Don't Call Me 'Son' (Jeff the Killer Fanfic) [2nd Place in Jeff the Killer 2016]

Chapter 7

Michael didn't mean to cause such a ruckus at school.

In fact, Michael wasn't the type to draw attention to himself on purpose. The idea of having so may eyes on him made him feel queasy. And it reminded him of the time when he was young, when he was unable to fit in with the rest of the children. But sadly, grabbing  attention came naturally to him.

"Did you hear about his mom?"

Michael sat in the library with his earbuds in, his music drawing him into his own safe haven as everyone spoke about him behind his back. The lyrics to his favorite band pulled him into his own little world, his fingers tapping to the drum solo. His feet were up on another chair, his lunch left abandoned by his books. Though he should have been doing his homework, Michael felt too distracted. He was already aware that they were talking about what had happened. About his mother. About the monster. About his painting....

"There's a rumor going around that his mom was taken hostage by a serial killer."

"He drew a beautiful mural of his mom before she died. He even finished it. It was so pretty."

Michael had tried his best to move on from his loss, the action itself hard because the last time he saw her was when he was young. But everyone around him was making it harder. The constant reminder of the monster- the man that took his mother clouded his mind with guilt and heated hatred. For the man, for himself, and for the police who couldn't catch him.

If only he had saved her...

"Poor guy."

At this point, already a month since his loss, people were constantly talking to him like he was a child. They talked about him as though they knew him. But the truth was that they only looked at him from afar, observing him like a dangerous panther from an arm's length. They always looked at him with those eyes too, the same eyes that looked at him when he was a mute. They were full of pity, wonder, curiosity. He hated it.

"Which killer?"

"I heard his names was Jeffery Woods."

"Jeff the Killer."

Michael opened his eyes with a frown, the music not loud enough to drown out the eyes he felt on him. He honestly wished that he was invisible. At least then he wouldn't have so many people murmuring his name wherever he went.

But today he felt kind of hopeful.

His foster family were all going to see a few relatives in the neighboring state later that evening, and much to his approval, they decided to leave him at their home. He was almost eighteen now. And since he was always so independent, they all came to decision that they didn't really have to worry about leaving him alone. And they knew him enough to know that he wouldn't go around doing something stupid.

You'll also have enough time to investigate, the voice said.

Michael narrowed his eyes. For a while now, the voice would tell him that he needed to look more into his mother's past, more about the man with the twisted smile. But for some reason, he felt afraid to do so. The idea of not knowing what was in his history- and what was wrong with him- was what made him uneasy. Just like the night when his mother was taken away, he was afraid of what the voices in his head meant. Just like the evening when he beat the living hell out of his foster father, he was scared of what he would find out about himself.

And the more and more he thought about it, he knew it had something to do with the man.

Jeff the Killer.

"Excuse me. Michael Moss?"

The young man snapped up from his daze and awkwardly removed his earbuds, frantically trying to be respectful towards the person who had just spoken. The last time he accidentally ignored someone was a librarian and they gave him a detention for 'disrespectful behavior'. But once he raised his eyes, what he found wasn't a librarian telling him to leave. It was someone he wasn't expecting at all.