Portion of Chapter Six

Part of chapter six of the ole novel. 

Chapter Six: Acheros

Acheros felt the cold steel rip and tear its way through the object, and it was only a few moments longer before the last strand in the rope was slit, the former bonds falling to the ground in a heap, useless. “Alright, you listen very carefully now, understand?” Acheros waited a few moments before the woman-- arms still tightly contorted behind her back, mouth held firmly shut by the thick tape draped over her face-- nodded her head in frightened assent. “Okay,” Ro spoke with sincerity and calm, his voice taking on a personality all to its own. “I’m going to let you go. Not here, that would be foolish, but I’m gonna take you out to my car, we’re gonna drive somewhere far off, and I’m gonna let you go.”

The woman began to cry, her entire body shaking. They were not tears of grief, but happiness. She was more happy than Ro had seen any woman, in a long long time. And why was he sparing her anyway? He never spared the women he kidnapped, it was stupid, foolish. The authorities would be on him in an instant. Even if he threatened and promised death if they were to talk, the women would talk anyway. He was being brash. But perhaps he couldn’t do it anymore. For nearly two years, he had been doing the same thing. Hoping against hope that it was her, only to find heartbreak after heartbreak. And each new one tore out another piece of what was left of his tortured soul. 

But it wasn’t this pain that made him decide to free this woman. It was Her. Cecilia Beck. The woman he had loved more than he had ever loved anything his entire life, and the one person he knew on the Earth better than he knew himself. She would be ashamed of him. She would hate him. “Ro. Dear, Ro. What are you doing? What have you become? You were so much more than this, a better man than this.”

A better man. Better. Ro wasn’t sure what he was anymore. Maybe he was a monster, like his family had always assumed. Maybe Cecilia had been the only thing preventing his full fall, and with her gone, there was nothing left but his inner evil. What had he become? 

Acheros still could recall the day he had asked Cecilia to marry him. he could remember it like the countless facts and definitions he had memorized over his years of schooling. Nearly three years ago now, he guessed. Three years sounded like an eternity, but for Acheros, every day had passed in the blink of an eye without the woman who had been his all.

It had started out as a normal day, those three years ago. The sun was shining, though by no means was it the perfect weather for what he intended to do. It had been fairly cold-- it was an October morning-- and as the day dragged on, more and more clouds began to dot the sky above, blotting out the dimples of sunlight that drifted between the trunks of the myriad of trees. Acheros had asked Cecilia to accompany him on a walk through the estate’s grounds, but more specifically to his favorite spot in the vast land his father owned. His father was a wealthy man, and the estate on which Arthur Edgerton had built his home was nearly seventy acres, fifty of which was situated in a dense, beautiful forest of trees. Far back in the woods, Acheros had discovered a small pond when he was a boy. It was barely more than a pool of water, but it was the most beautiful place he had ever seen in nature. Ro must have been only eight or nine when he had found it, but he loved it from that moment on. It was surrounded by trees on all sides, tiger lillies shooting up around its edges. In the cool, dim light of the evenings, Acheros used to lay down by its side and listen to the frogs sing their songs to each other. It was the only place Ro had ever found peace and tranquility on the estate, and it was truly his. 

Finally, after a long trek through the grounds marred by Cecilia tripping over a root and splashing mud all over her frontside, Ro led the two of them to the side of the pond. At that moment, the weather had been perfect, Ro could recall. He couldn’t have planned it any better had he tried. Two dark, foreboding clouds high above had parted, and the sunlight shined down perfectly above the clearing around the pond. Leading her gently to the side of the water, Acheros had dropped to one knee, fishing the all important piece from deep inside his suit’s inner pocket. 

She had gasped, Acheros remembered with a smile, her hands covering that beautiful, impossibly perfect face as she realized just what was happening. “Cecilia Beck,” Acheros had begun a little nervously, his voice catching on her name but gaining strength as he continued. “I love you. And the past seven years of my life have been the best by a long shot. You took me from the edge of a dark, deep abyss, and gave me a reason to be hopeful in life again. You are the single greatest part of my life, and I would be remiss if I couldn’t spend every moment of the rest of it with you. Cecilia,” Acheros had gently raised the top of the ring box open, revealing a beautiful, glittering diamond ring, “Will you marry me?”

She had simultaneously begun to laugh and cry, throwing her head to the side and closing her eyes tight as a single tear slid down her cheek. She nodded vehemently after a few moments of stunned indifference, “Yes. Yes of course I will, Ro. I’m so happy.” Acheros’s eyes had nearly bulged out of his head, the blue in them swirling. She said yes! He couldn’t believe it. He slid the diamond onto her finger, noting with excitement how dazzling it was in the sunlight. He felt an uplifting chuckle escape his lips, and he bounded to his feet in an instant. Sweeping Cecilia into his arms, he remembered-- even three years later-- how perfect those thin, vibrant lips had tasted and felt. He had kissed her for only a moment, but it was as though time had frozen. Just the two of them, alone, together in the forest by his favorite place in the world. It was a moment he would relive countless times over the next year, and countless times since, though with an entirely different emotion.

The realization hit him once more that Cecilia was unalterably gone. She was dead. She would never come back, and every happy memory and every enjoyable moment was tainted with the knowledge that it was all his fault. That somewhere, Cecilia hated him for what he had caused her, and for what he had become in the years since she died. Wrenching himself back to the present, he resigned himself to what had to be done.

Part of Chapter Eight

**Picks up in the middle of the chapter

Chapter Eight: Kallan

“Excuse me, sir!” Kallan flagged down a man in line, and he quickly sidestepped the jumbled mass, standing next to the agent with a bright, beaming smile on his face.

“What can I do for you, friend?”

“I’m a special agent with the FBI, names Kallan Dale.”

“Oh, FBI? That’s interesting. Wouldn’t be about the Kansas City Darling would it?”

That was what the locals and the rest of America had taken to calling the serial killer. The only thing known about the case was the type of victim taken, and America had grown fond of using the moniker almost instantly. Kallan nodded slowly, and the man’s blue eyes widened behind his wire rimmed, golden glasses. “That’s right. I was just recently assigned to come down here and see if I can find any more details or evidence, though God only knows it’s gonna be a hell of a time.”

“Wow.” The man looked the three agents up and down, still wearing that stupid, idiotic smile on his face. Kallan began to feel a strange, tugging sensation in his gut about this particular man. “The Kansas CIty Darling. I really hope you catch the bastard. You know, my girlfriend was taken by him. Killed her. I would do anything to get my hands on him myself.”

“Well, sir, all respect to you, but if all goes well in our investigation, you won’t need to. But I am sorry to hear about your girlfriend. We’re here to prevent any more deaths like that. Now, I do have a question for you, if you don’t mind. Could you put us in the direction of the InterContinental hotel?”

The man’s eyes brightened, and leaned backwards the slightest bit, “Of course! I know right where it’s at. Actually, if you head out that door right down that way,” He pointed to the end of the terminal where four double doors marked the exit to the rest of the world. “ Take a right as soon as you get out there and keep heading straight, you’ll walk right into it. It’s located in the plaza, you can’t miss it.”

Kallan threw up his hands, happy to have an end to his exasperation. “Ah, thank you so much, Mr....”

“Edgerton. Acheros Edgerton. Though my friends call me Ro.” The man stuck his hand out, and Kallan gripped it firmly, wearing a smile of his own. 

“Acheros, huh? That’s a hell of a name. Latin?”

Acheros nodded, cocking his head. “Yep, it means sorrow, actually. My dad named me after my mom died when she gave birth to me. So I’m stuck with a name that means sorrow and a father who hates me. But that’s a story for another day! I hope you all enjoy your stay in Kansas City and you find that killer. I think we will all be at peace when you do.” 

Kallan nodded, chuckling. “Look, you and me both, buddy. You have no idea the kind of heat I’ve been getting from my boss. The moment we catch this guy, all of America’s gonna breathe a sigh of relief.”

“I sincerely hope you do, but I have to be off. I’ve got a flight to catch. I apologize.”

Kallan stepped back, his arms spread wide. “No, no, I’m sorry for keeping you. Have a safe flight, and thanks again!”

The man nodded in response, drifting back into the crowd. In a moment he had disappeared into its midst, and Kallan was left alone with the agents once again. “Alright, you heard the man. Let’s get going, shall we?”

The three of them began the last leg of their trek to the hotel, but Kallan couldn’t shake the feeling that something about the man had stood out, or had been curious at the very least. He had seemed genuine and honest, but there was something about him that gave Kallan pause. Glancing behind his shoulder, he tried to locate the man’s brown hair, but he was long gone. Kallan shrugged, probably just the jet lag playing hell with his senses. In any case, the hotel was just around the corner, and he would have a few moments of precious rest before embarking on his fool’s quest. 

Part of Chapter 3

First portion of chapter 3 in the novel.

Chapter Three: Kallan

FBI special agent Kallan Dale leaned back in his plush, leather seat, gazing intently out of the window on the side of his office to the street four stories below. Even from this height, he didn’t need to imagine the frenzied pace of traffic. There had been countless times in his career when he had counted himself lucky to be seated four stories above that chaos than to be located in it. But not today. Today, he gazed out the window in the hopes that somehow, someway, he could leave his office behind. Hell, leave the FBI behind, and live somewhere far, far away. But it wasn’t possible. Not yet, at least. 

“You have any idea what we’re dealing with, here, Dale?” Kal, as everybody called him, flicked his blue eyes to the face of his boss, Agent Levi Ross. On any other day, Kallan actually liked the man a great deal. He took no bull shit, didn’t bat an eye at chewing out an agent who was out of line, and generally did good work around the bureau. But that was any other day.

“Sir, I told you. I’ve been following this guy for almost two years, and he’s just too damn clean. I’ve got nothing, and the scrubs don’t find anything on the body or at the scene to point us in the right direction. He’s a ghost. He’s been a ghost for two years. What we’re dealing with is an unprecedented son of a bitch.” Ross bristled at this, but Kallan didn’t give two shits how the agent felt. He was tired of being chewed out on a bull shit, going nowhere case. “The only thing I know for certain is his M.O. He obviously takes women, all of the same average build, height, and features. Brown hair, green eyes, young. Smooth facial features, long wavy hair, natural tan hue. But there are no connections between victims, no obvious signs pointing to someone connected to each of them. Nothing. They’re simply all from a relatively close area, about a twelve mile radius involving Kansas City and the surrounding area. We can’t simply put out a bulletin warning women of a certain archetype to hunker down and seek shelter until this blows over. We don’t even know if this will blow over. The minute we send out warnings, the killer will up and leave, and any hope of following a trail will be cold. I’m telling you, sir, until something new comes through, I can’t make any headway in this case.”

Ross leaned forward, elbows on his knees as his fist supported the weight of his head. Staring straight back at his boss, Dale noted for the first time the way his lip curled back in contempt at the first sign of displeasure. His grey eyes were as hard to read as a tinted pair of glasses, made even harder by the strained look on his face. “Are you telling me you can’t do your job, Special Agent Dale?”

Dale threw his arms upwards in exasperation. “Jesus, Levi, you know damn well no one could do my job! I’m tired of this bureaucratic bull you’re always pulling. Your strong man lectures might work on some of the younger guys, but I’ve been here a while longer, and a few tough words aren’t going to coax a magical solution out of my ass to end this case. What I’m telling you, sir,” Dale was drifting into dangerous territory, here he knew, sneering his words with a snarl, “is that I’m not going to be of any use to this department unless you get me on a different case. Nothing’s doing on this one.”

Part of chapter 1

Part of the first chapter of this year's Nano Wrimo novel. 

Chapter One: Acheros

Acheros Edgerton stood calmly staring out the window of his apartment, his gaze unsettled by the various figures drifting far below his perch. His blue eyes gazed from the behind the protection of his wire rimmed, golden glasses, betraying little of the emotion stirring far beneath the surface. Who was she? He ran a shaking hand through his closely cropped brown hair, smoothing out the creases as they rose beneath his fingertips. So much like She had been. Her face, her features. Even the way she walked. It was exactly as Ro recalled Her. But it couldn’t be. Could it? There was no way it could possibly be Her.

“Ro, are you even listening to me right now?” 

Ro cocked his head, tearing his vision from the crowds streaming below his window. His blue eyes led his vision to that of Atticus, his elder brother. Atticus was far more solidly built than Ro, as he was called. At 6’2”, 215 pounds, he was the spitting image of their father. And Ro was envious of that. Perhaps if Ro had looked more like his father, his life could have been different. Better, easier. But he didn’t look like Arthur Edgerton. And his father refused to even mention the features of Karen, Acheros’s mother. It was “too much pain” he had always said. So, Ro didn't know who he resembled in their long family line. 

“I’m sorry, say it again.” Ro’s voice was detached, wary. His brother had never spoken more than one kind word to him in a single meeting, and he was no doubt busy lambasting him for another of what was sure to be a heavy offense in his eyes. That was how it had always been. One mistake after another. He could never catch a break with either Atticus or Arthur.

Atticus rolled his big, brown eyes, throwing his arms towards the ceiling in exasperation. “Unbelievable. Brother, you have no idea how much grief you cause me on an average day. I am ashamed to call you part of this family. If it were my place, I’d have you removed, strip you of your name and everything you ever had from this family. But it isn’t my place, and Father thinks too much about the honor we have to put a blight on our record like that.”

Ro let out a long sigh, turning his back once more. He wiped away the condensation gathering on the window, again glancing over the crowd in an effort to locate the mystery woman. The weather outside was dreary, rain fell in droves and the trees were nearly bent sideways from the brisk wind. Dark, ominous clouds denied any remaining hope of a bright ray from the sun, and the air must have been middlingly cold, Ro knew. “Did you have any point other than your hatred for me? You know, I have news of my own I’d like to share, if you’re quite finished.”

Atticus snorted, folding his arms across his chest. “I am not finished, dear brother,” he sneered the words in the exact manner Acheros had always been accustomed to. “Of course I have a point in visiting you, God only knows I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. Father has asked you to return to the estate back home. I have no idea what he wants from you, but he said it’s urgent, and expects you there within the next few days.”

Ro laughed, the sound foreign even to himself. Since She was gone, everything felt foreign. But his father? What could Arthur possibly expect from his outcast son? An update on his business? A look into how Ro’s finances could benefit the Edgerton name? His father didn’t love him. No one loved him. Not like She had, at least. She had been his world, his only care in all he did. “No doubt he wants to lambast me just as you have. Do you have any idea why I moved away from the two of you?”

Atticus shrugged his shoulders, his head turning to glance at the mess of boxes strewn about Acheros’s makeshift living area at the moment. His gaze was indifferent, as it always was when Acheros was the topic at hand. “No, I can’t think of a single thing.” Ro would have laughed at that, too, had it not been serious. Atticus had never been one to fully grasp reality. He didn’t have the intellect that Acheros possessed. Acheros drifted from the window, his feet carrying his weight on a whim of their own. He passed by a stack of boxes just to the left of the window, and plopped himself carefully down in a soft, cushioned chair he used for business. Letting out a long breath of air, he gazed over the top of his glasses. “You never did quite understand what you did to me. You are barely a brother to me. In fact, you aren’t. We may share the same blood, but in all other facets, you are nothing but an enemy. Long have I loathed you, and Father, for what you put me through as a child. Every little mistake, every small mix up. Even things that were never my fault, always found a way to circle back to me. And you gave me hell for every one of them. You’ve always hated me, and don’t try to deny it. Hated me for something over which I had no power, no ability to control. Mother died after I was born, and my place in the world was immediately determined by you and Father. I would never amount to more than dirt, according to the two of you.”

“Now wait a minute, Ro. That’s--”

Ro held up a single hand, stopping his brother midsentence. “I told you not to deny it. All of it’s true. And I am far from finished. Long have I held my tongue against the two of you. Long have I sat in dejected silence, contemplating just what I did to deserve my plight. Do you know what kind of turmoil I went through? For 22 years of my life, do you have any idea what kind of mental instability your hatred caused me? I can’t count how many times I stood with a rope fastened in a noose, held in this hand,” Acheros held up his right hand, the golden band on his ring finger glowing from the ceiling light. “But I didn’t. I couldn’t. And I discovered why I couldn’t during my 22nd year. When I met Cecilia, and I found out for the first time what love truly felt like. Not just what it was like to love someone, but what it felt like to have someone love you. I don’t expect you to understand, Atticus. Even if you were intelligent enough to grasp the concept, you’d never fully appreciate things from my view. When you spend a lifetime shadowed in hatred, a single person’s love is akin to the light from the sun. And for eight years, I loved her and she loved me. Eight long years, Atticus.”

“Acheros. Please, I never--”

“No. No, no, Atticus. I don’t want you to defend yourself. I don’t want to hear your explanation of why you treated me the way you did.” He paused, staring at the shocked and ruined visage of his brother. “And I am not finished.” His tone dipped into a well of anger that had seldom been tapped in thirty two years. “Cecilia Beck was everything to me. She was my joy. She was my heart and soul. I was set to marry her, that beautiful, perfect woman. But do you know what happened?” A terrible, strained silence grew for a few moments in the room, as Acheros calmly stared at the brother who had always thought nothing of him, who had treated him as no more than a boy pulled off the street. He shook his head, laughing in contempt. “She died, Atticus. She died in a car crash that I caused. And now, my heart and soul and life is gone. The only person who ever loved me as I am is dead and now I’m left with two men-- barely even family-- who treat me like nothing. Who is a disgrace to our family, to the Edgerton name? You are, Atticus. Arthur, our father, is. You made me the way I am, you set the path of my life the moment Mom died. And because of that, I never trusted myself. Never loved myself. And I lost the one person who ever did. So why in Hell would I ever return to the estate that forever fucked up my pretty life? No matter what Arthur expects to hear from me, or expects to tell me, I want nothing more to do with this family. You can tell our loving Father that I won’t be joining him.”

Atticus struggled to stand, his heavy build and strong shoulders trembled. He collapsed to his knees in the middle of the floor, his wretched eyes staring straight back at Acheros, as though he were pleading with him to say anything to appease his pain. 

Nano Wrimo

T Minus 25 Minutes to the kickoff to Nano Wrimo.

In honor of this momentous occasion, I will post my character list here, with a brief description of each.

Note: Not in any specific order regarding importance.

Major:

Acheros "Ro" Edgerton: Psychopath. A likable psychopath. Driven mad with grief at the death of his wife, he is busy kidnapping as well as killing women across the country. But really, he's a likable guy.

Nathan Andros: 32 year old son of Marcie and Jeremy Andros, aspiring, closeted writer. Works as a business man in the meantime, office manager to be specific. He spends almost all of his free time writing, honing the skill. Lacks any sort of self confidence.

Alexa Andros: Sister of Nathan. Vain and self centered, concerned only for the well being of herself. She has recently graduated college (somehow) and is searching for a job in the health field, preferably as a nurse.

Mitchell "Mitch" Andros: Youngest sibling of the three Andros children. He is a relatively successful mechanic, lacking what smarts his siblings picked up along the way. He cannot hold a relationship for more than a year, and always ends it with the woman before it gets too serious. But his last relationship ended with his girlfriend dumping him, a turning of the tables. This sets him in shambles.

Marcie Andros: Mother to the three Andros children, wife of the recently deceased Jeremy. She is kind and helpful, always willing to lend a helping hand, though was a terrible parent in terms of limiting her children's rate of spoilage. Each child is flawed largely due to a shortcoming in her raising of the children.

FBI Agent Kallan "Kal" Dale: 42 year old, no nonsense, no personality special agent assigned to the case of Acheros Edgerton. After the serial killings begin to go public, he is dispatched to closely follow the case and obtain Acheros before he causes more damage.

Jamie Phoenix: Ex-Girlfriend of Mitch. She breaks up with him because she fears what a long term relationship would mean to her. Realizing her mistake, she chases after Mitch, hoping to catch him before he leaves on a trip, but fails this. Thus, she is following he and the siblings.

Minor:

Atticus Edgerton: Acheros's older brother. Showered in love from his father, he is the favored child. Where Ro is stuck in the dark, Atticus enjoys the limelight for much of Acheros's life.

Arthur Edgerton: Father to Atticus and Acheros. Mean, staunch man. Hates Acheros but loves Atticus immensely.

Cecilia Beck: Former girlfriend of Acheros. The kindest, sincerest woman he has ever met. First to truly love and care for him, and make him happy.

Gabe Ross: best friend of Nathan. Goofy, awkward man, but one who would do anything for his best friend.

James Weldon: Another friend of Nathan's, works in the office complex where Nathan is in charge.

Gage Martin: Friend of Mitch's, works as his boss at the mechanic shop he works at.

Ellen Shoemocker: Best friend of Alexa's from childhood. The two share a quiet, unsaid rivalry, though always wear the countenance of friendship.

*****************

More to come as Nano continues!