*Several Days Later*
"You really didn't have to come with me." Lexi sighed, pushing the shopping cart down the freezer aisle of the supermarket. Law walked beside her with his hands in his pokets, grinning.
"I was intrigued by Shachi-ya and Penguin-ya's description of this grocery store, so naturally I wanted to investigate it myself. This was the perfect opportunity."
She snorted, stopping in front of the frozen pizzas. "Right. The perfect opportunity to annoy me. Thanks." She rolled her eyes, taking hold of the handle to the freezer door, picking out two boxes of pizza and putting them in the cart.
What she didn't tell him, however, was that deep down she was immensely grateful the pirate had offered to join her. Seeing as Lexi never knew where she could possibly bump into Cooper, it was nerve-wracking and stressful, and simply conjuring up what might happen if she did actually run into him somewhere by herself was paralyzing. A shiver ran down her spine, but thanks to the cold of the freezer, she could play it off as being sold.
"I'm sure a part of you enjoys it." He retorted, and she laughed.
"Oh, yes. Insult me more. I love the emotional pain." Law raised a brow at the sarcasm dripping in her voice, but only shook his head.
They stopped by several other aisles, Law looking all around him at the fascinating things that Lexi's world had that his didn't. The engineers had perhaps played up the marvel of it all, but to see the differences in their worlds was still interesting to him.
Deciding that what they had in the cart would be enough for the week, Lexi directed them to the nearest check out station, settling herself behind an older gentleman who was in the middle of placing boxes of cat litter onto the conveyor belt.
Waiting patiently for the cashier to ring him up, she began unloading the cart onto the black belt, placing a divider between their purchases.
"Will you go get a couple of sodas? I'm thirsty. You can grab one too if you want." She pointed to a small mini fridge on the aisle over, and Law gave one more glance before nodding, heading off in that direction.
The older man took his purchases and walked away. The cashier, a redheaded girl who looked only a few years older than herself, turned her attention back over to Lexi, her expression lax and slightly annoyed.
"Did you find everything you were looking for?"
"Yeah, thanks." Taking the hint that she didn't really want to talk any further than that, Lexi didn't extend on the conversation and allowed the woman to ring up her items. Her eyes wandering, Lexi spotted a pile of coupons previous customers had used, which made her remember.
"Oh, I think we got a coupon in the mail. It was buy one get one free for the canned goods." She said, digging in her purse for the slip of paper. "One sec. I swear I brought it with me."
"I can't apply a coupon unless you have it with you." Her bored tone droned, continuing to scan items across the laser. Sighing, Lexi leaned against the wall. Then, she spotted a stack of the very same coupons she'd mentioned, perfectly aligned and unused.
"Well, what about those ones right there? Aren't they for customers?" Above the stack read a sign that said 'Take us!'
The redhead, Marissa, judging by her name tag, glanced over at the sign and sighed. "It's only for premium members, those with rewards cards. Do you have one?"
"No." She admitted, and the redhead shrugged.
"Then you can't use them."
"Oh." Lexi pursed her lips, surveying what she was purchasing. Half of her cart had been canned food products from the same company the coupon was for. If her cashier had been any nicer, maybe she could have been allowed to use one.
"Here." Lexi turned and accepted the coke bottle Law offered her. He held a pepsi in his other hand, obviously intended for him. He gave her a mischievous grin before turning to the cashier. It seemed he'd heard the conversation between the two women and decided to intervene.
"It's a shame we aren't members, little sister. Those coupons definitely would have helped us out a lot." Noticing Law for the first time, the redhead blushed. She hesitated in scanning one of the cans, staring at the handsome man that stood before her. Lexi watched as Law gave his best convincing stare, coupled with his signature smirk, which was equal parts seductive and hard edged, to Marissa. It was rather genius of him to call her his relative, implying that they had no relationship together and was thoroughly attracted in the woman before him. Lexi rolled her eyes, thinking that if he topped it off with a wink he couldn't be any more obvious with what he was trying to do.
All the same, Marissa bit her lip before reaching to the side and taking a few off the counter and scanning them across the register. Lexi watched the screen displaying the price and watched with satisfaction as nearly a third of the amount had been taken off, reducing their purchase to less than $100.
"$82.19 is your total." She finished, blushing and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Lexi took out Nana's debit card and swiped it across, typing in the pin and approving the sale. A moment later, a long receipt printed from behind the register and Marissa ripped it. She grabbed a pen from beside it, writing something on the bottom.
"If you go online and complete this survey you can win more coupons or be drawn in a monthly raffle. Just type in the number at the bottom of your receipt to be entered into the drawing."
With a winning smile, she handed the receipt to Law, and he nodded graciously. Taking up the bags and placing them in the cart, Lexi cleared her throat and walked with Law towards the exit.
Outside was still dark, seeing as Lexi wanted to get shopping over with so she didn't have to wake up early the next morning to get it done, and she squinted in the darkness to find her truck.
"Give me that receipt." She said, reaching for the piece of paper still in his hand. Complying, she grabbed it and looked at what Marissa had written on the bottom. She grinned. "Yup, she totally gave you her number, big brother." She mocked, to which Law raised a brow.
"At least you got your coupons." He grinned.
"Hmm. Yeah, I guess you're useful for some things." She admitted, finally spotting her truck and directing them towards it.
Cooper stuffed his hands in his letterman jacket pockets, scowling at the sidewalk beneath his feet. It was late at night, and he couldn't find anything else to do but wander the park near to his best friend's house. Well, ex-bestfriend now. Apparently the aftermath of that stupid party he'd thrown was scaring all of his friends away. Not wanting to be associated with someone who'd been accused of almost raping a girl, they wouldn't even talk to him.
"Damn posers…" He muttered, shaking his head. "They weren't ever real friends anyways. Who needs 'em?"
Of course, his father was all too willing to protect his football star of a son from having too damaged a reputation, and hired the best lawyer their money could afford in case the girl in question decided to press charges. There hadn't been any word of her intentions yet, but his father was prepared for anything.
That meant being lectured about the things he should or shouldn't do while out in public for the time being, which Cooper wasn't too thrilled about. Keep your head low. Don't make any other scenes. If questioned, simply ignore them and leave the area immediately.
"I don't need so many fucking rules." He growled, kicking a loose stone out of his path. The sidewalk edged a wide playground for children, the other side a densely wooded area where hiking trails snaked in and out of the area. One could get lost if they weren't familiar with it already.
Cooper took out his phone once more, turning on the screen on the off chance he'd gotten a text from anyone in the past two minutes since he last looked. Nothing. Not even Jessica, or Abby, or the new girl he'd been warming up to, Talia. Sighing, he placed the electronic back in his jacket pocket.
Somewhere in the woods beside him, he heard a branch snap, and Cooper swung his gaze in that direction. He stared into the trees, the darkness making it impossible to distinguish anything, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Ignoring it, he walked on.
"Creepy…" He muttered, shaking his head. He didn't have any real destination in mind. Just some way to take his mind off of his life totally fucking him over. If only Steven hadn't convinced him to mix alcohol with whatever the hell kind of drug he'd offered. Sure, it felt awesome at the time, but look how much it had ruined his career now.
Creek…
The blonde's eyes shifted back into the woods, hearing yet another long sound of wood or…something he couldn't quite place. Crows or some other kind of birds cawed in the distance, and another answered back. The wind howling through the trees brushed leaves up against each other, creating a sort of shimmering background noise. But there wasn't anything out of the ordinary now…
Just to be sure, Cooper looked behind him towards the path he'd already walked, but saw no one around. Zipping up the jacket a little higher, he shifted in his coat. He was just letting his own head get a hold of him now. Jeez, he was turning into a pansy.
A pair of eyes followed the man as he walked the path, but the figure made sure to stay out of sight, or at least far enough away that he couldn't be pinpointed out of the darkness. When the blonde had turned to check his surrounding, he simply neglected to see the figure dressed all in black at the edge of the playground. Waiting until he turned back around, the figure began to approach silently once more.
He could feel his heart beating rapidly. Oh, how he couldn't wait to-no, best to savor the moment as it happened. No spoiling it for himself, he thought, grinning for what was to come.
Farther the man walked, deeper into the wooded forest and away from the main road, and from prying eyes. It wouldn't do for his screams to be heard or for some unexpected passersby to come upon the body too early. No, that wouldn't do. Things had to be exactly right.
Oh, but they'd be different from the start. He'd never killed a man before. Only mutilated the soft flesh of females, and he wondered how different it would be, feeling the life leave a man's body rather than a woman's. Did the light in their eyes die out slower? Would they react just as deliciously to his knife plunging into their chest?
No getting distracted now, he told himself, focusing once more on the blonde man now disappearing behind some trees onto one of the trails. Looking around to make sure no one else was around, the figure followed just as silently but at a faster pace than before, making headway towards his unsuspecting victim.
He rounded the corner slowly, making sure not to gain too quickly, peering through a gap in the trees to find the blonde man sitting on a rock, staring at his phone. Swallowing back his excitement, he took a deep breath to steady himself, slowly creeping around the corner and towards the seated man.
Yards turned into feet. From the pounding of his chest, he could have sworn that the man would have been able to hear it. Feet turned turned into a foot, but still the man didn't turn around. Still, he simply flicked through whatever was on his phone.
Adjusting his grip on the knife in his gloved hand, the figure licked his lips, raising the knife above his head with a wide smile.
And brought it down in one fell swoop, straight into the man's upper shoulder.
"AAAH!" The young man screamed, curling in on himself from the pain and surprise. He fell to his knees in front of the stone, finally facing his attacker. The fear in his eyes stopped him from screaming out somehow. The figure stalked closer, holding the blade up threateningly.
"S-stop! Wait!" He cried out in vain, trying to scramble backwards in the dirt. He simply laughed, eyes wide with adrenaline and glee. A smile twisted with insanity was all that greeted the young man, and he whimpered when his attacker chuckled.
"Please, don't stop screaming." He encouraged. Then, he pounced forward, the blade slashing forwards into the blonde's arms, held up high to try blocking the attack. It cut through the skin cleanly and with little resistance. But, the man flailed, scratching his attacker's arm with his nail, drawing blood and irritating the figure. Scowling, he pushed his arms aside and simply continued his attack.
"Aaaahh, argh!" His victim cried, again and again as the knife came down over and over. Until the cries stopped altogether, replaced soon by a gurgling sound at the back of his throat.
Too weak to hold up his arms, he simply squirmed all over trying to escape the onslaught of stabs to his chest, Then, after more time passed and his chest became riddled with more wounds, he no longer cried out at all, and the squirming stopped altogether.
Panting heavily, the figure finally slowed his attack. The blood rushing past his ears began to subside, and his hearing returned to him. He grinned in satisfaction, sitting back on his legs as the exhaustion overtook him.
He looked at his arm, seeing the long scratch marked with blood, and figured that he'd have to do something about that. The last thing he wanted was to be connected to this man's death through DNA. Not that they'd find him in any criminal database, but he wanted no risks taken.
"Son!?" A small voice called, and the figure turned his attention to the phone laying beside his body. The screen brightly lit, it showed a call in progress with the contact named 'Father.' "Oh God, Cooper!? Answer me this instant!"
Picking himself up from Cooper's body, the figure approached the phone and gently picked it up, careful not to get any blood or his fingerprints on it. He gazed at the screen.
Over the line, he could hear heavy breathing and what sounded like choked back sobs. "S-son! Tell me you're alright!"
The lone figure could hear the barely restrained fear and terror in the man's voice, and a wide smile spread across his face. Chuckling darkly, he ended the call and tossed it as hard as he could against the ground, cracking the glass screen. Then, not wanting it to be found so easily. He picked it up again and tossed it as far as he could into the thick underbrush surrounding the path.
He returned to the body, the pool of blood quickly spreading around him. Squatting down, he stared into the terror that was forever etched into Cooper's face.
"This is what you get for touching her." He whispered, bringing the knife towards the body's hands. "She's mine."
ns 15.158.61.48da2
