Ella Awakened (14 page)

Suddenly
Ella was fully awake.  “Fifteen minutes?!  Great, what does one wear to go see
a body?”

“Just throw
on some jeans and a t-shirt.  Oh, wear comfortable closed toe shoes.  It’s in
the woods.”

“Got it,
I’ll meet you at the door.  Don’t ring the bell; Jeremy is sleeping.”

Ella got off
the phone.  She ran into the bathroom, washed her face, brushed her teeth, put
on mascara and lip gloss, and then threw her hair up into a messy bun.  Back in
her bedroom she pulled on a pair of jeans and a vintage Ramones t-shirt.  She
stepped into a pair of comfy plaid sneakers and went to the front door to wait
for Burke.

As soon as
she saw him pull up she went outside and locked the door behind her.  She
jogged down the stairs, got into his truck and buckled her seatbelt.  “Let’s
go,” she said.

“Cool
t-shirt.  I actually got to see them in concert you know.  They played
Lollapalooza in 1996,” Burke said as he handed her a cup of coffee.

“I’m so
jealous!  I love them.” Ella took a sip of her coffee.  “Okay, before we get
wherever it is we’re going, fill me in.  I want to know what to expect and what
I’m supposed to do.”

“Some
campers found a body in the woods and called the department.  The crime scene
has been taped off.  They call either Carl or me in before anyone touches
anything so we can do a cursory exam of the body.  Tonight I was on call.  At
this point there’s no telling what the deal is.  I get the call and I meet
someone out there.  I’m hoping there’s only one cop right now, and you can keep
him busy while I do my thing.” Burke waved his fingers at her.  “It only takes
a couple of minutes.  I’m probably dreaming, there are usually several cops;
but with it being so early in the morning if we’re lucky we’ll catch it just
right.  There’s a good chance the other officers will have taken the campers to
the precinct to get statements and call their parents.  I understand they were
minors.  I’d just like to know as soon as possible if it was another Demon
attack.”

“How do you
want me to keep him busy?’

“Flirt, ask
questions, do the girl thing.”

“How very
sexist of you.  If he asks me out it’ll serve you right!”

Burke just
winked at her as he pulled onto a dirt road.  Actually, the term dirt road was
very generous.  It was more like parallel tracts overgrown with weeds and brush
in the middle.  A little ways in they saw the flashing lights of a patrol car. 
Burke and Ella got out and walked over to the lone uniformed officer.

“Hi Mark,”
Burke said.  “This is Ella, the intern who’s working with Carl and me. 
Homicide here yet?”

“Not yet.  I
called Detective Brady just before I called you, but he hasn’t arrived yet.”

“I’m just
going to have a peek; I’ll leave Ella here with you for now.”

“All right,
everything’s exactly as it was when we got the call.  All I did was tape it
off.  I was waiting for you and Detective Brady.”

“Thanks,”
Burke said and walked over to the body.

Burke
hurried and knelt next to a young lady who appeared to be in her late teens. 
She was lying face down with her head turned oddly sideways; her neck was
probably broken.  She was filthy and badly bruised.  Burke laid one of his
hands lightly over her temple and the other over the parietal and frontal area
of her head.  He closed his eyes and waited. 

~~

Suddenly he
was running through the woods, absolutely terrified.  He slipped and fell, then
staggered back up.  Branches were scratching his face and legs, and he couldn’t
see where he was going.  He knew someone was chasing him, and they were getting
closer.  Suddenly everything was silent.  Burke turned in a circle not sure the
best direction to run, but knowing the silence was bad and stopping was even
worse.  Burke screamed when the man stepped out of the trees. 

“Why you
runnink, doll?  I said I wuddin gonna hurt ya,” he slurred.

Burke got a
good look at the guy.  He was in his late teens - maybe twenty at the most -
about six feet tall, light brown hair, green eyes, and obviously drunk.  He
lunged forward and grabbed Burke by the hair, pushing him to the ground.

“Please
Danny, you’re drunk and this has gone too far!  Just stop now and take me home.
 I won’t tell anyone.”

Danny smacked
the girl hard across her face.  “Shut up!” He yelled.  He tore the girl’s
panties and proceeded to rape her.  She was screaming and crying, and in his
attempt to quiet her he broke her neck.

Burke let go
of the girl’s head and took a deep breath.  It hadn’t been the Demon, but
something pretty close in his opinion.

~~

Burke looked
up just as Brady was walking toward him.  “Hello Burke, hell ova good morning,
this kind of call.  So, what do we have?”

“I’m pretty
sure broken neck is what did it.  I’m also going to need a rape kit by the
looks of things.  We need to bag her hands, of course.  Maybe she clawed the
bastard.  She looks young, probably a minor.  She’s pretty beaten up.”  Burke
gestured towards the bruises running up and down her arms.

Brady
circled the body then knelt down for a closer look.  “The kids who found her
are locals.  I’m going to go chat with them.  Mark said he and Steve thought
they seemed nervous in more than a ‘
we just found a body’
way.  Maybe they
knew her.  I’ll leave Mark here with you while you do your thing.  Watch him
with your hot intern.  I can smell the pheromones from here.”  He smirked at
Burke then stood up and walked away.

Burke jumped
to his feet and looked over toward where Ella and Mark were standing.  That
dumbass was actually flexing his bicep for her.  “Ella,” he said, “come on over
and I’ll let you give me a hand.”

Ella excused
herself from Mark and went over to where Burke stood by the body.  “Watch your
step,” he warned as he handed her a pair of gloves.  “Help me bag her hands,
and then we’ll get her ready for the guys to take to the M.E. office.  Good job
over there by the way.”  He grinned and motioned with his head towards Mark.

“Jealous?”
she teased.

“Of Mark? 
Not a chance.  Anyway, I got what I needed and it wasn’t the third.  I’ll tell
you more about it when we’re done here.”

When Burke
and Ella were finished, they watched as the body was loaded into the back of
the van to be delivered to Burke’s office.  He’d be busy with the autopsy for
the rest of the day.  Ella looked at her watch.  It was almost seven o’clock. 
“Do you want me to go into the office with you today?” she asked as they got
into Burke’s car.    

            “No, it’s okay.  I prefer you to go out to my
house and train some more.  Work with the knives; you’re better at throwing
them than you think you are.  You just need a little more practice.  It’s
really important for you to be proficient with them.  I’ll drop you off there
if you like, and we can have breakfast before I go into the office.”

            “I’d really like to run home and take a quick
shower.  I feel a little grubby. I didn’t think seeing something like that
would bother me, but it kind of did.”

“It always
bothers you.  It should bother you.  That doesn’t make you weak, Ella; it makes
you compassionate.  She was a living, breathing, young girl, and she was
brutally murdered.  All we can do is try to catch the bastard who did it to
her.  I’ll take you to your apartment and then we’ll go to my place, okay?”
Burke reached over and squeezed Ella’s hand.

“You said it
wasn’t the Demon, but do you know what happened?”

“It was
someone she knew - her boyfriend probably.  He was extremely drunk.  He was chasing
her, then knocked her down, raped her, and broke her neck.”

“That’s
horrible.”

“Yes it is. 
There’s something else I want to talk to you about,” Burke said as he pulled in
front of her apartment.

“Jeremy’s
not here,” she commented, noticing that his truck was gone. “Come on up, what
did you want to talk to me about?”

“Remember I
told you about the second victim the Demon killed while you were sick?”

“Yes,” Ella
answered.

“Well, he
was killed over there,” Burke pointed behind them, “on the running and biking
paths in the city park.”  He took the key from Ella and opened the door for
her.  “I really don’t feel comfortable with you living here.”

“Burke, the
first victim was killed on campus when I lived there.  It’s a coincidence; I
didn’t live here at the time the second victim was killed.  This is a great
neighborhood, and you can’t watch me 24/7.  Besides, am I not supposed to be
the one who kills the Demon?  I can’t be scared all the time, and you’re not
helping my confidence any.  Plus it gives me a little peace of mind that if
Jeremy has to be here, I know where he is - most of the time anyway.”

Ella was in
her bathroom with the door cracked open so she could talk to Burke.  She
started the water, took a quick shower, and came out of the bathroom wrapped in
a towel.  Burke sat on the bed staring at her.

“Maybe
there’s another way,” he said.  “Maybe I should send you someplace safe and try
to take care of this myself.”

“What?  Why
would you even say that?”

“Because I
can’t lose you, Ella!”  Burke was off the bed and across the room in an instant. 
He had Ella against the wall and his face buried in her hair.  “I just can’t
lose you.  I’ve lost so much and I need to keep you safe.”

Ella could
hear the anguish in Burke’s voice.  “Burke, you said yourself we’re in this
together.  What’s gotten into you?”

Burke pulled
away so he could see her face.  He clenched his teeth and shook her once by the
shoulders.  “Hearing that young girl screaming has gotten into me!  Thinking of
all the terror and torment of every victim I’ve ever touched has gotten into
me!  Being in love with you has gotten into me!”

Burke ripped
Ella’s towel away and kissed her roughly.  He reached down, unbuttoned his
jeans and kicked out of them and his boxers.  He pulled her legs up around him
and entered her hard, pushing her against the wall.  Burke thrust into her
again and again.  He kept his face buried in her neck.  He could feel angry
tears behind his eyes, and that pissed him off even more.  He knew he should
stop, but he couldn’t.  She was his and he would take her.  Ella buried her
fingers in his hair and held him close.  She knew he needed this, and she gave
herself to him completely.  Burke came violently and just stood there leaning
into her, not ready to separate, wanting to remain one with her as long as
possible.  Then he felt her gently kiss the top of his head.

“Fuck, Ella,
I’m so sorry,” he murmured and carried her back into the bathroom.  He turned
the shower back on.  The water was still hot.  He stood her in the shower,
pulled off his shirt, and got in with her.  He held her close as the water ran
over both their bodies.  Maybe it would wash away his pain.

“Did I hurt
you?” he finally asked her.

She took his
face in her hands and looked into his eyes “No,” she whispered, then kissed him
long and gently.  She reached down between his legs and rubbed her hand against
him.  She wanted him to know he hadn’t hurt her, and she wasn’t upset or
angry.  Burke began to get hard again.  Ella stood with one foot on either side
of the bathtub and pulled him towards her.  She slid down onto him and he
reached around her, bracing one hand against the shower wall and the other
across her back.  He moved slowly, taking his time with her.  His thrusts were
more gentle as he kissed her neck and face.  He took her breast into his mouth
and teased her as she curled her arms around him.  Letting her head fall back,
Ella moaned with pleasure and as her excitement mounted, she moved faster
against him.  Burke watched her with satisfaction as she squeezed her legs
tighter around him and bit her lip.  He trust deeper into her and came with her
as she cried his name.  He slowly lowered her until her feet were on the floor
of the shower.  Once he was sure she was steadily balanced, he took the soap
and gently washed her body, then his own.  Pulling down the showerhead, he
rinsed them both before shutting off the water.  After wrapping a towel around
Ella he got one for himself.

“I really am
sorry,” he said again.

“Stop saying
that.  You didn’t hurt me, and what are you sorry for anyway?  Are you sorry
for telling me you love me and that you worry about me?”

“You know
that’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then just
stop saying you’re sorry.  And I’m not going anywhere.  We’re going to get
through this somehow.  We’re going to get through this
together
.”

There was a
sudden knock at the bedroom door.  “Is everything okay in there?”

Ella and
Burke looked at each other.  “Just a minute,” Ella called. 
It’s Jeremy,
she
mouthed to Burke.

Fucking
fabulous,
he
thought.

Ella and
Burke quickly dried off and got dressed.  They exited the bedroom and there
stood Jeremy in the middle of the living room with his arms crossed.