Arriving home, I find that I've still beaten Alex back. Which is very good news for me. It's 12.57 and the house is dead quiet, maybe dead is the wrong word.
Walking through the entryway and flicking on the light in the lounge room, Ditz instantly starts to yap from the patio, begging to be let inside. I put down my bag and let her in, picking her up for a quick cuddle, glad to be home at last.
I grab my phone to see whether I've had any messages from Alex while I've been out and find that he still hasn't sent anything, which is more than fine by me. If he had, I would have taken a long while in responding and that would concern him. He would then have returned home sooner and found that I wasn't home and then all hell would have broken loose. I've gotten a lucky break with this situation. I can't imagine too many more of these lucky breaks will happen in the near future.
Glancing at the floor where my bag is still sitting, I realise that I need to find a hiding place for it. I can't just sit it anywhere, Alex could be home any minute now and he would become suspicious if my duffle bag was lying around. I had discovered tonight that I had used it before, for the same reasons. It was already lined with plastic to keep it from leaking any blood and staining the material. It also had my outfit prepared and ready to go. My collection of knives were all neatly placed inside the inner side pockets and I had a shiny, silver pistol jammed in beside them, for back up I assume. There is also a bottle of bleach for emergencies and a packet of matches.
I've come to find that the other side of my identity is certainly a well prepared woman, just as my semi normal side is and I was kind of proud to discover that.
Returning to the task at hand, I decide that my best option is to hide it beneath my old shoes in my shoe box. It's a big old, clunky thing and I don't go in there very often. It used to be my mothers, it's one of the few belongings I have left from her and I cannot bear to give it up. Alex never touches it. There are way too many shoes in there for his liking, he thinks I have a problem. But I have a thing for shoes, what more can I say.
After pulling all of my shoes out and squishing the bag into the base of the box, I drop all my shoes back into the box and force the lid down. I'm not sure where I'd hidden it before tonight but I'm certain that it's safe where it is.
Now that I'm at ease with my hiding place, I can relax and get more comfortable. I shimmy out of my cut offs and shirt then hop into a steaming, hot shower to rinse off any remaining blood. Rolling my neck around gently under the spray of hot water, I slowly release the tension that's developed in my neck throughout the night. After drying my body thoroughly, I throw on my navy blue sweat pants and a white singlet. Loping into our bedroom, I pull back the covers on our bed and hop in. Picking up my book from the bedside table, I continue on from where I'd read last as if my night wasn't filled with gore and violence.
A half hour later and I hear Alex arrive home. The front door is flung open and it hits the doorstop with a solid thud. I hear him faintly swear, then push the door closed as quietly as I assume he can manage - which is not quiet at all.
Ditz stirs from beside me and then hops up in haste and bolts to the front door yapping away.
"Helllooooo!" He calls out through the house. Kicking off his shoes at the door and making a lot more noise than usual.
"Heyyy Ditzy..."
I can tell he's had a fair few drinks, I chuckle to myself.
"Babe....helloooo......where are you??" He calls through the house, then stumbles into the bedroom and grabs at the door frame with both hands to steady himself.
Ditz is jumping around at his feet but he now seems unaware of her presence.
"Ahh, there you are! Hey!" He says then plonks down beside me on the bed.
"Hey," I say smiling with amusement, "Good game?"
"You've no idea...they slau-slaughtered em!" He slurs.
"Glad to hear you had a good night." I say while sitting back against the bed head.
"The otherrr side....didn't stand a chance." He adds like I'd pressed for more.
He stands and drops his jeans to the floor, kicking them away, then pulls his shirt off in one quick sweep. He's left standing in his underwear and nothing else, mentally drooling I try to focus on whatever he's saying.
"Yep, Dex had Jen driiive us home, cause he hatesss cabs." Alex says to me, like I'd asked him how he got here. Alex tends to make his own conversations after a few drinks. Sometimes they're with himself, it's funny to watch.
"That's good. You gonna come to bed now?" I ask.
"Mmm. Yep. What'd you do...tonight?"
"Just watched some movies. Nothing too exciting." I say with images of my actual night popping into my head. Blood soaked socks, severed limbs, sawing through bone and tendons.
"Okaaaay then." Alex says then wanders out of the room and I hear him go into the bathroom.
A few minutes later and he slides into bed beside me. I say slides, but he was not that smooth. It was more like he dived into bed and jostled me enough that I bit my tongue.
"Imma have a killer hang....gover tomorr.... Greasy bacon, maybe?" He mumbles facing me, but with his eyes already closed.
"I guess that can be arranged." I say absently and staring at the white wall ahead of me. I can't help but think of his choice of words tonight. Killer, slaughtered.
Focusing on my book again, I wait for his reply. When I hear nothing I look down beside me, only to find that he has already passed out and is snoring lightly. I smile softly to myself. I wasn't really in the mood for a chat anyway.
Putting down my book, I turn the bedside lamp off and settle in for the night. Scrunching the covers up under my chin and turning onto my side, I close my eyes and try to push away my nights events so that I can get to sleep peacefully.
___________________________
The following morning I'm standing by the stove turning bacon that's sizzling in the frypan. The scent surrounds me, making me eager to plate up and eat.
I hear a groan coming from the bedroom telling me that Alex has woken up and he has the hangover he suspected he would have. I purse my lips in amusement.
A minute or so later and he's shuffling into the kitchen. His hair is sticking up all over the place and he's squinting his eyes against the glare of the sun coming through the kitchen window.
"Good morning babe." I say in a bright and cheery tone.
He groans and waves his hand in the air in an attempt at a response.
"Want some coffee?" I question.
"Mmm...please." He mumbles while sitting down at the table in the dining room and resting his head along his forearm.
I set a cup of black coffee beside his head and then return to the kitchen. Alex cannot drink a milky coffee during a hangover, it only makes him sick.
I dish up the bacon for him and some eggs and bacon for myself and sit across from him and start to devour my food. The salty taste of the bacon hits my tongue and my taste buds come alive.
"My head is killing me!" He groans again, interrupting my almost-moan in delight at my delicious bacon.
"Want some aspirin?" I offer.
"Nah, I know it'll fade. Just gotta eat." This comment makes him kick into action and he grabs hastily at the bacon with his fingers, ignoring the heat.
Once we have eaten, I put on the news in the background while I wash up. Alex has collapsed on the couch, for a nap I presume.
After I put the dishes away, I walk into the lounge to find Alex asleep and Ditz curled up beside him. The TV is still on and the sports recap is the focus.
Just as I go to walk out of the room Marie Carletti's face suddenly takes the screen and she announces that there is breaking news.
The next scene shows the front yard of Charles Porter's house, the scene is shot from above, I assume by a helicopter or a drone. Police cars are scattered along the street with their lights flashing. Neighbours are standing all around in pyjamas, probably woken from all the commotion outside and trying to catch a glimpse of all the excitement. I can see police trying to direct incoming vehicles away from the scene and attempting to send the neighbourhood back into their homes.
Marie's face suddenly comes back into view, her mouth is set in a grim line.
"Breaking news this morning as police were directed to the body of a man in the basement of a residential property. Police are yet to release his identity or the specifics of his murder but have said that he was found in a grizzly condition by a friend when he didn't arrive for a meeting this morning. Detectives are undergoing a thorough investigation into his murder and request that the citizens in the area keep their distance whilst the investigation is underway.
More news to come, back to you Grant." Marie says with a swift nod.
The screen then returns to the sports update with Grant Holdsworth looking a little shocked but he recollects himself instantly and returns to his sports update.
I'm a little stunned at the discovery so soon. I didn't expect for him to be found until at least Monday. But, oh well. In this current situation, I have no guilt. I don't feel remorseful, I'm glad I did it.
He was an evil person. Now the world is a little bit safer. A monster like that should not be loose on our streets, free to harm whomever he wishes.
These thoughts have me thinking about my prior murders. The guilt that I felt over them. No longer do I hold these feelings, at least not in this instance. I know I did what was right. The authorities had no clue what these people were doing, and if they did, they weren't doing their jobs to take care of these monsters.
So my stepping in to take over wasn't really all that bad I figure. I'm only doing what should have already been done. Maybe not in the same way. Ok, definitely not in the same way, but I felt like he needed to experience it for himself. That way he would fully understand what he had done to these poor, innocent people and how truly monstrous it was and is.
I'm not a bad person for doing that.
At least that's what I'll keep telling myself.
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Thanks again to everyone who has continued reading my story, I've been working really hard on it and although it may seem slow at times it's only because parts of the story need to be explained further or that the characters need better explanations etc etc.
But I promise you there is still a lot that needs to happen and plenty of action is still to come. So stick around. I try to post once a week but sometimes I don't have the time to do it.
I hope you're enjoying it and let me know if anything doesn't make sense and I'll go back and fix it.
See you next chapter!
Shantelle 😋