Devil's Advocate

For suddenly knowing that there was a file with his name and information on it, Scott was surely taking it well. He didn’t appear to be panicked or indecisive anymore, which frightened Angelique. He had made a firm plan, had even seemed to make sure it would show up in the file. He had kidnapped this girl, had taken her back to the farmhouse, and was pretty much lying in wait. Angelique didn’t want to play into his hands, but she wasn’t seeing much of a choice. He was practically daring her to show up now. She didn’t want to do things on his timing, she would have much rather done them on hers. And her timing involved waiting for Scott to leave the house.

Angelique and Kenneth had driven by several times, looking for an opportunity. The first time they thought he was still out gathering his latest victim. The other times they were just waiting for him to leave. However, it seemed like he was counting on that, because now that he was back in that farmhouse, he remained firmly planted there. Angelique was beginning to lose her patience. She and Kenneth had just driven by for the fifth time in a day, and that beat up white car that was in the driveway. Kenneth could see Angelique losing her patience, so he agreed to do another drive by after they got drive through burgers for lunch. Angelique agreed. She couldn’t keep Kenneth from eating just because she didn’t have to eat after all.

After they got a burger and fries for him and a shake for her (Kenneth insisted), they parked off to the side so he could eat. Angelique sipped her shake and watched him take a few bites of food. Her mind began to wander, and before she could help herself she asked,

“What was Scott like when you were kids?” Kenneth swallowed his bite slowly, thickly. Taking a slow drink of his soda, he turned to face her.

“You mean, did he show any signs of this kind of behavior as a child?” he asked. She shrugged.

“That. And I’m genuinely curious. What was he like as a kid?”

“He was…” Kenneth smiled a bit. “He was a good kid. Smart. Real good at math, which was great because I sucked at it. My entire fourth grade year he did all my math homework for me, because I sucked so bad.” He laughed. Angelique couldn’t help but smile.

“That’s such a sweet thing to do.” She said. He smiled back at her.

“Yeah. He and I were really close. At least until the accident.” Angelique tilted her head.

“Accident?” she asked. She didn’t remember reading that in Scott’s file. Kenneth nodded.

“Our dad got into a car wreck. Killed our mom. It hit everybody hard, but Scott.” He shook his head. “It hit Scott the hardest I think.” Ah. That explains it. She was only scanning for information, she wasn’t looking for anything like this.

“Do you think that was a turning point for him?” she asked. Kenneth shot her a wry grin.

“Are you asking me if I think this is the moment that he turned into a killer?” His tone of voice implied he was jerking her chain. She rolled her eyes.

“Yes, and no. I’m asking if you think this is the part where he changed.” She asked. He nodded, face suddenly solemn.

“Yeah. We stopped talking as much. We weren’t really close anymore. He joined a few after school clubs that he stayed in all through high school. But that didn’t seem to be enough. He was also caught shoplifting a lot. Petty stuff. Useless things.” He bit his lip. “I thought that was something he’d grow out of, taking things. Thought it was just how he coped.” Angelique thought about it for a minute, then nodded slowly.

“Maybe that’s what it started out as. Hell, maybe that’s what it still is.” She said. He looked at her.

“What do you mean, still is? This happened years ago.” He said. She nodded again.

“Yeah, so you said. But I mean, think about it. He poured himself into things to avoid thinking about the accident. When that stopped working, he started stealing. Well, stealing stopped working so he moved on to killing. Makes logical sense to me.”

“Mm. I don’t think that’s all of it. I mean, it’s part of it, but I don’t think it’s all of it.” He said. “It says somewhere in his file that he steals stuff and sells it off for cash. If the taking things is the whole point, why cash in the stuff?”

“To pay bills?”

“Nah, I think it’s more than that.” Kenneth took another bite of his burger. “I think it’s because he likes the stuff that money buys. More distractions. Things to keep his mind occupied. I don’t think he kills people because it’s a natural escalation. I think he kills people because they are getting in the way of his obtaining the things he needs or wants to keep up with the distraction.”

Angelique thought about this. That made a lot of sense. It didn’t seem like he had come in with the intention to kill her the night she died. After all, she wasn’t even supposed to be home that night. Maybe he wasn’t the outright monster she had been thinking he was. Maybe it was just a wrong place wrong time scenario that caused her death. Right on the heels of that thought was another question, one that she didn’t have any sort of good answer to.

“Then. What do we call Victoria?” she asked aloud after a few moments of silence. Kenneth blinked a couple times.

“Huh.” He said, like she had just blown his mind. Angelique took another sip of her milkshake and sat more comfortably in her chair while she thought about it. What would one call Victoria in this progression of Scott’s criminal career? Angelique hiccupped, her hand flying to her chest. Kenneth chuckled. She went to tell him off but then her fingers brushed the scar on her chest. Her eyes widened as Victoria’s words came crashing back to her.

“He has a horrible fascination with you. He wanted to see if he could make someone who could heal damage like her.” He saw her heal some damage, when they fought in the park. Angelique felt herself pale as she realized he liked the concept of hurting her over and over again. Talk about the ultimate distraction. Keeping yourself occupied by hurting another person until the day you die. Angelique shivered as Kenneth rested a hand on her knee, startling her from her thoughts.

“You ok? I lost you for a second there.” He was trying to lighten her mood, but her thoughts were far too heavy. She swallowed and tried to talk, but her words were choked and strangled. Angelique cleared her throat and tried again.

“Victoria was because of me.” She croaked out. Kenneth rolled his eyes.

“We have already talked about this,” he started to say, but a sharp shake of her head cut him off.

“No, no listen! Look.” She pulled her shirt down, revealing part of her scar. He nodded.

“Yeah. I was there when that happened you know.” He was still teasing her, not really getting it. She reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his shirt, her fingers twisting into the fabric and holding fast.

“Listen! Do you remember what Victoria told me? That first time I went to talk with her?” He stared blankly at her. She all but shook his arm. “She said Scott was fascinated in a horrific way with me. With the fact that I can do this.” She gestured to the scar on her chest again. Kenneth’s eyes widened.

“That’s why he killed Victoria.” He said. “Not that it was your fault, but he wanted to see if he could what…create you?”

“What other explanation is there? He was the one that killed me. It only makes sense in his head that I can do these things because of him. And if he can get ahold of someone that can heal all the damage that he can deal?” she shuddered. “Think how easily he could keep himself distracted with that.”

“That is horrifyingly dark.” Kenneth said after a moment, pausing to shudder himself. “And that makes me dread to think of what he has in store for that other young woman.” Angelique jumped as though he had slapped her. That’s right. Scott had abducted another woman. She might not be able to afford to wait for him to follow her schedule. She may have to bend and follow his.

A sudden chill overtook her. She suddenly felt the need to look in Scott’s file. She flipped the file open, straight to the last page with words on it. There was no change. She began to exhale in relief, but then she noticed what appeared to be a handwritten note on the backside. Angelique felt her blood run cold.

“Kenneth.” She exhaled his name, her eyes wide. Kenneth took the page, reading the note out loud for Angelique.

“To the person who has the second copy of this file, I am tired of waiting for you to man up and show yourself to me. Let’s settle this like adults. Come to the following address. Come alone. Come without weapons. Or I will kill Katherine St. Remy.” Here he paused and looked up at her. “Who is Katherine?”

“I can only assume the girl he has taken hostage this go round.” She sighed. “What’s the address?” Kenneth read it off, the exact address of the farmhouse they already had. Angelique nodded. That was what she thought. She took a deep breath.

“That settles it. I have to meet him.”

“Like hell.” Kenneth glared at her. “It’s a trap!”

“Yeah, it is.” She agreed. “But what can I do? A girl’s life is on the line. Mine is already forfeit.”

“But your soul is not, Angelique.” Kenneth was trying to persuade her, but she just felt like he wasn’t understanding.

“Yeah, I get that. But there’s more to this than that.”

“We talked about this. Remember? Your soul…”

“Is not the most important thing here!” she exclaimed, slamming the now empty milkshake cup into a cup holder. It rebounded off of the cup holder and landed in the floor on Kenneth’s side. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything or even look twice at it. He just stared Angelique down with a look that was a mix between surprise and pity. This only served to fuel her ire.

“Kenneth, this is bigger than me. Bigger than where my soul goes when it’s over. I would rather suffer for the next 50 years here on earth, and then for the rest of my life in hell, than know that I cost someone else their life.” She was overwhelmed with a burst of emotion. Her rage, her fear, her worry. It all melted together and fell from her eyes in white hot tears. She tried to gasp them back, to no avail. She gave Kenneth credit for that too. If he noticed her crying, he didn’t say anything or stare too long. He did, however, move to take both her hands in his. Angelique allowed this bit of comfort too, for once without even second over thinking it. He gave her hands a strong squeeze, held that squeeze for a good solid three count, and then released. Angelique took a few deep breaths in that three count.

“We can save her. You have me to help you, remember?” he gave her a small smile, a reassuring smile. Angelique nodded. That was true. She still had Kenneth’s help.

“We don’t have a good plan anymore.” She argued. He shrugged.

“No. We don’t. Means we’re going to have to adapt. Humans adapt.”

“I’m not human.” She tried arguing. He grinned.

“But I am. And you used to be. We can work off of that.”

“This is highly risky.” She insisted. Here he nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah it is.” He took a deep breath and gave her one more reassuring squeeze. “But we can make it work. We can do this.” He turned back to face the wheel, putting the truck in gear. Angelique swallowed. He was right, they could do this. But it was risky. It was terrifying. It was unlikely to work. But they had to try.

Kenneth drove them to the hotel, putting the vehicle in park off to the side. He looked at her.

“I’m going inside to get your gun. Once I get it, we’ll go.” Angelique tilted her head.

“But he said…”

“Yeah. I know. But I have a plan.” Now she was confused.

“You have a plan? But what about…”

“I need you to trust me.” He insisted. Angelique took another deep breath. Trust him. Trust him because he’s done nothing but help her thus far. Trust him because he knew Scott much better than she did. Trust him because he had no other reason to help her other than out of the goodness of his heart. But most importantly, trust him because whether she liked it or not, he was her friend. She blew out a breath, feeling excessive relief as she did, and nodded.

“I trust you.” She said. And as he smiled at her and took off inside, she realized that she meant it. She did trust him. And she held onto that idea of trust as he eventually came back out to the truck and took back off down the road. She trusted him. And he had a plan.