I took the sheet of paper from her hand, scanning them diligently, memorizing the information placed before me. The letters coordinated together, along with numbers, telling me exactly where my first victim lived, his home not too far from here.
Nadia looked a bit worried as she watched me, her skin crawling with nerves to the point where her discomfort was visible, “What are you gonna do now?”
I glanced up at her before reviewing the information again, assessing how to put it delicately, “I’m going to murder this man and then eat him.”
Well I suppose it was not put as delicately as I had planned.
She had nothing else to say, which was a magnificent relief to me; her talking annoyed me worse than humanly possible. Placing the paper down on her cluttered desk, I peered towards the window to see that the sun had in fact decided to descend, the light from the moon making its way into the spotlight. My stomach rolled with excitement, the hunger it has been forced to endure prompting it to desire flesh even more. Wasting no time, I turned to exit, carefully navigating around the jungle of scattered clothing and bed sheets. I approached the door as fumbling came from over my shoulder, Nadia’s presence evident.
“You are not coming with me,” I dismissed, knowing that her plans were exactly that.
Turning around, my suspicions reigned true. She looked up at me from her crouched over position as she hopped with the help of one leg, her lifted foot wiggling into her shoes and she forced the sneaker on over her stripped socks, a pouted frown to her lips.
She stood to her full abilities after fiddling with her shoes and reached through a pile for her purple jacket, slinking it on over her shoulders, “Why can’t I go?”
“A better question would be to ask why in the world you would want to go,” I corrected, curious of her motives.
“I won’t wait around here, all cooped up in this apartment; I need some fresh air too ya know. And besides, I don’t have any homework, so it’s not like I’m procrastinating,” she reasoned, looking slightly desperate.
I came to the conclusion that she was a mediocre actress, and that I was not so easily fooled. But, being the curious man I am, I decided to allow her to partake on this bloody journey with me, only to see what she truly had planned. Turning back towards her door, I flipped the lights off and grabbed onto the metal door handle, turning and pulling to reveal a vacant set of doors and stairs. Escaping from the way I had come the night before, I descended from the stairs and into the open night air, savoring the sweet smell of opportunity, and death. My night was quickly burdened by Nadia and she skipped alongside me, her eyes constantly watching me for my next move. I did not mind being observed, I only minded being observed by her in particular. Why this was, I had not a clue, but it was a sense of discomfort that tingled up my spin and prompted me to hate her almost immediately. With feelings aside, since I cannot stand those pesky things, I began to pace in the direction of the man’s home, mapping out the back streets and alleyways I was prepared to take in my head. It was simple, yes, to find my way around places even after a short period of time actually being there; I was observant.
“I hate this town,” Nadia began after merely 10 minutes of silence, “It’s too, I don’t know. How would you describe it?”
I sighed quietly, assessing the situation before I made a mistake like, impulsively breaking her neck. She was talkative, a trait I did not respect, and if she would continue to talk, I’d have to rethink our arrangement.
“Okay, or don’t answer me,” she muttered under her breath with an attitude that dripped sarcasm, “But anyways,” she continued on as though my silence was not effecting her too greatly, “I mean, I’ve lived here practically all my life, but it just seems, old, and used up, if that makes any sense to you.”
Shut up…
“Where did you grow up? Actually, don’t answer that because you’re going to tell me some creepy back story, and that would probably freak me out for the rest of my life. I mean, you already freak me out, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I could die any second now, I probably wouldn’t have agreed to do this.”
Silence pesky human…
She stared at me, struggling to keep up with my pace, “Why do you walk so fast? You seem to know where we’re going so it doesn’t really make sense to walk like you’re on fire. Maybe it’s because you’re tall or something, but I’m not so it’s harder to keep up. Are you hearing a word I’m saying?”
I ignored her words since they were all useless and continued my stride without a cent of mercy for her; I might have even picked up the pace.
“It’s cold out here,” please, please shut up, “That doesn’t really make sense though because last night was really warm, and now it’s cold. I hate nature. It keeps changing. It’s like ‘why don’t you just stay perfect’ and nature’s all like ‘no way foo! I’m gonna just get colder and then hotter all I want’ and we’re like ‘oh no, bad mother nature bad!’ and it’s all like ‘deal with it muahahaha!”
“SHHHH!” I quickly ordered, spinning around so quickly that she bumped into my chest and staggered back slightly.
“Wha-”
“No,” I pinched her lips in between my fingers and thumb, disabling her from speaking, “You will not say another word until we have arrived, and even then, you will stay quiet, unless of course you have something relevant, interesting, or intelligent to say. If all you have in mind is small talk such as the weather, or where you grew up, keep those idiotic topics to yourself, and do not dare to utter a single word about it to me. Your word vomit sickens me worse than your diseases sicken you, so if you want to live, I’d suggest you silence that trashcan of moronic babble of yours.”
She stared at me, shocked by how annoyed I was and slowly nodded, looking offended.
I released my hold on her lips and watched her a second longer, satisfied that she had taken my advice to stay quiet. Turning back towards the direction I had been walking, I returned to my stride, shaking my head and mumbling under my breath, “You’re worse than Jeffrey.”
“Who’s Jeffery?”
Shifting around again, I drew out my scalpel and was set to slice before she quickly made up for her mistake.
“YOU SAID I COULD TALK ABOUT SOMETHING INTERESTING AND HE SOUNDS VERY INTERESTING DON’T YOU AGREE? PLEASE DON’T HURT ME!” She yelped out in one breath, raising her arms over her hidden face in a defensive position.
I slowly retracted my attack, watching her with a slight bit of mercy as I put my weapon away and accepted her answer, “You are correct; I did say that.”
She calmed down, her heart beat returning to its normal rate as she took a deep breath, thankful she was still alive, “So, who is he?”
“No one you need to concern yourself about,” I excused, once again returning to the path I had mapped out as we detoured into an alley way.
Her feet pushed to propel her to my side as she caught up once again, her voice filled with dangerous curiosity, “Why not? Is he bad like you?”
I thought about her statement and took it to offense, “I am not bad.”
A small snicker, more of a scoff caught in her throat, but she quickly covered it by clearing it away and responding, “Um, you’re kidding right?”
“One can only be bad if there are some who are good, just as there is not light without darkness or no cold without the absence of heat. Therefore, there is no bad unless there is good, and since there is no good in this world, how could I possibly be bad?”
She thought about it as she worked tirelessly to match my speed, her hands in the pockets of her hoodie just as mine were, “But, there is good in the world. I mean, not a lot, but there is still some.”
“Some is not enough,” I informed strictly, “There is sin and it is far more powerful than rescuing a feline from a tree or giving a sandwich to a poor man. While you rescue the feline, you may also think that it is stupid for getting stuck in the first place, and while feeding the poor man, you may think that he smells or that you could have spent the money you used on his food on something for yourself. So as you see, there can be good, but it is useless because our minds are littered with evil and if this is true,” I looked at her, “Then good is as stupid and as much of a waste of time as the cat, and the poor man.”
“But-” She refrained from commenting, knowing that my words were painfully true.
I was content in the fact that I was able to shut her up for the time being, the rest of the journey towards my victim’s home peaceful and quiet. We approached his neighborhood, the town thinning out and the homes opening to a more, spacious area. There were fields, absent of industry, and the night continued to shine down beakers of light while the darkness closed around it to a certain extent. I read the numbers on the homes, singling them down until 3079 caught my eye and sprung my stomach into a frenzy of excitement.
“Do you think that-”
“I think that what you are getting ready to say will end with you in a pool of your own blood,” I quickly suggested, making my way towards the home as Nadia kept quiet.
Stalking around the side and towards the back, I could smell a body’s presence in the home and relished in the fact that this was truly happening. It was going to be easy and rewarding, as long as Nadia can stay quiet, and then I would be able to repeat the cycle whenever I wanted until her list ran short and my days of sickened kidney feasting were over until I could find more. The rotting of their insides had me spinning with desire, and I could not wait to taste them.
“I was just going to say that there were a lot of stars out tonight,” she held her arms in a defensive position again, looking slightly frightened, “And I’m sorry if that’s not interesting you and I promise I’m not trying to make small talk!”
I sighed again, watching her carefully. She did not seem as though she was intentionally attempting to anger me, so I would show her a scant bit of mercy, “It is not an immediate interest, no, but I suppose it is relevant.”
A small smile graced her lips as she reflected her relief by setting down her line of defense, “Yeah, I like it too. Astronomy was my favorite subject back in high school. I don’t know why…I guess I just found the universe amazing. What all do you think is really up there?”
“I have no way of truly knowing,” I informed as though she were stupid to ask such a silly question, “But the universe is filled with startling things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.”
She nodded, but a slight bit of confusion passed her expression, “Why do you say ‘startling’ like it’s a bad thing?”
Approaching the back door, I stopped for a moment to glance at her, “Because I do not have all of the knowledge required to know of all that exists there, and not knowing is a frightening thing.”
Placing my hand on the back door, I pushed forward, smirking when then the wood moved along with my force, slowly creaking open; the poor fool had forgotten to lock his door.
“So are you,” she muttered to herself, her voice so low that only someone like me could hear it.
I ignored her comment though, knowing that the time from mindless blabber was unnecessary and no longer a primary focus. Stepping inside, I quickly scanned the dimly lit home for any signs of life, finding none. The home was exceptionally “normal” with the usual assortment of electronics, furniture, and lighting. Finding my way almost immediately, I paced down the hallway until the smell I had been craving reached my nostrils. There was a thin hint of something different in the coding his organs gave off, as opposed to Nadia’s, but I assumed it was because nothing is ever perfectly identical. Entering the four walled room, I listened to the snoring that sounded from the mattress by the far side of the area, the blinds open and light radiating in with a foggy glimmer. My fingers tingled with untapped hunger, the desire so immense that my brow was dampened by perspiration, my tongue fiddling at my cheeks as it impatiently wrestled with its own sick cravings. Standing over the figure sprawled out on the mattress, I studied him, as I do all my victims, and made a mental note of him. His tan face dragged with wide wrinkles, the ones formed around the corners of his mouth intertwining with the furry thickness of his facial hair, the gray on the pieces matching that of the hair on his head. His eyebrows furrowed as he dreamt peacefully to himself, his lips parted to allow for air circulation. He wasn’t particularly striking or interesting in anyway, but I did not let his boring physical appearance deceive me; he was still special.
“Are you just going to watch him like that?” Nadia asked in a hushed tone, her words said in a way that suggested how strange I was to her.
Looking over my shoulder with intention to silence her, I was successful as she pinned herself back against the wall furthest from where I was, he body in a position that displayed her discomfort. Returning to my main objective, I drew the scalpel, and held it in my right glove, tightening the muscles around it. Raising my left, I slowly touched his forehead and focused my energy into the action; I did this to ensure his complete and utter unconsciousness. This strategy only worked though if the victim’s surroundings were silent, the slightest disturbance breaking them from the hypnosis.
“Mortal human,” I began, whispering as though I was reciting a lullaby, “Your time on this earth has come to a sure and definite end. There will be no pain, just as there will be no suffering. All you have to do to ensure your peaceful departure into pure oblivion is stay asleep, and wait for the arms of death to crush your soul into dust. Continue to dream, poor human, for your worries and triumphs were as pointless and worthless as your existence has been, the past blanking in the theoretical book that is your life. As long as you cannot see me here, or feel me cutting into your flesh, there is no reason for you to be afraid, just as there is no reason for me to cause you pain. I thank you, for you are going to make an interesting story for the papers, and an even more appreciated meal for me.”
“Stop!” Nadia ordered with a loud tongue as she ambushed my attack on the sleeping man by grabbing at my scalpel.
I quickly exerted energy through my arm, forcefully making contact to her cheek with the backside of my glove, sending her to hit the wall and in conclusion the carpeted ground. My rage split as the growling in my stomach shot throughout my entire body, my blood bubbling with the instinct to feast. I should have expected this from such a weak girl, knowing that she was not equipped or smart enough to realize how dearly I needed his flesh. But, it was truly a lesson well learned.
“W-WHO ARE YOU?!” The man’s deep voice questioned with needles of fright riding every syllable.
I diverted my attention from the pained Nadia to devote my interest in him as he froze, my appearance and my weapon immediately throwing him into survival mode. He sprung from the bed and made his way towards the door before I could stop him, pushing him to the floor. Crawling on top of him with an animalistic growl escaping my lungs, I plunged my scalpel down in the approximate direction of his throat, missing when my body was attacked by another. Scrambling back towards the door, I gripped the man’s ankle to hold him in place as he tried to squirm away, yelling in hopes that the neighbors would hear.
“Let him go!” Nadia whined, grabbing at my wrist and yanking it away from him.
This creature had assaulted my perfect plan, and I had no time to deal with her as my prey escaped my grasp. Sitting up, I managed to wrestle her to the floor as I crawled over to him, jabbing the blade into his achilles tendon just in time to slice through it. He yelped with all of the pain his lungs could bare as he fell to the ground once more, crying out bloody murder. Grabbing onto the strands of his graying hair, I dragged him back towards me, ripping the thin material of his shirt in half, reveling his precious stomach.
“Please! Someone help me!” He bellowed at the top of his lungs, causing me to grimace; I did not need any more attention.
“You stupid, stupid girl!” I growled as Nadia relentlessly jumped onto my back, attempting to get the blade away from me.
She was persistent, and as she struggled to disarm me, I struggled to keep the squealing pig of a man in place.
“I’m not stupid!” She insisted, pulling on the weapon in my hands.
“You’re not the brightest either,” I smirked, releasing the scalpel on purpose.
She stumbled back, standing up with a satisfied look on her face, “Ha!” She smiled, proud that she had disarmed me.
My smile was by far the largest as I placed two fingers at the chin of my mask, lifting it enough to reveal my mouth, my painfully sharp teeth shimmering in the moonlight. Nadia jumped back, her heart racing miles at a time as she stood in a frozen state of fright. The man below me quit his whining, peering over to see that I was equipped, even without the knife, his blood pumping faster, only prompting me to desire him even more. Without a moment to allow for him to flee, I bared my jaws of deadly teeth, digging them like razor blades into his soft flesh. Blood ran down his skin and into my mouth, painting my lips with the crimson, Nadia’s position faltered back onto the bed as she watched on at the horrific scene. Gnashing and gnawing, the smell grew even more appealing, my hunger only growing as I reached into his mutilated abdominal and ripped out with I came here for. Holding the lovely organ in the palm of my glove, I studied the beautiful specimen and ignored the man’s ridiculous cries and Nadia’s frightened whimpering. The moment of truth was upon me, and as I feasted on the preciousness I held in my hands, the spark of interest quickly dimmed into nothingness; it was not as appealing as I had planned for. It was more appetizing and interesting than any normal human kidney I have tasted, but it was not as pleasing as I had anticipated, and suddenly, I lost my appetite. Dropping the diseased kidney back onto its bleeding host, I accepted the disappointment and calmly pulled my mask back to its original position, my stomach untwisting as though it was satisfied. True, my hunger was somewhat satisfied from the minuscule bite I had taken, but there was an empty feeling there as well, accompanied by angry grumbling from my expectations. Standing away from the warm corpse, I gazed over towards Nadia, her body defensively wrapped in a bundle, her knees pulled into her chest while her breathing picked up, almost as though she was quietly hyperventilating.
I stood in front of her and the bed, a seriousness in my voice along with my patience worn thin and my mercy non-existent. Leaning forward, I placed my hands on the mattress, my mask an inch away from her frightened face, a scratchy tone slinking up my throat, “Ha.”
***
Nomnomnom –staypunky
um so, idk if you guys realize who Nadia is supposed to be, but if you have a guess then comment it below and whoever is right shall earn a cookie.
a tasty cookie.