The Tenth Victim

Kodi climbed the rickety ladder. It shuddered under her weight in a way it didn’t used to. Her mother had warned her about the freshman fifteen, but she hadn’t listened. 

Perfect, she thought. I’m going to fall to my death because I’m the girl that got fat at college. But luckily, the ladder didn’t give out and she was able to pull herself up onto the metal platform. The old guardhouse was just as she remembered it. There weren’t even any new spray paint additions. 

No one in town knew what the guardhouse had originally been built for or why it was abandoned. So, like most abandoned places with rusted No Trespassing signs, it fell under ownership of the local teenagers. It was a popular party spot for years. It even became tradition for each senior class to add their own artwork to the existing variety of spray paint. That was until five years ago when one of the railings came loose and Lee McCormick fell to his death the night before graduation. The local police put up new fencing around the area, and held multiple assemblies at the high school begging kids to stay away. But teens will be teens, and the guardhouse became the place they dared each other to climb up to when they felt like being rebellious. For Kodi, the guardhouse was sanctuary. It was a place where she could escape the screaming of her parents' failing marriage.

She’d been home from college for twenty-four hours and already needed her escape. The summer humidity didn’t feel as oppressive up here, and the view was breathtaking. The reflection of the full moon danced across the lake that surrounded the small town. Her muscles began to relax and she breathed in the night air. She closed her eyes and let the world fall away. 

She debated whether she could sleep up here. She didn’t know if her mother would notice her not coming home, or what she would do if she did notice. She already missed the freedom of college. Being back in her hometown felt confining and magnetizing at the same time. She could have taken summer classes and stayed on campus, but something had been pulling her back. Like the town wanted to show her something. 

The metal platform groaned, and she sprung up. Her eyes met those of a guy who was halfway up the ladder. He froze. 

“What are you doing up here,” Kodi asked quickly. 

“What are you doing up here,” he retorted. He finished climbing up onto the platform and Kodi took a step back. She could see more of him in the moonlight now. He was beautiful with a square jaw, and dark wavy hair. Kodi realized that he could only be a few years older than her, but she had never seen him around town before. 

“I wanted to see the moon,” Kodi lied. The guy glanced at her Super Mario pajamas and raised a brow. 

“There’s a curfew. No one under the age of eighteen is supposed to be out past eleven,” he said. Kodi hadn’t heard anything about any curfew, which was weird since her Mother managed to fill her in on all the details of town gossip even when she was away at college. Maybe she hadn’t said anything because it didn’t apply to her. 

“I’m nineteen.” Kodi mentally kicked herself as soon as she said it. She didn’t know this man, and she was up on a secluded guardpost alone in the middle of the night. 

He chuckled. “I guess I won’t call the cops then.” His smile was easy and Kodi caught herself getting lost in it.

“Not like you would have called the cops anyway,” she said. “You’re trespassing just like I am.” 

“Touche.” He walked over to one of the rails and looked over the town. 

“Be careful,” Kodi warned. He spun and looked at her. She pointed to the railing that he was inches from leaning against. “The railings are loose. You shouldn’t lean on them.”  The guy looked down at the railing, then over the edge. 

“Thanks,” he huffed, “guess I can’t make you leave when you possibly just saved my life.” 

Kodi chuckled. “That’s funny seeing as I was here first. You must be new to town, and I’ve been coming here for years, so if anything I should make you leave.”  The corner of his mouth turned up.

“What makes you think I’m new to town?” He took his time finding a spot and sat, looking up at Kodi eagerly. 

“I’ve never seen you before,” she said as if that explained everything. His brows furrowed.

“So, you know every single person in this town?”    Kodi examined his pretty face one more time, trying to remember if she had passed him in the grocery store or at the local diner. 

“All the locals know about the rails up here since…” She trailed off looking at the one side of the platform that opened to the drop below.  She remembered the morning after Lee fell, the way the town had gone silent even before everyone had known what had happened. 

“If it’s so dangerous up here, then why’d you come up here?”  His voice made her jump as she was pulled from her memories.

“It’s not dangerous if you don’t lean on the rails,” she shrugged. He tilted his head like a confused dog. She turned away from him to look back out over the town. The two of them sat in silence for several minutes. 

“What are you running from,” he asked softly. 

“What makes you think I’m running from anything?” Kodi tried to keep her voice even. Something about this stranger had her nerves all twisted, along with the butterflies in her stomach. 

He stretched his arms behind his head as if he were on a lounger. “I know the look,” he paused, “maybe I’m running from something too.”  Kodi couldn’t imagine what a guy like him could be running from. He was attractive, and his clothes were nice and put together. He seemed charming, and usually those kind of people didn’t have many issues, especially in this town.

“What could you possibly be running from,” Kodi huffed. He smirked and watched her as she made sure there was more than enough space between the two of them. 

“Have you ever started something because you thought it was the right thing to do, but now that you’re in the middle of it you realize you don’t want to finish it?” 

Kodi actually knew the feeling all too well. She sighed. 

“Yeah, I do.” 

She had piqued his interest. “Do tell.”  

“For my entire life I’ve always known that I was going to be a doctor. It’s all my parents ever talked about. So, when it came time to apply for college, I did it just the way they wanted.” Her mouth went dry as she thought about this past year. 

“You’re pre-med?”

She nodded. “Honors college, accelerated path. I did it all.”  

He sat up and shifted so that he was closer to her. “Why do I feel like there’s a but?”

“I hate it.”  It was the first time Kodi had said those words out loud. It had been the biggest secret pressing down on her over the past year. She hadn’t even divulged that secret to her best friend and here she was telling a complete stranger.

“And you realized that was your parents dream not yours?” Kodi nodded. “What do you want to do?” 

“Photography,” Kodi answered without hesitation. When she looked at him he was smiling. 

“So what’s stopping you?” 

“My mother,” she sighed. Kodi couldn’t think of one time that she had made her mother happy or proud. She could perfectly imagine her mother’s scrunched up disappointed face if Kodi said she wanted to be any kind of art major.

“Ah,” he said, “and that’s why you’re up here.” 

As the minutes of silence pass between them, a sense of calm washed over Kodi. She frowned, realizing how comfortable she felt in the stranger’s presence. A far off police siren wailed, and the stranger flinched ever so slightly. Kodi took in his handsome face again, tracing the muscles in his jaw with her eyes. Something about him seemed familiar even though she knows she’s never seen him before. Something wild sparked in her, and she went to sit  next to him.

“You never told me your name,” Kodi said, breaking the silence. 

“Isn’t it more fun if you don’t know,” he smiled.  Kodi’s heartbeat raced, and she blushed. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

He rolled his eyes. “I get the feeling you’re not the kind of girl who hangs out with strange men alone often.” 

“What makes you think that?”  Kodi bit her lip, knowing that he’s exactly right, since she’d actually never been alone with a guy before now.

“I just have this way of reading people,” he shrugged. The two of them fell into a comfortable silence once again. 

“You should tell them,” he said suddenly. 

“What?” Kodi turned to him and was shocked to see how close their faces were. 

“Your parents. You should tell them you’re changing majors. In the morning, over breakfast.”

Kodi shook her head. “I can’t do that.”  He reached out and took her hand. 

“You can. How about you do it, and tomorrow night we’ll meet back up here and you can tell me all about it.”  His perfect teeth gleamed in the moonlight. 

“Tomorrow,” Kodi choked out.

“I’ll bring wine, we can either celebrate your new life path, or we can drink away your sorrows and cuss out your parents.”  His chuckle was charming and gave Kodi a weird sense of confidence.

“I can do this,” Kodi said, more sure of herself than she’d ever been. He leaned in and looked at her lips.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” he purred, and then his lips were on hers. Kodi gasped, but then let herself fall into the kiss. His tongue swept across her lips and she opened her mouth

She had expected her first kiss to be awkward and unpleasant based on all her friend’s stories, but this was different. There was nothing awkward between the two of them. Kodi wanted him to wrap his arms around her and pull her into his chest. She wanted to be surrounded by him. 

When they pulled apart they were both panting.

“I should really get going,” he said softly. He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “But promise me you’ll meet me here again.” Speechless from the bliss of that kiss Kodi just nodded. He chuckled and stood, kissing her on the forehead. Kodi blinked, trying to figure out if she was dreaming as he moved towards the ladder. He was half way down when she called out to him. 

“Wait!” She peered over the ledge. “What’s your name?” 

He stared up at her, a pained expression on his face. 

“It’s Kurt,” he said after a minute. Kodi smiled. 

“Hi Kurt, I’m Kodi.”  

“It was really nice to meet you Kodi, and just so you know I think you’d make a great photographer.” 

Kodi felt like she wanted to swoon, a phrase she often read in books but had never understood before that moment. She watched as he climbed the rest of the way down the ladder, and disappeared into the treeline. 

The following night, Kodi sat on the guardhouse platform, awaiting Kurt’s return. She was anxious. As expected, the conversation with her parents hadn’t gone over well, but she was distracted by the thoughts of more late night kisses. She sat for an hour, then another, and another. All her giddiness, and confidence from before shattered when she realized that Kurt wasn’t coming back. Her face was stained with tears by the time she walked through her front door. 

“Oh Kodi! Thank God!” Her mother threw her arms around Kodi. “I was so worried about you. I tried to call, but your phone kept going to voicemail.” Kodi struggled out of her mother’s grip. 

“It’s charging. Mom, what are you doing up?” 

Kodi’s mother drug her into their tiny living room, where her father sat on the edge of the couch, his fist under his chin as he stared at the TV intently. 

“Roger, she’s home,” her mother said. Her father jumped up and wrapped her in a hug. Kodi pushed away from them confused. 

“What’s going on?” She looked at the teary eyes of both her parents, but then the sound of the TV caught her attention. 

Carrie Carlson, the island’s news reporter for the past thirty years, was standing in front of the police station downtown. 

“We have just gotten confirmation that the local police have apprehended the man behind a series of murders across the island over the past few months.” 

“What?” Kodi’s stomach dropped. She’d heard nothing about murders. 

“It’s just been horrible,” her mother sobbed. Kodi turned her attention back to the TV. 

“...The murder of eight local girls. All eight bodies were found along the north east shoreline right at dawn. After the third body was found Island police issued a mandatory curfew for anyone under the age of eighteen, but it is believed that the man was somehow luring the girls out of their homes in the middle of the night.”  Carrie turned as the doors to the police station opened. Sheriff Dearborne looked exhausted as the reporter approached him, shoving the microphone in his face. 

“Sheriff, is it true that your officers caught the suspect dumping another body? Is there a ninth victim?” 

The sheriff shook his head. “All I can say at the moment is that we have the perpetrator in custody, and we will be releasing details as we see fit, pending the investigation.”  The reporter bombarded the sheriff with more questions, as Kodi turned to her parents. 

“You didn’t say anything.” Her words shook slightly. Her parents shared a look. 

“Well, you were at school, safe away from all this mess, and you were studying for finals. I didn’t want to distract you.”  Her mother’s eyes were wide. Kodi’s entire body felt cold. She wanted to ask her mother which girl’s had been killed, if she had known them. Had she gone to school with them? Part of her wanted to know everything, but something told her she didn’t. Frozen from the mix of emotions, she sat down on the couch and watched the news coverage with her parents in silence. 

Over the next twelve hours Kodi learned all about the murders. She’d cried silently as the news showed the pictures of the victims, and she realized that she had known every single one of them. Their school pictures with their smiling faces would haunt her nightmares for years. Around three in the afternoon, it made national news. Reporters from all over were coming in on ferries or by helicopter. By dinner it was confirmed that there was indeed a ninth victim. A girl who lived three houses down from Kodi. A girl that she had grown up with. 

Kodi was huddled under a blanket, the news now a numbing buzz when all the reporters started frantically clamoring to the police station doors. Kodi sat up. Several police officers walked out making a path through the reporters. Then the sheriff led a handcuffed man out of the building. Kodi let out a sob as she saw Kurt’s beautiful face on the television screen. All the reporters screamed their questions at him and the Sheriff. Carrie managed to get right up to them. 

“Is there anything you have to say for yourself?” Kurt looked right at the camera then leaned into the microphone. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t come back. I hope everything works out okay, and you get to follow your dreams.”  

Kodi retched forward and vomited. The reporter and the people of the internet would speculate over the murderer’s weird message for months while the investigation remained national news. Kodi didn’t tell anyone that the message had been for her. She spent the summer in a state of confusion and misery. Her parents grew worried about her, but didn’t know what to do.

A week before she was due to return back to college, her parents knocked on her door softly. They entered and sat on her bed. 

“We got you something,” her mother said gently. Kodi took the present and unwrapped it. A beautiful and expensive camera stared back at her. Just so you know, I think you’d make a great photographer Kurt's voice echoed in her head. Kodi lifted the camera and smashed it against her bedroom wall. She watched the pieces scatter, just like her dreams, Kurt’s tenth and final victim.