Monster (mon.ster) – someone that is cruel, frightening or evil.
Antonio Lickerberg – a monster.
The things that happen to us every day from the day we were born affects us solely that even the things we do are unimaginable. We could still live with it because it is rooted mainly to something that had happened to us or to one of our loved ones.
I was living my perfect life doing all the things I used to do. Go to work, eat, sleep, count the days I have remaining, count the days I will kill someone, count the number of people that I killed, count the number of times I replace my dagger and count the number of times my victim would scream for help.
These are all usual to me. No one could catch me because I’m doing it clean. In a sense, I’m a professional when it gets to killing people. I don’t usually kill just because I want to. There’s a reason. There’s a reason for everything and it was all rooted way back when I was still a kid.
She was killed. My mother was killed in front of my eyes in a gruesome and in an unacceptable way. She lay there in my little arms, blood in my little hands and tears flowing down from my little eyes as I saw her saying the words “I love you, son” even though she is already out of breath. I didn’t saw the killer’s face nor did I know the reason why my mom was killed. The alley where she was killed was like a monster in itself, dark with mud ponds around and sounds of sewer rats roaming around the sewers of the alley. It rained. No one helped us and so my mom didn’t make it. Heaven and earth was bestowed upon me. At my early age I saw a gruesome death of my loved one, my only loved one.
I was almost done profiling my “meats” for the day. I have five victims that day, two from the drugs, prostitution and sex category, one from the corrupt politicians’ category and another from the robbery category.
I hang my victims in hooks shimmered with rust and kept them in a plastic bag at a freezing temperature of the old warehouse. I enjoyed the looks of those dead people, they deserve that. In a sense, they even had a nicer death.
They were all killed by me, one by one. I killed them professionally that’s why I’m still not caught up until now. It instilled to me when I was a kid that I will look for that man, whoever he is that killed my mother. In my forbearing, that man was a law offender and what I did was kill all the law offenders I see in my database every day.
I hacked the system of the NYPD profiled law offenders’ database with the use of some of my knowledge in computers. I would hunt them all and kill them gently but sometimes harsh, it depends on my mood actually.
I want them to have a gruesome death, a death they would never forget; a death that only occurred to them because simply they had offended the law. As I was eating the last cookie from my cookie box I heard a noise somewhere at the entrance gate of the warehouse. I heard steps coming from the shoes of a woman, with its heels clacking in the gravel.
I looked at the gate but I didn’t see anyone. I locked up the warehouse and head back home. Killers need to rest too; we don’t kill all the time.
As I was searching for my keys in my bag my cell phone rang. My friend is calling me and I answered the call.
“Hey, Joe what’s up? Why are you calling me?”
“I got to tell you something, Antonio be here tomorrow at my apartment, 7am sharp. I would be expecting you” then he hung up.
“What’s the matter with him? 7am sharp? Isn’t that too early? Oh well, I might as well sleep right now”. I walked through my room without even opening the lights and I dove into my bed burrowing my head in those oh-so soft pillows made of feathers.
My alarm clock rang like crazy. Be-beep..be-beep..be-beep. It’s 6:30am on the clock, I need to rush things right now or I’ll be late. Toothbrush in one hand, hairbrush in the other; Razor in the left, shaving cream on the right. I reacted upon the time constraint given to me to fix myself up. I rushed outside the door clasping my duffel bag and money in my hands and I hailed a cab going out to somewhere I don’t know what would happen.
As I went upstairs to the apartment of my friend, I felt nervousness concealed around me. It’s as if something bad had happened. I knocked on his door but no one answered. I looked at the eye hole and saw someone on the floor with blood all over his body. My body reacted to it quickly that I kicked the door and gushed inside.
He was killed. My friend Joe was killed. In front of my eyes I can see how gruesome he was killed. His head was cut off and his clothes are ripped off while his blood seeps through the floor like he was a broken bottle of red wine. He was grasping a piece of paper like it’s something important that he would even give up his life for it. I looked at the paper, and I saw an address and a telephone number in it. It also has a note saying that it was for me and that the person in the address is someone who would help me find out who was my mother’s killer is.
Joe was a friend of mine since childhood and it seems like he died because he has someone who could point out who’s my mother’s killer was. The game is now becoming more difficult and I could see how the killer acts fast before me. He wished to not be identified and so far he’s doing it good. I called the police in order for them to investigate my friend’s death then I went out again to find the killer.
As I was inside the cab I thought about my friend and the way he had helped me till the very end. I can see in what the killer has done to my friend the things I usually do to those law offenders. I ruthlessly kill them like flowers in the garden that I would suddenly pick, cut, pour poison on or let them be eaten by pests.
I treat them as if they’re not humans and to what I have done so far my conscience is still not picking on me. I remained stoned and silent while killing them. 222 is the number of people I have killed so far.
Every day of my life I spent it on killing people and investigating about the case of my mom’s murder. I earn money by doing dirty works for those who do dirty jobs. Politicians (the ones I hate the most) would hire me to professionally kill their political enemies and sometimes due to my nature, I would kill my client. It has been that way since I saw my mother killed. I have this emotional attachment to my mom since she was the only one that I have when I was a kid, my dad didn’t show up and I was an only child.
There was no one to depend on life but my mom and she was taken away from me by someone I don’t even know for a reason that I don’t even know.
“Uhmm.. Sir, we’re here. $100 please.” The taxi driver said.
I gave him 100 bucks and left off, leaving my memories behind for the meantime.
I gazed at the house and it seemed like it belonged to the Victorian era with its details so profound. I went up the door and banged at it using the knocker that looked like a gargoyle. I could hear footsteps coming at the door and it seem like the owner was using a walking stick. I got used to observing even the littlest of details.
I am a detective after all, since I got on investigating my mom’s murder. I even idolized Sherlock Holmes for his precise deductions and keen observations. There was a loud creaking sound when the door was opened and an old man came up.
“Oh, dear… what may I help you with?” the old man said.
He talks like an old British man because of his accent, would he be my personal Dr. Watsons and I would be Det. Sherlock Holmes? This would be quite interesting.
“Hi, uhm… I’m Antonio Lickerberg and I believe you know my friend, Joe who was recently killed this morning. He said that you have something to help me with.”
“What have you said, boy? Joe was killed? Oh dear…”
“Sadly, Yes.” I said.
“For god’s sake what happened? How he was killed? Who killed that boy?”
“As of who killed him, I don’t know but he was ruthlessly killed. His head was cut off and he had slashes in his body.” I replied.
“Hmm… let’s see, I think I know who killed him.”
“Who?”
“Your mother’s killer. . . Come inside; let’s talk more about it here.”
I was right; the house was fashioned in the Victorian era and is quite amusing that anyone could mistake it for a museum in Europe.
“Here boy, sit here.”
“Thanks” I said.
“I am one of your mother’s old friends and I know her very well that her death seems like it should not happen. So as time passes I have collectively discovered bit by bit the information I know about your mother’s death. I wished not to confront you right away till I find more about her murder and through my investigations I was lead to your friend Joe, he was the one providing me information about yourself and the stuff you told him about your mother’s death. We were both willing to help you with this but then, I didn’t realize that all of this would cause his death”
“I really don’t know what to say…but thanks, really thanks.” I said.
I noticed a tear flow down my cheek as I see how eager they are to know the truth even though they’re not related to her.
“Now my boy, enough with the drama let’s move on to what I have gathered and let’s start from there.”
He led me to one of his rooms upstairs. The house was really huge for an old man so I asked him, “Are you all alone here? Don’t you have a family?”
“Oh dear… Yes, I am all alone here, all of my children got married and my dear wife had passed away. I have no other place to be in, one of my children suggested to put me in homes for the aged but I refuse because I don’t want to leave this house, I inherited this from my grandfather, it’s so special to me” He coughed rashly but we went on.
I was saddened by the old man’s life, living like this. Alone and uncared for, with no one but himself to depend on just like me right now. He walked through a narrow hallway with paintings on the side that has spider webs on it.
“Come on here boy, this is my office.” The old man said. I looked through his office and it felt like a real detective’s office, it even has a murder board on it. It was so authentic.
“I assume that you have been awed by my office, this is my special place by the way.”
“I would want to have something like this but my place is just full of shit. Surgical tools, daggers, gloves, shackles, cuffs, guns, ammo and other crazy stuffs you could think of.” I said without any hesitations.
“Oh boy, what is your occupation? Why do you have those stuffs?”
“Oh, no…uhm, it’s just that.. I love horror movies and I have a knack for collecting those weird things, if you know what I mean”
“Ohh… I thought you were a serial killer” the old man said.
“No, I’m a detective just like you…” Drips of cold sweat ran through my skin. I was almost caught there, I was at the point of saying to him who I really was and what I do. I erased my thoughts about it and looked fondly at his remarkable office.
“Look at the murder board boy, help me with this, please recall what had happened that night and tell me that.” I think deeply before I said anything.
“As I recall, we were heading home from dinner as we passed through that alley, my mom was pulled into the dark alley and she couldn’t scream because the hands of the killer strangles her. I followed them and the killer saw me, he pushed me aside and grabbed my mom in her hair then pushed her against the wall he played with the blade and stabbed my mom on the side and on her heart. He kissed my mom’s lips that were crimson red because of all the blood sipping through and then he ripped my mom’s clothes and touched her body that was painted with blood all over.
He began toying with her breasts and I couldn’t stand up because of the debris in my legs that constraint me i couldn’t scream because of the shock and because my body was badly buried by the debris. He was a monster. My mom was so weak that she couldn’t even fight or scream. The killer was almost done when he broke my mother’s bones bit by bit with much force as possible and laid her there in the ground.
He kicked the debris that freed me then he ran away. I gushed through my mom’s side and I held her, she told me the words, “I love you, son” even though she was already out of breath. It rained. No one helped us and so my mom didn’t make it. Heaven and earth was bestowed upon me. At my early age I saw a gruesome death of my loved one, my only loved one.”
Tears flowed down my cheeks as I recall her gruesome death. Anger filled me after that my hands gripped so hard it can break. The old man seemed to notice the anger that surrounded me so he began speaking again.
“I know that you might feel awkward about this but I need to ask you a few questions so we could solve this together, alright?”
“Yes, I guess so” I replied.
We were about to continue on our investigation when my cell phone rang. It was from an unknown source. “Sorry, but I need to take this for a minute.” I said to the old man. “Ok, go on”
“Hello? Who’s this? What do you need from me?”
“Mr. Antonio Lickerberg, I know your darkest secret and I wish to be one of your clients but I will not identify myself for security purposes so please forgive me about that. I would send money thru your bank account so please do it clean. Ok?” the strange voice said.
“How can you assure me that I would be paid and I would be safe?”
“Don’t worry I’ll send out the first half of the money and the instructions thru my assistant. Please meet him now at the coffee shop two blocks away from the park; he’s waiting for you there.”
“Okay, I got it.”
“Uhm.. I need to go now, I have something important to do I would be back here first thing in the morning.” I said to the old man. “Ok boy, stay safe.” As I was leaving the old man’s house I began thinking about what he had said. “Stay safe” it circles through my thoughts since no one has ever said that to me again after my mother died.
As I was approaching the coffee shop I saw a black car on the parking lot of type that I didn’t know. I easily caught who was the one who’s giving me the money and instructions because of the way he looks, so dark and mysterious. He didn’t say any word, he just gave me what I needed then he left. I read the instructions in the coffee shop quietly while drinking my favourite American latte with full milk and half cup of espresso.
I would kill 3 people today in different time periods so that it wouldn’t connect to each other he also stated that I should leave the bodies where I killed them, so for now I wouldn’t take anything home. The first that I was about to kill should be done with a knife/dagger. The other one was with something that would look like a heart attack and the last one was horrible yet satisfactory for me.
I didn’t waste any time so I set forth to my place to get what I needed and I began my quest for my “meats” shortly after. According to the files that was sent to me the man that I was about to kill is a casino owner/womanizer/drug dealer and is currently aiming for a political position that my client is running up to.
I went to his casino that night at about 7pm and I saw him walking out of the building and towards his car. I followed him with my old Chevy as he went to one of his woman’s house. Before he could ever knock at the door I grabbed him from behind and pulled him towards the backyard. I sealed his mouth by putting the gun inside it with my fingers crawling at the trigger ready to shoot anytime.
He struggled with great force but he was too late when I slit his throat and blood gushed over his neck. I lay him on the ground and castrated him, for he was an a-list womanizer. I sprinkled fake currencies around his body and left him holding a sign board that says “I am a law offender, that’s why I died” that was written with his blood. I’m quite harsh today because I missed the feeling of killing people. The agony and pain that I can see in their eyes, that begs for mercy as I kill them. As I was walking out of the place I heard a woman scream and a gunshot shortly afterwards. True love I may presume.
I headed for my next victim which was in the south in a village of wealthy people. My next victim is a wealthy man because of his business that was running in the black market: drugs, smuggled items and etc. My client wish for me to make it look like a heart attack since he already has a heart disease. I parked my car facing his luxurious mansion with intricate details of both European and Mediterranean architecture. This is what money can do, I said to myself.
Complicated security systems surrounded the mansion and lurking dogs patrol the whole area I thought of a way to get inside and do the job very quick. I climbed a tree beside their house and aim the rope and hook to the gutter above my victim’s room.
It was 12 in the midnight and he was there sleeping soundly. I managed to get into his room’s window because it was not locked even after all those complicated security paraphernalia that they had. It was easy to kill him since he slept like a baby. I located his veins and injected to it a 60ml of air that was in the syringe.
I used a tiny needle in order for the coroner not to notice my trick. It was a perfectly devised plan to murder someone without making it look like murder. After a short while I hear him gasped wildly. He was breathing heavily and I know that in that instance my plan worked, he had a heart attack and so I left the vicinity and headed for my next victim.
The last victim was quite unusual, she was the only woman that I would kill for the night and my client suggested that I should rape her too. Of course I accepted the offer; it was years ago that I had my last sex. She was a slut that works at a bar giving men happiness. Consequently, she broke my client’s heart when he proposed to her a marriage and now, she would be killed and raped by me. What a very unlucky girl.
I drove my car out of the village and set forth to the north where McGuillan’s bar (the place she works at) is located. When I got there I saw hundred men falling in line just to get inside the bar and I assume that it’s because my victim was very popular. With so many people, it would be hard not to be noticed and then I had an idea.
I went inside the backdoor and made my way to the bar. I ordered a special session with her costing me about $100,000.When it was already my turn I grabbed my things and misted breath spray into my mouth. “I’m going to have a very great night tonight.” I said to myself. When we were inside the room she prepared herself.
She wore a crimson night gown and her lips were bloody red and black hair flowed on her shoulders. She headed towards me and grabbed my shirt and tore it away she was already undressing me. I stood like a mannequin, without a word, a sound and my body went numb. She licked my cheeks and caressed my face and she kissed me hard then soft then hard again. She pushed me into the bed and crawled at me like a fierce tiger ready to eat her prey.
I slowly took her nightgown off and I cupped her breasts with my hands licking its nipples with my tongue. She was doing all the work while I reached for my bag at the bedside table that contains the capsule that would cause her death. It was a capsule formulated with high concentrations of cyanide with a protective cover that will let it stay in my mouth for 5 minutes without inducing any harm to me. I placed her at the side so she couldn’t see my dirty trick. I placed the capsule at my mouth while she was giving me blow jobs and as she began to kiss me again, I deposited the capsule at her mouth and I gave off a lot of saliva in our kiss and she began to swallow.
At that moment I knew that she is going to be poisoned after a time period of fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes is the minimum time for the spreading of the cyanide throughout her system thus causing her death. I hurriedly finished our session giving enough time for her to entertain other customers and luckily the next customer went to her room shortly after me.
I went out of the McGuillan’s bar without anyone noticing me I looked at my watch and it’s already 5 o’ clock in the morning. Exhaustion encapsulated my whole body as I was returning home. Killers need to rest too; we don’t kill all the time. When I got home I dragged my exhausted body upstairs to my bedroom and like the usual I just dive into my bed without any care in the world.
My alarm clock rang like crazy. Be-beep..be-beep..be-beep. It’s 9:00am on the clock, I need to rush things right now or I’ll be late. Toothbrush in one hand, hairbrush in the other; Razor in the left, shaving cream on the right. I reacted upon the time constraint given to me to fix myself up. I rushed outside the door clasping my duffel bag and money in my hands and I hailed a cab going to the old man’s Victorian house where we would discuss my mother’s murder.
I knocked at his door once again and he let me inside his house. “We need to start right now or there will be more people related to you that would soon be dead. We don’t know our enemy yet.” The old man said.
“I’m sorry if I was late, I was working till midnight and I went home at 5 o’ clock”
“There’s no time to lose right now, come on boy.”
I gazed upon the murder board with all the pictures, details and newspaper articles were attached.
“Your mother’s murder occurred around the time of 8:00-9:00 on March 14, 1982 at the dark alley beside the flower shop and across a bank. You said that you were always eating dinner before it happened, where was it again?”
“It was at a family restaurant called Old House” I said.
“If you look at the map, you could see that the restaurant is located across a building of apartments and the only floor in the building that could clearly see the people inside the restaurant was at the ground floor with 5 units in it.”
“So what are you saying is that one of those who rented the 5 units could be the killer?”
“I cannot assure that to you because we don’t have any strong evidences yet but still, it’s a possibility.”
“What are the other things you know about the killer and my mother’s murder?” I asked. “Well, as you know your mother was not somebody who would have enemies for she was so sweet and kind. We know for a fact that she shouldn’t be killed.” “Yes, and so?” “So, I began looking at those who are related to your mom; friends, relatives and other people who she might have an encounter with.” “And?...”
“I really don’t want to say this to you but your mom was having an affair with another man who was married.” “Oh… is that really true?” “According to my sources, yes it is.”
“So we can also assume that the man she was having an affair with or his wife could have been the killer right?” I said to him. “Yes, we can assume that but still, there are no strong evidences yet.”
“This is hard when you don’t have strong evidences” I said.
“Yes boy you’re right do you want to hunt some?”
“Hunt what?” I asked.
“Evidences, so we could pinpoint whose the killer really is.”
“Okay, I would go to that apartment and ask for the information of those who lived there on the time period of March 14, 1982.” “Ok boy, stay safe” And there he was again telling me to stay safe, such words that gives me joy whenever I hear it because it gives me the feeling that I’m not alone and there’s still someone who cares for me.
My tummy rumbled as I head out to the apartments so I stop to eat at a restaurant just few blocks away from the old man’s house. I noticed a beautiful lady that seems to glow in my eyes. I took the opportunity to sit beside her and have small talk. She looked familiar to me, very familiar. She said that she went to North Harbour School and that she lives in New York when she was still a kid. I suddenly recalled who she was and why she was familiar to me.
She was my old childhood friend way back when I was a kid. She remembered it too and we began talking about the past. We even remembered that we promised that when we see each other again and we’re both free, we should be together. We laughed like crazy as if we were the only ones in the restaurant. “So are you single right now?” she asked.
“Well, I think so” I replied.
“You think so? What kind of answer is that?”
“Yes, I’m single I don’t have the interests for those stuff.”
“Ohh.. is that so?” she said with a hint of wonder.
“How about you?” I asked her.
“Well, I’m single too… I had too much heartache before, so I stop loving.”
The way we talked to each other made me forget what I should do at that time. It was like regaining all the memories we once had. She was my first love that I searched for a long time and now she’s here all grown up. I really don’t want to be committed to someone because of the nature of my work but for her, it felt different.
I thought that maybe this time she is the one who’s rightful for me to have and as soon as we get married I would immediately stop all of my killings. I thought that as soon as I get her name I would propose to her right away. I would give her the wedding ring that my mother once had. I wanted to have more time with her but I’m already losing time. I need to catch the killer right away or she might also be caught up with this.
I bade her goodbye and went to the apartments to gather information of who the killer might be.
As I entered the place I saw an old woman at the front desk and I immediately ask her if she could show me the records of those who rented the 5 units on the first floor of the building way back on March 1982.
“I’m sorry boy but it’s confidential.” The old woman said.
“Is there any way that I could get a hold of the records?”
“Money is tight nowadays.” She said to me while her right hand was directed towards me.
“Here” I gave her enough money to make her speak.
“So you wanted the records?” “Yes, I badly need it.” I replied. She bent over the table even though her bones could easily break. She struggled to reach out for the drawer below the desk containing files of some sort. “Here you go boy” she handed me the files and I immediately turned the pages to the year 1982 and looked at the list of the names of those who occupied the 5 units. There were two families that occupied the 2 units the other units were occupied by only one person.
“Can you tell me about what you have noticed between these two families when they still live here?” I asked.
“Well, the family of Greenshaws were always going out of town so I don’t know much about them but the family of Mayfairs were a chaos.”
“Why did you say that?”
“Well, when the man’s wife was out and his children would go to school he would bring someone in the unit, a woman. They seem to be having an affair and when his wife comes home all they do was fight and shout at each other. It was really a chaos here. Later, after some time the man died and I really don’t know how or why. From then on, the wife was alone renting the place since her daughter went to college.”
“The other woman you were talking about can you still recall her face?”
“Yes, if I were given a picture of her.” I searched for my wallet and bring out my mom’s picture. “Is this the woman you were talking about?” “Yes, she is. She certainly is. I remember her so well.” In that moment I knew who the killer was. I forced myself not to let the anger fill me so easily. I might kill the poor old woman if all hell gets loose.
“I knew who the killer is.” I said with certain conviction as I was back at the old man’s house.
“Who?” asked the old man.
“Margaret Mayfair” I said.
“What would you do then? Should we report her to the police right now?”
“No, I will take care of it. Thanks for all of your help you certainly helped me.”
“That was a pleasure, boy.”
“I would go now to fix things and make it right.”
“Ok boy, please stay safe” The “please” in the old man’s words were said with emphasis it’s as if he was asking me again to really stay safe. Without any hesitations I headed back to my home gathering all the things I prepared to kill my mother’s killer. It was 8 o’ clock in the evening when I was standing right across the building of apartments waiting for her to go outside. I saw her going out of the building walking towards the Old house. “What a perfect timing” I said to myself.
I pulled her into the dark alley and she couldn’t scream because my hands strangled her. I grabbed her hair and pushed her against the wall. “Who are you?” she said. “Do you remember Lucy Lickerberg? The one you killed here in this very alley? I am his son and I would now revenge for her.”
“You have known my identity!” she shouted.
“It was hard, really because I really thought you were a man because you had kissed my mom’s lips and toyed with her breasts.”
“I did that on purpose in order for you to assume that I was a man and I guess I really can’t hide from the truth. Your mother was a bitch she deserved that.”
I played with the blade and stabbed her on the side and on her heart. I kissed her lips that were crimson red because of all the blood sipping through and I ripped off her clothes and touched her body that was painted with blood all over with much hatred and anger that I felt that night. I began toying with her breasts.
I am a monster. She was so weak that she couldn’t even fight or scream. I was almost done when i broke her bones bit by bit with much force as possible and laid her there in the ground. I did what she did to my mom and she deserves that; of all the years that passed and the people that I killed because of her; the monster I had become because of what she did. It rained. No one would help her and so she won’t make it. Heaven and earth was bestowed upon her.
At my age I saw yet another gruesome death because of my loved one, my only loved one. As I was finishing everything I saw a picture she was holding all the time. I didn’t saw it clearly because it was covered with her blood. It seems like it’s a picture of her and her daughter.
I headed out towards the Old house to eat some dinner and I saw my childhood sweetheart sitting alone on a table so I sat beside her. “Oh, you’re here” she said.
“Yeah, I just want to eat something after a tiring work.” I said to her.
“Oh is that so…”
“Are you waiting for someone?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m waiting for my mom, we would have dinner tonight.” she replied.
“Okay, I would just order and leave then, by the way I can’t remember your name, what was it again?” I thought to myself that now I would have the chance to propose to her after all this years that I’ve waited for her to come.
“Oh, sorry for that my name is…Lulette Mayfair”