Until We Burn_A Psychological Thriller Read online

  “Is that a word?” She brought her face closer to his.

  “I don’t need words.” He put a hand on the back of her head, bringing her towards him. She closed her eyes, but he shifted at the last moment and kissed her nose instead.

  “Really?” She pulled away, pretending to be annoyed but her smile seeped through.

  “I don’t kiss girls who aren’t my girlfriend,” he smirked.

  “Oh, I see how it is.” She blew into his face, making him pull back and close his eyes for a second. “Well, after all this blows over how about you and I go to dinner, make it official?”

  “And where would we go to dinner?” Cyrus asked. “The restaurant Adam’s dad owns?”

  “That would be something, now wouldn’t it? No, I was thinking you could come over to my place.” She bit her lip, thinking. He loved when she did that.

  “With Erin and her mom?”

  “No, they won’t be there. Just you and me.”

  He grinned, rubbing her back. “I love that idea.”

  “I think you and me are gonna be really special.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “I can see our entire future already.”

  Chapter 12

  Adam

  “I’m heading out, Mom,” Will called, as he turned the front door and stuck one foot out. “Be back later tonight.”

  “Where are you going?” she asked from the kitchen. “It’s getting dar-”

  “Just to the movies with Zada and some friends,” he lied. “Alright?”

  “Be back by 11,” she said.

  “Or I’ll take the keys,” his father interjected.

  “Alright.” Will left, shutting the door behind him, and his heart began to thud. He didn't usually lie to his parents, and never about something this important.

  Inside the house, his father glanced up at his mother with a worried expression, seated at opposite ends of the table and busying themselves with their own tasks.

  “I’m worried about Will,” he said, rubbing his chin where slight shadows of a beard were beginning to appear.

  “He’ll be okay,” his mom said, her voice wavering. “He’s a good kid.”

  “I don’t like him spending so much time at Streett’s house. I know he needs the money to get a car, but-”

  “Cyrus Streett won’t stay here long,” she chuckled. “The townspeople will run him out of here within the month. You mark my words.”

  He smiled, pleased with the idea, and leaned back in the chair. “It’s a pity. What has to happen. He’s… not a good man, but a man, nonetheless.”

  His wife didn’t respond, swirling her tea with a dirt-caked finger, whispering to herself.

  <><>IXIXIVIXI<><>XIXIVIXI

  Will pulled the car out onto the street quietly, keeping his eyes dead ahead on the sleek, SUV in front of them. It was identical to the pastor’s, but a nighttime black instead of a clean white. It nearly disappeared, with the sky above them avoid of any light, even stars. Down here, among the buildings, it was easy to get lost in the shadows.

  If not for the faint lights on the back of the SUV, Will figured he wouldn’t have been able to follow. He kept his own headlights shut off, which was dangerous but the only way to stay out of sight. Zada sat beside him, biting her nails nervously, but also with excitement.

  “This is so cool,” she whispered.

  Will grinned. He wasn’t sure why they were whispering, inside a closed car and well behind the person they were following. There wasn’t any reason to be quiet, but it felt more suspenseful.

  “I can’t believe Cyrus suspects this guy,” Will said just as low. “It just seems… weird. I’ve heard his name around town my entire life.”

  “He’s probably the richest guy in town.”

  Will shrugged. “I’d say the pastor is.”

  “Dumpy’s a weird name, though.”

  He agreed, and let the subject die. For a second, he’d thought to mention something about Zada being a strange name too, but that never ended well.

  They crawled along at an agonizing pace, every second anxious that the powerful man ahead of them would spot the car in his rear-view mirrors. Will was as far back as possible, but still within sight.

  “I think he’s seen us,” Zada snapped in a hushed tone. “He’s braking. Look!”

  “No, he’s turning,” Will said. Without any signal, Dumpy’s SUV lulled to the left, turning ever so slowly.

  “Where’s he going? There’s no stores on this road, I don’t think.”

  Will didn’t answer, and didn’t turn on his blinker either. As the old man rounded the corner, Will approached the curb cautiously and followed suit. He prayed that Dumpy’s eyes were on the road ahead, and not behind.

  “What do we do if he notices?” Zada asked.

  Will gritted his teeth, trying to say anything rude. Questions, questions, and more questions from her. Always questions.

  “I guess we just get outta here as fast as possible.”

  “Think he’ll recognize your car?”

  Will shook his head, but didn’t say a word. That remained a possibility.

  Dumpy’s SUV finally turned right and into a parking lot. Will parked across the road, in an alleyway. Zada opened her mouth to ask something, but seemed to realize she’d been beleaguering and closed it.

  The door to the black SUV crept open, and Dumpy lumbered out. He was a well-aged business man, not accustomed to hard labor but loving the rewards. From his walk and his talk, money clearly wasn’t an issue. He closed the door with care and marched up to the front entrance of the building, which appeared to some type of run-down, not-so-friendly general store.

  “Like a ghetto Dollar General,” Zada whispered.

  Will got out his phone, turning the brightness down all the way. He brought up Cyrus's contact and typed out a message. “Dollar General?” he asked half-distracted.

  “Remember? We used to have one on the edge of town.”

  “What happened to it?” Will asked half-heartedly, pushing send.

  “Don’t know. That was the last real store we had here, though. I used to get all my school supplies there each July.”

  Will pocketed the phone, and Zada gave him an interested look. “I was just letting him know we followed Dumpy to a different general store, not his own,” Will explained.

  Zada nodded and faced the building.

  “What do you think he’s getting?” Will asked. “Some more rope? A knife?” He meant it as sarcasm, but the question hung in the air all the same.

  “They were killed with a gun, idiot, but that would still...” Zada smiled uneasily, casting nervous glances outside of the car. “Do you realize, if Cyrus is right, we just tracked a serial killer to a lonely part of town and we’re not armed at all?”

  Will grimaced. “Let’s just… pretend we are. If he confronts us. I’ll act like I have-”

  “Let’s just not get caught.”

  He nodded. “Good idea.”

  At that moment, Dumpy came out of the store, whipping his head around in both directions. There were three shopping bags in his arms, all yellowed and old. He darted to the side of his SUV and wrenched open the door, throwing them in. Something long and tangly dropped down, but he thrust it back in quick.

  He clambered into the driver’s seat and sped away out of the parking lot. Will struggled to follow him down the road, as the man took sharp turn after sharp turn, and eventually was too far. He drifted out of sight. Will drove by every street nearby, glancing down them, but there was no sign of the SUV.

  “He literally just bought rope.” Zada shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t even…”

  Will turned the knob furiously and his lights flashed on ahead. He drove out through the roads, eventually finding his way back to Main Street, a much more familiar place. Every so often, he checked his mirrors, to make sure nothing or nobody had followed him.

  “Will, what’s wrong?” Zada asked. “Your face is so… white. We got out of there okay. Don’t
worry about it. We did what Cyrus asked us to. Besides, we couldn’t have followed him all-”

  “Did you see what he did right before we lost him? As soon as he left the store?” Will turned into a parking lot and closed his eyes. He placed his hands over his face and leaned forward, shaking.

  “No, what was it?”

  “He turned his lights off.” Will took deep, ragged breaths. “He knows we were following him, and that we saw the rope.”

  Zada’s breath caught in her lungs. She coughed for a minute, and then stared up at Will with watery eyes. “Are you sure?”

  “He knows, Zada. He may not know it’s us, but he knows somebody’s on to him. The first person he’ll think of is Cyrus. And by extension, me.”

  They sat without another thought, each of them gauging the situation and trying to prepare mentally. After a few minutes, Zada slowly reached out a hand to Will and took his. He looked up at her, his eyes still afraid.

  “We’ve been dating for a week now, officially.” She smiled at him, rubbing her fingers down the side of his cheek. “See? It’s alright.”

  Will nodded, pressing his face into her palm. “I love you, Zada.”

  “I love you too.”

  She leant down to him and kissed him tenderly at first, then with slight aggression. He responded the same, wrapping his hands around her neck and in her hair. Zada let her hands fall inch by inch down his chest and over his stomach, going lower. He grinned, smiling at her uneasily and reached out to touch her arm, and then her hips, very gentle.

  “We’ve only been dating a week,” she said, as quietly as a breath.

  “It doesn’t matter,” he said, his breaths coming faster now. “I’ve known you for a long, long time.”

  “Never like this,” she teased, reaching a hand down onto his thigh. He grabbed onto her shirt, and leant over as close as possible.

  There was a bang on the hood of the car, and they both jumped in their seats, then giggled nervously. In unison, they glanced up at the hood and saw a lady.

  She was smacking on their car, shouting something and waving her arms around frantically. Her clothes were half ripped off, and there was a faint trickle of blood from her lips. She pointed behind her, and there was a man.

  He stood dressed in darkness, a rope hanging from one arm and a gun in the other. There was something covering her face, like a mask or a hood pulled down low. His stance was slightly bent over, but very powerful, menacing. In one, silent motion, he raised the gun to point at them.

  “Go!” Zada shouted.

  Will shifted to reverse and slammed on the acceleration, leaping back quicker than seemed possible. The stranger took a step forward, as the young woman ran away from the scene. She disappeared into the shadows of a nearby road, as Will put his car in drive, again pressing his foot down all the way.

  The car hopped forwards and sped out of the lot, onto the main road. Zada glanced behind her in the mirror, as Will managed to steer into one of the lanes and safely maneuver away from the danger.

  “Call Cyrus,” he said desperately, turning right and then right again. “We need to see if she’s okay.”

  He turned onto the road that ran behind the parking lot and crawled down it, keeping the lights off again. Zada dialed and called. The only noise was the phone’s, repeating over and over.

  “Hello?” Cyrus finally answered with a gruff tone.

  She put it on speaker.

  “It’s Will!” he announced breathlessly. “We just got attacked! We were in a parking lot and a woman came up and then a man and he pointed a gun at us and he had a rope-”

  “Get out of there!” Cyrus shouted. “Listen to me. Do not go back. Do not. I will call the cops, you just get out of there right now.”

  “Okay, okay,” he whimpered, turning onto a different road, leading away. “Do you want to meet or-?”

  “No. No, just get the girl home, Will. Come to my house tomorrow morning. We can talk then. Or better yet- No, that’s fine. Just come here tomorrow.”

  “Okay. Thank you.” Will sighed with relief. Zada nodded.

  “Don’t worry about the woman,” Cyrus went on. “She probably got away safe, if the man was focused on you. Hopefully.”

  Zada frowned, a deep thought slid over her features. “Cyrus?” she asked.

  “What?”

  “Be careful.”

  <><><><><><>

  “Are you gonna be okay?” Will asked, as he parked in the driveway of Zada’s home.

  She nodded and opened the door, walking around the car to talk through his window.

  “You’re certain?” he repeated.

  “I’m okay, Will. I promise. I’m more scared for you than for me.” She reached out a hand and stroked his cheek again. “Don’t worry.”

  He leaned forward and they shared a prolonged kiss. “It’s a shame, really,” he said.

  “What is?”

  “Being interrupted like that.” He grinned against her lips. “Maybe next time.”

  “Yeah.” She frowned, and backed away. “I’ll see you, Will,” she said half-heartedly.

  “What? Did I say something?” he asked. “We don’t… we don’t have to…”

  “Nothing, I’m just tired.” She waved at him. “Love you. See ya.”

  Will watched her turn away and head up to the house. It was nearly midnight, according to his clock. His own parents would be angry, and probably hers as well. What had she meant?

  His phone dinged, and Will glanced down at the screen before pulling out of the driveway and onto the empty road.

  will, come round tomorrow at lunch. police aren’t taking me seriously. gonna talk to pastor. this is serious stuff. you may have prevented a murder. lock your doors tonight, stay safe, and ill see you in the morning.

  There was another ding.

  oh, by the way. don’t mention anything about Dumpy to anyone. i’m thinking it’s better to keep this between you me and the girl. let her know too. alright, now get some rest. see you tomorrow. hopefully. evil laugh. too soon?

  Will smiled as the screen went dark. Maybe Cyrus did have a sense of humor buried underneath those layers of military-like toughness. Every time something like this happened, and the case took an unexpected turn, Cyrus thrived off the adrenaline, and it put him in a good mood.

  He shook his head. That man, whatever his past, had nothing normal about him. But at least he got the job done. So far.

  Part 2 Red

  Chapter 13

  Communion

  “Why did you have to go and start up this trouble?” the pastor growled. “We don’t need to act like there’s a serial killer out there! Calling the police like that…”

  “Would you rather me take matters into my own hands?” Cyrus countered. “I promise you it won’t end well.”

  Cyrus reclined on his couch, staring across the living room at Pastor Keener. The authority figure looked a few shades paler and had dark bags under his eyes, clutching a cup of coffee as he sat awkwardly in the chair across from Cyrus. The pastor glanced around at the home, fidgeting in his seat and checking the time on his wrist watch

  “I just… I don’t want to start any more rumors. We have enough of them, especially about… well, you. The people still think you’re somehow responsible for this. You know what happened this morning? There was a crowd outside of my office. With signs and everything! They’re going insane! They’re all… they’ve gone mad!”

  “I’m just trying to protect them,” Cyrus said. “If they keep getting in my way, a few of them may end up dead.”

  The pastor raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m kidding! God, you people.”

  The pastor cringed. “It’s been a long time since you were sarcastic, Cyrus.” He let a flicker of a smile pass over his features. “Not since… he died.”

  Cyrus waved a hand, batting away the memories. “And that’s why I’m here, pastor. We know whoever killed these people started that fire, or at least knows something
about it. Anybody in their right mind wouldn’t pretend to be a killer from 15 years ago, and call me out on purpose.”

  “Anybody in their right mind wouldn’t have killed those women.” Pastor Keener folded his hands. “I believe you, Cyrus, but I need to get some facts straight to give to the police. Can you answer one question for me, and then I’ll be gone?”

  Cyrus shrugged. “Do my best.”

  “Good, good. So, you called the police last night around 11:42. You said that you rushed home after seeing this attempted murder, and called them as soon as possible because your cell phone had died. The call records show, apparently, that you called from your cell phone. And your neighbors say that your car wasn’t here at 11:42. How do you explain that?”

  “The neighbors are wrong. My car was here. I’m not surprised they couldn’t see it. It’s very low, and dark. As for the phone thing, I plugged in my cell phone right when I got back and called.”

  “Why didn’t you use the home phone?” The pastor stroked his chin, staring into Cyrus's deep, blue eyes. “Understand now, I’m just trying to gather info for the cops.”

  “Of course.” Cyrus stared back with an iron gaze. “I didn’t think to use the home phone, because I haven’t had one for years. Not all of us are stuck in the 1990’s.”

  Pastor Keener didn’t respond or make any expression. He continued staring at Cyrus. “There’s something else, though. I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s a few people around town spreading rumors about you. They make some very interesting points, too.”

  “How about this?” Cyrus cleared his throat. “I will come to church tomorrow, and you will start giving me the trust I’ve earned. I don’t need any more enemies. Alright?”

  Pastor Keener nodded and a smile wider than a plane spread on his face. “That would be… just amazing, Cyrus. The congregation really needs it. And I think they’ll really start to trust you, once you come.”

  “I’ll be there,” Cyrus assured him. “You should probably go now. Will’s gonna be stopping by. Got some gardening to do.”