|THE FACELESS KILLER| Hiatus

| E L E V E N |

Side note: Not edited.

~~~

|Part II|

Motel Highway

***

"But babe—"

"Don't 'babe' me."

A soft knock resonated into the awkward silence that had wrapped the individuals in the room.

Swiftly walking to the door, Bethany opened the door to reveal Mrs. Nara holding a tray filled with food. Opening the door wider she guided her into the room towards the small table resting in the middle of the space.

Hugging her kimono close to her body she informed them, "there is a small festival taking place tonight. It's a celebration of Japanese new year–  everyone is welcome."

"Thank you, Mrs. Nara. We'll most definitely love to check it out," Melany  stated, with a newfound interest in mind she couldn't wait for the experience.

All nodding their heads in sync, they thanked their host for the invite, as well as the steaming hot ramen noddles that had been prepared for them.

A text pinged in one of the phones that were left on the counter, all rushed to check which phone it was– all but one coming up disappointed, Calvin unlocked his phone to find a text from an unknown number.

Reading through the text his blood stilled. A picture of Melany fresh out the shower gawked at him, the caption read: Such a beautiful girl, we wouldn't want harm to find its way to her. Call of the cops! Or else this will be all you remember.

Clutching the phone with an unbelievable amount of strength, it gave out a silent crack at the side, imagining the neck of whoever sent that threatening text, he squeezed again— no way was Melany going to get hurt because of him.

"Call of the cops!" he demanded in a deadly calm tone. Searching for his girlfriends' eyes, his own softened a fraction.

The questioning look she gave him made him breathe in for a second then expel the air from his lungs.

"What do mean call of the cops? What happened?" Emily questioned as she tried to wrap her head around the situation.

Sending questioning glances towards Calvin, they all asked the same question without having to open their mouths to actually ask directly.

Handing over his phone to Emily, he let her read the message for herself. Settling on the binbag far off at the corner, he frustatedly clutched at his hair. Closing his eyes he thought of possible outcomes on how everything would end. All his thinking pulled him into a dark past, he'd seen people die, he'd experienced pain that no normal human being should ever have to go through. He'd changed. Melany had changed him.

Reluctantly opening his eyes, he followed the movement of his cell being passed around. When it reached Melany, he scrutized for her reaction.

Her eyes darkened with untapped anger. She couldn't understand what they had done to have a serial murderer on the loose threatening their lives. Walking towards Calvin, her eyes softened at how torn he looked; silently pouring all her emotions, she embraced his rigid physique.

She had to be strong. She couldn't let herself show everyone how she truly felt— terrified was a word she wouldn't normally add to her vocabulary, but that photo of her drying herself off as she got out of the shower sickened her. Someone was out there playing with their emotions; stalking their movements and she'd be dammed is she'd be reduced to be a mere pawn.