The same somber music floated from the radio speakers as earlier and Kerry stared for a moment. When nothing further happened she shrugged and walked into the small bathroom telling herself it had all been a trick of her mind. There was no DJ with a smooth voice hosting a radio talk show with her as the guest star. It had all been her imagination.
The dried blood on her hands wasn't a figment of her imagination however. In the stark light of the bathroom the color was more reddish than before, but nearly black beneath her fingernails and in the creases of her nail beds. Kerry turned on the water and adjusted it until it was as hot as she could stand it. She felt slightly nauseous knowing that it was the blood of another human being on her hands.
It didn't matter what kind of person Mr. Post had been, she scolded herself, she'd had no right to kill him.
Of course she had, Kerry argued with herself as she began scrubbing the bloodstains from her hands. Post had just assumed she wouldn't mind, that she was just there to be used by him, that she was easily pushed around. Well, she'd finally proved him wrong.
She glanced up into the mirror and stared into her own eyes. They were wide and grey and completely emotionless. The word shock floated through her mind. She suddenly felt an overwhelming need to see Rob. He would know what to do, he would make everything alright. There was just something....something she needed to remember.
The stinging in her hands caused her to look down and she saw how red and raw her skin was. She turned off the water and took a coarse towel off the rack to dry them. The music drifting in from the other room hadn't changed and she was drawn back toward the bed. She was tired, but she knew she couldn't sleep. There were too many questions. Like what she was doing there in that cheap looking hotel room instead of at home with her boyfriend Rob and her sister Megan.
Rob and Megan.....the two people she loved most in the world.
Kerry sat slowly down on the bed and stared at the old clock radio, almost as if waiting for something to happen. There was a click and the hiss of static and the music faded away.
"You're listening to KDTH FM radio....all death....all night long...." The DJ's voice said in those same smooth, deep tones. Kerry smiled, his voice was so soothing. "We're back with Kerry who just this evening killed her scum bag of a boss. With a pair of desk scissors no less! Bravo, Kerry!"
There was a burst of applause as if from a live audience and Kerry smiled to think that there were others out there who had heard what had happened and weren't judging her. They were on her side.
"Thank you." She said softly.
"Oh no, thank you Kerry." The DJ said cheerfully, "I'm sure I can speak for all of my listeners when I say it was a privilege to hear how you handled things. But the fun didn't end there did it, Kerry? What about it, audience, do you want to hear what happened next in Kerry's eventful evening?"
There was more cheering and Kerry felt a second of panic. There wasn't anything else to tell. Was there? Kerry shifted nervously as her mind began to show her another image. The creaky stairs that led to the apartment she shared with her sister Megan. She could hear how the fifteenth stair groaned in protest the way it always did as her slight weight pressed down on it.
"Why don't you take off your coat, Kerry?" The DJ suggested. "Make yourself more comfortable while we listen to the rest of the story."
Kerry reached automatically for the belt of her overcoat and loosened it without thinking. She shrugged the garment off and let it fall to the bed, lost in the scene unfolding in her head. She was ascending the dim stairway to the third floor. It wasn't the best of neighborhoods, but it was all they could afford. Megan always talked about the day they would move to a nicer part of town. Maybe get a place in one of the ritzy high rises in a newer part of the city. Megan always talked about how one of these days her face was going to be on billboards nationwide and she would be rolling in money and then she would be out of there. Of course Kerry always told herself Megan meant they would be out of there, together. She and Kerry had always been together, they depended on each other. Kerry's job paid most of the bills right then because it was hard to break into the modeling world. Megan picked up catalog work from time to time, and lately she'd been going for a lot of interviews that must have led to some kind of work because she had bought herself a whole new wardrobe. She'd told Kerry it was an investment in her new career. She had to look good at all times. Kerry didn't mind. Her wages paid the bills and when Megan made it big Kerry would be able to take time to find a better job. Rob didn't think it was fair that Kerry paid for everything while Megan spent whatever money she earned on clothes and jewelry and nights on the town. Kerry had tried to explain to him about networking and how Megan needed to keep up a good image, but Rob had remained skeptical.
As all of these things ran through her mind Kerry reached the door of the apartment and fished in her bag for her keys. She needed to get inside and call Rob and tell him what had happened with Mr. Post. Kerry could still taste him in her mouth and she sobbed quietly as she opened the door. Rob would know what they needed to do next. Rob was so smart and he stayed so calm all the time. Rob was....there. At least his briefcase was on the hall table. He wasn't waiting in the living room though, or in the kitchen either.
For some reason Kerry didn't call out. She heard soft strains of music coming from one of the other rooms. Megan's room it sounded like and Kerry stole quietly down the hall. Following the sound of the music and murmuring voices.
"See what you've been missing all this time?" Megan asked in her soft, sultry voice. A man moaned in pleasure.
Kerry pressed her ear to the door and it swung open slightly. She felt a moment of guilt that she might be invading Megan's privacy but she couldn't stop herself. Megan had a large full length mirror in her room and from where Kerry stood she could see the bed reflected completely.
Megan was there, radiantly beautiful in her nakedness, every movement a picture of sensual grace. She was leaning over a man, her hands flat on his chest as her hips made slow circular motions. Kerry couldn't help watching. She'd always felt so inadequate when it came to sex. She had made Rob turn off all the lights the few times she had allowed him to make love to her and would only do the act face to face with him on top. He had tried to bring her out of her shell, encouraged her to try new positions, explore with him, but she just couldn't do it.
