Chapter 37
Bianca kept watch for the mailman that day. As soon as she saw the familiar mail truck at
her mailbox, then drive away, she hurried out of the house, curious to see if
there would be another letter or picture from the murderer. That was a morbid thought, but it was
true. Despite the fact that she had been
run off the road two days earlier, she really was not that scared. Not yet anyway.
When she opened up her mailbox and took out the mail, there was
indeed another envelope addressed to her in block letters among the masses of
bills and junk. A shiver ran through
her, and she considered opening it there, then decided against it and jogged
back up to the house. She dropped the
stack of mail down on the kitchen counter, sat down at the table, and opened
the envelope.
Inside, there was another picture, identical to the first one she
had been sent. Again, AJ’s face was
covered by a yellow smiley face sticker.
But this time, another person’s face was stickered as well. The person standing in front of Howie –
Krystle.
Bianca stared at the picture, her hands beginning to tremble. What was that supposed to mean? It was not really that hard to figure out,
and deep down, though she didn’t want to admit it to herself, she already knew.
Krystle was in trouble.
***
“Come on, pick up!” Bianca begged, her cell phone pressed to her
ear, listening to the phone on the other line ring.
“Still not answering?” AJ asked.
“No,” Bianca said with a sigh,
setting down the cell phone. She was
driving to Howie’s house at that moment and had been trying to get a hold of
him or Krystle ever since she had gotten the letter. Every time she tried their home number, she
got the answering machine, and when she tried Howie’s cell, she got his
voicemail. She had left a brief message
on both, but when no one called her back, she had decided to go to the house
and check things out. She had a bad
feeling about the whole situation, a nagging feeling in her stomach that
something was going to happen to Krystle – or had happened already. She had to find out if Krystle was okay and
if she was, warn her of the possible danger.
She had never been fond of Krystle and still wasn’t, but for all she
knew, this could be a life or death matter.
AJ’s face had a sticker over it, and he was dead. She could not let Krystle be next.
It did not take long to get to Howie’s house. Bianca pulled into the driveway and saw
Krystle’s car sitting there. Uneasily,
she parked her car and climbed out. She
went to the front door and rang the doorbell.
No one came to the door, she rang it again. And again.
Finally, she tried the knob. It
was unlocked, which made Bianca feel even more nervous. Howie and Krystle would never go off
and leave their house unlocked.
Feeling like an intruder, Bianca opened the door and walked
inside. “Howie!” she called, her voice
echoing in the cavernous entryway.
“Krystle!”
No answer.
She turned around and saw AJ’s light following her. It comforted her a little.
“Should we split up and check out the place?” AJ asked.
“No,” answered Bianca, “let’s stay together.”
She walked into the living room, and the Gold Light followed. The living room was empty. She made her way into the dining room. Deserted as well. Then to the kitchen. And that’s when she cried out in sheer
horror.
“Howie!!!”
Howie was lying on his side in a fetal position in front of the
refrigerator, his back to her. The first
thing she noticed was the giant, dark red stain on the back of his gray
t-shirt. The shirt clung to his back,
soaked with the red liquid. And more of
it was puddled around him on the floor, next to a cracked, empty milk
carton. Bianca clapped a hand over her
mouth, afraid she was going to throw up.
It was blood. Howie was
bathed in blood.
“Oh my God!” Bianca cried, rushing over to him. “Oh, God!”
She sank down to her knees beside him and felt a mixture of blood and
milk seeping into the knees of her jeans.
Gingerly, with shaking hands, she reached out and touched his neck,
trying to feel for a pulse. To her total
relief, she felt a light one.
At her touch, Howie’s eyes fluttered open and he let out a soft
moan of pain. “K… Kr…”
“Shh, Howie, don’t talk,” Bianca whispered. “It’s gonna be okay. I’m calling an ambulance right now.” She quickly got to her feet and started to
dart across the kitchen to the phone, but Howie reached out to her.
“Krys?” he said hoarsely.
Bianca stopped. “Krystle –
where is she, Howie?”
“Krys… he… he killed Krys…”
“Killed her!” Bianca
cried, clapping a hand over her mouth.
“Oh my God! Who killed
her, Howie? Who was it?”
“Dunno… he ‘ad a… facemask on,” Howie slurred. “Couldn’t see… his face…”
“Well, where is she? Where
is she, Howie?”
“Took… her…”
Howie was only half alert and seemed to be fading fast. Bianca was afraid she was losing him. Before he could protest, she crossed the room
and grabbed the phone from the wall, quickly punching in the digits 911. She explained the situation as best she
could, gave Howie’s address, and then hung up, hurrying back over to Howie.
She got back on the floor and picked up Howie’s hand. It looked pale and felt cold. Very cold.
She rubbed it between her own and whispered, “Hang on, Howie. Just hang on.”
She glanced over her shoulder and saw AJ shimmering in the
corner. “AJ,” she said to him
through her mind. “Don’t let him
die.”
When AJ spoke back, his voice sounded choked with tears. “Bean… I don’t have that kind of power.”
Bianca nodded, tears filling her eyes, and squeezed Howie’s hand,
whispering again, “Just hang on.”
***
An hour later, Bianca sat in a small, private waiting room on the
surgical floor of the nearest hospital, the hospital she had been in herself
only two days earlier. Howie had been
taken in for emergency surgery to repair whatever damage the knife had done to
him, and it would be a matter of hours before Bianca would know anything. She felt terrified, terrified that she would
lose Howie too. When she had first met
the other Backstreet Boys after she started dating AJ, she had bonded more with
Howie than any of the others. Nick had
always been her favorite member as a fan, but he had distanced himself from
her, while Howie had sweetly welcomed her with open arms. Living in Orlando just a matter of miles from
Howie’s house, she had gotten to know him better than Brian or Kevin, and by
now, she considered him one of her good friends. She had already lost AJ; she couldn’t stand
the thought of losing Howie.
“Bean… you should call the other guys,” AJ said.
“Yeah…”
“Even Kevin.”
“But, AJ, what if he did this?!”
“Call him at home. If he
answers, you know he’s all the way out in LA and he couldn’t possible have done
this.”
Bianca nodded, pulling her small address book out of her
purse. She opened it to the R’s first
and found Kevin and Kristin’s home number.
There was a phone in the waiting room that she could call out on, so she
used it. She dialed the number and
pressed the phone to her hear, hoping Kevin would answer. She didn’t want to believe it was him doing
this. But the green car…
“Hello?”
Bianca sagged in relief.
“Kevin!”
“Yeah… speaking?”
“This is Bianca. I’m
calling from the hospital. It’s Howie.”
Kevin sucked in a breath.
“What happened?”
Bianca didn’t want to tell him; she really didn’t. But she knew she had to. “He… he was attacked. At home.
Someone stabbed him… and Krystle.”
“Oh my God! How are they?”
“Howie’s in surgery, and Krystle… well… we don’t really know. She… her body… wasn’t there. Howie told me that the guy who did this
stabbed her and… and carried her body away.”
“Oh my God,” Kevin moaned.
“You said Howie’s in surgery?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay… well, I guess I’m going to try to make some arrangements to
come down there. Will you give me a call
when he’s out of surgery?”
“Sure, Kev,” replied Bianca.
“Thanks, Bean. Talk to you
later.”
They hung up. Bianca
slumped back in her seat and covered her face with one hand, overwhelmed with
guilt. It couldn’t have been Kevin. Someone else had done this. If only she knew who…
***
