Symbiotic

Chapter Four

Eve couldn’t say it wasn’t funny that after all that drama, she and Roxie had both ended up reaching the quarry at the same time. If anything, she had definitely expected Roxie to get there first. But here they were, staring each other down with expressions that could only be described as a mixture between surprised and highly amused.

Roxie put a hand on her hip. “Well, well, well. Here I was worrying that I was so late, and you’re only just getting here too?”

“I did try to tell you, you know. But then all the stuff with Chase happened, and I kinda forgot.”

“Can’t say I blame you. Anyway, let’s go take a look at this quarry.” They headed towards the area where the bodies had been dumped, only to be stopped by a fence of bright yellow tape.

Eve put her face in her palm. “I didn’t think about that. Of course this place would be cordoned off still. It’s only been a few days.”

Roxie hesitated. “Do you think there any cops around?”

“Right now? Doesn’t look like it. So the real question is, do we want to take the risk?”

Roxie thought about it for a minute. Then she stepped under the tape.

“Oh well. I guess if I get shot, at least I had an interesting last moment.”

“Get sh- Oh,” Eve exclaimed as it clicked in her mind. “s**t, Roxie. I didn’t realise that was something you actually worry about.”

“My Mom worries about it more, honestly. But she’s drilled it into my head for years.”

Eve chuckled. “Now that’s something I can actually sympathise with.”

Eve followed her past the tape, and they found themselves standing on the crime scene. The quarry looked, for the most part, like an ordinary rocky mountainside. A shallow stream ran along the very bottom of it, where a crop of blue flowers grew along the bank. The only giveaway that anything strange had happened here was a dark red stain on some of the rocks.

“Now, don’t touch anything,” Eve reminded Roxie, tying her hair up. “The last thing we want is to contaminate the crime scene for the actual police. Best-case scenario we could end up stopping them from catching the killer.”

“And worst-case?”

“The worst-case scenario is that one of us could be arrested for the murder.”

“Oh.”

“On the plus side, your braids should hopefully mean you don’t lose any hair here. That helps.” Eve moved closer to the bloodstain on the ground, making a careful effort not to disturb anything.

“First thing I notice, looking at this, is that there’s very little blood here.”

“Does that mean something?”

“It means a lot, actually,” Eve explained. “I read in the public report last night that Blair’s throat was slit.”

“And?”

“To kill someone by slitting their throat means that you’re slitting a major artery. There would be a lot of blood. The fact that there’s almost none here is weird.”

“But there would only be a lot of blood at the murder scene, right? This is just where the body was dumped.”

Eve held a finger up. “Exactly. But it takes a while for blood to stop draining from a body. Slitting the throat drains the brain super quickly, and prevents more from being able to reach it. That’s what kills them so fast. But the blood in the lower part of your body? That would take a lot longer, if it happens at all. The fact that there’s almost no blood here probably means that there was a long period of time between the death and when the body was dumped. Which could mean a couple of things. We could be looking at a murderer who has a busy lifestyle, or who lives near the police station. Most murderers usually want to get rid of the body as fast as possible, so there had to be something stopping them.”

“There’s also the question of why they’d dump the body here,” Roxie added. Eve’s answer came without hesitation.

“If I had to guess? This quarry is on the outskirts of town, and no one works here anymore. It’s the kind of place that’s easy to get to without questions being asked. That’s probably why.” She looked back and forth between the bloodstain and the road.

“They were dumped here, though, which is interesting. Why here, and not down the hill where they’d be more hidden? Then there’s the note. Whoever did this, they wanted the body to be found.”

Roxie shuddered. “That’s great to know.”

“Do you know what it said? The note, I mean. Do you remember?”

“It was… Gosh, I don’t know. Something about blood, and atonement…”

“That sounds familiar,” Eve ruminated. “Why does that remind me of something?”

“There something you’re not telling me, Eve?” Roxie joked. Eve rolled her eyes.

“Oh yeah, forget to mention that I was actually the murderer this whole time. You caught me. Ugh, this note’s gonna stress me out now. I’ll see if I can find it tonight.”

“And I’ll try to get those police reports.”

“I mean, we’ve already broken the law. Interfering with a crime scene. Why not add another to the pile?”

Roxie was just about to respond when the girls heard a noise in the direction of the road. Freezing, they listened for a moment. Then they heard a car door slamming.

Before she knew what was happening, Eve had taken hold of Roxie’s arm and pulled her roughly towards the slope. “Run!” They half ran, half fell down the hill and landed near the stream. They heard voices calling out behind them.

“This is the police! Stop!”

“Oh s**t,” Roxie muttered. Her mother’s words ran through her mind on a loop; surrender. Put your hands up. State that you are unarmed. And honestly, she had half a mind to. But she knew that if she did that, she would be surrendering Eve as well. The police had already seen that there was a second intruder, and surely wouldn’t stop interrogating her until she gave her up.

They called out again, and Roxie began to turn back as if on autopilot – until Eve pulled her back.

“Don’t turn around. Don’t let them see your face.”

“But-“

“They don’t know who we are. They haven’t seen us; we got down here too fast for that. All they’ve seen is a couple of figures standing at the crime scene. As long as we get away, we’ll be fine.” She kept hold of Roxie’s arm, ensuring that she followed her away from the quarry along the stream’s bank.

“What if they shoot me?” There was genuine panic in Roxie’s voice, and Eve realised for the first time just how much of a reality this was for the girl. Her hand tightened on Roxie’s arm.

“Even if they want to they won’t, because I’m here. They have no reason to shoot you, and we all know it. I’d be an eyewitness. It’s too risky for them.

“But most police don’t want to shoot people, anyway. You’ll be fine, I promise.” They continued following the path of the stream until they could no longer hear or see the police, and then continued for a while longer. Just to be safe. When they were finally sure that they’d escaped, they slowed.

Both girls were panting, dirty, wet and tired. But they were both still alive and free. And to them, that was all that mattered. They said their goodbyes to each other, and each slowly picked their way home from the strange area they’d ended up in. On their way, they both kept their eyes and ears peeled; not only for police, but for the mysterious figure who seemed to have been following them around.

Try as they might, they couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

The next time the girls met was at the park clearing they had designated as their base of operations, after school had ended the next day. Eve had made it there first, unburdened for the most part by such things as ‘friends’. Roxie, who had been caught up again, was not at all surprised that she had been beaten there.

Eve was sitting on the bench, and appeared to be leaning over something in her lap. Creeping up behind her with a devilish grin, Roxie poked her.

The poor girl squealed and leapt up, relaxing when she realised who it was. “Well thanks, you ruined what I was working on. Hope you’re happy.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry! I thought you were reading.” Eve sighed.

“No, I was trying to come up with designs for my art final. I guess I thought working out here might help me inspire myself.”

“Was it working?”

“Nope. Guess I shouldn’t have snapped at you, sorry.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” Roxie coaxed. Eve looked up at her with no small degree of curiosity.

“How?”

“Guess what I’ve got?” Roxie held several sheets of paper in front of her, waving them around. Eve grabbed them out of her hands, looking them over.

“Holy crap… Roxie, is this-“

“The police report. The one they’re actually using to try and solve the case. Feel free to bow down at any point,” Roxie teased with a proud smile. Eve laughed, the sound pleasantly rubbing against Roxie’s ears once again.

“You know, I’m not normally the bowing type. But I might have to; how the hell did you get your hands on this?”

“Honestly? My Mom works on the force and likes to bring work home with her. I literally just printed it off her computer,” Roxie admitted.

“Ok, that does make it slightly less impressive. You shouldn’t have told me.”

“Hey, you haven’t met my Mom. I’ll have you know, I risked life and limb to get my hands on these!” Roxie took a seat, while Eve read through the information in front of her. While she was distracted, Roxie took the chance to grab the art she had been working on.

“Hey,” Eve grumbled, too thoroughly distracted with the reports to actually care all that much. Roxie inspected the drawing.

It was nice enough, she guessed. A picture of a cross turned upside down, with roses growing on it. An ugly line ran through the picture, which she imagined was the result of her sneak attack.

“It’s nice,” she said without thinking.

Eve glanced up. “Oh, thanks. It’s really not that good though.”

“What does it mean?”

“I’ve always been raised Christian. A couple years ago, I started to fall away from all that though. I dunno, I guess it just stopped resonating with me. I was toying with the idea of exploring that, and how much my Mom hates it. Didn’t really go anywhere, though.”

“Can I get this as a tattoo?”

This time, Eve actually met her eyes.

“What?”

“I mean, feel free to say no. I just really like this, and I turned eighteen last month. My Mom promised I could get a tattoo for my birthday, when we have the money. Would you be weirded out if I got this?”

“I mean, a little. But not because it’s creepy or anything,” she clarified. “Just… I’m not used to people liking my drawings that much.”

“I can live with that. Satanic cross with roses it is. I’m so excited; this is gonna look bomb.”

Eve shook her head, and went back to reading. A few seconds later, she slapped her knee.

“I knew I recognised that from somewhere!”

“What, the note?”

“Yeah. The note left with the body said ‘it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life’. That’s Leviticus 17:11.”

“Wait, it’s a Bible quote?”

“Yep.”

“What does it mean?”

“In context, it’s actually talking about sacrifice and suffering in order to cleanse the soul. Which makes sense, given the situation. Like I said, it’s from Leviticus; basically this whole book of the Bible that’s all about rules. Except most people like to just pick their favourite rules, and follow those.”

“Sounds awfully shady. Shouldn’t you follow all the rules, not just some?”

“I mean, most people selectively break a few rules. It’s not that weird. There are people who think theft is wrong, but that piracy is ok. We all do it to a degree.”

“Huh, I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“Anyway,” Eve explained, “This means a lot. The murderer’s probably religious.”

“Or they just own a Bible.”

“Which they would have to have read in order to find this. A lot of people who own a Bible never actually read it cover to cover. This person seems to have extensive knowledge of what’s in there.”

“Huh. Ok, so they’re probably religious. Interesting.”

“Probably religious, and they had trouble dumping the body. And they use a knife,” Eve added. She scanned through more of the report, and silence descended upon them for a time. Roxie sat and waited, tossing the information they already had over in her mind.

Religious, knife, body. Religious, knife, body. As hard as she tried, no one was exactly springing to mind. She was just starting to get bored and restless when Eve rested a hand on her knee.

Looking up at her, Roxie realised the reason for the touch. Eve’s face was pinched together, white and still. Roxie put her own hand on top of Eve’s.

“Hey, you ok?”

“I…” Eve took a moment to pull herself together.

“You know how we were talking about Mr Latimer before, and the fact that he’s kinda weird?”

“Yeah,” Roxie answered slowly.

“You know how we were joking that he might actually be worth watching out for?”

“Yeah?”

Eve looked up at her, eyes wide.

“There were traces of paint found on the body.”

Roxie was confused.

“Ok, so they found paint. Aren’t there a lot of people who paint though? What does that actually prove?”

“No no no,” Eve insisted, “not just any paint. A specific type of paint was found on the body, in very small amounts. And when I say ‘specific type’, I mean they were able to narrow it down to a range of brands.”

“And?”

“One of those brands is the one our school uses in all their art programs. Mr Latimer was Blair’s art teacher, remember. I know it’s not a lot to go on, but we now have an actual, real reason to look into this. He’s a suspect.”

“Oh. Oh crap…”

“Oh crap is right. We’ll have to do some more research on Latimer. If you come over tomorrow afternoon, we can try and find out more about him. Maybe that’ll help.”

“Wait, what do you mean ‘come over’? As in, to your house?”

Eve blinked at her. “Yeah, why?”

“I thought it would take more than that to get invited to your house, is all. From the way you talk about your parents, they seem pretty strict. Are you sure they’ll be ok with this?”

“They think we’re working on a school assignment. I’ll ask them tonight; I’m sure they’ll be fine with it. We found something, Roxie. I was doubtful we would, but we actually found something. We can’t do nothing with this.”

“You’re right. Ok, after school tomorrow. Unless you cancel, I’ll consider it a go.”

Eve considered herself very lucky she didn’t end up having to cancel with Roxie since once again, the girl was almost impossible to talk to at school. At this point, Eve would be lying if she said she wasn’t just a little annoyed at the situation. She knew they weren’t friends. Hell, she would admit that she wasn’t exactly desirable. She was blunt, and sarcastic, and there was a reason she only had one real friend. But was it really that difficult for Roxie to take five minutes away from her friends to discuss things with her?

Apparently so, since Roxie had made no effort to speak with her. Eve groaned and hit her head back against the wall.

Vanessa prodded her. “Hey, do you ever plan on telling me the deal?”

“With what,” Eve whined, her eyes closed.

“With Roxie Amor. I thought you said you weren’t friends.”

“We’re not.”

“So why do you keep talking about her?”

Eve’s eyes flicked open, and she looked over at her friend – who, she now noticed, seemed miffed.

“I don’t talk about her.”

“Eve, what are you playing at? These last few days, you’ve done almost nothing but talk about her. Try to get her attention. Get annoyed when she won’t give you attention. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“If you’re friends, just tell me. You know I won’t judge you. There’s nothing wrong with drinking the Roxie Kool-Aid.”

“I haven’t drunk the Kool-Aid,” Eve responded, the words coming out as more of a snap than she would have liked. Vanessa took a step back.

“Whoa, ok. Sorry for asking.”

“Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I’ve just been a bit stressed out recently, ok?”

“By what? You keep saying that, but you won’t tell me what’s stressing you out! I’m your friend, why can’t you talk to me?”

“Because it’s complicated!” Eve felt anger bubbling up inside her. She didn’t want to talk about it. Talking meant having to explain, and while Vanessa might not judge her for just hanging out with Roxie, she didn’t want to find out how she’d feel about them literally breaking the law. Multiple times.

But Vanessa seemed to have no intentions of backing down, her own face contorting in frustration. “I never said it wasn’t complicated! But I’m not stupid, Eve. Whatever this is, I’m sure it’s not so complicated that you can’t explain it to your best friend!”

“Oh, would you please stop guilt tripping me with the ‘I’m your best friend’ spiel? Pickings are a little slim in my case, in case you didn’t notice.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Honestly Eve, what did I do? Why aren’t you talking to me? Why are you avoiding me after school? Is there something I did to piss you off, that you just haven’t told me about yet?”

“For God’s sake, Vanessa! Did you ever consider that not everything’s about you?”

Vanessa drew back, visibly hurt, and Eve regretted every syllable that had come from her mouth.

“Ness…”

“Don’t.” Vanessa turned on her heel, and started walking away. “We can talk about this later, when you’ve calmed down.”

Eve wanted to call after her. She wanted to stop her, to make her listen to her apology. But she knew her friend was right; what they needed right now was space and time apart. They both needed to clear their heads, and they couldn’t do that while the argument was still so fresh. So for the sake of their friendship, she let Vanessa go and resigned herself to the idea of spending the rest of the day alone.

That’s what you get for being a b***h and snapping at your best friend.

Mr Latimer passed by, and stopped to flip through some papers he was holding. Eve couldn’t help but watch warily.

The teachers at her school had always been nice, at least for the most part. In particular, she had yet to meet a mean art teacher. They were always barrels filled up with sunshine and rainbows and incense – they always smelled like incense for some reason. Even the ones who claimed to not like incense. She really couldn’t explain it.

Was it possible that one of those lovely, beautiful people was a cold blooded killer?

He looked up, apparently able to feel her eyes on him. Smiling, he offered a friendly wave. Caught out, she could only wave back and hope it was enough for him to leave her alone.

It wasn’t. The lanky man started to approach her; and in that moment, Eve was certain she would never make it home that night.

Her body tried several times to take over and usher her to safety. But she knew that if Latimer really was the killer, and she ran now, it would all be over. He would know that she was afraid of him, and it wouldn’t take him long to figure out why. She had to play along. So she forced her feet to remain flat on the ground, ignoring the way her soles arched upwards. She clasped her hands together so he wouldn’t notice the trembling, and met him with a pleasant smile.

When he spoke, his voice came out sounding much like an anthropomorphic rabbit. No particular malice laced his words, nor was he positioned in such a way to reach out and take her.

“Why, if it isn’t the great Eve Verbeck! I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Uh, you have?”

“Mrs Ambers says you’re highly talented. One of the most special students she’s ever had the pleasure of teaching, in fact.”

Oh great. Now she was ‘special’. Never had she cursed her love for art more than in this moment.

Ha, what if your greatest passion ends up being what kills you? Wouldn’t that be so poetic?

“I guess, if that’s what she says. I never thought of myself as being that good.”

“Don’t be so humble! Though I suppose that is the artist’s curse… We’re never able to fully appreciate our own talents. Too much going on in here,” he tapped her forehead lightly, and she had to repress a shiver.

“How’s your class?” She asked, trying to divert any extra attention from herself. He scratched the stubble on his chin.

“Rowdy as always. I swear, I never have been able to keep those kids under control. It has been better for the last few days, though, because-“

He hesitated.

“Because of…”

“Well, because of Blair. I’m sure you heard the news.”

“Everyone has.”

“I guess you could say it stunned them into good behaviour. Not that I’m glad the poor girl died, of course not. I always shared a connection with her.”

“A connection?”

“You see Eve, most art students aren’t like you. They only take the class because they think it's an easy A, you know. A way to get good grades without putting any real effort in; all they have to do is draw some pictures. They don’t respect the craft,” he wrung his hands together. Eve shifted back on her heels, trying to get as far away from the man as she could without actually moving.

“But once in a blue moon, I get to meet a real artist. Someone who’ll do whatever it takes to create a true masterpiece. Blair was one of those people, and believe me when I say she excelled in what she did.”

“She uh, she did seem pretty good the couple of years that we shared a class. That was years ago, so I’m sure she got even better since then.”

“Yes, she was really something.” He sighed, his mouth turning down.

“You’re special too, Eve.”

“I… what? No, I’m not special.”

“You heard me. Don’t try to deny it, you and Ms Young have a lot more in common than you would perhaps care to admit. Do me a favour – don’t ever give up on your art. Promise me you’ll keep at it, no matter how hard it gets. Ok?”

Eve felt like his pep talk may have had quite the unintended effect – indeed, she found that she had never wanted to give up on her art more. But after she mumbled a dull reassurance that she would continue to focus on improving her art even in times of adversity, he seemed satisfied.

“You’re a good girl, Eve. A special girl.” He shuffled away. As soon as he was no longer facing her, Eve’s body collapsed into tremors. She took a minute to try and reign in her emotions. Funnily enough, it wasn’t Vanessa’s face she imagined, telling her with that smartass grin to pull herself together.

It was Roxie’s.