The Feeder

A Risk I'm Willing To Take

"Jesus, you would think the killer would respect the dead being that he's not living, either... This is brutal." Samantha walked over to the covered corpse and lifted the thin blanket. She covered her mouth as she examined the mutilated body underneath. "Dear lord. Son of a bitch cut her up."

"I know," Joesph shook his head as shut his phone. "The others are on their way now. Sam, can you try to see her last memories?"

"No, she's dead and gone. It looks like she tried to fight her attacker off. There may be some skin underneath her nails... Ella, the letter." Sam pointed out as she looked away from body and at me. The stench of decomposing body parts filled the air with an acidic, heavy odor. Quickly, I walked over to her side and gently grabbed the letter from the dead girl's hand.

I tried not to look but her torso and legs were stabbed at least fifteen times. Her dark brown eyes up at us, as though she knew she would die like this.

I couldn't help crying as I read my name on the envelope. The handwriting wasn't familiar to me, but whoever wrote this letter knew me. The killer knows me. Do I know him? Maybe I do.

For a second, I thought about not reading the letter and just ripping it to shreds. Maybe I should burn it. Should I?

Like the curious idiot I am, I opened the envelope and read the letter. Every word sent chills down my back. What did shock me was the name signed at the bottom.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Long time no see. Sorry about the mess. Had to rush; had other business to take care of. Anyways, I look forward to catching up some time. You only have six months to go, correct? You must be in a lot of pain. Don't worry. Soon it will end.

Don't run too far,

James

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

He's here?

"What does it say?" Samantha asked, patting my shoulder. Taking a few deep breathes in and out, I looked at Joesph and then at Sam.

"He had other business to tend to... Joesph, how long ago did you find this body?"

"Not even half an hour ago." Joesph looked curious to know what I was thinking of doing. After folding both the envelope and letter away and into my back pants pocket, I turned to Sam.

"Sam, can you tell how long this body's been here for?"

"Around 3 hours, why?" Samantha looked at me curiously. Okay, so right now it's 8:30 or so. At around 6, he dragged the girl here and by 6:30 he killed her and ran. Possibly, he could be 150 to 180 miles away. We can catch him.

"He can't be far. We could catch him. Joesph, you stay here. Sam, follow me." I looked around and found a set of tracks. He headed east, away from town and towards Millburn. Running, Samantha and I followed his tracks for about ten minutes until they disappeared.

"Damn it!" I screamed, kicking the base of a tree. Funny how the guy who wrote me not to run is running.

"We should split up," Sam suggested looking around. Not only was it getting late, the night was getting colder. In the past twenty minutes, the temperature has dropped at least ten degrees. "Maybe we could corner him."

"He's not running anymore. He's hiding, Sam. He travelled through the trees," I nodded up at the treetops. "His scent is weak now. We'll never be able to track him, especially at night."

"Then I guess we should head back... Who is he?" She asked me as we turned around and started heading back to meet with Joe. By now, the others should have arrived.

"I don't know." I lied, not wanting to cave about James. I'll take care of him myself.

***

Then and there, I decided running could either save my life or end it. If I run, he will (probably) follow me. If I don't, he'll continue to kill.

I can at least try to lure him away. Maybe he'll follow me. I know I shouldn't press my luck, but I don't have much of a choice, do I?

I'll leave and soon. Next week I'll go. I'll prepare to leave early in the morning so he can't follow. I'll have to get up before Javin and his family... I'll have to leave everything behind. It's going to be tough. If it means luring danger away from Baleton so that he doesn't kill any others, I'll do it. It's a risk I'm willing to take.