Jack In The Box novel Chapter 37

Riley

The field was surrounded by roses, but when I looked closely the roses were all dead. There was just one that had bloomed to its highest quality, the rose that Jack was holding between his fingers. He was looking at the distance into the growing mist. I climbed to my feet and stood there, wondering how I’d managed to get here. The place was completely deserted and it seemed like there was a void beyond, like nothing else existed other than the field of dead roses.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Riley.” Jack said in his deep voice, I couldn’t forget that voice. I’d missed hearing him speak since the last week. He had a smile on his face, but I couldn’t be sure what was going on in his mind. He was difficult to read as usual.

He raised his hand towards me, beckoning me to come to him. I started walking with shaky legs unsure of myself. Contrary to his appearance in the hospital where he wore an ugly hospital gown, here he was dressed in a black suit, and I wondered how my imagination was able to conjure up such an impeccable image.

Was this a dream or had I teleported into some other dimension?

I started walking towards Jack when I stumbled upon something.

A severed arm.

I gasped in horror and took a step back. It was only until a few seconds later that I realized that there wasn’t just one arm on the floor but a lot of other severed body parts lying upon the bed of dead flowers. An arm, a leg, foot with painted toe nails, an eyeball staring up at me. A huge raven came flapping its large wings and began feasting on the human eye, pulling at it. My breathing was erratic. It was the most disturbing thing I’d ever seen.

“Don’t look down, Riley, it’s only posing as a distraction to stop you from listening to what I have to say.” Jack’s hand was still raised towards me. “Come to me.”

I gathered up some courage, and did what he told me to, ignoring the mess of the body parts on the ground. I walked towards him. When I reached close to Jack, he slid his arm around my waist and pulled me against him. Really close.

Curiously, I touched his cheek and I was partly taken aback that I could actually feel him. “Wake up, Jack.”

“I think I’m getting lost in this darkness with each passing day. I don’t know how to get out of here, Riley; I don’t think I have enough time.

Mesmerized, my fingers traced his eyes, then his nose, his cheeks and his lips where he kissed my fingers. “You’re really here. You’re real!”

Jack pulled me in a tight embrace; his face was buried in my hair. “I’m sorry for summoning you here, sweetheart, I was so lonely. I needed to see you.” He nuzzled the crook of my neck and I could feel the warmth of his lips there, his hot breath and his strong fingers splayed on my waist.

I sighed in pleasure. “I miss you, Jack. You have to wake up for me and for Ezra. He’s beside himself worried about you.”

“Listen to me carefully, Riley. I don’t know when or if I will wake up. You need to remain vigilant and on your toes every time. Ezra needs to stay with you.”

“I can take care of myself.” I assured him.

His caramel colored eyes stared at me with suspicion like he didn’t believe me. “We’re at a disadvantage so far. The killer will take its next victim on the seventh of April.”

“How do you figure that?” I asked.

“Mad-Dave died on the first of January. Remember Nurse Roxy? Third of February. Madeline on the fifth of March. There is a pattern that the detectives failed to see while they were too busy looking for other details. The killer is doing the killings at the odd numbers of every month.”

“But what about Brady Wolfe?”

“He died on twenty-sixth of February which is a dead-giveaway that our original killer is not the one who did it. Twenty-six is an even number. It messed up the killer’s pattern but he still decided to move on.”

“So that means the person you saw who killed Brady Wolfe that day wasn’t the actual killer.” I said.

“It’s not. That was a hired killer and I highly doubt it has anything to do with the one we’re after.”

“All those detectives and the FBI waiting for you to wake up are going to be disappointed.”

“They are.” Jack touched my hair. “I have a hunch about something, and you’re not going to like it. I have a suspicion about the killer.”

“Who?”

He said something and I stared at him in horror. “That’s....that’s not possible, Jack...”

“I’m sorry, Riley, but you needed to know.”

I woke up in bed covered in sweat, the thin fabric of the nightgown clinging to me. I heard the sound of the footsteps and the door to my room opened. Ken switched on the night lamp and settled down beside me. He had a worried expression on his face.

“Are you alright? I heard you scream.”

I realized that I was breathing hard and my heart was pounding against my chest.

“It was a nightmare.” I assured him.

He brushed the hair away from my face. “What was this nightmare about?”

“I need water.”

I’d downed an entire glass of water, contemplating how I was going to talk about this. “Did you meet Aaron?” I inquired.

“No. I didn’t.” Ken responded. “He’s not showing up at work, and hasn’t answered any calls. I wonder what’s going on.”

“That’s strange. I hope nothing bad happened to him.” I was genuinely worried about Aaron now. Despite what Paul and the others had pointed out, I still found it hard to believe that Aaron would be capable to kill somebody. “Ken, if I were to ask of your opinion about the killer, who do you think did it?”