ups.

Leena knew that she'd failed, and failed badly once again. Unlike the previous times when she couldn't seduce her adoptive fathers, she was always the rescued lone survivor from whatever tragedy that befell her adopted family, ready to begin anew with a new family as Esther. But a new beginning with a new family wasn't going to happen this time; with the news coverage of tonight's tragedy, everyone would soon know her secret, as well as her real identity.

"I'm sorry Esther, but I'm going to have to leave you behind," Leena said to herself, as she continued to stare at her reflection, "You'll always be a part of me, and it's been an honor to play you, but I have to bury you along with the past if I want to survive."

Leena squinted at her reflection as she saw her eyes beginning to sparkle. She angrily blinked away the tears that were forming and sighed.

"And that means I'll have to abandon you too, Leena," Leena said to her reflection, "Which will be a lot easier for me to do; I never liked you, Leena. No one liked you. People actually loved Esther and embraced her… but you, Leena… you're worthless, just like your old man said you were. I don't want to be you anymore."

Even though she'd gotten quite used to playing Esther Albright by now, Leena knew that she had to let her go and begin anew. With a new chance to start a new life elsewhere, she didn't have to be Esther or Leena Klammer. She could be anyone she wanted to be now. She could be someone new. It was a wide-open world out there with plenty of places for her to disappear into.

And as there was nothing more to be done here in Hamden, Connecticut, Leena would have to leave quickly; and leave tonight if she wanted to remain free. If she got a head start right now, she could be long gone by the time the sun came up the next morning. It didn't matter where she headed at the moment, just as long as it was as far away from this place as possible. She could begin looking for a new home after she got somewhere safe.

She also figured that any further plans of payback against the Colemans was a pointless endeavor, as much as she wanted to punish Kate for the past few months, given their subtle to not-so-subtle rivalry. But doing so would just unnecessarily risk her freedom, and that wasn't an option at this point, and neither was getting caught by the authorities and getting sent back to that Estonian hellhole that was The Saarne Institute.

And if that ever happened, Leena vowed that she'd find a way to burn it down, with all of the patients and staff locked inside of it.