Obsession

Suspect: Chapter 33

He would get rid of the body tonight. Leaving her in that classroom was too random and if anything, he wanted to make a statement.

The young man left the school compound, sneaking past the guard booth which stood empty at that time of the evening. He had waited until the last beams of sunlight disappeared beneath the horizon before making another move.

He had broken into a light jog and returned home, all the while plotting all the possible ways to go about disposing of her body. No, not disposing. Staging.

He would stage her in the perfect place, and in the perfect position so that Gabriel would know what he had done for him. After all, the bitch deserved it for every foul word she spat toward Gabriel. The young man had simply ensured she would never again utter another word.

The young man crept up the steps of the house, even with the front porch light turned off, the streetlight illuminated the yard enough that he clambered up with ease, and with the neighbourhood quiet and winding down for the night, he slinked through the darkness unnoticed. The front door was locked but the spare key under the Welcome mat had never once been moved and it was his way inside.

As he pushed open the door, the sound of the television from the living room filled the otherwise silent house, most of the lights switched off save for the one in the kitchen. Flashes of light from the television illuminated the darkened living room as he crept by, pausing for a moment to watch the drunken, pot-bellied man dozing on the couch, six empty beer bottles littering the floor around his bare feet.

The young man shook his head in disgust. He moved on not wasting a another second on the useless drunkard. His time was better valued and used elsewhere. He moved into the living room and fished through the garbage littering the coffee table, shifting around burger boxes and wrappers, and beer cans, and finally found, buried halfway underneath all that trash, the keys to the man's pick-up truck. The man was still asleep by the time he stood straight again.

His hand twitched and he contemplated lashing out. The man would never know or see it coming. He remembered the adrenaline rush that had consumed him when he had attacked Lyssa Isaacs and at least with the drunkard of a deadbeat man before him, the beating would be so worth it.

No, there was no time for that now. There was a time and place for everything.

The drunkard would have to wait.

Slipping the keys into his pocket, he left the living room and exited the house, heading to the garage. But before getting into the pick-up, he went to the adjacent storage closet that housed all manner of junk, remembering seeing an old plastic tarp that had not been used in years. The drunkard would not need it any time soon, and he could always replace it if need be.

He found some old rope and a pair of cloth gloves on one of the shelves of the storage closet and took that with him, chucking it onto the front passenger's seat. The rope did not need to hold for long. He did not plan to stage the body with the tarp and rope.

Expelling a deep breath, he adjusted the rearview mirror and saw his reflection. There was not a single shred of remorse for what he had done. His expression was cold and calculated and that was the demeanour he would maintain until the job was completed.

Backing out of the garage, he shifted the gear into drive and made the trip back to the school compound, his plan of disposal still forming in his mind. He stopped only once along the way, at the pharmacy that was open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There, he purchased a pack of alcohol wipes and then continued along his way.

In a small town like Shaw, the school gates were rarely locked.

He drove into the parking lot first and then thought better of it. It would be best if there was a shorter distance to cover from where he had stashed Lyssa Isaac's body to the pick-up. He drove the pick-up to the front steps of the school, turned the engine off, and opened the back door facing the steps. He took the rope, tarp, and wipes and returned to the classroom, finding the body and her schoolbag right where he had left her.