She took one look at the gruesome body laid before her. The brains had been dashed out against something sharp, and there were many cuts and bruises littered across the corpse. She felt the bile rise up in her throat as her breaths became heavier and came faster. She knew, it was dead. He was dead. There was no way he could come back to life and hurt her. The proof was right there, laying on the ground by her feet. But she was scared. He had tricked her so many times, how was she to know that he wasn't just playing another cruel mind trick on her? She shuddered. Of course he couldn't she had watched him die after all. She had swam into the river to drag his dead body out. The water dripped from her hair and onto her face. She brought her hand up to her face to smear them off only to find that the droplets of water were warm. Was she... crying? No. Of course she was crying. The second she admitted to it, the tears rolled down her face in streams. The truth sunk in, and she didn't know whether to be scared or relieved. He was gone. He couldn't hurt her anymore. But, he hadn't just toppled into the river on his own. She had pushed him. She was a murderer. She had become something she swore never to be. It wasn't the wind, or how slippery the ground was. In her anger, she had pushed her abusive boyfriend off the cliff and into the rapids. He had hurt her, yes, and he had ruined her life, but revenge! She never meant to take revenge! She extended her hand, wiping the mud off of his face, before picking up the matching bracelet from his arm. She would leave him here. He didn't have any family or friends anyway. No one would ever find him. And as for her? She would go home and pretend that this had never happened. There wasn't much she could do for him now that he was dead after all. She sniffled softly to herself as she watched the crocodiles in the water eye the body hungrily. She turned and walked away, already forming the perfect excuse for why she was so wet. She had gotten lost in the reserve and it had started raining. No one would ever suspect someone as timid as her anyway. The perfect crime had just been commited, and it was under her hand. She felt a sense of guilt overwhelm her. She had done this. It felt awful.
When she got home, she opened her door and dropped her bag onto the floor. She couldn't believe her luck. No one had even noticed her on her way out, much less questioned her. She pulled her shirt over head and tossed it across the room to land in the hamper. She strolled up to her room. There was no need to bother herself with this anymore. It was all over. She could continue living her life without that bastard, and she could be happy. But, what she didn't know was that the small bit of satisfaction that she felt right now, would eventually wear off, and she would be overcome with an insatiable hunger for the same feeling that she felt that day. She would be a killer. And she would have no remorse about it, deriving pleasure from killing other innocents. Innocents that she convinced herself were evil, and slowly but surely she would 'rid the world of bastards'.
The next morning was absolutely painful for her. You know what?? Let's stop calling her just 'she'. Let's give her a name, shall we? Okay. Her name is now Elarin. And let's say her boyfriend's name was Noah. Well, Elarin got out of bed, with much difficulty. She hated what she had made for herself. It was a slow morning, with Elarin sitting down at the table and reaching for the phone to call Noah so he wouldn't suspect her of cheating on him. Her hand was about to dial his number, when she remembered. No one would pick up. He was gone, dead. A tear escaped her. She broke into a stream of tears, deciding to call the police to report his absence. She wouldn't fess up, but she wanted to at least make sure that he had a propet burial. "Hello, police department of Caryn Woods here! What is your emergency??" Elarin's hands shook and her breath was ragged. "My... *sob * my boyfriend is missing! I called him this morning but he didnt pick up, and I visited him last night like he asked me to, but he wasn't at home!" There was a short silence over the phone, before the lady next spoke "Miss, what is your boyfriend's name and where did you last know him to be?" Elarin took a deep and unstable breath. "I- His name is *sniffle* Noah. And- and he told me he was going hiking in the Edgecliff reserve two days ago! Please! You need to help me, p-please" Elarin broke down in huge sobs, the guilt was weighing down on her and she couldn't stand what she had done. It wasn't worth it. The lady soothed her "Yes, of course miss, may we call you over to the station for further details? What is your name miss?" Elarin cried harder "E-Elarin! My name is Elarin, and-and *whimper* I'll be right over." Elarin put on a sloppy outfit, her hair slightly greasy from not having washed it properly. She arrived at the police station, eyes red and puffy. "I'm here about... No-Noah." She said softly, a slight hiccup in her words fron having cried for so long. A muscly lady came out from behind the counter and gave her a pitying look "Of course, but Elarin, wait there first okay? We'll set up a room for you to be questioned in." Elarin's voice was soft and sweet, and had a slight southern drawl in it, but that only made it all the more memorable. She was decently pretty, with tan skin and dark hair. The police woman ushered the slightly shaken girl into an enclosed room after a few moments. Elarin sat down with a soothing and slim man, who gave her a slightly sad look. The people in this town were all understanding and soft. The man asked her a few questions.
"Elarin. Right?"
"Yes" Elarin's hands trembled
"Okay, Elarin. What do think might've happened to Noah?"
Elarin shook
"I don't know... He just didn't come home, officer will he be okay?"
The officer withered slightly
"Elarin, we don't know for sure, but you can rest assured that we will try our best to ensure that he's alright."
The officer asked her a few more questions, before sending her home. As soon as Elarin stepped into the door to her house, she felt relieved. No one could suspect her here. She was at home, and it was safe. Not that the police officer seemed to suspect her anyway. He seemed as if he wanted to pull her into a hug to comfort her.
Elarin sighed, going up to her room to work. She pulled her laptop open, before tapping away at the keys to get her story finished before the deadline. She was currently submitting stories to a publishing company under her writing name, 'Rowen Bloome'. After a few hours of work, the slience of her home started to scare her slightly. At this point, she wasn't sure if she wanted to be around people after what she had done, but she decided to keep herself shut up. The police would suspect her if she went around partying right after her boyfriend's dissapearance.
Elarin kept the lights on that night. The warm glow illuminated Elarin's room, the stacks of papers and short stories piled up onto a small desk that had a few stationary cups placed here and there. Her room was really quite simplistic and minimalist. The white walls had a few pictures of her brother Evan, who worked as a programmer in another state. They kept in toutch, doing weekly video calls. Or they used to at least. Ever since Evan had gotten married, they hardly talked anymore unless it was important. A nice picture of Noah and her in the first month of their relationship when he was still the man she had fallen in love with sat on her vanity, along with different bottles of perfume and a few mascara cases. The rest of her makeup was stored away in the drawer. Elarin lay on her bed, face slightly pale and her laptop sitting on her bedside table. Her eyes stayed wide open despite her efforts to force them shut. Eventually, Elarin fell into a light slumber. She had the worst dreams thay night. Dreams that left her tossing and turning in her bed, dreams of her boyfriend's broken body staring up at her from on the floor and cursing her. Dreams of a tall, faceless man that commended her for what she had done. Elarin woke at 3am with a scream, as she sat up in her bed and patted the space next to her wildly, in search of her glasses. Her body was covered in sweat, but yet she shivered. Her heart was thumping painfully fast in her chest, and she was gasping for breath like a fish out of water. Panic was settling into her heart before she registered her surroundings and sat there, stunned. Why, why would she feel this way? She looked down at the slight scars on her wrist. Noah had caused her so much pain, so wasn't it only fair that she dealt the same pain to him? Yes, in the moment all she was thinking about was that. But did she really want revenge? A tiny voice nagged at her 'yes you did. You wanted revenge for all that he has done to you.' Elarin spun wildly when she felt a rattling breathy voice recite yhe very words she had just thought about. A raw shout erupted from her when she saw Noah's form standing at the side of her bed. She scrambled to her feet and flew towards the door, trying to escape, eyes wide with fear. When she reached the handle, she desperately grasped at it, quickly flinging the door open and turning around to check how far away he was, only to find... that he wasn't there. A bewildered huff escaped her as she slowly shut the door and slid down onto the floor. She had seen him there! With her own two eyes! She breathed heavily. What the hell was going wrong with her? There was no way Noah could come back for her. He was dead. As Elarin buried her face in her hands and tried to calm down, she barely noticed the faceless man standing in the window. He was coming for her.
