Bad Luck Goose (On Hiatus)

CHAPTER - 2

I waved back at Greg who was cheerily waving at me. Ignorance really was blissful.

Linkingfrost was a very meek little town at the outskirts of New Minz city. While Master had clientele from all around the country, it was shrouded in secrecy so the town itself remained small and uneventful.

Penny had forced me to move here. She said its was tiny little town. No one would know who we were. It was perfect. And as the devoted friend he was, Master had moved into this town as well. In a month's time he had become a local celebrity.

I grimaced. That sounded more trouble than worth. Having to deal with people poking their nose everywhere. Strangers asking where you worked, your marital status, your personal life, what you wear, where you shopped. It was too over bearing. For the life of me, I couldn't understand how Master dealt with any of that.

I took my time walking around the town. I visited my favorite cafes, visited my favorite pet shop and then sat in the library for a few hours without reading any book. The silence of the library was calming. Why couldn't the outside world be like that? People minding their business, frowning upon the ones who caused a ruckus. The heavenly smell of old books. It was all perfect. I hoped wherever I ended up would have a library like this. I wouldn't mind few hours of tranquility now and again. But then, it might be asking too much considering what I was about to do.

I reached my house by the time dusk rolled by. I had been strictly off liquor for a little over eight years now. But today I had a bottle of Gin in my backpack. Today was special. It could be allowed. Even Poppy would only be slightly mad. She wouldn't have joined me though, she was vehemently against drinking. Not that I blamed her. She saw her mother get taken from her due to drinking. That's why she begged and scolded me out of it.

I unlocked the front gate and walked to the door. Master had insisted I install security in my house lest someone from my job tried to break in. But my position in the office wasn't as decorated as Master's. He might be the face of the company and have some enemies. Me? I worked silently in front of a computer at all times. I was faceless there. Also the thought of having too much technology in my house made my skin crawl. It wouldn't have felt like home.

I looked towards my two storey house. It wasn't much compared to all the house in the neighborhood but it was cozy. Leaving this town meant never coming back home either.

I started. When did I start thinking of this place as my home? Everything had felt foreign to me. Or so I had thought.

As soon as I entered, the empty house screamed Penny, like always. When she was alive, she busied herself by moving the furniture in the house and redecorating the interior atleast twice a year. She tended to the garden in the backyard and provided tuition to children. Everyone around us called her energetic and cheerful. They all thought she was creative and happy-go-lucky.

But nobody saw the worry lines on her face or how she had nibbled on her nails due to constant stress or how she would often cry in her sleep and have terrifying nightmares. They didn't know she busied herself not because she had abundant creativity or energy but that it was her way to cope. Nobody saw that side of her. Not even master.

I was there. Every single moment of it.

I looked around myself. In two years after she died, I hadn't moved the furniture. It was as she had left it. The wall in her bedroom half painted, had been left like that. The half opened paint boxes, the dipped brushes. Everything as she had left it. Until the day she died. Until the day I killed her.

I couldn't see any merit in worrying myself over the interior. I would leave it behind any way.

I put my bag down and turned on the TV. I changed it to the News channel.

Everyone was talking about the same thing for the past three days. I had even passed multiple flyers on my way home warning the residents to be aware of the 'Tri Claw' . Even in a remote town like this, people were closing their shops and holing themselves in their homes as soon as it become dark. The road being vacated like a ghost town. Only the police vans patrolled the town road at night.

As if a serial killer was scared of doors or law.

If a town so far detached was this terrified, the city where the actual murders took place was going to be hell to get into.

I sighed. It was my decision. No backing out now. As soon as I had seen the breaking news three days back about the Tri Claw  murders I knew what needed to be done.

My phone rang in my pocket. It was the landlord.

I took a deep breath. Lets just get it over with.

"Hello Frank. How are you? I wanted to talk about the lease... yeah, I will vacate the house by tomorrow."