The Carter Hollow Murders

"Trace" - Fifteenth/Sixteenth Official Murders

It's too hot in here. Too crowded. Too loud.

I need to get out.

I slither through the crowd, slip out the door. A few steps more and I'm free.

The quiet and calm out here is nice. I can pretend I'm alone. The warm wind swirls leaves around me. Clouds are turning dark in the sky. Looks like a storm's a-coming. I smile pleased with the savagery of nature.

I hear a whisper and a sneeze. A hushed squabble follows. I press my back against the rough brick of the cafeteria's outer wall and resist the urge to look right. Soft steps come closer whispering in the grass. Someone's almost around the corner.

A few steps forward—my feet crunch on gravel—and I'm running in the hot fall afternoon. My mouth is dry. I hope it's not police behind me.

I sneak a look and stumble. Almost fall. But I see two girls behind me running to catch me. The gravel path is too loud to run on. I move onto the grass and head left but I see a large group of police surrounding a few people in what looks like a standoff and sprint back the way I came. I rush past the girls behind me and make twists and turns to lose them.

I sneak another look back. Now only one girl is behind me.

I round one more corner and I'm at the back of the library. The girl comes flying by a few seconds lather and I trip her. While she's dazed and sprawled on the ground I knock her out with an old brick.

I prop her against the wall and stop to think for a moment. I remember the police standoff. The Painter must have been captured. A little sadness comes as I realize I have no more competition. It's good but sad because he was a good opponent and I want Painter to know I will remember him.

Turning to the girl I see she has brown curls and annoyingly pouty lips. She's wearing a big chunky gold "BOSSGUNS" necklace and I know the girl is Skye something. I go through her pockets to be sure and find a student ID, a razor, a large pocket knife, and her wallet. Yep, it's Skye Pierce.

I use her blade to slit her throat quickly so she doesn't suffer. I cut diagonally upwards from the corner of her mouth up to her cheeks so it looks like Skye has a gruesomely large smile. I think Painter liked art so I try to make her look like she's enjoying Painter's artsy killings. Skye looks like the Joker now and I hope Painter wouldn't kill me for my sad parody of art.

"Skye!? Where are you?" A voice sounds nearby and I peek around the corner. It's the other girl who was chasing me and she looks worried. Her blonde hair has been whipped by the wind and her face is red and sweaty from running.

"She's back here," I yell back as I step towards her. "But I think something's wrong with Skye." The blonde hurries towards us and her eyes widen in horror as she sees Sky but she can't scream because I've stuck Skye's knife in her chest.

The girl slips to the ground grabbing the knife but I aimed right and she's not going to last long. She's gasping now and her lips move like she's trying to say something. I lean close to hear her.

"Monster..." she whispers as blood burbles out of her mouth. "Cameras here....you won't get away with.." She falls silent and her eyes glaze over and I add another victim to my body count.

"My buddy says there are no cameras here," I tell the corpse softly. "He knows about things like that."

I set the dead girl next to Skye so they both lean against the library's back wall. I look through her pockets but there's nothing useful—only her wallet with a driver's license and student ID. Looks like I've killed Lily McCalley. I don't know her but I think she liked theater and I kinda remember her crying when her boyfriend Matthew Jackson was killed.

Ha. Macbeth and I killed two halves of a couple.

Thinking of poor crazy dead Hamilton makes me a little sadder than before and I decide to remember her too. Using Lily's index finger, I draw a smiley face on her left cheek and a frowny face on her right cheek.

There. Painter and Macbeth. Mutilation and drawing in blood.

I dust off my hands and shiver as I stand up. The air keeps getting cooler and my skin in crawling. It's not peaceful like a graveyard anymore. Now it's creepy out here. I'm tired of being alone, so I head back before it gets dark.