I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed
Get along with the voices inside of my head
You're trying to save me, stop holding your breath
And you think I'm crazy, yeah, you think I'm crazy
~ Rihanna, Bebe Rexha and Eminem (Monster, MMLP 2)

1

To the Airport, 10:15pm

It was a long journey, the night was indeed as predicted, rainy. Cold winds blew it wasn't as bad as a storm but the constant jet of air always made Rachel flinch, it was instinctive. When she was little her mother had died leaving her with three brothers and a honest father, Her Father, the bravest man to ever live. As she pulled towards the highway she remembered, The Garden, Those butterflies, The Swings all of the beautiful things her father had made.

" Daddy, I love these!!" said 16 year old Rachel and she hugged her father who smiled at her, " My beautiful daughter" he said. They had together made a small Garden of soil from the potted plant and some stones and they had sown some seeds and waited, watered it regularly and the day had come where they blossomed into flowers. She bend down and looked at them, " I am this flower daddy soft and delicate and you are my strong stem" she said with a smile, her father smiled and went inside but Rachel waited, waited because her father had just done something miraculous, waited because she could finally see him coming out of the depression, the anxiety.

Another gust of Wind came over, washing over the memories, Rachel smiled, ' Those were good days...good days until...' she began to think, ' The gust of wind... the gust of wind... my stem got uprooted because of some bloody wind!' she thought, small drops of tears were forming she still wasn't over her fathers death which happened when she was 20.

" Dad please don't do it" cried Rachel,

" It's nothing Ray, I can handle it" said her father, it was raining and storm was blowing over, tearing and breaking and sending everything flying in the air. The lights had gone out and there was a generator in basement at the ground level of there two-storeyed bungalow. Arthur Larson had felt something a pang of guilt,

" Arthur call the ambulance!!" a tall woman with shot haired cried, Lucy Larson. But Arthur had stood frozen and he watched her wife bleed, there was a lot to take, she had accidentally left the gas on and when she went to close it the knife which was sticking out had pierced her left arm, the veins and the blood were visible as Arthur moved to help her, she kept on telling,

" You are no Doctor ARTHUR CALL THE AMBULANCE!!" but he took her in his car thinking ' Ambulance won't be here in time' but how wrong was he they had reached the hospital but even before doctors could examine her, she had died of blood loss. ' But not now!' thought Arthur, ' This little storm won't stop me' he thought, Rachel had to study for examination, this would be her chance to join in the police force, if they miss this chance Arthur couldn't have enough money to try for another time, ' Opportunity comes once in a lifetime' he thought as he moved down to the generator. There was waste and garbage all over there and Arthur didn't carry a torch. He could hear Rachel calling out to stop but he wasn't going to, somehow he had managed to get hold of the generator and turned it on. Now he could hear the whirring of the it, ' Thank God it worked' he thought and he began coming out. Rachel could see a faint Silhouette of her dad she waited for him eagerly, ' This was not safe' she thought of telling this to him, and suddenly a gust of wind came rushing down and SMACK! a newspaper hit Arthur flat on the face, he stumbled back. No sense of surrounding and this sudden blindness, he tried to remove the paper but the wind was very strong and pushed him back to the basement and suddenly SLIP! Arthur slipped on a garbage dump and fell on his back but the point to be noted by later doctors was that he had hit is back of the head to a sharp object which caused him to death, whereas Rachel had waited and waited for her dear Dad to come out, he lay unconscious and died of head injury and Blood loss.

The winds were strong but before they could decide to throw Rachel's car into the air and juggle, she parked it outside. Wiping away the tears and letting the thought close like a book in her brain, she picked her files and ran towards the check in counter. The thoughts still irritated her but she never took a psychiatric help because liked to suppress her feelings, Work was more important than herself. Grace and Victor were already there waiting,

" Hey Guys" said Rachel, they were pretty much her family now, they were all she could have and they were the only she could call close to her.

" Did you find anything?" she asked Grace, " Yes. I have tracked her Location and made calls to her department, they said that she hadn't received any distress call and nor did she call for backup." said Grace,

" Okay so we know for sure that she was with Ryan and working for him or with him, did you get any other information?" said Rachel,

" I did some background work on her and she live in Sacramento, she has a mother who lives nearby." said Grace.

" Okay we need to send someone to interrogate the mother maybe she knows something and we need to find Elisabeth, Victor call the local cops and tell them--"

" Too bad, the local cops have another case, Gas leak and a dead body" said Victor,

Rachel thought for sometime, " Okay tell Andrew to go and check out the mother and then tell him to go and talk with the department where Elisabeth worked", She looked at the big board and moaned,

" The flights delayed" she said

2

Santa Monica, 10:00pm

Beth just left a bar, she had gone down into Santa Monica and selected a decent pub, to forget everything. After 2 hours in a pub she went to her car, crying.

' I did it for you Amy' she thought, how hardly she wanted to tell Amy everything, that phone call after Amy left, she remembered it vaguely.

" Hello" she had said, " Hello Elisabeth, Long time since we talked" said a voice a mans voice.

" Hello Uncle!" she said slightly happy and slightly terrified, she hadn't heard him since... since very long.

" Call me Richard please" said the voice, " But--"she said, " Richard, understood" said the voice firmly.

" Now, I want you to go to Amy's house and wait." said Richard, " We thought---" started Beth,

" Do as I say, I'll meet you tonight at your house and we'll talk" said Richard, " Have you at least told Amy" she said, " No. I will tell her when I need to, you do as I say, please for Amy and me." said Richard a little hurt could be noticed in his voice. " Okay, What do I need to do" Beth had said.

Later she had called Richard again, " This is too much for me!!, Tell me!! what is going on! or I'll tell the F.B.I" she said, Richard sounded angry, " You'll tell no one, I said I'll tell you when you get to our home" he said,

" NO! I want to know NOW!" she said, " I won't tell you now but I can tell you later, Beth, calm down"

" NO!" she said and snapped the phone shut. and began driving to San Francisco.

But now, she hadn't anticipated that this would go to such a dangerous heights, she stumbled drunkly to her car and fumbled with the keys, her vision was blurred, everything appeared... double? triple?. All she could see were her own memories. She was falling, deep into herself, anger, guilt and scared of the world everyone appeared as a villain, the bartender who had smiled at her, he appeared to be a villainous monster, ready to take out a knife and kill her. She was becoming paranoid, minute-by-minute. She sometimes smiled and wailed, her face etched with tears which were becoming streams, her mouth in agony because how will she deal with this? what will she do? what will she say?, she was very sure the F.B.I will be on her, that encounter with them had left her terrified. She was a simple straight forward Police officer all of this dual work wasn't agreeing with her.

She got into the car and sat down on the seat, she just stared at the steering wheel thinking,

' Which side do I pick up?! one side I see Amy and other side her... on the other side I see Richard' She thought. Even though drunk to death and head aching with pain, eyes barely seeing anything, thoughts making now sense and brain out of control. Even after all of this she pushed the keys and started the engine. With a loud noise the car started, she turned on the radio, volume to it's max. She hit the accelerator and the brake both at one time, changed the gear to 4 and let go the brake, the car swished and tore apart the wind on the clear road ahead, it was 10:15 already, she laughed and giggled madly, smiling and sobbing at the same time. She pulled her head out of the window one hand on the steering and she felt the cold air rushing.

" ENJOYMENT!!!!! I AM FREE YOU SUCKERS!!!" she screamed, people passing by didn't even notice. ' Nobody notices, nobody wants to feel like me' she thought a sudden aggression charged inside her, she gripped the steering wheel very tightly, ' These people! These people are bad! they create a fricking nuisance and leave us to clear their mess' she thought, her face changed, the mad smile now turned upside down to a devilish grim and sad mouth. ' I want to KILL!! WHY I DON"T KNOW AND I DON'T WANNA KNOW, I WANT... TO KILL' her thought went on and on. She was going Berserk!.

Shifting the gear to 6 she smashed to accelerator with her leg and squished it to the nylon pad behind it, the car went from 50km/hr to 150km/hr, she began feeling Good, everything was blurry like her vision, she laughed ' You play tricks on me world!' she thought, the radio turned up blaring,

"We're gonna rock this house until we knock it down

So turn the volume loud, 'cause it's mayhem 'til the a.m.

So baby make just like K-Fed and let yourself go, let yourself go!!"

She began dancing, because she was feeling good, jumping of the car seat,

" Life's too short to not go for broke

So everybody, everybody (Go berserk) get your vials"

' Yeah I got my Vials' she said sing-songly and she turned the steering all the way right and towards mini market store and with a loud GRRR the car smashed into the store, Beth jerked her head ahead the cushion had popped up but last thing she heard was SNAP! and everything went blurred and last thing she could hear was,

" Life's too short to not go..." and then she closed her tear streaked eyes forever thinking, ' I did it for you Amy' with a last spasm of breathe, She died. Fire was everywhere everyone had gone Berserk.

3

The search, 10:30pm

Andrew had got the order to go and check on Elisabeth's mother, so after packing his bag he had left for N 12 street to interrogate the mother, he reached there in about 30-40 minutes and thankfully the flight was delayed, Larson had said that the

local cops were handling another case and that he had to talk to them also, ' This is a good one' thought Andrew, he stopped outside a house, it had a small garden but there were weeds and shrubs and what-nots growing everywhere, the house gave a sort of eerie feeling. He rang the doorbell but no reply, he rang it again and after 2 minutes a small lady opened the door,

" Can't you calm down big boy, I have Arthritis" she said angrily,

" I am sorry, ma'am. I am agent Andrew Klint. I am with the F.B.I, uh.. Police" he said,

" Yes, I understand F.B.I, what do you want?" she asked croakily.

" I wanted to know about your daughter, Elisabeth Newman." he said.

" Why?" she asked.

" I can't tell you that ma'am, it's still confidential" said Andrew.

" Well if you can't tell me, let me figure it out. Is she a murder suspect?" She asked,

" I can't tell you that" said Andrew,

" Okay, call me Casandra" said the granny.

" Well..?" said Andrew.

" Beth is my daughter and she is a police officer at the county a good thumping 'un I say" said Casandra,

" Do know anything apart from police work?, Boyfriends? Friends?" asked Andrew. Casandra gave a thinking and said.

" Well, she had one but it was years ago, like when she was 22" she said,

" Okay, does she have any brother or sister? cousins? anyone else that was close to her?" interrogated Andrew.

" Well if you call an adopted girl a sister then, Yes. I had adopted a girl her name is Amanda Cooper." she said with a smile, Andrew frowned and was taken aback.

" Amanda Cooper was Elisabeth's foster sister?" he asked eagerly,

" Yes. A good one she was, I remember when I picked her up after her mom and dad went missing. Her mother--"

RINNNGG, suddenly Andrew's phone went off, " Excuse me" he said and picked up the line. " Agent Andrew Klint" he said, a little while later he spoke,

" What? Are you sure? D.N.A tests?. Okay I will be there" he said, ' A lot of surprises today Andy' he said to himself, he turned towards Casandra, with a very timid look and an apologetic face he said,

" Miss Newman, I am very sorry to tell you..." he spoke,

" Tell me what?" asked Casandra inquisitively,

" I am sorry to tell you... your daughter was found dead... at San Francisco mini market" he said, Casandra nearly collapsed on the floor and Andrew rushed for her,

" Miss Newman, Miss Newman" he said rubbing her hands against his, he checked for pulse, Low. He dialled for Ambulance, after 5 minutes it came blaring it's siren. Casandra was taken to hospital, While Andrew went for his car, sitting on car seat he began driving towards the county police. It took him an hour to reach there. It was beginning to rain heavily again. Andrew entered the Police department. A balding guy with flat nose and long face, a plump middle, joint hands approached him,

" May I help you Sir?" he asked,

" I am Agent Andrew Klint F.B.I..." he said and showed him batch, "... I am hear to collect information on Elisabeth Newman" he proceeded.

" Yes Sir, this way" he motioned him to a narrow corridor, They began walking about and soon Andrew passed a room, ' So they have case.' he remembered,

" What's up with that case of yours?" he asked, The cop said moving ahead,

" Nah, it's a 5 nothing to worry, just some gay person tied and gas was leaked, we assume the gas source was due to centralised gas pipeline, found traces of Propane gas, L.P.G and stuff, the guy had inhaled a lot and was asphyxiated, Choked on his own vomit apparently. That person who did it musta been thorough hell even the guard doesn't know 'bout it" he said, Andrew nodded. The man stopped outside the room,

" This was 'er office, make sure you collect everythin' gave a helluva jolt to us" he said and bid him off, Andrew came inside the office, it was neat and clean no sign of anything suspicious, No false bottoms, No sign of any private files etcetera. He looked at the chair, nothing. There a laptop on the table, he glimmered and opened it but as every person now knows, it was locked with a password. He tagged it for evidence No. 1. Then moving towards the metal drawers he began searching through, all the files of previous cases, small timers sometimes big ones. He moved another drawer but something was attached at it's bottom. He felt it, there was an envelope, he opened it, inside it was money around $2000.

' Hired?' thought Andrew but he turned over the letter and upon it was written, For Mom. Below it was something else written in small letters, Arthritis. A pang of sympathy came over Andrew. But he had to keep cold,

' We do not empathise with a suspect, NEVER' he remembered. Afterwards he moved over the big board, he picked up those criminals who were now out and were previously know was hired killing, Andrew's theory was, Elisabeth must have something with Ryan and this Amanda Cooper starts going out with him, Elisabeth gets angry and frames Ryan for murders which were committed by these hired Assassins. He was glancing over the board when he saw the drawing, the same drawing of the Woman in solider clothes and above it written, To Beth From Amy. He picked this one up and kept it on the table, he knew the files piled by the officers were of no use, because if you wanna hide something, you don't keep it visible to your peers. Marking all the other things important evidences, He got out of the office. He sae the plump man with other policemen, He called for them.

" Officer" he said to the plump man,

" Please call me Oliver" said the man,

" Oliver, gather up a small team we have to examine Elisabeth's house" he said,

" Okay." he said and turned to towards the gross of policemen and called out names, " Carl, Patrick, Jennifer, Wendy. Come on." he said and so the party of Six went to towards the house of Elisabeth Newman.

During the car drive Andrew spoke to Oliver, " Where was this murder?" he asked,

" Which one?" said Oliver, " The gas leak" said Andrew,

" San Fran" he said, " Far place" replied Andrew,

" Indeed" said Oliver.

Soon they reached the 99 Elk Groove and stopped the car, " Nobody shoots, wait for my signal" said Andrew, they spread around the house, Carl and Wendy on the left cover Patrick and Jennifer on the right and Oliver stood by the fence incase somebody made a run, Andrew went forward towards the door, Slowly and steadily with his gun on guard, it was soft drizzling of rain. He knocked on the door but it open, Broken-open.

He Signaled everybody else to cover the house, he went inside. There was complete darkness, no light everything was quite as a mouse. He checked out the Hall, The Kitchen. While Carl cleared out the bathroom and Patrick cleared the bedroom. The house was empty.

" Clear!" said Andrew and everybody else also replied the same, Andrew lowered his gun and Oliver came in.

" Clear, nobody here. Looks like somebody left already the door was broken-open" disclosed Andrew, Oliver gave a nod. Not after few minutes the garden too was cleared, Oliver called other backup and sealed the house as a crime scene.

Andrew was still piecing the facts, ' So... Elisabeth gets involved with someone dangerous and then she dies?' he thought, but it wasn't making much sense, he sniffed up, ' getting Cold huh?' he thought, but something else was recognised by his Olfactory senses, something in the air. He sniffed again and went near the sofa and sniffed it a strong smell was coming, he sat on floor for sometime thinking and frowning, ' It is the smell of Propane, L.P.G!' thought Andrew, ' But hadn't another killing happened...' he thought, ' Smell of gas doesn't get away' he thought and with a sudden jerk he got up, ' The gas leak killer was here' he thought, then he called for Oliver, and explained everything.

" My goodness!!, you maybe correct!" he exclaimed,

" Yes. Oliver I need you conduct this investigation very clearly okay" said Andrew,

" Yes. Sir" he replied,

" No part to be left unchecked, Look for financials and then about that guy try and dig some information, I will be in Austin HQ but report to me or call Agent Larson okay" said Andrew with a concern

" I will" Said Oliver firmly, Andrew gave a nod and he got out of the house and towards the car and drove to Lane 5, towards the airport.

4

Getting into the plane, 11:30pm

" Ryan! Ryan Wake up!" said a voice, Ryan who was sleeping on the chair with his cap on inhaled a deep breath, just rolled on the other side.

" Ryan!" the Woman Screamed, Ryan woke up with a jerk. Looking alert ready to attack,

" It's me Amy, here" she said as she touched him, a sudden throb of pain came over him,

' How are you feeling, Better?' said the voice,

' Yeah better' thought Ryan,

" Ryan! snap out! We have to Go!" said Amy,

" Go? Go where?" asked Ryan foolishly. He was still recovering, trying to place things together, he noticed the watch on her hand, Half-Past 11. He took a deep breath and smiled at Amy, she flinched.

" Yeah Amy, How are you?" he asked, Amy looked terrified for a moment,

' Those eyes! What happened to those eyes! My god they look totally... Lost' she thought. " Nothing... I am fine" she said,

' She fears you!, gain her confidence' said the voice,

'Really?' he asked, ' Yes.' Replied the voice.

" Do I look like a monster?" asked Ryan, Amy frowned,

" No, You look... Tired." she said, Ryan smiled at her, came close to her and held her hand and gave her that satisfaction of trust, all he had studied on human behaviour came into his mind, personal touch always places you to the second last of the Five layers of Human mind, You become trustable and supportive, Human touch is a very reassuring touch as it signifies that the person is not alone.

He heard her faint breath, it was calming down slowly and steadily, Trust controlled the Parasympathetic Nervous System, it's a bypass key and also one that could be used again and again to control the mind of other people.

" Why am I framed Amanda? Why me?" he asked with a scared look, a mask. A Psychopath always ides his true intention.

" I don't know Ryan." said Amy, She was becoming more and more open to Ryan, it was like, she couldn't control herself she wanted to share all her feelings to Ryan. But something held her, the thoughts of her Sister, Beth.

" Will you help me? I need your help?" said Ryan, he gripped her hands tightly making sure that she gets the message, he kept his eyes fixed on her, never loose the eye contact. Textbook definition of a Psychopath.

Amy had feeling a certain feeling she pondered upon, Love? Laugh? Worry? What?. She decided to leave that question, She was still scared, scared because she wasn't sure this was a right choice and feeling she was finding was TROUBLE, but Ryan had made sure that the feeling doesn't come over to her. Amy locked her eyes with Ryan, His eyes like shiny pearls and with his smile, He was a perfect Gentleman. But the air was smelling of something else... She began looking around trying express her feeling, Trying to find those feelings but Ryan's Fake wall of love was keeping it away,

' And Now the final Piece of Action' thought Ryan, " Amy look at me" he spoke, She turned at him, without wasting anytime, he kissed her, with all his passion and confidence he did it, Amy got scared but responded back to him, The Final Piece of Puzzle, placed neatly.

" Will you help me?" he asked again, this time Amy smiled

' I want him! He is perfect! We'll be together forever and ever, He is so fun to be with and so daring, he handle everything so neat and he is the smartest one I have ever met, I love him, those shy glances at the university, that timid façade, all for me, I need him, he not like other ones, That one Sam, who spent most of the time reading those idiot books, who needs such a guys jerk that one was, everyone I have seen is reading books, like there is life apart for that also, he is the one for me!' these thoughts rushed over Amy suddenly euphoric she got and made him stand up and said,

" Yes my love, I'll help you whatsoever" Ryan smiled her, never removing his eyes from her, never blinking. Was it a Sly Smile? or a genuine one? One couldn't tell.

They walked to Amy's car, Ryan's head was throbbing again, he smacked it he could make out vague sound,

' psy. Grass... Like... psy ho..ho' random words roamed inside his mind, he was too busy looking out for the car, he smacked his head again but the pain didn't go away, the got inside and Amy started the engine the car started and then moved onwards towards Santa Monica Airport.

" Why do need to go to D.C?" asked Amy smiling, Ryan looked at her trying to find any deception but answered,

" Because I found this" he said and removed an airplane ticket from his pocket,

Santa Monica Airport,

Name:- Ryan Holster Flight Name:- Primelight

Flight:- N2169N Time:- 12:00

Seat No.:- 23a

This was the following information Amy read, She grabbed the ticket and stuffed it in her own pocket, Ryan got angry,

" Hey that's my ticket" he said, Amy looked at her

" Ryan this is the clue, we can find out who is framing you, maybe it's a trap" she said and stopped the car,

" Ryan maybe you are being setup and made to go to D.C" she said, Ryan was shocked,

' Why in the world isn't she listening to me' he thoughts a sudden surge to strangle her came over but he controlled it, his head throbbed again.

( Psy. Grass... you Like....Psy Ho)

He smacked his head again, he looked a her angry, Amy was scared enough already in her mind kept on saying, ' Shouldn't have said that... Shouldn't have said that', Ryan opened the door and walked began walking,

" No.. No Ryan wait!!" said Amy, but Ryan didn't turn back. She pulled over to Ryan,

" WHAT?! YOU WANNA KILL NOW HUH?" He said, Amy flinched but said calmly,

" Okay, We'll go to D.C" Ryan got inside and smacked his head again,

' If she take another step out make sure to suffocate her' said the voice maliciously.

" Shut up" said Ryan out loud, " What?" Amy asked, " Nothing" said Ryan and smacked his head again.

Amy stopped at the airport and they got inside, they were finding seat and they did thankfully, Amy gave her name and Pseudonym of Ryan was Henry Cooper, which was also the name of Amy's father and the got onto the flight without Ryan bursting like a bomb. He had almost moved his hand on the flight ticket giver because he said it would be costly travel, Amy had held his hand from going to through the man throat.

They both sat on there seats, Ryan had begun sweating again, he was fidgeting with his fingers, shaking his legs. Thinking, ' Why does the man sitting in the front looks like Matthew?, If he is then God save him from me' he thought, the questions constantly itched him and the flight took off. Ryan was still trying to control his never ending anger.

5

" Come on" said Grace as they began moving towards to checking counter, she held a coat and suit case with her clothes, they were given Business Class tickets, they checked there tickets, Andrew had come, it was bad news, that Elisabeth was dead but there was something else he said that another killing had taken place with the gas leak and he could smell it in Elisabeth's house. So that meant that Ryan was still in Sacramento. Rachel had said that they would discuss this when they get to Austin.

"Why are we going to Austin if we have proof that Ryan... or the killer is still in Sacramento?" she asked to Rachel. Rachel turned to Grace and other two were also looking.

" Because we got no hit on the BOLO in Sacramento, they searched the whole sate but he wasn't anywhere" she said.

" You checked on Ryan didn't you? Then you would have known that Ryan was born and brought up in Maryland, Now because the headquarter of D.C has filled up they are locating us near it in Austin." said Rachel. Others nodded and they boarded the Plane. Rachel sat on her seat, Relaxed and comfortable. She closed her eyes and the images of her father's rotten corpse jumped up, She flinched but took a deep breath,

" You okay Boss?" asked Grace, " Um? Yeah, Yeah totally fine." said Rachel Grace nodded and after the flight attended gave the instructions the plane moved on the runway, then stopped like a cheetah waiting for it's prey, then with a large thrust and jerk, the plane began taking speed, 30km/hr....50km/hr...100...150....200.... Rachel closed her eyes shut and grabbed the seat handle as the plane tilted upwards. Grace who was found of Planes and flying was busy looking out of the window felt Rachels hand she looked at her, Rachel had eyes shut, Grace smiled. Rachel opened her eyes and saw Grace smirking,

" What?! Even I am scared sometime" she said,

" I thought you were never afraid of anything" said Grace, Rachel looked at her and felt the touch of family and friend, they would be there, whatever happens; Victor, Andrew and Grace will be there, She smiled and thanked her and slept.

Soon they were in the air, as they were going a sudden turbulence gripped the plane, it would have been extremely close shave as Amy and Ryan's flight had Criss-Crossed Rachel and her teams flight in mid-air. What a close shave it was.

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the story so far, I wrote this chapter at Mid-night with a lot of coffee!!! Vote the story if you like it!!!. The Story moves each step closer... I am hoping to submit this story to Watty 2020 Contest... Tell me by commenting if this story is worth Winning the Watty 2020 or not!!

Take care and Stay Safe... 'Till we meet next time!! bababyee!!!