He. Was Will referring to the Bay Area Blade, then? Because he was undeniably crazy to go on a killing spree in the first place.
Will sounded so angry when he said that. Hating the Bay Area Blade for causing the one he loved pain made sense, but…why did it sound oddly personal? Hazel must be imagining things. Will was the one who said anything to do with her had to do with him. That was how much he loved her.
"You…really hate him, don't you?" Hazel asked softly. "Because he traumatized me when he killed my parents?"
"Obviously. He's a monster," he spat.
Her trembling hands tightened on his back. The Bay Area Blade was a monster. She had been so upset about that book because true crime freaks would eat it up with a spoon. Disregarding real people's pain. Her pain.
Hazel hated talking about this, but it was oddly vindicating to have someone on her side. Someone who hated the monster who ruined her life as much as she did. The source of all her nightmares. The reason she had to go to that mental hospital at all.
But if she hadn't been there exactly when she had been, she never would have met Will. That was a strange thought. He would have stayed there until the hospital burned down, but might not have traveled so far away to have a new life without being motivated to take care of her. He probably still would have run away, but his whole life could have been different for the worse.
She would have been better off growing up with her parents, but how could she ever wish him away? He was her salvation. Always had been, always would be.
Did that mean Hazel hadn't loved her parents enough, to love Will this much? She didn't want to think like that. It only upset her more.
It took a while for her to realize he was shaking instead of her hands. He truly was upset about this. She wasn't sure she had ever seen him this angry before.
She reached up to touch his face in concern. "Hey, it's okay. You don't need to be this upset for me. I don't want you to be in pain on my behalf. I'm used to dealing with things on my own."
Will held Hazel's hand there, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before exhaling in a whoosh. "You shouldn't be. You never have to deal with anything on your own again. Like I said, let me take care of this. Let's go home for now."
He leaned down to kiss her before getting into the driver's seat of the car. She was a bit worried about his ability to get them home safely but, ultimately, it wasn't a problem.
When they arrived, he held her tightly on the couch, not saying a word. She felt like she was missing something here, but didn't want to ask and upset him further. She would rather not talk about what happened either. She had been avoiding it since she regained her ability to speak.
Hazel wished this had never happened. Why did people have to be so obsessed with serial killers? Why? Why wouldn't they let her live what remained of her life in peace after it was ruined by one?!
===
Will's perfect life based on a lie all came crashing down around him the day he saw a horrible headline advertised on his favorite news site's homepage. 'Author of Bestselling Book on Bay Area Blade Reveals Truth about Hidden Son'
Numbly, he clicked on the link and a video showed up. This interview had happened on a local news station back in Oakland.
A female reporter was conducting the interview with a nerdy-looking man in his thirties. She began her spiel by talking about how footage of his interviews with Charles Thornton was going to be making it into an upcoming documentary series about serial killers in the last fifty years.
"...how did you decide to write your book, Mr. Abramson? Only the most daring of people have ever gone to interview serial killers personally. Usually, these sorts of things are done by law-enforcement trained psychiatrists."
The man adjusted his glasses before speaking. "I was twelve years old when the Bay Area Blade killed the people living across the street from my family. The neighborhood was never quite the same after that. Even after he got locked up, it took years for people to wander outside as freely as before.
"I wanted to understand the rationale behind why someone would do something so horrible. I must say, talking to Thornton myself was a terrifying experience. He spoke about things so casually, despite having a maniacal light in his eyes."
The reporter shook her head in disbelief. "I can only imagine how frightening that must have been. I've read your book—finding all of that information about the Blade's past is quite impressive. How did you manage to find it all?"
Abramson smiled. "Quite simple. His crimes were a matter of public record once the case was closed, but I got a private investigator friend of mine to find out where he had been living before he was arrested. I managed to track down a few of his old neighbors from a trailer park.
"Apparently, he and his wife used to have loud, frequent arguments that everyone could hear. Jean Thornton left him for another man around the time his kills began. She was blonde and her lover had red hair. Both of them were the first ones found dead, so a psychiatrist I talked to believed he was reliving killing them over and over with his later victims."
The reporter's eyes widened. "But his later victims typically included children. Your book mentions Thornton's son…was he killed as well?"
"Oh no. I'll get to that in a minute. But Jean Thornton was pregnant, presumably with her lover's child, at the time of the autopsy. The Blade must have known that for him to later target couples with children. His son was still living with him at the time of the arrest and became a ward of the state," Abramson said simply. "I wish I could have had the chance to interview him for my book about what his father was like at home, but he seems to have vanished off the face of the earth."