A/N: Yay another early chapter... kind of. Okay here's the deal, I'm going on out of town on vacation tomorrow and won't be back until Sunday. My philosophy on vacation is I don't take any work with me when I go (no laptops, no schoolwork, no tablet, no nothing). So with that being said I won't be posting a chapter on Friday, but to make it up to you, next week I'll do another two chapter week. Enjoy the rest of your week ladies and gentlemen.
Chapter Seven
"Arizona?" Callie questions when she notices that I have been quiet for far too long, well to be far I haven't said a word since I've seen my wife tonight. I look over towards her and open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. I don't know what to say or do, so I just close my mouth again.
Silence takes over the room once again expect for the occasional sniff from Callie, "is that," Callie points to my trophy collection, "is that real blood?"
I just clench my jaw before I close to door behind me and step closer into the room. When the door fully closes I lower down to my knees so I'm at eye level with Callie, "yeah," I say in a barely there whisper.
"Please tell me that it's animal blood," Callie says after she gives out a gasp.
"I could, but I would be lying to you. Which hasn't gotten me very far," I reply back as I look around the room.
Callie lets out another gasp, and another round of tears fall from her face. "Who's…" Callie pauses as she tries to collect herself to ask her next question. "Whose blood is it?"
"It's human,"
"No," Callie whines before she starts to cry harder.
"It's the blood from the people that I have killed over the past 26 years."
Callie starts to rock back and forth, "no, no, no" she chants while shaking her head. "You're too nice, too sweet, and too perky to be a serial killer." Callie pauses for a moment, "I think I'm going to be sick."
I don't say anything as I crawl over to her side. I'm about to put my hand on her back when she snaps at me. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" she screams at me, "you are sick fuck."
I look away from her as my hand snaps back to my side.
"26 years?" Callie questions as she scoots away from me. "You've been killing people since you were 10?"
I'm still looking down at the ground when I very lightly shake my head yes. The head nod was very light and easy to miss if someone wasn't paying attention. Luckily for me Callie is watching me like a hawk so she didn't miss the light head nod. "How could you do something like this for so long?" the question sounds innocent, but I can hear the disgust clearly in her voice, and I can see it in her eyes as well.
"I don't know," I shrug at her.
"You don't know?" Callie hisses at me, "You're a fucking adult, Arizona! You're 36 years old, I don't know doesn't cut it anymore." Callie's starts to raise her voice at me. "So let me ask you again, how could you do this?"
"I can't explain it," I yell back at her. "I've always been like this. Ever since I was a little kid I always took great joy in watching other people get hurt. When I was in elementary school I was never out going, I always kept to myself so I didn't have any friends. I was that quiet dark kid in the back of classroom. You leave me alone, I leave you alone. No perky, cute, energetic blonde you see today. After school when the kids were outside playing street hockey, or hop scotch I was in my backyard killing any animal I could find. And in the fifth grade when I was 10, I upgraded to killing my first person."
I take the time to tell Callie about the first time I killed Jena and how my parents and brother reacted. I told her that it was Tim who turned me into the person that she fell in love with 7 years ago. I even confess about the apartment being mine, but I chose to leave the part where Teddy knows and helps about my secret out of the story. We are quiet again when I'm completely done with my story. Callie is still sniffing every now and then, and I'm just trying to control my breathing since it hasn't been the same since I found Callie on my boat with all of my kill supplies in front of her.
"Do you hear yourself right now," the venom of anger and disgust is still present in Callie's voice. "You make it seem like you're the victim when we both know you're not. You're just as disgusting as them," Callie points to my trophy collection that is setting perfectly between us.
"They were criminals, Callie." I hiss back.
"So are you!" Callie yells at me. "They were people, yes they were sick and twisted but they didn't deserve to die like that. They didn't deserve to die in the arms of you."
"They didn't deserve it?" I ask her. I lean forward and pick up one of discarded slide on the floor and look at it for a brief moment. "Dr. Peter Emerson, head of the humanities department at the University of Seattle. He made his female students perform sexual acts on him if they wanted to pass his class. If they had the balls to say no or try to go to the authorities he would rape them first before he killed them and dumped their bodies in mountains for the wolfs and bears to eat." I pick another slide only this one is hanging on the edge of the box about to fall on the floor. Just like the slide before I take a second to study it. "Kyle West, immigrant smuggler. If the family could pay him on time he would kidnap the women in the family. Women of all ages, I might add, and sell them into a sex slave ring before he killed the men and dumped their bodies in the ocean." I grab one last slide, this time the slide is still in its natural resting place inside my box. "Dr. Erica Hahn, the organ donor. She found innocent people to kill so she could harvest their organs and sell them on the black market." I pause to look at Callie, her eyes are wide in shock and her mouth is hanging open a little bit. "Look me in the eye and tell me that they didn't deserve to die. Tell me you are perfectly ok with fact that your system, the system you love and trust so much. Let them walk free so they could continue their reign of terror on poor real innocent people in the city." I take another brief pause, "criminals are usually the only people I kill because at the end of the day nobody cares when they go missing."
Callie is still too stunned to say anything at the moment, because for the first time in our relationship she is looking and talking to the real Arizona. The dark and twisted blonde that has been locked in hiding for most of my life, thanks to Tim. Finally after 10 minutes Callie closes her mouth, and her face somewhat relaxes like she is going to say something, but she doesn't. She gets up and runs out of the room. When she is out of the room I'm hot on her trail as she makes her way outside and over to the rail of my boat in time to empty her stomach contents.
While Callie is throwing up, I slowly walk up to her and place my hand on the small of her back. "NO," Callie screams again as she twists out of my grip. "DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH ME YOU SICK SON OF BITCH!"
Her outburst catches me off guard and causes me to stumble backwards a little bit. I raise my hands in the air to show her where they are and that I'm not going to touch her again.
"I thought I knew you," Callie voice is back to being low. "I fell in love with you."
"You do know me, and I love you too," I counter.
Callie shakes her head no before she points at the door for the lower part of my boat. "I don't know you." Callie lowers her hand and rests it on hip. "You're not the person I fell in love with."
"Callie," my voice breaks as my visions starts to get watery and fill a lump in throat start to form.
"I can't believe I let you around our children alone." Callie starts to back away from me.
"I would never, could never, hurt you or our children. I love them just as much as I love you." I feel the tears fall down my face as I take a few steps towards Callie.
"I can't be around you right now," Callie says as she gets off my boat and starts to walk towards the parking lot.
"Callie, please," I say as I walk right behind her.
"I'm serious, Arizona. I don't you see right now." Callie says back.
"Cal,"
"NO," Callie screams as she stops walking to turns around to face me. "I don't want to see right now. In fact I don't think I want to see you ever again."
Callie's last statement causes my heart to break into a million pieces.
"Don't come back to house because you are not welcome there anymore, and I don't want you around the kids."
"You can't-"
"What?" Callie cuts off. "I don't want them to be around you and your sickness. So just do us a favor and disappear."
"Callie," my voice breaks again as I try to take a step closer to her, but she just takes one step back.
"I'm being serous, Arizona. If I see around our kids or the house I'll call the police." Callie says before she rips off her Valentine's Day necklace and wedding ring and throws both of them right at me.
I somehow manage to catch both items so they don't slip through the cracks and fall into the Puget Sound. I look at the ring and necklace as the tears continue to run down my face before I look up and follow Callie with my eyes as she gets in her Range Rover and drives away. My legs are frozen unable to move. I'm too upset and shocked over the fact that Callie just left me.
It's another 20 minutes before I find the strength to walk back to my boat. When I get there I find that I need to take my mind off of things so I spend the entire night cleaning my boat, complete with bleach bottles and checking to make sure there are no blood spots anywhere. After my boat is completely cleaned I see that it is time for me to go to work.
I walk into work in a zombie like state, I want to go see if the twins are in daycare, but I don't know how true Callie's statement was last night. Would she really call the police on me, and what would she tell them? 'My wife is a serial killer and is stalking me and family?' I decide to play it safe and just go upstairs to the attending lounge to get changed. Maybe Callie just needs some time to think, and if I give her enough space she will come back to me eventually, right? This is the time when I could really use Teddy.
After I get changed I go upstairs to the peds floor to find the police on my floor yet again. Sorry to kid who dead because of the Nyx, but I really don't care. Callie leaving me is all I care about right now.
"Who died this time?" I sigh as I join Nurse Lauren and Alex at the nurse's station.
"The police found Kyle's parents yesterday." Alex says to me as he slides my tablet over towards me. "They were murdered. His mother had a spear in her chest and his father had his head cut off."
"Interesting," I say with little emotion as I look at the pending kids waiting to get a bed.
Even though I'm looking down at my tablet, I still see the silent exchange between Alex and Lauren through my peripheral vision. "Is there something wrong, Dr. Robbins?" Alex asks, "You seem kind of out of it, almost like you don't care."
"That's because I don't." I say before I look over towards him with a sigh.
"Well you should," a deep voice says from behind Alex.
Alex steps aside so he is standing on my left side and Lauren is standing on my right side on the other side of the desk. "Why is that officer…" I trail off expecting him to say his name.
"Detective," the man corrects, "Detective Cox."
Detective Cox is a tall overweight white man in his mid-thirties. He has short brown hair, with no facial hair. He has a white button up shirt with a blue tie and black dress pants and black dress shoes.
"Witnesses say you were the last person beside Dr. Stark to see the parents alive, and your current attitude makes me think you're hiding something." Detective Cox pauses to study my body expression when starts to accuse of being involved in the death of Kyle's parents. "What were you doing yesterday afternoon around 3:30; I want you to go until you showed up here this morning."
"I had surgery with Dr. Wilson yesterday. I was teaching her how to fix a club foot. After surgery I was in my office doing paperwork until an hour after my shift. My shift was over 6 but I was here until 7. After that I met my wife on my boat, where she told me that she wanted to get a divorce." I see the uneasiness on everyone's face around me when I tell them that Callie wants to break up with me. "So please Detective Cox, tell me how I should be acting when my wife, the love of my life for the past 7 years, the mother to my three beautiful children, wants to leave me." I don't stay to hear whatever the man has to say because it's not important to me because right now he is not my problem.
I walk down the hallway with my tablet in my hand. I'm about to start rounds when I Alex steps in front of me. "Callie asking for a divorce, is that true?"
"No, I have a sick fucking sense of humor and didn't want to answer that man's dumb questions so I made it up. Yes, it's fucking true." I snap at Alex.
"Damn I'm sorry to hear that." Alex says to me. "I know with Teddy gone for the next three weeks you'll need someone to talk to. If you want you can talk and vent to me. You were always there for me when I needed you, so I guess it would only seem fair that I help you in your time of need."
"Thanks, Alex" I give him probably my one and only smile for the day.
"Oh and Dr. Robbins?" Alex says before he moves out of my way. "You said the f word twice which is $20 in the swear jar."
"How about I punch you in the throat?"
"I'm just saying," Alex says before he steps out of my way.
I enter the room with a smile on my face before I start my set of rounds. To take my mind off of Callie and Dr. Stark, I immerse myself in work. Today is a lot busier than yesterday, it seems like every time I turn around I'm greeted with sight of Lauren with a new chart about a new patient that should me emitted to hospital. Without even opening the chart to see what it is I automatically take the chart until I'm maxed out on patients. Majority of the patients have quick and easy cases that will cause them to be here for a night or two, and maybe about 3 or 4 kids might be here for at least a week.
The day is fast but slow at the same time. I'm able to help each patient that I come across, but lurking in the back of mind is Callie. All psychiatrist have a different view on psychopaths, some believe that psychopaths are nothing but a deformity in the human population, while others think they are the perfect human being. If I'm such a perfect human being than I shouldn't have any weaknesses, but I do, Callie is my weakness. I'm supposed to have no emotion, but when it comes to Callie I care. She makes me happy, and sad, and when someone hurts her I get angry. According to psychiatrist those are all things I shouldn't have, but I do. Maybe psychopaths are evolving? Maybe they are starting to feel a little emotion towards other people to help them adapt to their surroundings. Or maybe my Dad and Teddy were right in saying that I am a normal person, and I just have to work a lot harder than everyone around me.
Callie, psychopaths, and my empathy plague my mind for the rest of the day until it is time to go home. Home, I technically don't have one at the moment. Callie kicked me out, and I haven't seen her all day either. As I walk down the hall to the attending lounge I'm expecting to get dirty looks from the staff, because I would have figured someone would have spilled the beans about Callie and me, but I get the normal hello smiles and head nods. I know Alex and Lauren don't go around gossiping, but let's face it Mark is a terrible gossip and he happens to be Callie's best friend. Maybe she hasn't told him because she is just wants time to think about everything, I know its wishful thinking but maybe she'll be in the attending lounge waiting for me, wanting me to come home.
When I get the attending lounge I see that it is empty, I did say it was wishful thinking. I open my locker to have black duffel bag that I didn't put in there fall out on to the floor at my feet. I pick up the bag and look at before I unzip it. For the second time I feel my heart start to break into small pieces as I see that the bag is filled with some of my clothes from the house. Callie really does want me out of her life. With the best straight face I can muster I change back into the street clothes before I grab my bag and walk out of the hospital to my car. When I start the car I start driving to my new home now, my boat.
Well it's not technically a new home, before I met Callie I used to live on my boat. I only bought that apartment because things between Callie and I were getting serious and I wanted to appear normal, however, after I learned about Derek living in a trailer I realized I could have gotten away with living in my boat, while I was dating Callie.
When I get to my boat I put my clothes way and make a cup a tea before I seat on the bow of my boat and watch the sunset over the Puget Sound. It isn't until the sun goes down when I realize how much of an anchor Callie was in my life, because after my cup of tea I go downstairs into the haul of my boat and get changed. I change into the traditional kill outfit, but instead of wearing a black long sleeve shirt, I hear a black long sleeve hoodie. That way no one can see my long blonde hair because I feel like killing the first person I see.
The neat, well rounded, Puget Sound Butcher hasn't come out to play on this Thursday evening. The violent, non-caring, unforgiving Thumb Print Killer has decided to reappear back in my life even thought I know nothing good comes from me being violent and reckless I don't care. I don't want to waste time finding the proper kill, I just want to find someone to kill, criminal or not.
For the next 3 in half hours I stalk up and down the streets of Seattle looking for the perfect kill. I pass Velocity Dance Center right when one of their Adult dance classes just ended, when a couple gets my attention. They are young couple in their late twenties earlier thirties, the man is on the tall the side. He looks to be about 6 feet tall, and he is very muscular, he is pretty much popping out of his blue polo shirt. He has medium length blonde hair with brown eyes. His girlfriend is on the short side maybe about 5'5 with long brown hair that flows just past her shoulders her eyes are blue and she looks very petite and dainty. This is the couple. These are people I want to kill tonight.
The couple walks a few blocks to Cold Stone Creamery, he orders the mint mint chocolate chocolate chip, and she gets the chocolate devotion, while I get the birthday cake remix. They find a table right next to the window inside, while I just take my ice cream outside and sit on a bench that is just out of their view.
The two are having an intense conversation that I don't care about and they shouldn't either because they won't live to see tomorrow, but I just sit on the bench and wait for them to make their next move.
"A little cold outside to be eating ice cream," a voice says to right.
I look over to see a young woman with a pale complexion and dark brown hair. She has square jaw and small pointy nose. She is wearing sliver hoop earrings with a purple blouse that is cut really low, and she also has on a black skirt that barley covers her ass with black leather high heel boots.
"A little cold outside to be dressing like a slut." I reply back.
"Your cold, I'm cold how about we walk over to Hotel Max and warm each other up?" she says with grin.
"Or you would walk in front of bus," I go back to looking at my couple. They still haven't moved, which now I'm wishing they would so I get away from this woman.
"Feisty," the woman takes a moment to take in my features. "I love when my clients get feisty, it makes getting off so much more fun."
"Look, I'm not going fuck you so leave me alone." I hiss at her.
"Why not? Are you married, never been with another women?"
She is really trying my patience right now. "I don't fuck cheap sluts like you." I say as I glare at her.
"Don't get it twisted honey, I'm not cheap. I'm an expensive fuck."
When I look back over to my couple I see that they are leaving so I get up to follow them only to have this dumb bitch follow right behind me. "Look I said I'm not fucking you so get lost."
"We both know you want it."
I stop walking and look over at her. She's smiling at me, and I just smile back. "I'm not going into Hotel Max where someone can see me with you." I say with slight disgust. I look around us to see that the streets are starting to empty, so I jester for her to walk down an alley with me. At first she seems unsure, but soon she agrees and walks down the alley with me.
She feels uneasy about the silence between us so she starts to talk. "You don't want to be seen with a high end escort and you're dressed in baggy clothing so people won't recognize you. That must mean you are some type of politician which is ok with me, but I will tell you my prices go up especially if you want me to keep my mouth shut. Not mention the factor of me being out of my element. I'm used to hotel rooms only."
"Don't flatter yourself, you're a fucking whore. You can't forget your roots this where you started, sucking and fucking anyone how would give you money in the back of this alley." I say to her as I put on my latex gloves.
"You know I don't have to take this abuse from you. If this how you treat people it's no wonder why you are alone right now. Fuck off."
I manage to pick up a two by four block with left hand, while I grab her by the hair with my right hand. "Oh, you're going to take it and then some." I say before I repeatedly hit her in the head with the wooden block.
My blows to her head were hard and heavy, and I knew by the fifth hit she was dead, but that didn't stop me. For 15 minutes I continuously hit her until her head and face is nothing but a bloody mess. When I'm done I throw the block off to the side I drop to knees and let out a scream before I break down and cry over my loss of Callie.
It's another 10 minutes before I'm able to calm down and leave my signature thumb print calling card. When I'm finally more relaxed I leave the alley and start to wander back to the marina. I throw a sniff every now and then, and when I'm more than 15 blocks away from the dead prostitute I just killed is when I throw my gloves way in the trash.
While I walk back to the marina I feel a figure bump into me. We both turn to face each other when I see that the person that I bump into is David Sivic. "Sorry," he grumbles before he continues on his path.
I don't say anything to him before I just follow him in the shadows, I mean it's not like I don't have be anywhere.
I follow him as we walks to a construction site in lower Queen Anne. Queen Anne is Seattle's test project as they turn those lower class homes into luxury government housing. He walks into an abandon house, and I follow him inside. He is in one of the room in the front of house so I have to use the back door. Before I enter the house I put on my second pair of latex gloves and enter through the kitchen which is empty and small. There is only a fridge, counter, sink and cabinets for glasses and food. A look around the kitchen and all I see are fast food wrappers and bags with some pizza boxes mixed with beer and soda cans everywhere. There is only one real entrance and exit which is located to my left. I walk down a hallway to see other rooms that could pass for offices or bedrooms but they are completely empty. I make it to the large foyer area to see an assortment of construction tools in the foyer almost like David is going to renovate the house. I grab a hammer before I glance to my right to see the living room, empty. Located to my left, is the remains of the staircase that leads to the second floor. The staircase is not sturdy and would collapse if someone were to try and clear the giant gap in the middle of the staircase. I also see a room with a plastic sheet over the doorway. I see a shadow moving around in the room so I quietly make my way to the room.
When I enter the room I see that it is covered in plastic and I see David with his back facing me as he hovers over a large brown barrel. I raise the hammer and turn backwards so the claw part of the hammer is facing him. Before he can turn around I hit him in the back the neck and he drops to the floor like a rock. Just like the prostitute I proceed to beat the life out of David. When he is dead I drop the hammer and just sit on the floor next to his lifeless body.
I really didn't take in the room as well as I thought I did, because right across from me is a door with a window on the top part of it. There standing in that window is figure, I can't make out whom or what it is, but when I notice it, is when the figure darts away. I can't have witnesses so I get up off the floor and take off after the figure.
When I get to the door I see that it is has a pad lock on it, so I grab the hammer again and break the lock. When I enter through the doorway I see the figure to my left, and just like before it takes off again. The figure makes it to the end of the hallway before it falls down and disappears. I run to the spot where the figure was standing to see a flight of stairs and a small mangled mess of my mystery figure at the bottom of the stairs. It looks they are bleeding from the head.
With the hammer still in my hands, I slowly walk down the stairs. When I get to the bottom of the stairs I drop the hammer because my mystery figure is a beaten and bruised Dr. Lauren Boswell.
"Dr. Boswell?" I say as I drop to my knees and check for a pulse.
Lauren lets out a low groan and tries to open her eyes.
"It's ok, I'll get you out of her." I say as I get ready to lift her.
'You really think that's a good idea?' I hear Tim's voice coming from the top of the stairs.
'I just killed somebody upstairs, I can't call the police.' I say up to him.
'She has a head injury, and she could have internal damage. You need to call an ambulance.' I just look at Tim, 'call for help and then leave before help arrives. Were in a shady part of Seattle, help won't come for at least 20 to 30 minutes.'
Sad but true. As I pull out my cell phone I stand up and take a look around what I presume is the basement. It is dark and there are chains, whips and other torture and sex devices hanging from the wall, with a bed with handcuffs attached to it. Is this the house where David takes his victims before he kills them?
"911, what's your emergency?" A voice says through my cell phone.
"I want to report a dead body on 5th Ave in North Seattle." I start.
After I call for help I can't help but wonder what David was going to with that barrel. Is the barrel a new way of hiding his bodies now? My mind continues to race as I walk over to Lauren to make sure she is still alive, which she is. Before I'm able to fully get up she grabs my arm. "Please don't leave me, Ari…" Lauren whispers.
I can see that she is scared and doesn't want to be alone, after seeing what was down here I can't help but think that David has been raping for the past few weeks and was about to kill her before I intervened. I'm about to suck it up and lower myself to stay by her side because it will be awhile, but my subconscious decides to step in again.
'What are you doing, Arizona?' Tim questions only this time he is across from me on the other side of Lauren.
'What does it look like I'm doing; I'm staying with her until help arrives.' I spit back.
Tim shakes his head at me, 'you need to leave. This how serial killers are caught Arizona. When they have their guard down is when the police come in and take you by surprise. One minute you're answering questions about Lauren and the dead body upstairs next thing you know they have a search warrant for you boat, and then all hell breaks loose.'
I just look at him before I give out a loud frustrating sigh. Tim always has to be right, even when he's dead.
I release Lauren's grip from my arm and set her hand back on the ground.
"Please," she gargles as tears start to fall down her face.
"I wish I could, but we both know why I can't." I say to her.
She lets out a whimper before she closes her eyes. When her eyes are closed is when I get up and run upstairs and out of the house.
Just like Tim predicted it was 30 minutes before police arrived and 10 minutes after the police is when the ambulance arrived. I waited to make sure that they put Lauren in the ambulance before I left the scene and went back to my boat.
When I get back to the boat I completely strip out of my clothes before I take a shower and then lay in my bed completely surround by quietness. I miss my daughters, I miss my son, I miss my wife and I miss my dumb dog. I give a heavy sigh before I grab my phone and call Callie. No surprise when she didn't answer. I just stare at the ceiling waiting for sleep to come, but it never does. I'm forced to lay in bed thinking about how I lost the best thing to every happen to me.