Kimberly Derting - The Body Finder

It was still strange to hear him saying things like that. The words sounded so foreign to her ears, but her heart responded, as if it had been waiting a lifetime to hear them, by beating erratically.

They spent the evening watching one of the movies that Jay had rented, snuggled up on the couch together, while her mom popped a frozen lasagna into the oven for dinner. Of course.

They ate together at the table that night, she, Jay, and her parents. They talked carefully around one another, avoiding the conversation that seemed to hang ominously over them: the glaring lack of headway in finding the man who’d been after Violet. Violet actually preferred it that way, the not saying it, almost as if not speaking the words out loud somehow erased what had happened to her…at least to some extent. She knew that was foolish thinking, and she tried to ignore the fact that she carried the grim reminder of how real it was all day long as she limped from place to place.

She was afraid to organize her disjointed worries into an actual, articulated concern. But ignoring it didn’t make it go away, and she couldn’t help wondering if he was still after her. It was a question that had begun to haunt her thoughts more and more frequently as the police, and even the FBI forensics team, seemed to be getting nowhere in figuring out who she’d seen out in the woods that day.

When Jay left that night, Violet collapsed onto her bed in a state of exhausted apprehension, trying to convince herself that her worries were unfounded, that she was probably just a casualty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just like all those other girls had been.

So why couldn’t Violet push away those nagging thoughts, the ones that hovered around the fringe of her consciousness, telling her it was no accident that he’d been out there that day? Why couldn’t she shake the feeling that she was the reason he’d been lurking in the dark cover of the forest? That he’d been waiting for her?

She got up and double-checked her window, making sure it was locked, and glanced down to see the officer in his car, leaning back in his seat, settling in for his shift. She bounced in two hops back to her bed after first trying to put some pressure on her foot, only to be disappointed that it still wouldn’t support her weight without sending a jolt of pain all the way up her leg. She nearly fell over after the excruciating attempt to stand.

She settled in, struggling to shut off the disturbing thoughts that raced around inside her head, until she finally fell asleep, where they haunted her dreams instead. In them she was hunted by a stalker so dangerous, and so mysterious, that even her subconscious couldn’t give him a face. His unrevealed image pursued her with unrelenting stamina, finding her wherever she hid, while she ineffectively struggled to elude him. His determination knew no bounds.

Violet woke in the night feeling like her chest was being crushed beneath the panic that settled over her. She convinced herself, after checking her window again, and making sure the cop was still awake outside, that it was just a dream. That her faceless assailant couldn’t stay that way forever, that eventually he would be caught.

But until that time, Violet knew she would be fearful of closing her eyes for too long.

The next few days were hard for Violet. She felt like she was sleepwalking through school, and restlessly fighting against sleep each night. It was impossible to hide the strain from Jay, who had become increasingly attentive, recognizing what was bothering her even before she was able to voice it out loud.

“You know they’re going to find him, right?” he finally offered one afternoon.

“I know,” she answered, but even she knew that her voice was too bright, and her response too quick, to be sincere.

His voice was serious when he asked, “Do you, Vi? I think it’s bothering you more than you want to admit. I think you’re scared.”

She was annoyed that he’d figured it out so easily. She thought she’d been keeping up appearances fairly well, only to find out that she was completely transparent. She wondered if her parents were as perceptive as Jay was about her fears. “I know,” she said again. This time her voice was tinged with defeat. “I just can’t quit thinking about it-about him . I was so scared, Jay. And if you hadn’t come looking for me…” She trailed off, unable to even imagine what might have happened out there…alone with her assailant in the shadow of the trees.

Jay’s jaw clenched tightly, as if the image was too much for even him to bear, but his voice was considerate. “I know you’re afraid. But they will catch him, and until then, I’m not gonna let you out of my sight. No one’s going to let anything bad happen to you.” He didn’t say it, but Violet heard the word again hanging there behind his words.

But she still felt better just hearing his reassurances, like she wasn’t alone.

“I’m okay. I think all this isolation, and all the extra security stuff, is just starting to wear on me. I’m going a little stir-crazy being cooped up all the time.” She tried to explain her sulky mood. “Especially with Homecoming this weekend. The idea of sitting around here, while everyone else is out having fun, just sucks.”

He didn’t react the way she’d expected him to react. She’d expected some more sympathy, and maybe even some suggestive comments about the two of them being left alone together. What she didn’t expect was for him to smile at her. But he did. And it was his sideways smile, which told Violet that he knew something she didn’t.

“What?” she demanded adamantly.

He grinned. He was definitely keeping something from her.

“Tell me!” she insisted, glowering at him.

“I don’t know…” he teased her. “I’m not sure you deserve it.”

She punched him in the arm for making her beg. “Please, just tell me.”

He laughed at her. “Fine. I give up. Bully.” He pretended to rub his arm where she’d hit him. “What if I were to tell you that…”-he dragged it out, making her lean closer in anticipation, his crooked smile lighting up his face-“…we’re still going to the dance?”

Violet was speechless. That wasn’t at all what she’d expected him to say.

“Yeah, right,” she retorted cynically. “My parents barely let me go to school, let alone go to the dance.”

“You’re right, they didn’t want you to go, but we talked about it, and even your uncle Stephen helped out. The football game was definitely out of the question; there are just too many people coming and going, and there’re no restrictions for getting in. But the dance is at school, in the gym. Only students and their dates can get in, and your uncle said he was already planning to have extra security there. So, as long as I promise to keep a close eye on you…which I do”-his voice suggested that the last part had nothing to do with keeping her safe, and Violet felt her cheeks flushing in response-“your parents have agreed to let you go.”

She glanced down at her ankle, double-wrapped in Ace bandages, and completely useless. “But I can’t dance.” She felt crestfallen.

He slid his finger beneath her chin and lifted it up so that she was staring into his eyes. “I don’t care at all if we dance. I just want to take my girlfriend ”-his emphasis on the word gave her goose bumps, and she smiled-“to Homecoming.”

They stayed there like that, with their eyes locked and unspoken meaning passing between them, for several long, electrifying moments. Violet was the first to break the spell. “Lissie’ll be there,” she stated in a voice that was devoid of any real jealousy.