Sleep

            My heart was pounding as I walked through the pouring rain. She was dead. Her hair was strewn, soaked in blood across the floor. The apartment was torn apart. Vases were in pieces on the floor. Tables were overturned. Papers were scattered everywhere.

            Rain was pouring down on me. My boots were overflowing with water. Reg lights flashed around me.

            “John! John! Stop”

            My legs were tired. My face hit the ground.

*          *          *

            “John?”

            Slowly, I opened my eyes. Two blurry figures stood above me. I could make one out as the captain, but I couldn't tell the other.

            “What happened?”

            “We found you walking in the rain. Neighbors phoned in after they heard the screams and crashing---”

            I knew that voice. I had heard it before. What was he doing with the captain?

            “---After going to her apartment we saw that you had been there and went out looking.”

*          *          *

            It was some time in May. Kate had come home at her usual time, placing her... fedora... on the hat rack as she walked in.

            “How was your day.”

            “Fine.”

            “Whats wrong?”

            “Nothing.”

            “You sure?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Okay.”

            We sat face to face at the dinner table. She didn't speak a word. Her eyes swayed back and forth never meeting with mine. After dinner we went our separate ways. It was late, I was tired from my day of work, so I got ready for bed. I placed my badge on the nightstand and crawled into bed with a grunt. A searing pain went through my right leg, as it always did. The pain never went away. Finally, sleep enveloped me.

            I could hear her breathing, I moved my hand across the bed to touch her. She was sweating.

            “Whats wrong?”

            “This man has come into the bank everyday for the past two weeks. He always comes to my counter. He always looks at me.”

            Everyday she came home. Everyday nothing was different. He had invaded her thoughts. He had made his was into her, and he was growing.

            I had to do something. I couldn't go on seeing her like this. Her eyes were ghostly; dark circles surrounded them from the lack of sleep. She was getting more and more frail.

*          *          *

            The sun shimmered across the hood my blue Ford as I made my way to the bank. The news people were always wrong; they said it was going to rain, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

            34^th and Canderby.

            I had planned it so I would be there just before her lunch break. She said that's when he always came. She had started packing her lunches so that she wouldn't have to leave the building. I parked the car in the slot in front of the bank and waited. Everyone who walked past I eyed. Any of them could have been him. Blue jeans, white t—no. Shorts, jacket—no. Khakis, jacket—no. Business suit—no. Torn  blue jeans, worn sneakers, faded long sleeve shirt—my stomach lurched.

            I opened the car door and maneuvered my leg out of the door anticipating the pain that would follow; I winced. I followed him inside. Kate was at her booth. I nodded at her. He walked straight towards her, past the counter with security, past the red velvet line markers, but he never reached the booth. I was on him before he could take another step. I wasn't going to let him hurt her anymore. I cuffed him.

            He didn't react. It was like he had done this before. He followed my tugs without hesitation. Got into the backseat of the Ford without a word.

            I made it hurt when I walked with him. I wanted him to feel pain. I wanted to hurt him in any way possible.

            I pulled into the police station. No one was in. It was a holiday; those that were on duty were out of the office.

            I lead him into the interrogation room. Most are blinded by the light when the door first opens and the light reflects off of all the walls into the hallway. He didn't flinch. I sat him down in the seat opposite the door. I tapped the table as I walked to the other side of the long, silver table and sat down.

            “Name?”

            “Nobody.”

            “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

            “No one.”

            His eyes were dark. Black circles surrounded them. He was pale.

            I got up and walked over to him. I picked him up, threw him against the wall, and walked back to my seat.

            “Name?” I asked.

            He didn't reply.

            “Answer me.”

            “I wasn't going to touch her. I was just looking. Am I not allowed to look?”

            Silence.

            “No. Don't you ever look at her again.”

            He started to chuckle.

            “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

            “You're only making it worse for yourself,” he giggled.

            I couldn't help myself. I was across the room. He was on the floor in the corner. My fists met his face. My knee became accustomed with his stomach; his head with the wall.

            “Don't you ever look at her again.”

            I picked up his mangled body and threw it in the my blue ford and drove off. I made sure I was at least a mile away. I got out, picked him up, and put him in the gutter.

            I stared at him. He said he was only looking. He said he wouldn't touch her, but I knew he would; they all said the same thing. “I love her.” I could hear the echo of their voices.

*          *          *

            The engine roared; rain was splattering on the windshield.

            The rhythmic sound of the wipers soothed my already racing mind.

            I had heard the phone ring. I looked at the blue light shining back at me. It was her. Someone had kept calling her phone. No voice ever responded; the nothingness met her hellos. It must have been him.

            I got off the freeway. She said the doorbell had started ringing. Again and again no one answered her buzzes. Every time she looked out her window, no one was there. She needed me.

            It was dark outside save for the few street lights scattered around the block. I parked the car. I could see her light was still on. She must have been still there. Waiting—waiting for me.

            I started for the door keeping my eyes on the light. It was my hope. As long as I could see it I knew she would be there.

            Rain pounded on my head. It was ceaseless. My ears burned with each icy drop. I crossed the field connecting her apartment to the parking lot.

            Mud grabbed at my foot. A searing pain went through my leg. I stumbled.

            I looked back up at the building. The light was gone. Shit.

            I rushed towards the door. It was locked. I pressed her button. No one answered. I panicked. I pressed all of the buttons. Still no one answered. They couldn't have all been gone. I tried again; Anderson, Black, Johnson, Stewart, Williams. Where the fuck is everyone? I tried again, and again, and again.

            No one was going to answer. I took off my jacket and wrapped it around my arm. I smashed the window with my elbow and reached in turning the handle. I was up the stairs. My heart was pounding.

            First Floor.

            Second Floor.

            Third Floor.

            Stewart.

            Robertson.

            The door was ajar. She couldn't have let him in. My head was  throbbing. Adrenaline rushed through my veins. I ran in.

            Everything was broken. Vases lay on the floor like toys that a child had gotten bored of. Papers were scattered everywhere. Nothing was right. Her hair was creeping out from around the couch. She couldn't be.

            I ran over. Blood was in a lake around her head. Her body was mangled. Her wrists were bruised, shirt torn, body broken.

*          *          *

            “We found you walking in the rain. We just got to you in time. You could have died from hypothermia.”

            Again. The same voice.

            “Who is that?” I asked.

            “Oh, this is the new lieutenant. I forgot I had never introduced you two.” The captain said.

            I opened my eyes more. His broken face smirked back at me. It was him. It was no one.