Authors: Jesse Abundis
“ Alistair ? ” She rolled her eyes to see the killers expression. “ Who is he?”
“ A very wise man.” He prep his tools as he spoke. “ I came to meet him one day, out of dumb luck. The day we parted ways, I ran into him three days later. I planned to make him a victim, but he could see through me, he took me in, treated me like I was his son. Showed me how to overcome my anger and find a higher calling, one that could save me from death. He was the greatest teacher I ever had.”
“ He was like a preacher, trying to save you from your wicked ways?” Karen mocked him. He refused to answer, so Karen fired back with another question of her own. “ Casey Miller, she isn’t who she says she is, did you know?”
The Killer couldn’t help but laugh, he knew this was her habit and wouldn’t stop until her questions were answered. “ I did.” He said pulling a sharpie from his pocket. “ Her father, is the same man who taught me to find my calling.”
Karen eyes widen in shock. “ Alistair was Casey's father, did she know ?”
“ She did.” He pulled her hair back and began drawing lines on the base of her skull. “ She always wanted to be closer to him and he wanted her to be a.. well a God to other lost souls.”
“ A God, what do you mean by that?”
“ Alistair was hoping in breeding a family of us to step out of the shadows and show the world our kind could over come such dark evil ways, and be ushered into society, a very ambitions plan, but faith gave Alistair and his vision a different purpose in life.”
“ Meaning, you killed them.“ She stared into his eyes, only to have him take his gaze away from her. “ Wow, if Alistair knew the real you, he would have slaughtered you before…”
The Killer slammed his fist on the side of the table. “ STOP IT!” He shouted at her, only to calm himself down by caressing her face. “ I love you, I just need you to stop trying to hurt me.”
Karen refused to be deter from such a little outburst.“ Did you kill Peewee ? ” Karen closed her eyes knowing the truth already, but she prayed to be wrong just this once.
The killer coldly brushed aside her question. “ The detective looking for you is dead, I just thought you should know.”
Karen choked back her need to scream, she knew the Killer refused to answer as to not upset her, all apart of his notion of being close to them. “ How did you know about him?”
“ I keep my family close, I study you inside out. Whatever is a problem to you is a problem to me.” He caressed her cheek. “ Your mother should be receiving his head in the mail by tomorrow, with the Mosers collecting the rest than after.”
That brought a little joy into Karen’s heart. “ Well, that’s nice to know.”
“ Did you kill them?” The Killer looked into Karen‘s eyes hoping to find an answer, but there was none. “ I told you my story, now tell me yours. Let's be honest to each other for once, no more hiding, let‘s bare it all right here and now”
“ What does it matter.” She closed her eyes, refusing to say a word.
“ You don’t have to hide from me, Karen. You can tell me the truth, I‘ll accept it.” He kept caressing her face hoping she would open up to him.
What are you doing with that?
She could hear Ryan‘s frighten voice calling out to a young woman walking aimlessly through their house.
why are you wearing that mask, no don‘t fucking do it, please no, please Karen don‘t do it!
“ You say they, why?” Karen reopened her eyes, letting the Killer look into her dark eyes that held a story of it‘s own, letting him fall deeper into the void.
“ Do you remember Ruby? ” that name made Karen cringe, he saw it the moment he said it. “ she was your daughter.”
“ This was all your fault, you brought this upon you, you corrupted that boy!”
The voice of her mother began to slam at the walls of her mind. “
This child is a blessing, it was God’s doing, you can’t change it.”
She could feel the flood of grief and darkness begin to claw at her.
“
Stop running, Karen, just accept it.”
She smiled at the killer as the voice of Jamie whispered in her ear once more.
“ You want to know the truth?” She undid the chains blocking her past, she could feel the images pouring back into mind, it was like watching a movie in fast forward, what was old felt so new to her.
“ I need to know.” He begged her.
“ Ryan and I were friends, I cared for him, I loved him, but I could never love him the way he wanted to. One day we were alone in his house, he wanted to kiss me and I should have said no, but I let him anyway, he wanted to go further, I told him to stop, but he wouldn’t.” The Killer grip Karen’s shoulders encouraging her to go on. “ Next thing I know he has me pin to the ground, I’m laughing and he’s getting mad, I can’t stop laughing, I just can’t. He’s ripping my skirt off and I feel him pushing inside of me, I wanted to cry, I was so scared, I didn’t want to believe this was him, because he would never do such a thing to me, he was my friend, someone I grew to lean on when things got hard.” She chuckled loudly. “ I don’t remember what happened next or how many days passed but I’m crying and telling my mom what happened, but she’s not trying to console me, she’s yelling at me and blaming me for what happened. She says it’s the way I dress and act, that Ryan is the victim, that I led him on, she tells me to keep this hidden. Then they find out I’m pregnant. My mother tells me this child is a blessing, this is God‘s will. I look to my father for help, but he’s quiet and never says a word.”
“
You didn’t have to make it so hard, none of this would have happen if you just loved me.”
Ryan whispers into Karen's ear right before their wedding, she's dressed in white and everyone they know is there, they‘re holding the wedding at their home, she looks on with her fake planted smile. But there’s someone under the oak tree that grabs her attention, it’s a dark shadowy figure, wearing a bunny mask. She walks up to this person and asks who they are, they smile and say. “
I’m kinda a new friend and old friend of yours.”
“ I never knew who that person was, when I met them on my wedding day.”
“ Who was it?” The Killer leaned in closer.
“ Something about them didn’t feel right, they just kept looking at me with that bunny mask. I didn't question it, I let it sink away. It took me awhile, but I understand now.” Karen inhaled a deep breath.
“ What happened afterward?” The killer pushed her to move forward.
“ We’re married, living a lie, a lie I believed, people kept telling me how wonderful I look, how beautiful a couple we are, that we were meant to be together.”
“
Keep pushing, it’s almost here, keep pushing you’re doing great.”
Flashes of the day she delivers Ruby into the world replays in her mind, every emotion comes sinking back in, fear, excitement, anxiety.
“
Nine months later Ruby is born, the moment I lay eyes on her, I don’t feel joy or happiness.”
“
well mama, this is your baby girl.”
The Doctor hands her Ruby.
“ I feel regret, anger, and I know this child isn’t suppose to be.” Karen digs her nails into the table, hoping to find strength to carry on. “ I saw through the lie, I saw the man not for a husband, nor a lover or friend, I saw a two-face monster that raped me and force me to be his. So one night, my old friend was outside my porch again.”
“ I’m glad you called, I was wondering when you would.”
“
He told me to drug his drink with some sleeping pills that I kept in the cover, I smashed them inside his drink and handed it to him. I watched as the pills took effect. I could see him looking at me, he knows I did something to him. He’s scared and frighten, he thought he had me under his thumb, he wants to fight back but he can’t.”
“ Let me handle this, just go and hide, Karen.”
Her friend taps her shoulder as she’s holding the gasoline canister and matches. “
If you don’t see it, you can’t be held responsible, go under the oak tree and wait for me there.”
Her friend pours the gasoline all over the house and she drenches baby Ruby’s room, making sure everything lights up quickly and that the child dies as fast as possible. Her masked friend makes one last stop before leaving the house.
“ I hid under the oak tree, I never saw what happened… never..”
Her friend hovers over Ryan, watching his eyes open slowly, it strikes the match and leaves him with one final word of advise that he of all people should have learned a long time ago. “
Never think with your dick.”
“ I just hear his screams for mercy through the fire, telling me he’s sorry. I just cry out for him, then I hear Ruby screeching through the pit of flames, it was the most god awful sound I ever heard in my life. I tried to run back in but it was too late, the fire engulfed the house in seconds, there was nothing I could do. The last thing I see is my friend standing outside the burning house, chuckling, then it starts to weep… I didn‘t understand it, but now I know, I hid a side of me for so long that it started bubbling to the top when I saw my life go deeper down the shit hole, I killed them, I was the monster hiding under the oak tree just waiting to strike.” the realization of it all left her breathless and gasping to find air.
The Killer shook his head. “ You’re not a monster, you were a victim regaining her innocents back,” He held her head still and he tried talking some sense into her, he needed Karen to regain her composure, he couldn’t bare to see her in this state. “ Ryan was the monster, he was a wolf in sheep clothing, he thought he ruled the fields but he never thought he’d run into someone like you, someone different, someone that knew the darkness much better than him, his actions set your course in life.”
Karen smiled joyfully as he said that. “ I understand you now, I can see everything so clear.”
The Killer felt his heart melt as she said that. “ I knew you would.” He caressed his face with hers pausing for a moment to indulge in the love, he then reached into his pocket and pulled out a sharpie and began to finish the markings on her forehead. “ Once this is done, you’ll be free from everything, you’ll feel alive.”
“ Thank you, just thank you.” She said in tears. “ I just want to say something to you before I go. I want to whisper something to you, my love.” She smiled so lovely at him that it was hard to resist her request.
“ I’m coming,” He set the sharpie aside, lean in by her side while holding her hand in his, he brought his ear close to Karen’s mouth waiting to hear those words he knew she would say, “ what is it you wanted to say, my sweet angel?” Instead of being showered with love, he felt the cold hard sharp pain of Karen’s teeth clamp down onto his left ear, he screamed at the top of his lungs as he felt the pressure and blood squirt from the side of his neck. Karen quickly held a death grip on his left wrist, using everything she had in her to cause him discomfort, she could hear the bones crack, one down, seven more to spare.
“ Let go, now!” He howled at her, the more he squirmed he could feel the top part of his ear being bitten one hundred times harder. If he wanted to end this little dance he‘d have to make some sacrifice. With one mighty pull, he yanked himself free from her grip, having the good portion of his top ear still in her mouth. She was like a cat holding a wounded bird, his blood drench down to the side oh his shoulder. “ You fucking bitch!” The first fouled words he ever used on his lovers. Out of sheer blinding rage, he flipped the table Karen was on, on it's side.
The moment Karen toppled to the the ground, the restraint in her left arm broke free, a few broken bones but nothing that would stop her. She raced in a panic to undo the other. She could hear him still moaning in pain. “
Hurry, hurry!”
Her mind raced, as she leaned to the restraints on her foot.
“ What are you doing!?” The Killer ran over in a blink of an eye, quickly going for the same choke hold he did in the alley. “ I'm so sorry, please forgive me.” He cried out to Karen.
Karen fought under the hold, this time she was ready, she knew fighting to break away wouldn't do it. So she reached back and jabbed her thumb into his eye as deep as she could. “ Mother fucker!” He release the grip and topple to the floor grabbing onto his bloody eye.
Karen didn't stop to catch her breath, she pulled the straps loose from her legs and ran towards the elevator shaft, only to have the Killer tackle her to the ground. He was refusing to give up his last piece of the puzzle. “ I'm not like them, you sick piece of shit!” Karen screamed at him delivering a swift kick to his head, he retaliated back with a punch to the gut.
“ You're the answer to it all, your not going anywhere, this is what you're meant to be,” He returned back to his feet, pulling on her legs, sliding her slowly back to the table. “ Why can't you see that!” He yelled like a demon as he tried to drag her back to the operating table.