Three's A Crowd

A stranger sat at her table, claiming to be her soulmate. He had dark brown hair that was shaggy in all directions, dark brown eyes, thin lips, and olive-toned skin. His clothes appeared dirty. He wore a holey T-shirt, khaki cargo shorts, and dingy flip-flops. Natalie stared back at the stranger with confusion. How could this stranger be her soulmate? Her soulmate was dead.

5 Days Earlier…

The hot New Mexico sun hit the driveway pavement heating every inch it touched. It was the first week of August, but the last of the summer break. Natalie stood at the side entrance of her parent’s house with the last box in her hands to load into her new van. She looked at her new purchase that she proudly saved up all summer break to buy sitting snuggly in her parent’s driveway. The powder blue van was perfect for the adventure that she strategically had planned out. Most twenty-somethings had college dreams or crazy party adventures to explore, but not Natalie, she had set goals for a travel blog. She had moved in with her parents at the beginning of the summer, sold her car, and rode a bike to and from work daily to save more. She planned everything. If she wasn’t working, she was learning how to build her website or looking at places to travel. At the end of the summer, she had saved her money to finally purchase her van and put the rest aside for her to live on while she traveled across the states. Her parents weren’t very excited that their twenty-four-year-old daughter would be traveling instead of going to school, but they supported her and were proud of what she had done. Natalie walked up to the powder blue van’s back doors. She opened the two back doors. The entire back was renovated with a DIY theme inspired by van life influencers on YouTube. She found this both fun and functional. Natalie secured the final box under the bed area in the back of the van. As she was carefully backing out of the van, a hand came down hard on her shoulder. Without thinking she screamed! She stood face to face with Tommy, her boyfriend.

“Tommy! O.M.G! You scared me to death!” She let him know as she tried to catch her breath. Tommy was her boyfriend, her high school sweetheart, her soulmate, he had been the biggest fan of her idea of wanting to do this, but not the biggest supporter of her leaving.

“Tommy, I’m not leaving until tomorrow. There’s still a lot left to do.” She let him know as she wriggled herself out of his embrace.

He smiled sheepishly and grabbed her hand before she could get too far.

“There’s something I wanted to ask you before tomorrow that couldn’t wait.” He took her left hand and got down on one knee. “Natalie, I’ve loved you since the day I met you on the playground and you said “yes” that day to me being your boyfriend. Today I want to ask you to be my only forever. Natalie May Brooker, will you be my forever soulmate? Will you marry me?” Tommy finished the question, his dark brown eyes hopefully looking up at her.

Natalie cried and said “Yes.” She bent down and hugged him as he slid the ring on her finger. The ring was perfect. It wasn’t a diamond; it was an unblemished ocean pearl. He knew her well. She immediately ran to show the ring to her parents. They decided to adjust the plans. Tommy was added. Now the blog would consist of the couple, with some additional vlogging. Natalie’s parents were more at ease with him going now. Two people traveling across the states together was much safer for them instead of just their daughter alone. The next morning the two loaded up their belongings. They said goodbye and began their new journey. Natalie was so excited! This was everything she had been working so hard for the past few months to accomplish. She pulled out her laptop to begin her first post.

“Let the writing begin.” She said with a smile. Tommy drove the van down the highway, heading towards their first destination.

After a long day of driving, Tommy finally convinced Natalie that they needed to find somewhere to set up camp and rest for a while. They were now in Colorado, which made for cooler weather. Natalie had planned a stop at a well-known camping ground three miles up the road. Many van lifers used it as a stopping point. She had noted to stop there to hopefully meet some other people to get their insights or even best practices for her and Tommy’s future vlog experiences. She knew other influencers usually were nice people and that other van travelers would love to help them get started. Deep in her thoughts, Natalie was easily startled when Tommy touched her shoulder to let her know they were there. She looked up from her laptop to see a group of eight to ten vans and RV’s all with families by them doing their own thing. Natalie closed her laptop, uncrossed her legs, took the scrunchy from her wrist, and pulled her dirty dishwater-wavy blonde hair up into a high ponytail. She turned to face Tommy before opening the door, she smiled before she spoke. “Thank you for doing this with me.” She then opened the door and jumped out. The crisp night air had a chill in it that gave Natalie a shiver throughout her entire body. She walked around to the back of the van to the back doors. She pulled the two back doors open and yanked out the tent they had packed. The bed in the van was comfortable, but not for long periods, plus the tent was better for two people. Tommy came around back to help her finish setting up the tent. While he finished securing the tent she took some pictures and videos of the process for their vlog. She jotted down a few notes she’d added to her writing in the morning. When she decided she had done enough for the night, she closed her laptop, stretched, and looked for Tommy. Tommy had already started a fire. He had been relaxing for a couple of hours and had made some new friends. They were all comfortable around the campfire laughing, drinking beer, and making s’mores. Tommy was always the more extrovert of the relationship, he tried to push her to get out more, to make more friends. She walked over to join him and the others. Tommy smiled taking her hand when she approached.

“Natalie, this is everybody. Everybody this is Natalie.” He announced with an obvious slur in his voice. He’d been enjoying himself. Natalie squeezed his hand. She leaned down close to him so no one else could hear.

“Maybe you should slow down a little.”

After she whispered that to him his smile faded, and the spark in his eyes from the fire died. He pulled her closer to him. He squeezed her hand even harder. He whispered back, but in a tone, she’d never heard before.

“Don’t tell me what I CAN or CAN NOT do. I’m in charge of ME and YOU do what I say. Now grab me another beer. Get yourself one. Sit down, relax, and look like you’re having fun. You understand me.” He said this not as a question, but as a direction. Natalie nodded and pulled her hand away. She walked over to the ice chest to pull out two beers. When she handed Tommy his beer his demeanor changed back. He sweetly took the beer bottle from her and then kissed her lips. She sat down next to him staring into the campfire and drinking her beer, by the fifth or sixth beer that’s when Naomi appeared.

According to Tommy, Naomi was the life of the party. She was vibrant, loud, and wild. Natalie didn’t remember talking to her, but when referring to her notes, she helped her get information from the people at the campfire last night. Natalie knew she was a lightweight, thinking this as she took some Advil to help her pounding headache, but she didn’t realize how much of a lightweight she was. She’d been working long hours all summer, leaving little time for fun and relaxation. They finished loading the van, cleaning the campsite, and packing the tent. Tommy continued telling Natalie about Naomi. She wasn’t sure if she should be jealous or excited about this new friend. Once done she got in on the passenger side while Tommy got in to drive. She excitedly grabbed her laptop to hit the road and get some writing done. The powder blue van pulled out of the camping ground with several of their newly made friends waving goodbye.

4 Days Earlier…

The powder blue Volkswagen van continued on the highway most of the day. Natalie pointed at a sign advertising a rest stop as she rubbed the back of her neck.

“Let’s stop there.”

Tommy agreed and steered the van in that direction. At the rest stop several travelers had stopped. They found a parking spot and parked. Tommy went to the restroom while Natalie reorganized some things in the back of the van. She also used the time to stretch her legs. A family parked their large RV next to them. They unloaded all five of the happy family, parents, and three children, all laughing, running, and at full speed for the restroom. The woman from the family approached Natalie.

“Hi, you were at the campsite in Colorado. I remember your van; it’s my favorite color.” She told Natalie with a genuine smile. She held out her hand to Natalie. “My name’s Katherine and that’s my crazy family you saw unload out of that RV.” She said laughing.

Natalie laughed back. She took Katherine’s hand.

“Natalie, it’s nice to meet you.”

Katherine was the typical-looking mom. She wore her hair in a loose ponytail and accessorized with a light pink visor. Her bubbly mom’s personality made Natalie miss her mom.

“How long have you been on the road with your family?” She asked Katherine.

Katherine perked up on the question.

“We’ve been part of the travel life for over a year. I have been vlogging on YouTube for six months now. It documents everything the family does. The kids love it; it gives them a sense of adventure!” She said with a giggle.

Katherine's family joined her, letting her know they were ready to leave. Tommy came back as well. Natalie and Katherine quickly shared emails to keep in touch then parted ways. Tommy was ready to hit the road, but Natalie wanted to get a few pictures and maybe some videos. He acted annoyed that they had to stay longer, and she didn’t understand why he was treating her this way. She needed material from their travels, and they needed to look like a happy engaged couple on this magical adventure across the States. This had to be documented, he knew this. What was causing him to act this way?

“Let’s get this over with.” He said to her, rolling his eyes. She held back tears, knowing they wouldn't look good in the pictures or videos. Taking a deep breath, she told herself to pull it together. She grabbed her camera, set the scenes, and got her shots. His attitude didn’t change behind the scenes, but in the images, they were the happiest engaged travel couple ever. She was a great marketer. They were starting to lose daylight, so Natalie called it a day. They decided on a local campsite up the road a few miles. Tommy huffed and sat on the driver’s side of the van. Natalie finished packing her few things in the back. She then joined Tommy.

“The campsite is about five miles up the road.” She informed him. He turned the vehicle on, put it in reverse, and drove them to the campsite. The “Happy Go Lucky” campground was full, but they found a spot in the back corner. Luckily, their van was smaller and didn’t take up much room. Tommy unloaded the back without saying a word. He started the campfire, immediately opened a beer, and then opened a package of hot dogs to cook. Natalie decided to spend some time alone. She sat in the back of the van with her laptop drowning herself in her website, this always made her feel better. She clicked through some of her past posts. She was gaining followers. She smiled at herself. She saw that Katherine from the rest stop had found her as well as some of the other friends from the night before. Happiness washed over her entire body. This was the point of her journey. She could hear it getting louder near the campfire. She looked at the time and it was getting late. Knowing that and the fact that Tommy had been drinking for a couple of hours again she decided to curl up in the van for the night. Let him sleep in the tent. They’d spent a lot of hours in the van together and he probably needed some time. She also didn’t want to see what rage he’d be in right now with how much he’d been drinking. Plus, she wasn’t in the mood to hang out with people. Natalie was drifting off to sleep when she thought she heard another voice in the van.

“Hello?” She whispered in the dark. No answer. She laid her head back down. She started drifting off again into a deep sleep as she did Natalie swore, she heard someone say her name.

3 Days Earlier…

Natalie woke up to the movement of the van. What the hell was going on? Why were they already on the road? She sat up rubbing her eyes, straightening her ponytail, and adjusting her white spaghetti strap tank top. She found her cell phone call, Tommy. The phone rang twice before he picked up.

“Hello.”

“Tommy, why are we already on the road?” She blurted out.

“You tell me, Natalie. Naomi sure had plenty to say to me last night on your behalf.”

Natalie sat there in silence. Was Naomi there last night? Maybe she did hear a voice, maybe it was Naomi trying to wake her up to hang out?

“Pull the van over so I can get upfront with you, and we can talk.” Natalie hung up the phone after she said this. The van then came to a stop shortly after. She hopped out of the back. The passenger side door was unlocked. When she joined him in the front, she noticed how rough he looked. His dark brown eyes now looked different with dark circles under them. His shaggy brown hair seemed to be even more out of shape. Natalie noticed a slight craziness in his eyes.

“Why does everything have to be so damn perfect and organized Natalie? Why can’t we just have fun? We are crammed in this small fucking van day after day!” He said this hitting the steering wheel.

Natalie sat speechless holding back her tears. Who was this man? She needed a minute. She went to reach for the door handle. Tommy quickly grabbed her wrist hard.

“Where do you think you are going?” He said to her through clenched teeth.

She tried to pull her wrist away. That only made him angrier. He gripped her harder. He pulled her closer. Through his clenched teeth, he let her know, “You’ll never be able to leave me.” Then he finally released her wrist.

2 Days Earlier…

The couple had traveled through some states by now. They had now made their way into Kansas. Natalie had been excitedly reporting their process on her vlog. They’d made several new friends and appeared like the happily engaged couple their website showed. Tommy had planned a picnic date for them today. They found a lake away from the road. Natalie loved it because the sun was slowly going down, it made for beautiful pictures. This was her Tommy she knew and fell in love with. They sat on the small blanket hand in hand, she put her head on his shoulder, and he put his arm around her to pull her in closer. As the sun set over the horizon of the lake, the chill in the air increased. Tommy released her waist and pulled away from her. She lifted her head from his shoulder. She figured he was getting their stuff together since it was getting dark. They’d need to find somewhere to camp for the night. Tommy turned on the lantern they had brought with them, which helped. She was never too worried when they went off on their own, Tommy always brought his gun for extra security. He always said, “It’s always better to be a little extra safe than sorry later.”

Natalie stood up and began to fold the blanket. She’d already packed the leftover food pieces they didn’t finish. Tommy approached her, took the folded blanket from her arms, and placed it on top of the picnic basket. He walked up to her with a strange look in his eyes. He placed both hands on either side of her face.

“You know how much I love you?” He said to her.

With confusion in her eyes, but before she could answer he closed both hands around her neck and began to squeeze. Her eyes became big with fear. What was he doing? She tried to scream out for help, but he was too strong. She tried to pull away from his hands, but they kept squeezing, throttling her throat. Oxygen was becoming less; she was becoming weaker. She was losing focus. Then she heard the voice.

“Let her go!” It was Naomi’s voice.

Then the gunshot. Tommy’s hands were no longer around her throat. Natalie took in gulps of air. She slowly started to get her focus back. Feeling around she found the lantern and clicked it back on. Tommy lay dead. A single gunshot under the chin. His head with an exit bullet wound. Blood and brain matter covered him and Natalie. Where’d Naomi gone?

“Naomi,” Natalie whispered into the dark.

What was she going to do? She couldn’t leave him here, or could she? She didn’t do anything wrong. She went back to the van to clean her face off and think. That’s when she found the note.

It read:

Natalie,

Tommy planned to kill you. Dismember your body. Steal your van and continue living your dream without you. I took care of him for you, but I need you to take care of the evidence for me. Then meet me at Hotel 6 that I put on your phone.

-Naomi

Natalie knew she was referring to the body and the gun. The only thing she could think of was to sink the body in the lake. She went and got an ice pick and began to stab. She stabbed Tommy’s body over thirty times. Hopefully, this will release enough gas so that the body will sink. She decided she’d attach some bags with rocks in them to his arms and legs for extra weight to keep him down. She wiped the sweat off her forehead after she finished. A couple of minutes later Natalie separated the gun into pieces and buried it in different places. She used the blanket to drag Tommy’s mutilated lifeless body to the water's edge. Then she tugged him in until his body sank. She wrapped the blanket up in her arms and did one last pass through the area. She found Naomi’s note, chewed it up, and swallowed it. All evidence was destroyed.

1 Day Earlier…

Natalie turned into the parking lot of the Hotel 6. There were two cars in the parking lot, but other than that the place was a ghost town. She went into the front office to see about a room. The front office clerk greeted her with a smile. She paid for a room for one night.

“Room 2A.” The gentleman behind the counter said nicely to her as he handed her the room key.

“Thanks.” She replied.

Natalie pulled her van to the hotel room. She took a few necessities, including her laptop and camera. Her hotel room, 2A, unlocked smoothly. She entered the room throwing her belongings onto the Queen size bed in the center of the room. She decided that before taking a shower she should probably charge her laptop. It had been outside along with her camera while Tommy and she were supposedly having a romantic date. She pushed back those thoughts because they were all wrong when she now knew he only wanted to kill her. Take everything from her. She took a deep breath, rubbed the back of her neck, and tried to chase the stress away that was trying to creep up her body. She opened her laptop after plugging it into the wall. The screen popped open. The camera had been recording.

“Interesting.” She said out loud.

She pressed play.

It showed Tommy and her sitting together when everything was going well. Natalie loved the footage she’d captured. The sunset, her head on his shoulder, and his arm snuggly around her waist. It looked almost like a romantic greeting card. The video kept playing. She saw the horrible scene playing out. Watched in the dim light of the lantern his hands strangling her while she was losing consciousness. Then the lantern light is knocked out. The gunshot. Natalie froze. She watched the video again. In the light of the gunshot, she saw it, there wasn’t another person. The hand that grabs Tommy’s gun in her hand! Natalie’s hand pulls the trigger, but that’s not possible. She stopped the video.

“Your right it’s not possible,” said another voice.

Natalie froze. She knew that voice.

It was Naomi. How’d she get in here?

“Naomi, what do you want? I did everything you wanted. Please don’t hurt me. What else do you need from me? I don’t understand.” Natalie heard a sinister giggle after she said this.

“Why don’t you go look in the mirror Natalie, we can talk there.” Naomi taunted.

Natalie stood up from the hotel chair and walked to the bathroom vanity mirror. In the reflection, Naomi stared back at Natalie.

“You see Natalie, you created me to protect you. Though I’ve decided on Naomi’s better side of you. Look what she’s accomplished for you. I’ve become what you’ve always wanted to be, the extrovert personality.” Naomi smiled.

Natalie looked back at herself trying to push back at her personality, but Naomi was right she’d become too strong. She was taking over.

“Tommy needed to go Natalie. Now there’s only you and I left.” Naomi winked at her in the mirror.

The front office clerk took the key from the young lady who stayed in 2A. He watched as she loaded her few things into her powder blue van and pulled out onto the highway. Back in the van, the young lady pulled out her map and her sunglasses. She looked in her rearview mirror, “Looks like three’s a crowd wasn’t it.” She said to herself laughing.