13 Murders

A Ring of Scars

I sit bolt upright in bed, my head thumping and my blood pumping through my veins aggressively. My throat is dry, my eyes are watering, even the darkness is blurred by the water. Next to me something moves. I gasp and jump up form the bed, knocking the lamp off the bedside table. The glass base smashes on the floor. There is figure, silhouette of man, on the other side of the room. The window is behind him and I can’t see his face. I want to scream, but nothing escapes my mouth. I swallow hard and take a deep breath.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to calm myself down. The figure straightens his posture and turns his head. But he says nothing.

“Is that you Xavier? Is that you? You need to try and calm down.” I say. As much as it scares me that it might be him, I know it isn’t. Xavier is shorter than the man. My heart rate quickens rapidly. I’m beginning to panic. My hands are beginning to itch.

“Why are you here?” I say firmly. My patience is thinning, my heart racing and my fear rising. The figure still says nothing but he moves. He walks towards me, hands out in a surrender, and he’s limping.

“Don’t come near me!” I scream. The figure stops. My breath catches in my throat. The figure takes a step forward. For a second I swear I hear the man chuckle.

“I said don’t come near me!” I wail. The figure takes another step, I’m ready to run, ready t head straight for the basement and lock myself there, behind the iron. Perhaps even grab something from the cabinet.

Perhaps even use it.

But I know I won’t have enough space to escape. The man is too close to the door, and he can see where my eyes are trailing. I’m glad I can’t see his. I imagine to be wild, psychotic and unforgiving. I wonder if my eyes have ever looked like that.

Did they look like that before I killed him?

The man is creeping towards me. His footsteps are loud, and maybe a little familiar. My room feels as though it is shaking, and I can hardly see anything. He’s stepping closer to the lights witch. I’m hoping he doesn’t find it, I don’t want to see his face. But he is reaching for the light switch. I’m shaking uncontrollably, my heart racing, my head throbbing. It feels as though I’m being stabbed in the head, so much so I look behind me to see if there isn’t another man behind me, and I’m just the one refusing to die. The man’s fingers are on the switch now, and I am still glued to the floor. My body has frozen completely from the intensity of the man being here. I can hear him breathing.

“Don’t turn the light on!” I plead with him. Once again I hear him snicker softly. I take a step back, grab onto the edge of my desk tightly. I can feel my hands numbing.

“Why not? I could of sworn you once told me you were scared of the dark.” I don’t even have time to register his voice before he flicks the switch and his cruel green eyes come into view.

Jeremy.

My knees collapse and I fall helplessly onto the floor, I try t scream, but all I can do is choke. He’s standing there, right in front of me. Smiling. I feel sick. My chest heaves, I begin to gag.

“What’s wrong Lizzie? Don’t believe me?” He asks, taking a step forward. My body folds and I try to get away. I’m pushed up against the desk, my hands grappling for something- anything- to protect myself.

“Do you want to see the scars? Do you want to see what you did to me Lizzie? Wanna see?” He mutters. He comes towards me, bends down, his face inches from mine. I close my eyes. I try to steady my breathing. This is just so real. I can feel his breath on my face. I feel him grab my hand roughly. I’m shaking so violently he has to squeeze it to move it. He pulls it up. I feel the collar of his shirt. He grapples my fingers and forces them down.

“Open your eyes Sally, see what you did to me.” He whispers. I’m scared to disobey him so I do, slowly. One eye at a time. My eyes meet with his and then they trail down to his neck.

A ring of scars, bruises and rope rash.

I gasp in horror.

This is him. He has all the injuries.

I look up at his eyes, but they have become lifeless. He collapses.

I have a corpse in front of me.

I close my eyes and scream.