Chapter 12:
Post-Trauma
Madame Blanc's Music Studio
Later That Day…
Kate's music class was over for the day, and she was gathering her belongings to head home. She had talked with Hannah a little, regarding Max's freak out at school and it had greatly affected her focus for that day's lesson. Some of her students seemed to take notice that something was off with her as she seemed rather irritable, but if they had noticed something, none of them had said anything. She just figured that she'd head home and relax for the rest of the day. No writing, no stress, just some well-deserved R&R for the time being.
As she looked up from her book bag, she saw the last of her students leaving, but one remained. He was a handsome, clean-shaven younger guy in his early to mid 20's, pale with curly brown hair tucked under a dark gray beanie, wearing a matching dark gray hoodie over a black Nirvana t-shirt, baggy blue jeans, and dark brown work boots. He might have looked out of place to anyone else but Kate, as he didn't dress like a musician, but more like a skater-type. Still, he had some decent skill for the piano, and was also one of her former students from her days of teaching at Yale named Colin McCray.
As Kate nodded to him, Colin came walking up to her with a warm smile. Kate managed to smile back at him, as he approached.
"How's it going, Mr. McCray?" Kate asked.
"Please, just call me Colin, Professor Coleman," the kid said with a smile.
"You don't have to call me Professor anymore, Colin," Kate said with a half-hearted smile, adding, "It's just Mrs. Coleman or Kate. Yale's behind me now. Long behind me."
"Sorry, old habit," Colin said, with a shrug, "But you'll always be Professor Coleman to me."
"That's sweet, Mr. McCray," Kate said with a nod.
"I thought I'd offer to walk ya out, Professor" Colin replied, ignoring what she'd just told him. He then gestured to her stack of books, adding, "And I thought I'd give you a hand with those books." Kate glanced down at the books in question and nodded.
"Thank you, Mr. McCray," Kate said, stepping aside, "These books are quite heavy."
"I got em'," Colin said, scooping them up with ease. He then turned to look at her, adding, "After you."
Kate nodded and then led him out through the studio. They both walked in silence for a few moments, until Colin broke it.
"Was everything alright today, Professor?" he asked, carefully looking her over, "Something seemed to be gnawing at you all day. You seemed distracted or something."
Kate shook her head, adding, "Just a little stress. It's coming up on the one-year anniversary since I lost my husband John." She signed, adding, "It's just getting to me a little."
"Oh, I see," Colin said, feeling himself cringe slightly for asking, "I'm sorry to hear that."
"I've been so busy trying to keep a roof over my family's heads that I've failed to see how my kids are handling things," Kate explained, "I haven't had proper time to stop, sit down and help them properly process everything that's happened in the past year. I've got to smarten up and do my job as a parent." Kate then paused for a few moments before adding, "Plus that woman that terrorized us is still out there. The woman that we adopted."
Colin was staring at her as she began to chuckle at her last statement, realizing how ridiculous it all sounded when said aloud. She then glanced back at him, adding, "Anyway, I'm sure that you don't want to hear about all of that."
"Hey, I asked and you told me," Colin said with a shrug. Kate nodded, shrugged, and fell silent.
"Do you have anything to protect yourself with?" Colin asked, "Like a gun or something?"
"We did, my husband owned a gun," Kate said, "It was taken as evidence as it was used by that Leena woman during her attack on us that night. Why?"
"Do you have a firearm license?" Colin asked, "If you do, you should get another firearm. Nothing fancy, just something to give yourself a little peace of mind."
Kate stared at him for a few moments, before replying, "Well, my dad helped me get my own firearm license earlier this year. I'll definitely think it over."
They then arrived at her SUV, which Hannah had dropped off earlier, when she went to pick her own vehicle from the nearby mechanic shop. Kate opened the back seat and Colin placed the books beside Max's booster seat with an audible grunt.
"See? They were pretty heavy, huh?" Kate teased. Colin chuckled and then nodded.
"Yeah! Who thought books could be so heavy?" Colin added, shutting the back door, and turning to her, adding, "I never told you this before, but I am so glad to see that you're still teaching music, even if it's not at Yale. You were my favorite Professor there."
"And you're still my favorite student, Colin," Kate said, squeezing his shoulder, "It's good to see you pursuing your interest in music outside of school as well."
"Well, you inspired me to do my best, Professor," Colin said with a kind smile, "You were the best. You still are. And you're still teaching and inspiring others to follow their dreams, which is awesome! It's so good to have you back, Professor!"
Kate then smiled at Colin, feeling genuine happiness at his strong admiration for her. She'd truly meant it when she said that he was her favorite student during her time at Yale, being a young man who was as multitalented as him. He acted in a few plays, could play a few musical instruments and was even part of a band. Colin had a bright future ahead of him, and Kate knew that he'd make her and both of his parents proud.
Kate then hugged Colin tightly, catching him by surprise. He then hugged her back, laughing.
"What's this for, Professor?" Colin asked, chuckling.
"I'm sorry to get emotional, Colin, but you have no idea how badly I needed to hear that right now," Kate said, still hugging him tightly, "You don't know how happy it truly makes me feel to know someone still believes in me!"
Colin smiled and returned the strong embrace, adding, "Well, I meant every word of it! You're a wonderful person, Professor Coleman."
Police Station
Det. Tim Keegan sat watching one of Leena's filmed therapy sessions from her time at the Saarne Institute. The camera was facing her again, as Dr. Varava's voice could be heard occasionally asking her questions from being the screen. Leena looked tired, with dark circles around her eyes. It was the look of a once wild apex predator, who's been caught, caged, and had their spirit broken by their time in captivity. It was the very same look that Keegan had seen from some of the convicts he'd helped put away for life. Sure, their spirits might've been broken temporarily, but their killer instinct was still there, even if it was just dormant at the moment. It was a part of them forever, and Leena was no different.
As the tape continued, Keegan re-checked Leena's file from Saarne, as well as her signed confession. Both files were a truly nightmarish read: Leena's birth parents were Markus Bolokov, a Russian career criminal, and Veera Klammer, an Estonian street worker. Both were never officially married, but lived together in Estonia. Markus stole cars, robbed houses, and worked at a chop shop while Veera serviced clients in their shared home or at her clients' homes.
Things changed when Veera had given birth to Leena in Spring of 1976. Upon the birth of her daughter, Veera had vowed to try to turn her life around for Leena's sake, and give her a better life than she'd had. But before she could, Veera had succumbed to AIDS a few years later, not getting the chance to raise her daughter the way she had wanted.
Leena was then raised by her widowed father Markus, who's darker, more violent side took over with the loss of Veera. He hated that Leena reminded him so much of Veera, and whenever he looked at her, it was like a taunt by fate for the woman he still loved, and no longer had. And in the loss of Veera, Leena took her place; Markus constantly sexually abused Leena from infancy, wanting to punish her, 'while getting a little something in return', according to Leena's own words. The sickening abuse caused catastrophic damage to Leena's insides, and left her unable to have children of her very own.
This continued until Leena was about 16 or 17 (the paperwork didn't specify and Leena didn't specify.) By that time, Leena and Markus had already learned of Leena's growth disorder, and he often used it against her to get what he wanted, reiterating that he was the only one who truly loved her the way she wanted. But Markus must've grown tired of Leena after a while, who at this stage of her life was starting to fight off his advances and grow much more violent, and hateful towards him for the constant abuse he'd made her endure while she was living with him.
So one night while Markus had company over, a drug addicted stripper named Olga, he and Leena began to argue when Markus wanted Leena and Olga to perform for him. Their argument soon became physical, but quickly became one-sided as Markus beat Leena badly and then threw her out of their shared home. Olga didn't even try to intervene; she only got stoned, watched, and laughed while the fight happened. Markus then taunted Leena as she was crawling off of their property while bleeding from a cut on her head, saying that she would never be a real woman and that he was the only person in the world who would ever be able to stomach her.
In Leena's confession, she said that she'd returned that same night after spending a few hours drinking in the nearby park and nursing her bruises. She then broke into their home and retrieved her father's double-barreled shotgun from the closet, the very same weapon he'd sometimes used to coerce her into doing unspeakable, disgusting acts with him or for him.
Leena had then tiptoed upstairs to where Olga and Markus were in the middle of love-making. Leena then emptied the first barrel into the back of Olga's head and quickly loaded another shell into the chamber while Markus was screaming, while covered in his girlfriend's brain matter and blood, her headless body trembling violently on top of him.
Leena then thumbed back the hammers of both barrels, cursed her father for the endless torment and suffering that he'd put her though, the permanent damage he'd done to her and for making her feel utterly worthless in the end. She then emptied both barrels into him, decimating both his upper chest and head into a pulpy red, torn mess.
After catching her breath, Leena then set the house alight and had fled into the night.
"Yes, I killed my father," Leena said coldly as she stared into the camera, seemingly staring into Keegan himself, adding, "And the only 2 things I regret was not doing it much sooner, and only being able to do it once. Trust me, Dr. Varava, I would've killed him a dozen times over if it were possible."
"He sure as hell deserved it, Leena," Keegan quietly said, "But John Coleman didn't."
As if Leena had heard him, she then smiled into the camera for a few moments, before the tape ended. Keegan felt a cold chill run down his spine.
As he sat there unmoving for a few moments, he couldn't believe that she was still out there somewhere, still living free after everything she'd done to multiple families in her search to belong. Sure, she had a nightmarish upbringing, but it was what she chose to do with her life after that made her a monster. Someone like Leena who enjoyed handing out such violence with little provocation couldn't be saved, and couldn't be redeemed. She could only be locked away and left to rot in the Saarne Institute until the day she died.
Keegan knew that this was going to end only one of 2 ways, either with her being dragged back to Estonia kicking and screaming, or be taken back in a body bag.
Frontier Firearms & Sporting Goods
As night fell, Kate slowly pulled up to a large brightly lit gun store in the center of town. As she climbed out of her car, she spotted a small group of teens watching her approach the gun store's entrance. She even faintly heard a female voice faintly whisper, "Hey guys, look! It's that Coleman woman."
Kate glared at them, and then slowly went inside. As she entered the shop, she saw that there were a few other customers inside, some talking with staff, and some just perusing the various firearms on display. Kate balked at the sight of some of the large, scoped hunting rifles and shotguns, and carefully made her way over to the handgun section.
A tall, bald muscular older man in his mid 50's was restocking the front display case with pistols and revolvers. He was dressed completely in black, black t-shirt, black slacks, black shoes. He glanced up at Kate and nodded, before continuing with his task.
"You need help with anything, ma'am?" he asked with a thick, southern accent.
"Oh no, I'm just browsing," Kate said, glancing at all of the various guns in the counter display case, handguns of all shapes, and sizes.
"Sounds good, ma'am," the man said, with a nod, "If you need help with anything, just ask. M'name's Henri."
Kate nodded, her eyes scanning from the guns to the different ammo calibers.
"I'm uh… " Kate said, glancing back down at Henri, "I'm looking for a handgun for home defense. We used to have a revolver, so I was thinking of getting something similar."
"Well, you're looking in the right place," Henri said, finishing up his task and rising up to his feet, "Revolvers are definitely a good choice for home defense. What kind did y'all have?"
"It was my husband's," Kate explained, her eyes darting around the various revolvers in the case, "It looked kind of like that one." She was pointing down at a small snub nose revolver.
The clerk squinted at her and then glanced down at the gun she was pointing at.
"Smith & Wesson Model 36," he said, slowly nodding, "Good home defense gun."
"I'm looking for something a little bigger," Kate said, lifting her eyes to meet his now suspicious ones, "Something that could put a target down fast."
He stared at her for a few moments, studying her posture. Kate figured that Henri was assuming that she knew very little about guns, which was true to an extent.
After a few moments, Henri lowered his eyes and then unlocked the cabinet, taking out 2 different silver revolvers. He picked up one with a longer barrel than John's old snub-nose revolver with a black handle. As he handed it to her, Kate cautiously took it, her mind playing flashbacks to the night Esther tried to kill her with her husband's gun.
"That there is a Smith & Wesson 686 revolver," Henri explained, "It carries 6 or 7 rounds, depending on the cylinder and ammo type. It also has great stopping power. This will definitely make any prowler question their life's decisions while your holding them at gunpoint."
Kate snickered as she aimed at the floor, testing out the gun's sights. Henri relaxed a little upon seeing her holding the gun properly, with her finger hovering away from the trigger well.
"I'm sorry, I may have misjudged you," Henri said, "Please don't get offended, but you seemed a little green when I first saw you."
Kate shook her head, adding, "Non taken. My dad was a city policeman for about 15 years when I was younger. He took me and my mom out to the gun range when I was little, to try and teach us how to defend ourselves with firearms. Guns used to scare me, but he taught me ways to be safe around them, which made them less scary to me and my mother. My late husband John even got our first gun to help me be less afraid of them."
"Did it work?" Henri asked, a smile beginning to form on his lips.
"Fuck no," Kate said with a half-hearted chuckle, "But he was trying to protect us."
"Well, here's my 2nd suggestion then," Henri said, handing her the other revolver, "That there is a 357. magnum with a 4-inch barrel. It's pretty powerful and can stop a charging bear, granted you're a decent shot."
Kate smiled upon hearing the latter part of Henri's description of the magnum. She then gently took the Colt, handing Henri back the empty S&W 686. She then aimed the magnum at the ground, looked down the sights and thumbed back the hammer. She then gently squeezed the trigger, hearing the loud click as the hammer snapped down on the empty cylinder.
"Bang!" Kate loudly whispered, "You're dead, Esther."
Henri looked her over, his mind beginning to connect the dots. Kate looked up at him, placed the gun on the counter and folded her arms waiting for his inevitable conclusion.
"Esther?" Henri asked, then added, "Wait, you're Kate Coleman!"
"Yes, I am," Kate said, feeling all of the store's occupants suddenly shift their gazes onto her. She even heard a few audible gasps as she waited for the collective shock to cease.
"That woman who called herself Esther and tricked my family into adopting her is still out there, Henri," Kate said, leaning close to him, "She killed my husband and tried to kill the rest of us when we found out her little secret. And if she's still out there, then she may come back. I need to protect my family at any cost, Henri. Will you help me protect them?"
Henri stared at her for a few moments and then slowly nodded.
"A mother needs to protect her children from the monsters of the world," he replied.
Kate smiled.