Mélange – Part 10

Annie had been waiting for him on the other side of the door. She had hit his head with a board she had found on the roof. Rollie dropped to the ground, bleeding.

"Rollie!"

Concerned, Angie crouched beside him, trying to determine how badly he was injured. He moaned softly, and started to stir. Then, she sensed something behind her. She turned around to find Annie standing above her. Annie’s short blonde locks were is a state of disarray. Her eyes were wide open and wild.

"YOU! This is all your fault," she spat out. "You weren’t supposed to get here so fast. That wasn’t the plan. You’re not following the plan. You never did anything the way I wanted you to. Never! Never! You weren’t supposed to be here yet," she screeched. She lunged towards where Angie kneeled. With a practiced ease, Angie rolled out of the way and up onto her feet. Carefully, she circled around, keeping out of Annie’s reach.

"It was so easy to convince everyone I was you. You never knew my birth name, My parents,,,

Our names and appearances…everything was so similar, I knew our lives were destined to cross as soon as we met. I just didn’t know you were going to destroy me. Why? Why did you have to do that?" Annie started moving closer, ignoring Rollie who remained motionless on the roof floor.

"Everyone said you were the best programmer they’d ever seen. I was the best until you came along. I wasn’t the favorite anymore. I was so envious of your position. How I coveted it. You have everything I should have had - everything I want."

Annie charged Angie sending her flying backwards, landing face down on the gravel. From her prone position, Angie could see Annie walking towards her, hatred and contempt visible in her blue eyes. Just as she returned to an upright position, Annie started in with her fists. Surprisingly, she was landed many of her blows. Angie, took the offensive and started her own attack on Annie. It was an awkward battle as it was hard to get a secure footing on the roof due to the layer of loose gravel. The light rain that had started falling made their footing even more tenuous.

Finally, Angie’s fist reached out and connected with Annie’s jaw causing the woman’s head to snap backwards. The other woman staggered backwards, putting a few feet between the two women. This small gap allowed her to tackle Annie with such force, it send both of them sprawling on the floor, and their momentum carried them closer to the roof’s edge. Too close; their legs dangled freely in the air.

Still groggy, Rollie finally saw what was going on and struggled to his feet. He rested for a second, his forearms propped up on his thighs, breathing hard. Then, he started surged towards where the two women lay. He latched onto them, attempting to drag them back to a more secure position on the roof. Annie struggled to free herself from his grasp, rejecting his attempts at help. She slashed at Rollie, her fingernails leaving long, red, angry scratches down his face. Shocked, Rollie released his grip on her. Immediately, he grabbed Angie and held on tight; intent on helping her return to safety. Annie took advantage of Rollie’s preoccupation with Angie and tried to escape. She ran close to the edge and tried to jump to the roof of the adjacent building. Unfortunately, she lacked the footing and the speed necessary to make such a jump. Just as she reached the building’s edge, she slipped and disappeared from site. Angie and Rollie both raced to where they last saw her. They arrived there only to see Annie fall towards the earth below; plunging to her death.

Rollie grabbed Angie, spun her around and blocked her view of below. He thought she doesn't need to see that. The remained like that for several minutes, being soaked by the rain and buffeted about by the wind. They could hear sirens in the distance. The sound kept getting louder so they must be headed towards the scene. Reluctantly, they headed for the stairwell, knowing they’d have to explain what had happened.

****

At ground level, it was an elegiac scene. Annie. She landed on the sidewalk. The area was covered in bright red blood, splattering a wide area. Nothing escaped it. Her body was so badly mangled it was barely recognizable as a human. Many of her bones were shattered and some even protruded through the skin. Annie’s skull was split open, exposing the gray matter that used to be her brain. Part of the sidewalk was damaged from the force of the impact. Cracks radiated from under the body like a spider web.

The street was congested with police and other emergency vehicles, parked helter-skelter. The coroner’s wagon was there as well. Several officers were on crowd control duty. It seemed like half the city wanted to see the remains of the body. People were just full of morbid curiosity. Those that witnessed the death, were silently screaming and remained frozen in place until the police and EMTs forcibly removed them. They were in shock. Others were just milling around, unable to help but unwilling to leave. They just watched the police work. The police, working efficiently, cordoned off the area using yellow crime scene tape. They also blocked off access to the road and detoured cars around the area. Other officers were in the process of covering everything in plastic sheets to shield everything from view and to protect it from the rain.

The bizarreness of the scene make it seem to unreal. The flashing lights from the police cars enhanced that as it made the area an interesting contrast of lights and shadows. It was like people were moving at half speed; respectful and mournful of the life that was lost. Everyone realized that this had added to the ugliness of the world. The majority didn’t realize one important aspect of what they just witnessed; the fact that the events of the past has an effect on the present and future.

****

Angie and Rollie sat on the end of an ambulance, wrapped in scratchy, gray blankets, as the police finished interviewed them. "All right, you can go. We might need to talk to you later, though."

"That's fine. You know where we are."

In unison, the duo looked up and saw Mira and Francis descending on them. They had arrived on the scene a few short minutes ago.

"Sorry, we just got your message. We were with Annie’s parents," Francis apologized. He proceeded to relate the gist of their conversation to Rollie and Angie. Annie’s parents knew something wasn’t right with their daughter. They also knew she blamed Angie for her not getting her Master’s degree, and an illustrious career. However, they never imagined, even in their wildest dreams, she would do anything about it though. When they were informed about the threatening e-mails, and other attacks, they confessed they could see their daughter doing that, but to assault someone and hit them with a car. No, that wasn’t their child. They were quite emphatic about that. They admitted they hadn’t been terribly close to Annie in recent months. Not since that picture of Angie appeared in the paper. That seemed to be the catalyst for a change in Annie. Then, they got really emotional and started crying. They told about how they had fled Cuba so Annie could have a better life. They even Anglicized their name, changing their daughter’s from Angel Ramirez to Annie Ramsey, so they would be accepted into society better.

A uniformed officer appeared behind them, rain dripping off his hat, telling Francis and Mira their presence was required elsewhere. Before they departed, Mira looked at Angie and Rollie.

"Go home, you two. It’s over now. We’ll fill you in on everything later." With that, the detectives walked off.

The F/X duo shrugged off their covering, and stood up, oblivious to the rain. Looking at the car, they realized it was blocking in by all the emergency vehicles. They’d have to find different transportation to get home. With their arms around each other's waist, they started walking down the alley, towards their home, towards their future. They walked right by a man hiding in the shadows of a streetlight. The man had been watching the two the entire time they were on the street. He observed every detail about each of them. He noticed the intimacy of the two, and though those two share a special bond. He smiled slightly, wistfully, wishing he had someone who was that close to him. Maybe someday, but not today. He had to place the needs of others above his own. Then, he took his eyes off them and onto the tarp covering the corpse. He glanced back and settled his gaze on Angie’s departing figure. How easily it could have been her. Actions would have to be taken to prevent that. She’d have to be monitored closer so they’d be more aware of potential hazards. Time was drawing near. Soon, he wouldn’t be able to delay the inevitable. Plans would have to be generated so they’d be ready when required. With one last look at the pair, he tugged up the collar of his rain coat, shielding most of his face. He emerged from the shadows and blended in with the crowd, disappearing, like he was never there.

The End.