Letting Go (Chapter-38)

Edmond

Why didn’t she scream when I burned her?

The thought repeated itself through Edmond’s mind as he sat on the fifth floor of Patrick’s apartment building. There was another time, he remembered suddenly, another time when she didn’t scream. A thump from the floor below made him jump slightly and shift his sitting position. Serena screamed every night, he thought, every night... except… his thoughts lingered, allowing him to remember more clearly, except for that night with Michelle…

The loud slam of the building’s front door, echoing from five stories down, brought Edmond back to the present. He didn’t move from his spot, though it pained him not to know where Patrick’s apartment was located. “I can’t risk it,” he whispered to himself, dropping his head to his chest, “can’t risk it.” He silently cursed himself for his carelessness that night- for leaving his car at the bar, following Serena home, and slipping into the building behind her without any strategy or plan of how to proceed. He had gotten hold of Serena, yes, but the innumerable risks he had taken were not worth the few moments of satisfaction.

Edmond leaned his head back against the wall as he heard the faint thud of a door closing from below. At first, he considered searching for the back exit but knew that the longer he spent inside the building, the higher his chances were of being seen by the residents. No, he thought to himself, I have to leave the same way I came in.

Edmond moved swiftly and quietly from floor to floor. When he reached the final staircase leading down to the entryway of the building, he looked back at the brown doors lining the hallway. I wonder, he placed his hand in his pocket and stroked his lighter, I wonder how close she is. Edmond turned, walked quickly down the stairs, and, grateful that the main door didn’t lock from the inside, opened the door and lightly closed it behind him.

Anxiety and paranoia overwhelmed Edmond in the first few minutes of his walk back to the pub, but once he’d reached a safe distance away from Patrick’s apartment, his mind slowly fell back to where it had left off: Why didn’t she scream when I burned her? His thoughts progressed in the same way they had before, taking him back to a particular night from 16 years ago.

I never brought Michelle into the closet with me until that night… I don’t know why, maybe it was because burning Serena had gotten somewhat… monotonous… Edmond approached the GastroPub lot, which still had four cars parked in front of it, and scanned the area before quickening his pace toward his car and getting in. He drove silently out of the parking lot and down the road, allowing the memory to play across his mind with more clarity than any other memory from Serena’s captivity had before.

She reacted normally when I opened the closet door, pushing to the back corner behind Michelle’s black fur coat. Sometimes she’d start crying the moment I came in, and other times she’d cry only when I pulled out the lighter. She didn’t cry right away this time; she was huddled in a little ball, with her head dropped forward, and didn’t make a noise until I started speaking.

“Serena,” Edmond slowly pulled back the long, black fur coat so he could see the girl in the corner with her head tucked tightly beneath her arms. He examined her right forearm and smiled with satisfaction at the varying sizes of burns covering it. Some were scars from months earlier, though most were in the early to mid-stages of blistering. Edmond’s gaze lingered just above Serena’s wrist, where a quarter-sized burn from the night before was still a bloody, open wound of raw flesh.

“Serena,” he stepped toward her, “Serena!” Edmond reached his hand forward and hit the open wound.

Serena screamed out in pain, crouched over her wounded hand, and shoved herself closer to the wall so her back was to him.

“Look at me, Serena,” Edmond knelt down. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head back, “I brought someone with me tonight.”

Serena looked back at him with a mix of panic, terror, and slight confusion. He smiled and yanked her hair violently to the floor, forcing her to fall backward onto the carpet.

“Michelle, get in here. Now.”

Michelle came into view and stood still in the doorway, wearing a sheer white nightgown she often wore in late summer.

Edmond stood. He took a step toward Michelle and reached out a hand, attempting to

sound comforting when he spoke. “Come in.”

Michelle walked slowly, and with obvious hesitation. When she was within a foot of Edmond’s hand, he lunged forward and grabbed her by the wrist.

“Serena,” Edmond dragged Michelle by the shoulders and held her in front of him, “Tonight we’re going to do something… different,” he glanced around at Michelle, who had several tears falling down her cheeks, then at the knotted blonde hair of the girl cowering on the floor.

“Tonight,” he continued, “Michelle is going to burn you.”

He felt Michelle’s body freeze at this, then tremble slightly. Edmond pulled a dark red lighter from his back pocket and clicked it several times, watching Serena’s body jump with each click before reaching down to place it into Michelle’s hand. But the moment Edmond’s lighter touched Michelle’s skin she flung her wrist back, causing the lighter to drop to the carpet.

“You cunt!” Edmond swung his hand back, smacked Michelle across the cheek, and watched her fall against her hanging coats and dresses before hitting the floor. He picked up the lighter and grabbed Serena’s arm in one swift movement, pulling the girl toward Michelle as she attempted to push herself up and out of the closet.

“No,” Edmond kicked Michelle back down and jerked Serena in front of him so she was standing at Michelle’s ankles, “if you’re not going to do it, you’re going to lie there and watch it.”

He stood behind Serena, wrapped his arm firmly around her waist, and held her right hand up and away from the rest of her body.

“If you turn your eyes away, Michelle, I swear to God I’ll burn through the girl’s entire hand,”

He lifted the lighter, held it to the inside Serena’s wrist, and clicked on the flame.

But there was no sound as the fire melted the girl’s skin. Serena stood completely still, her eyes dropped down toward Michelle, as Edmond moved the fire in circles on her wrist, waiting for a cry that never came.

And two days later, Edmond thought as he drove into the senior living community of Vera Robert, Serena Moore escaped.