It was all a normal Tuesday day. The school was wild but calm and relaxing at the same time. Of course, I would rather be home, but it brings me calmness and releases my stress being here. And having a mother who had been divorced months ago isn't the most graceful thing to know. Yet she has a job, and she always has a bright smile on her face every day.
I better then go home by now and finish the last comic panel before studying. I say goodbye to the remaining students still in school and I get away from the calming place. The snow on my feet has been rather higher and more chilling than the other days but it doesn't discomfort me. Bringing warm gloves with me would be a rather smart choice so I need to freeze my hands off on the way home.
But it doesn't take much longer until I finally see the red new painted big house called Home. But in a wipe of surprise, once I entered that gate, I felt a dark uncomfortable feeling in me. Something I haven't felt before. I close the gate again and my legs start shaking and my breath starts making smoke over my eyesight. Something felt off, something felt weird. As I stepped closer to the door, I could see a dark figure staring at me in the window beside the kitchen. It must be my mother. I smile and awkwardly wave at her with my red frozen hand.
WAS IT HERE?
The strange figure then moved out of sight. I feel like I have a cold. It's her, right? Whoever it was I felt the urge to open the door. I put my hand on the cold door handle I slowly open the door and walk inside.
The lights were fully down, and the house was dark with only a couple of candles set out lighting gracefully in the empty corridor. I take off my shoes and put them on the shelf and with a shaky voice I manage to say, "Mom I'm home now".
Suddenly she comes hugging me in bear seconds. She placed her palm hand on my shoulder and hugged me tightly. I immediately hugged her back and smiled. "You scared me, Mom," I said while chuckling a little. Her blonde hair swept away from me along with her body and she said "I'm sorry Jim. I have missed you so much. How, was school sweetheart? Oh, the electricity is just down for a little honey.".
"Don't worry Mom... where...where is Evelyn?" I say and walk into the living. The curtains were weirdly put down and almost seemed twice as long. "Evelyn? Your girlfriend? You still have her?" She said staring me deeply into the eyes with a rather shaky and nervous voice. "Yeah, remember that she was going to stay here for a... month Remember?".
She quietly walked into the dark-lighted kitchen with her hands put together close to her chest almost trembling with every step. "I... have no clue honey. But... don't worry she will be back soon hopefully". She said as she gulped and put on the warm oven. In the quiet dark that it was I picked up my bag and walked upstairs in one move. The staircase made a small high cracking like an old wooden staircase for every step I took.
The darkness somehow was even darker upstairs, and it was hard to see, and the air was wet and foggy. I slowly made my way through the fog and opened the cold door to my room. A weird metal-like smell came from the bathroom but I decided to just ignore it.
Weirdly enough my room was the only space lightened up and well enough to be in. I was so distracted by the calming blue lighting casting over me as I walked in, that I hadn't even noticed the nerve-racking and terrifying silence that was coming from downstairs. At least I would hear her cook food downstairs but no it was completely silent, and the lights were still off.
I closed the door with my shaky and lay down on my well-made bed. Almost weirdly beautiful that day. I let out a big yawn and took up my face. The quick dark reflection of myself from the empty screen almost made me shiver but the screen quickly lighted up. Why was I so scared? I started messaging Evelyn, but it was weird. They hadn't left any messages for the entire day which wasn't like her at all. Minutes went by but still no response, so I decided to go up again and look out my window.
I could see a red pulsing lighting coming from one of the windows downstairs and a shadow quickly covering it. But what was the purpose of just staring down at my window all day? I decided to go out of my room again, but I directly saw the mistake that I had made. The bathroom far across the corridor almost covered by the fog wasn't just terrifying, it was absurd. I couldn't keep staring at it and I tripped over. Dark, cold, dripping out from the door opening. It was Blood. I had fallen... in blood. A scream quickly filled me, and I rushed into my room again and pushed the door closed again making a big heavy sound.
I couldn't... believe it. All I could do was sit down by my door in horror as the blood eventually slowly reached my door and veins of it formed around me. My heartbeat had never been any higher before and I barely could breathe. Eventually, I found bravery and I slowly stood up again. I was scared but no one would ever come to help me out of this nightmare, this dark unescapable puzzle that I had put myself in.
I slowly opened the door with my shaky hand still dripping blood from it. As I opened the door it was almost like whispers in my ear telling me to continue, telling me to see the real fear for myself, yet yelling for hope and escape. I couldn't run away now. I couldn't cry. The only thing I could do was to see the scene fall and drain over me. I didn't notice I had already come into the bathroom and already watched the dead naked body of Evelyn in the bathtub for hours the blood filling up the bath. Suicide? No, it couldn't be.
A scream filled up my weak body as I trembled out of the bathroom and fell to the ground lying shaky upon the cold blood. It was like a bad nightmare, a curse upon me that wouldn't go away. No matter how long I lay there I couldn't stop screaming and my legs wouldn't stop shaking. I was out of control of my body. I lay there like a defenseless lost child. Was this it? Was this the curse that had fallen upon me now? Was this just the beginning of the puzzle? Whatever it was I stood up again and rushed downstairs to my mom. I made my way to the door opening of the kitchen but there was no mother there. It was all just empty, and the candles were starting to burn out. But there he was, the man, the killer. Rim.
I screamed out as loud as I could and rushed out to the nearest door. With my hands shaking and spilling blood I managed to open the door and get out before he could get his hands on me. All I could hear was my loud breathing, my heart pulsing and the man rushing against the door trying to get it open. But I had already locked it and ran away. That's how it all started that was my goal, my destiny, and my purpose.
Police would eventually arrive, but any traces of the killer were already gone, and no evidence was left behind, the blood was suddenly gone, and the dead body was taken away by him. And I had nothing to prove. Nothing. In the upcoming 3 years much happened. I dropped out of school only 1 year before graduating, I had no other choice but to live alone in an old shitty apartment, And I had a bad job at the office that barely got me enough money.
Numerous cases of murder had been happening during that time with all the witnesses reporting seeing a man wearing a black hoodie and a white mask over his head. It's him, I know it's him. But there was nothing I could do. I was the real victim; I was the one with the constant pain in me. But there was this one day at the parking alley that I never forgot about.
It was right after work when the graceful sun had just come down and the ominous streets were dark and empty. I was lucky to have a job so close to my old apartment, so it wasn't anything new for me. But it was something weird about that night, something out of place. I got shivers and the same feeling I had 3 years ago. I felt weak, scared, lost, all of it again. Suddenly a voice came out of one of the dark corners I was walking by. I jump away a little and realize it's just my boss taking a late smoke outside. Compared to any other irritating boss he was kind of understandable and fair. I barely knew anything about him, but he always acted like he had known me for years. His name was Roy, a tall dark-skinned kind of mysterious dude. Someone that you would trust but also be curious about.
"Jim Parkings back on the streets again. What a surprise to see you." He said as he blew out some more smoke from his cigarette. I turned around to face him and said "You were? You ok boss?" to him with a quite nervous and stuttering voice. I wasn't nervous, just that I didn't expect to see him this late after work. "I was sarcastic you weirdo. You may want to follow me in for a bit Parkings" he said back with a slightly serious tone as he put away the cigarette from his mouth and walked further into the dark alley he was standing at. I didn't have time to respond. My legs hesitated but I somehow felt the need to follow him. Like there was something special about this time. Something else.
I didn't want to, but I had to so got myself together and followed him from behind. As I followed him deeper into the almost endless alley, I could hear him speak to me from the front. "You have done almost nothing to change your past Jim and I must change that. With my help, you could get what you want Jim. It's not a big surprise by how much you want your revenge" he said to me as he opened a mysterious dark door at the end of the alley.
A rush of wind flowed into my face as he opened the door into a big dark open space. I slowly stepped inside wondering what he wanted from me. My are legs trembling, and my breathing is heavier. Almost like the same feeling I had 3 years ago. "Revenge? What are you talking about?" I said with a bit of a chuckle as he closed the door behind me. The air inside was almost torturing, and it was hard to breathe properly. Yet I managed to grab onto his shoulder and said, "What are you doing to me?!". As I crumbled down to the floor barely able to breathe, I looked at him chuckling as I slowly got unconscious.
My head was pulsing with pain and my vision was blurry almost weirdly blurry. Was I still in the same place? Who is he? I couldn't think. I just wanted to get out of there. I wasn't tied to anything I was just sitting on a couch, yet it felt like I couldn't move at all. Was this the next step of my curse? Was this the next part of the endless unescapable puzzle I was in 3 years ago? I was scared, yet calm.
I could only watch as he sat down across me on that old wooden chair. "Mr. Parkings you thought you could just leave everything behind and just give up. You may want some help to kill that man" he said as he looked down at me with a serious tone of voice and cigarette in his mouth. "What the fuck are you talking about you little bitch?! How do you know about my past?" I yelled at him.
It was almost all dreamlike with the terrifying darkness and the calming lighting shining over us and exposing our meeting to the dark void of the room. "You think I don't know about your past Mr. Parkings? I've been observing you for years Parkings and I know exactly how much you want your revenge" he said as he put down his cigarette and stood up. His aura was all dead serious and my heart was pulsing with fear but also comfort.