Lullaby | Brahms Heelshire |

Chapter 22

Close your eyes and sleep tight,
   I woke up to a sharp pounding in my head. I opened my eyes to find that I was outside. The last thing I could remember was falling into Brahm's arms. suddenly the memories struck me like a hit to the head with a baseball bat. I sat up much too quickly and found Andy's body laying in the dirt. A wave of nausea fell upon me and I immediately leaned over and threw up.
   Andy was dead. I tried to close my eyes and slow my breathing down before I threw up again. My whole body quaked and trembled. Brahms killed Andy. He killed him. I tried my best not to look over at the body laying on the ground. I didn't want to look at it anymore. I could still hear his screams ringing in my ears.
   The sound of deep heavy breathing captured my attention and I looked up to find Brahms standing over the body, his chest rapidly rising and falling. His eyes, wide and bright, seemed too be magnetized to Andy's limp body. not out of horror or shock, but fascination. Concerned by the amount of interest Brahms was showing to the body, I called his name to divert his attention.
"Brahms."
He didn't budge.
"Brahms!" I shouted louder.
   He slowly turned to me, exiting whatever world his mind had held him in. Once he was fully back into reality he approached me. "Are you okay?" My voice was small and squeaky. He did a half nod, then turned back to look at the body.
"Brahms don't look at him." I pleaded him from entering back into his mind. He didn't listen to me. "Brahms!" I shouted again. I wasn't sure that I could stand quiet yet so I remained seated, silently wishing that Brahms would sit next to me. He still didn't move. It was as if he couldn't even hear me.
   I forced my shaking body to stand, my legs wobbled as if this was my first time walking. I approached Brahms and grabbed his arm. "Come on Brahms, lets go." He just continued to stare at the body
"Brahms." I said a little more firmly, tugging on his arm.
"Brahms!" I finally shouted at him and pulled at his arm.
   He suddenly spun around and with with much force, pushed me to the ground. My back slammed against the dirt and air was immediately sucked from my lungs. The initial shock of his reaction caused me to holler. Brahms looked at me a little taken aback at his action, hurt even. He took a step towards me and I immediately scooted away from him.
"Danny?" He asked in a soft tone, as if he had no idea what he had just done. "Am I in trouble?"
   I just looked up at him having no clue what to say. Brahms did just kill a man. But it was a man who was trying to rape me, so could it be justified? I had no Idea about how the legal laws around here worked. Should I call the police? if I did they would know about Brahms and take him away. I couldn't do that to him. But Andy isn't the only person that Brahms has murdered. Maybe he should be taken away. My heart ached at the idea. There was no point in denying that I loved Brahms and would never be able to  turn my back on him like that. Maybe me and Brahms could stage a car fatal car accident that Andy was in. That could work. I looked down Andy's and my own body and immediately scratched that idea. There was too much evidence of foul play on both our body's to ever pass off as an accident.
   Brahms just stared at me, his face shrouded by the sky's dark shadows. What was I going to do? My mind whirled so fast, I wanted to puke again. I looked back at Andy's body, stiffly laying in the dirt, and realized that I had gotten myself into a mess. There was no way I could ever cover up a homicide. I blew out a shaky breath and stood up. I was going to call the police.
   I turned in the direction of the house and began walking. The cut on my leg was deeper than I thought, and throbbed with every step. Brahms followed behind me like a little confused puppy. "Danny?" I kept moving, ignoring his questions. I couldn't bring myself to tell him what I was about to do. Uncontrollable tears began to stream down my face as Brahms caught up to me. I didn't want to look at him, so I raced into the house towards the phone. I reached the kitchen and was about to pick up the phone, when Brahms suddenly realized what I was doing.
   He grabbed my arm and yanked me backwards. I screamed at the sudden surprise and stumbled over my own legs. My poor bruised body slammed to the floor once again. Brahms was on top of me in seconds pinning my body down. Flashbacks of Andy from only moments earlier began to play in my head. Brahm's face hovered right above mine. His eyes were bloodshot and nervous sweat glazed his cheeks. "No Danny!" He screamed staring me in the eyes. "Brahms please. We need to call the police." I said with quivering lips.
"No!" He screamed again. I could see the beginning of tears forming in his eyes. He was scared.
   I couldn't turn him in.
"Brahms they need to come and take the body away. Don't worry, I will hide you in the walls just like before, and when they come, they will have no idea that you are here. I promise!" I said pleading with him. He stared at me with those hazel eyes beginning to water. He leaned his head down onto my shoulder and began to sob loudly. "Don't let them take me. I don't want to leave you!"
   The franticness of his voice made my heart ache. I circled my arms around him and petted his curly hair. "Shhh....." I said, trying to calm him down. "Everything will be alright. I won't let them take you away, but you have to hide." I told him gently. His sobbing got softer and he lifted his head to look at me. "Thank you Danny."
   He leaned down and placed a kiss on my bleeding lips. He then got off of me and helped me up to the phone. I picked it up and shakily dialed 999. Blood pounded in my ears while I waited for someone to pick up. Brahms took hold of my trembling free hand and stared at me, just as eager for the call as I was. The operator picked up and my heart dropped into my stomach.
"Hello, you need to get down here quick. I've just murdered a man who tried to rape me."
~*~
   Blue flashing lights lit up the dark trees around us. I sat in the back of an ambulance with a blanket wrapped around me. A medical woman, who was trying to help me because I had gone into shock, was standing in front of me. She was talking to me about something and bandaging my leg, but I couldn't hear her. I couldn't hear anything but mine and Andy's screams. I watched as a forensic team came and lifted Andy onto a stretcher.
   My mind kept replaying his attack over and over. He looked like such an animal, with his teeth barred and eyes red. Now he looked calm. But I knew he would never Rest In Peace. He died so afraid, that he could never Rest In Peace. I watched as the team slowly wheeled him away.
   A man standing a little ways from me caught my eye after the body had been taken into an ambulance. Though my mind was hazy, I could see him clearly. He looked up at me and respectfully smiled. I knew almost immediately that he was a detective, coming to question me. He looked about 27 and was dressed in a slim fitted grey suit that showed off his lean form very well. His badge was attached to a lanyard, strung around his neck and it swayed very hypnotically as he walked. He began to approach me and I got a better look of his face. He had light brown hair that was tastefully combed. His arched eyebrows perfectly framed his startling jewel blue eyes. He had the most kissable rose lips I had ever seen. And his sharp jaw looked like it could have been sculpted by the old masters. I could only imagine how many woman had thrown them selves at his feet. Girls too. His face was so universally handsome, it could attract anyone at any age. Even I couldn't help but stare.
   "Hello Danielle," there was a hint of a Scottish accent in his voice, "I am detective inspector Marchant. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" The woman who was assisting my injuries turned to him and gave him a face. She obviously wasn't as entranced by his beauty as I was. "This girl is in shock. At least give her a moment before you make her speak detective. " I was surprised at the harshness of her tone, but appreciated that she was trying to help me. Detective Marchant blinked at her a few times before courteously nodding. The woman rolled her eyes at him, then turned to me. "Sorry about him. He can just be so annoying sometimes." A second after she told me that I put two and two together. They were siblings.
   ~*~
   Detective Marchant sat next to me while we drove to the hospital. I was told that I didn't have to stay there long, but I was very worried about leaving Brahms. I begged the police to let me run into the house, but they wouldn't let me. I was ushered into the ambulance and we took off. On the way, I told detective Marchant my story. I gave him the details of everything I could. My broken car, Andy picking me up, stopping at the gate, when he was being creepy, the pepper spray, and the chase. He listened so intently it felt like we had known each other for a long time, like I was talking to a friend who truly cared about my well being. He was very reflective to make sure that he had all the details. I didn't leave anything out until I got to the parts with Brahms. Then I began to cry so I had time to think.
   The detective knit his brown in sympathy and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "It's okay Danielle, you can tell me." I looked up at him, his face was blurred from the tears. For a moment I wanted to tell him the truth. I wanted to get out of this web I was beginning to tangle myself into. I looked toward to house where Brahms was hiding and I sighed. I couldn't turn him in. I loved him.
   I looked back to detective Marchant, and continued my story. "By the time I got closer to the house, Andy had caught up with me and tackled me. I was able to escape that time, but he tackled me again and began hitting me." I said as the awful memories of Andy chasing me came flooding back. "When he was about to take off my clothes, I got this huge adrenaline rush and was able to push him off. He flew backwards and I guess he hit his head on the way down because when I got up he was being really slow. I got on top of him and began to punch him, hoping to knock him out...." tears began flooding down. The detective patted my back, trying to comfort me. "I really was just trying to knock him out.... but when I got up, his chest wasn't moving." My head ached terribly from crying so hard. "Shhhhh...." the detective said scratching my back. "It's okay."
   We finally arrived at the hospital. The nurses and doctors looked me over to make sure that I was okay. They wheeled me all through out the hospital in a wheel chair to different rooms where I could get scanned. Exhaustion began to overcome me and I began to fall asleep. I woke up to someone lightly shaking my arm and opened my eyes expecting to see Brahms. Instead I found detective Marchant looking down at me. "Danielle, do you have anyone you could contact to let them know you are okay and have them stay the night with you?" My eyes widened at his words. "I have to stay the night?" My voice sounded a bit more frantic than I excepted. The detectives blue eyes scanned me confused. "Yes. It's getting late, and the doctors told me they wanted to keep you over night because you might have a brain injury. They need to keep a close eye on you. Is there something wrong with staying here?" I tensed up at his question. Yes. "No, I just don't really like hospitals." I said shaking. "You and me both." He responded, giving me a warm smile with his perfect lips.
   "Now, is there anyone you could call to come and stay with you here? You need to let your family know that you are okay, and I think it's a good idea to have someone you love close by." The detective asked. The only person I could think of that I wanted to be by was Brahms, but that was impossible. All my family was in the U.S. and I really didn't want them to know what happened anyways. except maybe Jen. It would be nice to have my sister here with me. I could try giving her a call. I looked up at the detective who was staring intently at me with his pretty eyes. "Could I maybe try calling my sister?" He nodded and smiled, "what is her number? I'll call her for you. You need rest." He wheeled me into my room and helped me climb into bed. I gave him Jen's name and number and latex down in the bed. The detective then turned out the lights and left the room so he could call Jen.
   I wanted to stay awake until Jen arrived, but that proved to be difficult. My eyelids felt like they were glued to each other every time I blinked. Everything suddenly became hazy and I drifted off to sleep.
   I woke in the dark. My body felt so heavy, like it was made of concrete. A throbbing thudded in the back of my head. What time was it? I laid there for a second while my gravely eyes adjusted to the darkness. When I could finally see, I searched the bleak hospital room looking for Jen. A dark figure sat in a chair by the bed. I squinted to get a better view. It was the figure of a man. Brahms? I leaned closer to find that it was detective Marchant. What was he still doing here? He sat in the chair Peacefully. Arms crossed, head bowed and eyes closed. Was he sleeping? How long had he been there? Where was Jen? My head was filled with so many questions that it began to tire. My eyes forced themselves to close and I once again drifted off to sleep.