Chasing Larkin
Short Story
“You have two minutes to explain, or you’re going to jail.” The gum popping officer remarked, plopping himself back into his seat. His name tag shinned against the light, reading off the name “KNOLL”. He glanced back at the two-way mirror over his shoulder and I could nearly see the discomfort radiate from him. He was all talk if anything. He had no real charges on me, and he knew it. “I gave the diary to you.” I reminded him, glancing down picking the now dried blood from under my lightning blue nails(I worked hard on these nails honestly, the whole bright blue color thing was a bit of a risk move for me). It had to be everywhere, the blood I mean; I could feel it drying into my hair and could see the spattered stains covering my once green hoodie. “Faye…” he warned through gritted teeth, an attempt to scare me into telling the truth. “We’ll go over this diary one more time… it’s time you told us which part is true.” A smile threatened to pull at the edge of my lips, but taking a second to look down and collect myself kept it at bay. “Go for it.” I encouraged, resting back against the metal chair. “You read it this time.” He insisted tossing the brown, leather journal in my lap. I wasn’t expecting that… The gum popping officer smirked at the sight of my discomfort as it seemed my heart had dropped into my stomach. “If you insist…” It came out weaker than I had intended, but I grabbed the book, flipped to the first page, cleared my throat and began reading: “Day 1 of 365, 2014. Lust has no mercy. Lust will take you, give you hope, and then rip you to tiny little pieces and laugh in your face. Lust is the equivalent of high school actually. On the first day, it holds the promise of new opportunities, and the thought, “Maybe I’ll be popular” but you wanna know something odd? I can be around a sea of people and still feel alone. Ironic isn’t it?” “Get to something we can actually use.” Knoll snapped. I gritted my teeth, holding back my anger, and flipped through a few more pages until I found what he was actually looking for.
“Day 6 of 365, 2014.
Seems I’ve met someone in my dreams the last few nights. Odd dude, really, but he sure is gorgeous… It didn’t even seem like a dream at first really. Originally, I believed that I had been shook awake by this handsome stranger with sea storm eyes. That somehow he had broken into my room just to kill me, well, until he spoke.
‘You’re sleeping the day away.’ He scolded, his eyebrows drawing together.
Wiping the sleepiness out of my eyes I stared up at him like he was a mad man, even though he was. ‘Who…are you…and what are you doing here?’ I demanded. Even though he was a stranger in my room I felt more at ease with him being here.
‘Name’s Larkin.’ He smirked and stuck his hand out, which I reluctantly took and shook.
‘Faye.’ I responded.
‘I know.’ He smiled. That was all it took really, we sat there for the rest of the night talking about anything really. Nothing was off limits, and that was something I grew accustomed to so easily… I’d wake up the next morning, alone, with no trace of him ever existing but each night he’d wake me from my sleep and talk to me for hours upon hours it seemed, until I would have to actually rest back into bed and sleep.
Though exhaustion grips me most days after I wake up, as if I never slept at all. I don’t think too much about it, honestly. I just can’t wait to see Larkin again. He said all the right things, at the exact right moment…and adventure after adventure we went through together in my dreams, I feel myself falling for him”
“He isn’t real.” Officer Knoll remarked. “Explain the blood then!” I snapped back, slamming the book on the metallic table, my patience disappearing. “So we ARE looking for a body.” He smirked as though he actually caught me. “You won’t find a body if the person isn’t real, right?” The smirk disappeared from his face, and reappeared on my own. Gaining some satisfaction I took the book back and skipped through the pages again, until I found what I was looking for. “Day 18 of 365, 2014 Something is very wrong. In European history today we learned of some icons of Europe. Larkin was one of them. His picture came up on the slides and I nearly swallowed the pen cap between my teeth. Larkin the 6th was a ruler of a small empire in the early 14th century that was known for taking over kingdoms around him, taking the women as his prisoners to rape and murder…
Day 19 of 365, 2014 I asked him last night. He shot down the conversation, snapping and insulting me in the process. ‘I won’t come back…’ it had been a last attempt for him to beg me to stay, something to get the old Larkin back. Not this one that seemed to twitch and break apart before my eyes. He only laughed menacingly in response. ‘I’ll drag your dead corpse down here if I have to my dear.’
Day 25 of 365, 2014 I haven’t gone back.”
“Sounds like a hard series of nightmares,” Knoll laughed. “Think you’ll need medication for that?” Just keep going… I told myself. “Day 34 of 365, 2014 He’s here. He walked into English class on the 3rd of February and gave me that knowing smile before introducing himself, only to have the class echo a “Hello Larkin” back. My throat was too clogged with fear and emotion to pronounce either of those two words. I had excused myself to the bathroom to empty the continents of my stomach and tell myself it was all a dream. That he was just in fact a new boy that happened to look and have the same name as my Larkin. Once I had convinced myself of that, I returned to my class to find a small note folded neatly on my desk.
I’ll drag you kicking and screaming, or dead if I have to. That was a promise my dear.
Larkin ”
“So where is the truth in this?” The officer asked as if he had better places to be. “All of it,” I growled out. “He was here, and he wanted to kill me!” “Dream boat? Dream boat is trying to kill you? Is that what you’re saying?” he laughed.
“Day 42 of 365, 2014
I’ve tried my best to avoid him the past week, but he’s seemed to find me in every alternative route I take and just taps at his watch, ‘You’re running out of time before I’ll take matters into my own hands.’ His voice would sing in my thoughts.
Day 46 of 365. 2014 Today I took fate into my own hands… Today I saved myself. Today I made a fatal choice and ended someone else’s life. Today I watched as he disappeared back into the ground as if he never existed in the real world. And I guess he never did.
I didn’t realize I was crying until I heard myself gasp for breath. Knoll still sat there staring at me. “You confessed.” was the only thing he could say to me. “Test the blood.” “Excuse me?” “Test the blood,” I repeated, “it won’t match to any blood type.” With that I pulled off the blood stained hoodie and dropped it on the table crossing my arms over my black tank top, wiping away any evidence of tears. He paused for a second before sighing in defeat, and signaling for the hoodie to be removed. I was left alone for the first time that night. I resorted back to picking the blood from under my nails, until I heard the door squeak open. “Couldn’t find a match that… ?” The last few words were clogged in my throat at the sight of Larkin standing there in police uniform the almighty smirk set deep into his features. “Kicking and screaming it is.” He laughed before he lunged.
A Few weeks later…
Officer Knoll worked away over a police report on a break in at the local pawn shop down Main Street, though his thoughts as always, worked their way back to the Zaye Evans girl. She had disappeared from the interrogation room without a trace. The cameras didn’t catch anything either. Her whereabouts still ate at him. Giving in, he decided to take a break from starring at a computer screen and ventured to get some coffee from down the street, even though the weather still breathed winter, spring was on the horizon.
Retreating back to his office after the coffee he paused in mid-stride, seeing the Evans girl’s leather bound diary placed neatly in the center of his desk. Placing the coffee down on his desk, he looked around him for whoever placed it, for the journal had gone missing with the girl. Opening the journal to the book marked page, he noticed a new entry in the journal:
Officer Knoll,
Careful, nightmares have a tendency of coming true. Faye is living in hers’.
Larkin.
