Project X-Out

151 She does have a point, I suppose. “Okay, okay. I’ll let you come on one condition.” Her face went from incredibly angry to happy in an instant. “What’s the condition?” “You listen to what I say and do what I say no matter what. Got it?” “Yes, of course.” “There are going to be things you won’t want to stay still for, but if you move even an inch, it will mean your life. Do you fully understand what I am telling you?” “Yes, I do.” She grabbed a hold of me and held me tightly. “I’ll do anything you ask. I promise. There’s that feeling I don’t understand again and what the hell was I thinking when I agreed to this. I’ve already got a bad feeling about this. For that whole week I spent most of my time teaching her how to catch and kill someone without getting caught. I explained to her what to carry, pack, not pack, and do in situations that don’t go exactly as planned. With the basic knowledge I’ve shown her, I can only hope for the best when I take her onto the field with me tomorrow. I’ve set up a schedule for us to kill the second on my list of three before Mr. Dowle. The second name I chose for execution was actually a girl. Her name is Kathleen Turner. Ms. Turner has been stealing money from students since before she came to Amherst. It was only first noticed in the first quarter of the year. She had stolen two wedding rings from two different teachers and had traded them off to Mr. Dowle for ecstasy and marijuana. I don’t mind thieves so much, but when you add the bullying, cheating for grades in school, and threatening students for various reasons, that is where I draw the line. “Her tormenting days are over tonight,” I explained the plan to Sara and we are now standing along a fence with bush leaves hanging over. “When I tap your leg twice, that’s what you go in. Do not move until I’ve done so, got it?” “Got it,” she whispered. We are both wearing all black so we can blend into the shadows of the bush and fence easier. As long as Sara doesn’t make any wrong moves or do anything stupid without my signal then this plan should

152 work. I’ve set up a waggon and blanket around the corner in someone’s driveway so we can quickly transport her to the Navy Yard’s bathroom shower area. Once in there we’ll begin. I could see Kathleen exit the back door of her house and head toward the path we were standing on. Just in time for her drug deal, it’s a shame she won’t be able to get that last trip before she dies tonight. Kathleen turned the corner and I tapped Sara on her leg twice. She stepped out from the bush and bumped into Kathleen. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” She’s a good actress. “Watch where you’re going, bitch!”she rudely shouted. I stepped out while she wasn’t expecting it and hit her in the back of the head with my blackjack and she fell unconscious into Sara’s arms. “Well done,” I told her. “How long do we have until she wakes up?” “I’d say no more than twenty-five minutes. We need to hurry.” “Wake up, Ms. Turner. Sleep time is over.” I slapped her forehead and kicked her in the thigh. She woke up and immediately tried to move free. Bound the same way as I did with Mr. Dowle, there is no way she can escape. “I’m going to remove this gag from your mouth; if you scream, I will put it back in, and you are no longer allowed to speak. Do you understand?” She nodded her head with approval, so I removed the gag. Sara was just standing behind in the back watching. I hope she realised how serious this is and wants to back out after this. “You motherfucker, I ain’t got you money so you can go fuck yourself!” She spit at me, but missed my face. I smacked her in the forehead and told her to shut up. “Ms. Turner, we have brought you here because you are a very terrible person. I know what sort of things you do. They range from petty theft all the way up to drug dealing and even, on occasion, selling your own body for money. Did you know that prostitution is illegal in this county and that you are also under aged to be having sex with adult? You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were blackmailing someone with sex.” She stared at me angrily without saying a word.

153 “Are you blackmailing someone right now, Ms. Turner?” “So what if I am? You can’t do fuck all about it.” Interesting. “Who.” She wouldn’t respond. “Who is it?” I put the knife to her leg and cut a hole through her jeans. “The next slice is through your leg.” She remained silent. “Have it your way.” I cut a deep slice through the top of her leg and she screamed out in pain. “Tell me and I will make the pain stop.” “Okay okay!” Much better. “I’m blackmailing Mr. Proxer, okay!” Mr. Proxer is having relations with students. Very enlightening. I never did like that bastard. “Will you let me go now?” she cried. I suppose it is time to let her go. “Yes, you’ll be free very soon. Hold still. I have to gag you once more, okay?” I placed the gag back over her mouth and she closed her eyes to blink out a tear. At that moment, I sliced her throat with my knife. Blood spurt onto the wall beside me as the blade cut through the air exiting her throat. Her eyes lit up in fear as she had no idea what had just happened. She tried to struggle but was unable to move. I could see it in her eyes as she gasped for any amount of air. Once her body went limp, I stood up and looked at Sara. She wasn’t afraid, she wasn’t shaking, and she was even affected by what just happened. Instead she walked over to me, wrapped her arms above my shoulders, and kissed me. “Let’s get cleaning,” she whispered. My heart raced faster than I can ever recall. This feeling is so invigorating. We packed up the body and a cinder block into the bag, lifted it onto the waggon and turned the showers on before we took it to the river. She was wrapped around my arm the entire way to the water. I tied a rope around the bag and then around the second block. She picked up the block, placed it on the edge of the railing as I lifted the body up. Together, we pushed both over the edge and into the river. My first kill with someone. Perhaps one of many. I will have her join me on one or two more of these before I tell her everything. I feel that is someone I will trust. Forever.

154

155 End-Year Emprise All those parents smiling at their children graduating from high school, little do they realise, I’ve been killing those on my list one by one during the school year. My latest victim was the third person on the list of candidates before Mr. Dowle. His name was Michael Mander. I knocked him out at the park one night after picking a fight with him at the school days before. It took him a few days, but he finally challenged me to a fight after school. I gave him the place and time and said for him to come alone. To my surprise, he did. I had him walk right into the shower room at the Navy Yard. From there it wasn’t much of a challenge to club him unconscious. Sara was behind me the whole way and made sure no one was there to see anything. Once I set the room up with him tied in the middle of it, I had Sara do the honours of killing him. It was magnificent the way she cut his throat without hesitation. It was almost as if it were in her nature. No hesitation, no remorse, and no regrets. That same night was the first time I told her I loved her. I’m going to tell her the whole story about my past and about the journal tonight after my graduation ceremony is over. My parents are seated next to her but they don’t know who she is. I haven’t yet told them about her. I was waiting for the weekend after the graduation to let them know I will be leaving the house and moving in with her. I shook my teacher's hands and said my farewells to the school that night. With this diploma I can finally get out of here and process the new stages of my project. Collin, you better be ready for what’s about to come your way because I’m not stopping until every last one of you motherfuckers is dead. I walked down off the stage with the other graduates and we proceeded on our way out of the gymnasium and into the halls. Sara had already been waiting for me outside the door. She pulled me out of line and gave me a huge kiss right in front of everyone. A few of the students were questioning how I could get such a beautiful girl. Obviously they don’t understand that love controls you, not the other way around. “When should we tell your mother?” she asked.

156 “Not tonight,” I replied. “Let tonight be just you and me.” She kissed me one more time and said, “I’ll be waiting at home for you.” With that she left out the back door, got into her car, and drove home. I’m uncomfortably excited to see her tonight. I don’t know why. Right now I have to go return this graduation gown and then meet up with my mother. I’ll have to come up with some sort of excuse as to why I won’t be coming home tonight, though. I guess I can just tell her I’m at a graduation party with a few friends. I don’t think that’s completely unbelievable. “Hey, Rivers!” shouted someone from the mess of people in the library, “Come here for a minute.” If I didn’t have to go in there to give my gown back, I would just leave right now. How unfortunate. I walked into the library and tried to find someone who I might know that’d be calling my name. I didn’t see anyone that would want to talk so I just walked to the line to hand over this gown. “Rivers,” Collin said, tapping me on the shoulder from behind, “congratulations.” He held out his hand as if to shake mine. I don’t want to seem rude so I guess I should shake his hand. “And you as well, Collin.” Don’t tell me you’re changing your ways now, after all these years, Collin. It’d be no fun if you change the game now. “Gord,” Collin called out across the room, “get us a drink.” Gord was standing by the refreshments table eating a cookie and drinking some of the punch that was being served. The worst-case scenario with this punch I can think of would be that it’s spiked with alcohol. It’ll take a lot more than a little alcohol to knock me down so I’ll just accept his gesture. “Rivers, I want to know what you plan on doing in the future as a career,” he asked. This is very strange. Why would he, of all people, want to know what I have planned as a career. “Well, I never really thought of it.” “Come on, I know you've got something in mind. What is it?” “If I could be anything I wanted, I’d definitely want to be a criminal investigator.” That was the truth too. “Really now?” I nodded my head.

157 “That’s exactly what I’m heading to university for in the spring. It’d be cool if we ever ended up working on the field together somehow.” “Heh, yeah, that would be neat, wouldn’t it?” So you’ve been accepted into the criminal investigation courses at the university. This is going to be an interesting future you and I will have. Gord came over and handed Collin the two drinks. Collin then gave me one of the drinks, held up his, and said, “To a crime-fighting future.” “Cheers!” I tapped my cup against his and we both drank. Oddly, I don’t taste any alcohol. Is he actually being genuine for once? “We have to go now. Take care, Rivers.” He and Gord then left the room. That was a rather strange encounter. I wonder why he was being so nice to me. He even got Gord to be nice around me. For him to be nice around anyone is a surprise to me. I handed my gown in and felt a weird sensation rush through my head. The walls started to pull in and push out, and for some reason, I have the taste of metal in my mouth. Wait, that drink! That son of a bitch drugged my drink. Based on the side effects, how fast they are kicking in, and the way everything seems to be slightly more colourful, I’d have to guess they dosed me with lysergic acid diethylamide. I need to call Sara and have her pick me up now. I briskly made my way to the hallway and headed toward the bathroom. The floor felt like I was walking on soft rubber as the walls started melting away on all sides. While walking I struggled to get my phone out of my pocket as everything felt like water. I’m hardly even able to think right now let alone make a phone call. They must have used either a modified formula or they gave me an extra large dosage for it to kick in this quickly. “Shit shit shit,” I could see everything was melting before my eyes. “Call Sara,” I said into my phone, and it dialled her . . . I think. My phone started ringing. I tried to blink but I couldn’t feel it. Sweat was pouring from my head and onto the floor. Within a few seconds the entire floor was soaking wet and it wouldn’t stop. I dropped my phone in the water. I went to reach down only to find myself knee high in the water.

158 I slowly made my way to a stall and sat down on the toilet. The walls around me are breathing heavier and heavier. My mouth and throat are running dry to the point where it hurts to breathe. I reached down to drink some of the water on the floor but couldn’t drink enough to quench my thirst. The water level has stopped rising at my knees, which is good for right now. I feel very scared. At least, I think it is fear that I’m feeling. Banging sounds started coming from all angles, and the ceiling started throbbing like a bass drum. I looked over to the door that was slowly bending. It opened and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Just on the other side of the door was what I would classify as an angel. The angel held her hand out toward me, and I unknowingly reached for hers. As she helped me up I could smell an amazing fragrance coming from her hair so I grabbed her hair and started smelling it. The smell of berries and fruit juice relaxed my body as she helped me escape the flooded bathroom. After hiking through a desert for, what seemed to be hours, we finally made it to a large iron door. The door was so large that I could hardly see the top of it. I was about to look for a way to open the door but I fell to my knees on the ground. The angel touched the door with her hand and with that it flew open. Dust and light surveyed the area and blinded me. I didn’t know where I was going, but I could feel this angel practically carrying me the whole way. Not too long after that I was able to regain my vision. I wish I didn’t, though. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, I believe is the right term for what is happening now. I’m restrained by some very strong leather straps. My back is pinned to a chair and my hands are tied to the sides of my legs so that I am sitting down on them. This feeling of constraint is nerve racking. I am not in fear for my life as I can no longer see where the angel is. “Where the fuck am I?!” I shouted out into the empty padded room I was strapped in, “Let me out of here.” There was no answer from anyone. The only noise I could hear was a constant growling of a lion. I tried to squirm free but it was no use. These straps are too tight. I tried to look around for something I could use to get out of this chair, only the room turned black with shadows. The growling

159 stopped as the room went dark, and out of the shadows came a light. My guardian angel is back. I tried to see her face but the light was too bright and only allowed me to get a silhouette. I reached out for her face but my hands were pushed down. When did I get unbound from those straps? “Angel,” I pleaded, “end my suffering, please.” I feel as if she were to take my life now I could move on happily and leave everything else without regret. This manifestation of emotions is really starting to piss me off. I can’t die yet, I have a goal set that I must accomplish before I can die. The angel raised her hand above her head and with one fell swoop she hit me in the face. I blacked out instantly. Thank you, guardian angel. “Wake up, Lex,” whispered a soft voice from afar. Is that the angel’s voice I hear? I want to move but I can’t. I want to open my eyes and see her face but my eyes feel like they are glued shut. My mouth is so dry that I can’t speak. “Lexie, wake up.” Her voice was a little louder than a whisper but still quieter than just talking. I could feel my body moving as she brushed her hands up and down my chest. Whatever she was doing felt better than a massage. My entire body is tingling. It’s like she melted my skin and is moving it around gently on my body. I tried to open my eyes again so I could see her face but I was barely able to open them or even crack. I felt her hands along the side of my face and on my forehead. It feels like she is checking my temperature. “Hope this doesn’t hurt your eyes,” she said. I could hear the worry in her voice as she said that. What is this massive light?! She forced my eyes open and I was blinded by a massive white light. It’s similar to the same light that was behind her when I was strapped to a chair in that room. Everything just went black again and the pain stopped. Why is it so quiet all of the sudden? I really don’t like this. I need to open my eyes and get up but I feel so weak right now. I struggled to open and close my hands, but I could feel them moving. My

160 eyes feel like I have a brick weighing them down so I don’t think I’ll be able to open them any time soon. Maybe if I can just get my hand to my face. Perhaps there is something on my face that isn’t allowing me to open my eyes. With all my efforts and strength I managed to get my hand onto my chest. Just a few more inches and I will be able to feel my eyes. “Are you awake, Lexi?” the angel asked. She’s back. Maybe she can save me or at least open my eyes. I need to let her know I’m still aware and awake. “Eyes,” I managed to utter a single word; this is good news! “Brace yourself, sweetheart.” Brace myself for what? “Ahh!” What the hell is this pain and light?! “Son of a bitch, goddamnit, motherfucking shit, holy fucking nutballs.” At least I know I can talk. “At least you can talk normally again.” She laughed. The light very slowly started to fade away and I could almost see the angel's face. I reached my hand up to her face and asked, “Where to now . . . my guardian angel.” “We are at the last stop, sweetie,” she said shyly as she put her hand onto mine, supporting it on the side of her face. Her hands are so warm just like her face. It feels so nice that I stopped focusing on my other pains. “Help . . . me up . . . please.” I struggled so hard to say that. I’m so parched and I couldn’t hold in the coughing. I think I just coughed into the angel’s face. “Sorry.” She helped me sit up straight and put something soft behind my back to stabilise the position. “Can you open your eyes all the way?” I tried but failed so I shook my head to say no. “Can I help you?” What does she mean by that? I nodded my head to say yes and she slowly opened my eyes with her warm hands. It was no longer bright but I still had pain running throughout my entire body. She sat there in front of me with my vision a blur I couldn’t, yet again, make out what she looked like. I’m trying so hard to see what she looks like and this whole time I forgot that I was with my lovely lady, Sara. I can’t be attracted to this angelic figure and her at the same time, I won’t allow that.

161 “Let’s see if you stay coherent this time.” She leaned in and kissed me. Her lips felt so soft and warm. I think I even kissed her back. No, I can’t do this. I won’t do this to Sara! With all my efforts I pushed her away from me and fell off whatever I was sitting on. “I can’t do this.” The words struggled to come out but I had no stutter. “I am in love with someone already, I will not betray that love.” Breathing heavily, I finished what I was saying. “I don’t care how angelic of a presence you have, I will not betray Sara.” “Aww, that’s so sweet, Lex,” she said. “Only, if you open your eyes long enough you will see everything much clearer.” What is she talking about? “What do you mean?” I tried to focus my eyes on her but it was all still just a blur. She reached over to what looked like a table, and handed me a glass. “Drink the water, you’re probably thirty.” Finally. Water! I grabbed the glass of water and poured it into my mouth. I’m not sure how full the glass was or if I even managed to get most of the water in my mouth, but just having even a single drop in my mouth made me feel infinitely better. “Thank you.” I’m having too hard of a time breathing. If I can’t control my breath, then I’ll just get thirsty again. “Now look at me.” She put her hand below my chin and raised my head up to look at her. My eyes adjusted slowly, and the blur became sharper. It took me a few moments to realise who the angel was this whole time, and when I did I leaned in and kissed her, I said, “Sara . . . I love you.” “I love you too, Lex.” She helped me into our bed and threw the blankets over us. “Let’s rest for the day, okay?” I wanted to reply to her but I was too relaxed and had already closed my eyes. Did she say “day”? Laying over me in bed, Sara explained to me what happened the night of graduation. The things she told me that I did and said were unbelievable and completely embarrassing. “The only thing I remember from before everything started breathing and melting was rushing to the bathroom to call you.”

162 “Yeah, I got the call and when you didn’t say anything I had a feeling something was up.” She explained, “After I heard you drop your phone, I decided to go back as fast as I could.” “I’m sorry I ruined your sexy, little surprise you had planned for the night.” I feel terrible that I ruined something she put so much effort into making. “Who says you ruined it?” She grinned. “What do you mean?” Did she . . . no, there’s no way she’d have had the chance to . . . Or did she? “Well, you see, since you were here and I was here and you were already ‘prepared’ for it, I decided to have some of my own fun, anyways.” She giggled. “What do you mean by ‘prepared’?” I asked. She climbed on top of me and started grinding lightly with her panties just under her nightgown. She leaned over and whispered in my ear, “You were hard the entire night, so I took advantage of that.” I sighed. “Details, love.” She innocently explained, “I first tied your hands and feet to the bedpost.” That would explain the confined chair scene I had. “Then I did a whole bunch of things to please you. After a while I realised that you weren’t even lucid enough to know what was going on so I just started pleasing myself, using you.” “Then?” There’s got to be more. I know her too well. “Then I thought you were done when you had first finished, but I was wrong, so I kept going.” The deviance in her actions sort of turns me on. “Best multiple orgasms ever.” “That’s not a kick to the ego at all,” I was sarcastically speaking. “Don’t worry, it was still all you could feel.” She smiled. I was about to take her gown and underwear off when there was a knock at the front door. “Son of a bitch, what now?” She rolled off me, quickly changed into a shirt and short shorts. “I’ll get it.” I slowly got out of bed and got dressed. I don’t even know what time it is, but the sun is down so it can’t be early enough to be Girl Guides. I hope it’s not my mother. “Lex,” she hollered for me, “there’s someone here to see you.”

163 Here for me? That’s impossible. No one that I know even knows of this place. I walked out to the front door, completely forgetting to put on a shirt after I got my jeans on. At the door a man who closely resembled detective Marker was standing there. Shocked to see a man who looked just like someone I killed, I didn’t know what to say. “Marker?” That was probably something I shouldn’t have said. “Hello, Mr. Rivers,” he replied.

164 This Means War It’s impossible! I killed you, Marker. I watched you die that day on the rooftop. You had a bullet through your head, no one can live that. Even the police reports stated that he died instantly. This has to be a mistake. This has to be someone else. “I’m sorry, you look like someone I knew.” I have to play this as smoothly as possible. “Who are you?” “Judging by your reaction, you must have some sort of idea who I am, Mr. Rivers.” He seemed too calm to be who I think he is. “I’m the brother of the late William Marker.” “Yes, but why are you here?” I seemed a little hostile toward him. I need to calm down. “I just came to talk to the last person who saw my brother alive.” His words seem too suspicious, and why come at this hour of night? “Now is not the best time. I’m actually rather ill from something I drank the other day.” Technically that’s true. “It’s okay, I’ve got our information. I’ll give you a call tomorrow afternoon. How does coffee sound?” “Coffee?” He assumes I will agree to an appointment. Though, I have no choice in the matter. I need to know what he thinks he knows or do whatever it is to get him off my back. If this Marker issues resurfaces again I will have Valory all over my back again. “Yes, tomorrow at the coffee shop you usually get your tea every night. Let’s say around two?” How does he know that?! “Seems an appropriate time. I’ll be there.” He has to be stalking me. What has he seen from following me, though? He walked away as I shut and locked the door. I don’t know what to do right now. If he knows about what I’ve done or even what Sara has done with me, then I’m screwed. “Didn’t you say that Marker was the detective investigating my family before he was shot on the rooftop with you?” Sara asked. “Yes, and we’ve got a lot to talk about.” I explained the whole story to her, only this time I didn’t leave out anything. I told her how I killed Marker and staged the rooftop to make it look as though he died protecting me. How I tricked Valory into becoming my friend and also how I used her to get out of the police radar.

165 “That is just . . .” She paused. I fear for what her next words might be. “You’re absolutely amazing.” “What?” She was appalled by that at all. “You don’t think any less of me?” “Of course I do!” She explained. “I’m pissed off that you didn’t tell me any of this sooner but I can understand your reasons for it.” If I knew this, I would have told her sooner. “That leads me to the next obstacle. Marker’s brother.” I rushed him out sooner than he could give me his first name. I don’t even know if Marker is his last name. I’m so stupid! “Fuck!” I yelled. Sara looked a little scared at the fact I was angry. I don’t think she’s ever seen me angry before. “I’m sorry, let’s just take this one step at a time.” I need to calm down and think about what I will have to do if things go south on this. “I just need to figure out what he wants to talk about and what he plans to do. After that I’ll decide what to do from there.” Sara grabbed me by the wrists and pulled me back to bed. She got under the blanket with me and took off her shorts. “How about we just get some rest so that you can get that LSD out of your system. Does that sound good?” She’s right. If I don’t get this drug out of my body, then I won’t be able to work at my highest potential. “You’re right, as usual.” I kissed her and turned off the lamp. “I’m sorry for getting angry.” That next morning, Sara vigorously shook me awake, “Lex, wake up! It’s one o’clock!” “Shit.” It looks like we overslept. I got up out of bed and we both jumped into the shower. Sara drove me to the coffee shop but we were twenty-five minutes late. Luckily this guy is very patient. “Ah, Mr. Rivers,” he said cheerily. “I’m glad you made it. I was getting worried for a moment there.” What does he have on me that could possibly make him so happy all the time to see me? “Yeah, I’m sorry. As I stated last night, I was a little ill, and I overslept because of it.” “It’s all right. You’re here now, and that’s what matters.”

166 I looked on the table and saw that he had ordered me some tea. “How long has that been sitting there for?” “About ten minutes. It’s still very warm. Please, have a seat.” Did he know I was going to be late? “Thank you.” I pulled the chair out for Sara to sit down when I was interrupted. “Before she sits, I would like to ask if we can make this a private meeting?” What the hell could he possibly want this to be private for? “It’s alright, love.” I kissed her on the forehead and tapped her waist five with my index and middle fingers, alternating for each tap. With that she turned around, looked at the clock and went outside. Not too long after I started showing her how I operate we decided to make a few signals that only we would be able to read so that we can communicate without others knowing. When I tapped her five times on the waist it signalled, obviously, the number 5, which tells her to wait five minutes, and then I tapped her on the waist, which stands for “weight,” thus “wait.” Simple and it works for us. “Now then, what is your name?” I asked, taking a seat. “My name is Vincent Marker.” So I finally have a name for you, Vincent. “What would you like to know?” I asked impatiently, “There is an expiration on when this becomes ‘non private.’” “I see.” He seems to have no problem with this. “What I am going to say has to stay between you and myself only.” “Okay.” I’ll most likely tell Sara about everything, anyways. “I don’t expect you to listen to that, though. I’m sure given your connection with Sara, you’re sure to tell her everything. Now then, I know my brother didn’t die as it was reported on that rooftop. He was a good detective and didn’t always follow the rules, I know that much, but he sure as hell wouldn’t give his own life to save a stranger.” And that’s what got him killed. “So what do you think happened?” I asked. “I think that you killed him or, at least, you staged the incident to make it look like he died protecting you. What I cannot figure out is the why. Why would you, who had survived that whole ordeal, want to stage his death to look like something else?” He’s good, I’ll give him that. Not even Valory was able to depict that part.

167 “So you’re accusing me of murder, eh?” I can’t overreact and I can’t underreact. This is going to be more annoying than I thought. “I’m not accusing, necessarily. I’m just trying to rule you out.” “Are you a part of law enforcement?” Please say no.” “No, I’m not.” “Then why are you investigating me, stalking my girlfriend, examining police evidence, and bothering me about such a tragic time in my life?” I hope that shuts him up. “You lost Samantha that day and I mean no disrespect toward you. But I lost my brother. I won’t let his death be in vain.” “Know this about your brother. He may have been selfish his whole life, I don’t really care, but what he did for me that day on that rooftop was the most heroic thing I have ever seen. If anything, he is and always will be my hero. He saved my life twice that day.” “I know it was an altered scene. You can’t fool me.” “If it was an altered scene, then prove it to the police. Only with a real detective working that case will I answer your silly questions.” “I will prove it—” “And if you bother me ever again about this situation, I will see that you are dismissed. Permanently.” He laughed at me, that arrogant bastard. “Threats won’t do you any good, you see, I don’t have anything to lose. You, on the other hand—” “If I ever see you following me or my family, you will regret it.” “No need to get angry, Mr. Rivers, this is just a simple conversation. No need to make a scene.” What is his game here and why is he acting bipolar? I wish I could just kill him right now, but I can’t kill someone just because I don’t like them. “I wonder something, Mr. Rivers.” “What’s that?” “How long did it take you after Samantha died before you started sleeping with her sister?” That motherfucker, I’ll kill him! Sara walked back inside and headed toward our table. “Your time is up. Goodbye, Vincent.”

168 “I’ll be seeing you around, Mr. Rivers.” He got up and walked out the way Sara was entering. “Lex, are you okay?” Sara asked. “Let’s go, I’ll explain on the way back.” I need to kill something or perhaps even someone. On the way back to Sara’s place I had her stop at my mother’s house. I need to let my mother know that I’ll be gone for a while. I’ve got a few papers I forged stating that I’ve got a job opportunity off in the Ottawa district and that I’ll be attending the university there, too. Of course, she believed the whole story and congratulated me on getting my life in order. The most awkward part of the whole visit was introducing Sara to her. My mother, at first, thought she was bad news but slowly began to realise how good Sara is for me. I’m sure with a little bit of time my mother will soon accept Sara into her home like she did with Samantha. “Good that that’s finally out of the way,” I said to Sara, entering her car. “Let’s head back and figure out what to do from here.” “Shouldn’t we just get rid of him?” she asked. “It isn’t as easy as to just get rid of him. He’s got people who know where he is and who he is talking to during his visit here.” That’s not to mention the details he has on me. “Also, there’s Detective Valory who will be hounding me if Marker’s brother goes missing just after paying me a visit.” I can’t risk reopening the Marker wounds on Valory. It was hard enough just getting her to trust me. “So what do we do?” she asked, pulling out of the driveway. “We can’t do anything right now,” I replied sadly. “I’m going to have to stalk him and figure out his routine. Once I can get him in a place long enough to break into his apartment, I’ll be able to search for something that I can use to flush him out of the city.” “Why can’t you just make it an accident?” She doesn’t understand why I can’t just kill him. “He doesn’t fit the profile. I can’t just kill this man because he accused me of killing his brother. Unless he has something to hide from his past, he is untouchable. Got it?”

169 “Yeah, I get it.” She seemed disappointed. “You are those rules you have.” “It’s my rules that keep us from getting caught or killed.” “So how do we do it then?” That’s a good question, “I’ll figure out something. For now let’s keep driving, but not home.” “Why not home?” She seemed confused. “The white car behind the van.” I pointed out the mirror. “He’s been tailing us since we left to meet with Marker.” “Fuck. Why didn’t you point this out sooner?” “I needed to know that he wasn’t with Marker.” If he was with Marker, then he wouldn’t have left with us; he would have just stayed with Marker and received a status update. This guy is following us for another reason and I aim to find out what that reason is, “How are we on milk?” “What?” “How much milk do we have back at home?” “How the fuck can you be thinking of grocery shopping at a time like this?!” “Please, sweetheart, answer the question.” She doesn’t get that I have a plan up my sleeves. I always have a plan. She sighed. “We have half a carton left.” “Okay.” I guess we’re going shopping with our new friend. “Please stop at the grocery store so we can get some.” She seems to be stressed for some reason. Normally, when someone is being tailed, they try to keep their thoughts calm and organised. With this guy, she seems to be on edge and paranoid. I’m almost certain she knows who this is or at least why he’s following us. If it’s not us he’s following, then it’s just her. “Park at the back furthest from the door.” If we park at the back, then he’s sure to park somewhere near the middle. Once he does, I’ll be able to see what he looks like. “What do you want to do when we get in?” She seems somewhat scared. “When we get out of the card, you are going to hold my arm. You will not look at his car or even acknowledge that he is there. He’ll be parked near the middle, so just keep your eyes either on me or to the doors we are heading for. Just act normal.”

170 We got out of the car and headed toward the door. Sara was able to act a lot better than I anticipated her. We got near the white car, which was parked in the middle of the lot between a van and a pickup truck. I stopped her in the middle of the lot and kissed her. Using the kiss to my advantage, I glanced over to the driver. He was wearing a ball cap, black shirt with a design on it, and was quite built. Taking him out won’t be as easy as I thought. “He’s going to be too tough to knock out,” I whispered to her waking into the store. “I don’t think a blow to the head will take him out. The only thing I can think of to do the job would be a tranquilliser.” “I don’t suppose you have any on you, do you?” She’s worried again. “No.” This might not work out at all. “Change of plan.” “Let’s hear it.” “You get the milk. I’ll do the rest.” “Okay. But what if—” I interrupted her, “There is no what if. Meet me at the bakery section after you’ve got the milk. I’m in the mood for some cookies with my tea today.” She couldn’t help but smile. “Okay, just be careful.” If I’m right about this man following her; then it’ll probably have something to do with her family, which means he’ll be focused on her and now even think to look for me. I’ll have to act quickly if I want to get this done on time. I walked to the exit doors and just as I was leaving I caught a glance at him walking in through the entrance. I don’t think he saw me; this is perfect. I lightly jogged toward the centre of the lot where his car was. I looked around to make sure no one was watching and crouched. I always keep a knife holstered on my leg just in case anything was to happen on the streets. I punctured the two tires on the left side of his car and proceeded to the right side. I just need to get back inside and find Sara before he does. After rushing back into the store, I headed toward the bread aisle and met up with Sara. On my way past a few people, I saw the man standing by the meat looking over at us casually while browsing the steaks and ground beef. He doesn’t seem to want to grab Sara; he just looks like he is observing her. But why?

171 “Let’s go,” I whispered to her. We went to the checkout, paid for the groceries, and left the store. I could see him trailing not too far behind us; unfortunately for him he won’t be behind us for very long. I hope you have four spares in that car or else you’re going to need to call Triple A. “Let’s get out of here, quickly. He seems pissed that I slashed his tires,” I said to Sara after getting in the car. She started the car and we sped out of the driveway. “So, who was her?” I asked her. “I thought you knew.” Is she trying to cover up something? “Sara.” I gave her a stern look so she knows that I know something is up. “Okay,” she confessed, “he was following me because of you.” “Who was he?” “I’m not sure who he was, exactly, but I know who he was working for.” “And that is?” She’s trying my patience. “When you killed Aldo, my father, that man was sent to come and get me. He is a bodyguard for my family.” “Your family bodyguard?” I can’t believe their family has a bodyguard. “Just one for the entire family?” “There’s not many of us left.” Oh shit, that might be my fault. “I see. So he’s making sure I don’t kill you because I killed three of your family members and watched two die in front of me. Am I right?” “Yeah.” Well, that’s a bummer. “Why didn’t he just confront us?” “Well, by the way he was stalking you and I, I don’t think he’s looking to make friends with you.” “So he’s trying to kill me in other words?” “Maybe.” Terrific, I got a potential hitman after me and I caused Sara’s family to nearly go extinct. I’m definitely boyfriend of the year. “Fuck me.” Well, I’ve fucked up really bad here. “This is fucking bad. How did I ever get myself in this mess.” “What should we do?” There she goes again, worried like we’re both at fault here.

172 “I’ll talk to him personally.” I think I have a plan. “I’ll take him out for dinner and we’ll talk it out like gentlemen. I don’t want you there; can you please not argue this one?” She seemed hesitant. “Fine, but I want you on voice surveillance. I want to listen to everything that is said.” “Agreed.” I don’t mind her listening, just as long as she’s not there. I walked out of the room and dialled one of the contacts on my phone named Lily & Rose. Lily and Rose are two well-known black-market horticulturalists. They sell plants that have unique traits to them. Most popular ones are the poisonous type. “Lilies and Roses,” said a cute voice. “Journey beyond the River,” I said. There was a brief hold, and I was patched over to Lily. “Rivers, long time no talk. How’ve you been, handsome?” “I’ve been well, love. I just need some flowers for a friend.” “What kind of flowers are you looking for?” “What’s the best you have?” “We’ve got flowers to make anyone want to sleep forever, drown in a sea of fluorescence flavours, never want to leave home, or—” “Forever and a day.” This code means “permanent” effect, or death. “I’ve got the perfect flower for you!” She always seems too cheery to sell me flowers. Sometimes it scares me. “Let’s make the heavens sing in your lovely garden,” I chanted. “And what better music than a classy trumpet!” She continued, “I’ll have it delivered to the same spot as always. You know the lockbox code.” “Money will be sent in forty-eight hours, as usual.” This is a usual routine for me when making any sort of deal with anything that is remotely close to being illegal. “Half now half later,” she said in sync with me. “Bye for now!” she said as I hung up the phone. I’m sure she’ll have it delivered before I even get to the drop box. “Sara,” I called out, “we’re going out.” “Where?” she questioned.

173 “Marcotte funeral home.” That’s where I’ll pick up the flowers. Grave 30, row 4. Sara stopped and stared at me. Marcotte cemetery is where her family’s crypt is. Grave 4-32 is where Sam was supposed to be buried.

174 A Grave Mistake “You motherfucker!” Sara is a little upset at the fact I used Sam’s grave as a lockbox for my black-market trades. “I can’t believe you used Sam’s grave. Of all the graves you could desecrate, why did it have to be hers?!” “Because Sam isn’t in that grave.” I may have forgotten to mention this to her a long time ago. I guess informing her while she is driving wasn’t a great idea. “What!” Definitely not a good idea. “What the fuck did you do with my sister?!” “Her ashes are in my crypt sitting next to my name.” This is harder to explain than I had thought. “But why?” she cried. “Why not put her in my family crypt?” “Your mother, uncle, and cousin all tried to kill me and also threatened to harm her. Your father killed her without hesitation and she was going to be the mother of my unborn child.” This is the most awkward conversation I will ever have in my life. “So you can probably see why I found it appropriate to put her next to me when she died, and since no one was there to disagree, I was legally able to do it.” “Fuck.” She seems less upset all of the sudden. “I can’t fucking believe it. I’m sorry, Lex.” “Why are you sorry?” Did I just miss something here? “For a moment, I honestly forgot my life was as fucked up as it is. I’m sorry I got angry a moment ago.” She stepped toward me and wrapped her arms around me. I could feel her tears soaking through my shirt so I pushed her back a little, not letting her go and wiped away her tears. “You’ll have your place next to her, too. Don’t worry.” “She always was the rebellious one of the family.” “Really?” I am completely dumbfounded by what she just said. “Sam, a rebel?” “Yeah, for real.” I think she’s actually serious. “She was always forcing herself away from the family, always disappearing during the nights, never called me, hardly ever making it to family events, and when she did, she was off in her own world, and she even used the cabin one summer without inviting me.” Oh shit. All of what she just said points to me. I’m the reason Sam wasn’t ever around. “Well, that was because of me.”

175 “I had the feeling it was because of you, but I was just too afraid to ask because I didn’t know how you’d react.” That makes two of us, I guess. “Let’s figure out what to do with Vince.” She looked up at me smiling. “Shall we?” “First thing’s first, love.” I grabbed her hand and directed her toward my desk. “We need to deal with our friend that’s been following us.” I showed a rough sketch of what the lockbox looked like and how to open it from the grave stone. She seemed to understand how everything worked. I didn’t give her the pass code, yet, because it might change before we get there. I explained, on the way to the cemetery, that the lockbox password changes every hour on the hour. The reason for this has always been a mystery to me, but here is an equation to solve the combination after it has been changed. The formula is quite complicated. It’s so complex that I’ve spent months trying to figure it out, but have failed to do so. The first and last numbers are always between three and nine but will never be seven and the other four digits are chosen at random between zero and nine. If I could, one day, figure out the algorithm to their lockboxes then I can steal so many valuables from so many buyers. That is but only a small dream. “That was a quick recovery.” I was subtly directing Sara’s eyes over toward the secondary gates to the cemetery.” “How did he know we were going to be here?” That’s a good question. I’m beginning to think either my room is tapped with a wire or possibly she is. If that’s true then he might know about the poison. This isn’t looking so good. “Park sideways behind his car.” I told her, “He’s not leaving that spot until I’ve spoken with him.” “What, are you serious?” If he knows what our plan is, then he’s already come up with a countermeasure for it and won’t fall for the poison. Money well wasted.

176 Sara nervously drove behind him and parked the car behind his. He started his engine and quickly realised he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. I got out of the car from the back driver side door and walked over to his door. He was just sitting there with both hands on the steering wheel looking straight ahead. I knocked on the window and told him to open his window. I have to figure out what he wants with Sara. I don’t care if I have to beat it out of him. “Hey, I said open up. Please.” He looked over at me and unlocked his door. I stepped back as he opened the door and got out of the car. Oddly enough, he looked taller than I remember. “What do you want with her?” He reached into his jacket pocket and I flinched. When I saw him pull out an envelope, I recollected myself. He handed me the envelope, but I, being the paranoid germ phobic I am, put on a glove before grabbing the envelope. He sat back down in his car, shut and locked the door. I banged on the window and furiously demanded him to open the door. “Shit motherfucker!” I backed up away from the door and back to Sara’s car, “We need to hurry and get out of here.” “Why?” she said starting the car back up. “What happened?” Before I went back to Sara’s car, I saw that he had white foam coming from his mouth and he started shaking. “Stay here and keep the car running!” I put the envelope on the back seat of the car and ran over to the false grave stone. I quickly opened the lockbox and pulled out a small tin container, which held the angel trumpet flowers. I can’t believe he was only sent here to send me a message. This seems too high profile for someone who was sent to just observe. There has to be someone else pulling the strings and I need to find them before they find me. “Drive, now!” I said, entering the passenger side door. Sara sped off from the cemetery. “Where are we going and the fuck is going on?” “We need to go to LaSalle.” I slowly started to calm myself. “Someone’s following us.” I just can’t see them. “Who?” Now I’ve got her paranoid. “Where the fuck do I go?” “You’re going to a street called ______. It’s located on the south side of LaSalle. There we’ll find a white house with a wooden shed in the back. That is where we are going.”

177 “What the hell?” I’ve only confused her more, but I can’t tell her my real intentions. Not if we’re bugged. “What’s in the shed?” “Passports and cash. We’re leaving the country today.” But that’s not really what’s in there. “Okay, you better fucking tell me what’s going on right now or I’m we’re not going anywhere.” She started to slow down. I put my hand on her leg and pushed down, signalling her to speed up again. “Sweetheart, we’re going. I can explain everything once we’ve reached London.” “London? Like England, London?” “Yes.” I need to find a pen and paper. “Why the fuck are we going to fucking London fucking England?!” I grabbed a pen and wrote inside a magazine where to really go. “We are going there so that we are both safe.” I showed her what I wrote. “Okay, okay. I understand, you’ll explain when we get there. I got it.” That’s a girl. I’m glad she knows what to do now. I’m not sure how much more yelling I could take. The house we are actually going to is right next door to the one with the shed. She’ll park in front of the house with the shed and we’ll walk to the back yard. Once in the yard, there’ll be two loose fence boards that we will slip through to the house next door. Once we’re inside the yard next door it’s just a matter of waiting for the show to start. “Here, put this on.” I handed her a gas mask with tinted sights. Without question she put it on and we sat down in the two conveniently placed lawn chairs. It was quiet for about two minutes when we heard a series of clicks followed by an explosion. The shed was rigged to explode once someone set off the tripwire. That’s not all. The explosion sent off small gas grenades that released my own modified version of chlorine gas. I didn’t know if this would ever come in handy one day so I decided to go all out. It was a bit of a waste, though. Seems there were only two people who were following us. Sara and I got into the car, removed the gas masks, made out for a couple seconds, and then drove back home. After we showered and packed up our things, we heard a knocking on the door. Too paranoid to check who it was, we stopped what we were

178 doing and didn’t move. They knocked again. Whoever it is doesn’t want to give up. I could hear a woman mumble from behind whoever was knocking on the door. I sounded like she said, “Move aside.” Just then there was a jiggling on the door knob. Son of a bitch, they’re picking the lock. I waved Sara to get back into the room and she quietly stepped around the corner. I swiftly made my way into the room and, without making any unnecessary noise, I grabbed my bow out of her closet. I always keep a spare hidden somewhere just in case. The door opened, and I pulled Sara into the closet. Putting my figure to my lips signalling her to be quiet, I drew an arrow to the kisser. I trained it at the door. I can hear three sets of footsteps which tells me only one person will enter this room while the other two head for the living and dining room of the apartment. I saw two shadows pass the door frame. This is it, the third person. I’ve only got two shots, though, and my knife kit is underneath the couch in the living room. I may have to improvise. I just hope I have enough time. Number three was slowly stepping toward the door. I could hear it was a woman based on the clicks of her heels on the floor. The first thing to enter the room, by only a few inches, was her gun. I only have, at most, 0.3 seconds to react after shooting this arrow so I need to move out of the firing range of her weapon before she shoots. That is, if I miss. Fuck me, it’s Valory! I’ve already begun to shoot the arrow and it’s too late to change my movements. I jerked my hand to the right hoping to hit the door frame or wall. Please miss. The arrow pierced past the back of her head and pinned her hair tie to the door. She raised her gun to see me standing there. “Fuck, Lex?!” Well, I guess I can’t say I never miss anymore. “What are you doing here, Valory?” I ran over and started wiggling the arrow out of the door. The two men came around the corner with their guns aimed at my head. “Don’t move!” “It’s okay, he’s with me.” She struggled to get free but there was too much of her hair in the door.

179 After I got the arrow out, I asked her to have her men put their guns away. I don’t like guns. I wasn’t sure if I should have Sara come out, but she knows not to move when I say don’t move. “What are you doing here, Lex?” she asked. “Isn’t this—” “Sara’s place,” I interrupted, “I know.” “Then why are you”—she paused—“are you two? Oh my god. For real?” I don’t know what to tell her. “Yeah, we are.” “Goddamnit, Lex. Are you fucking serious?” “What are you doing here and why did you have to break in?” “We’re here to talk to Sara about someone named Vincent. Do you know where she is?” “Mr. Marker isn’t here right now. He’s off somewhere planning his next stalk on me.” “You know Vincent?” She clearly doesn’t know he’s in town. “He’s here in the city?!” “Yes, we had tea earlier.” “You have to tell me where he is.” “I don’t know where he is. After we met, Sara and I went grocery shopping then came back here.” “What about the cemetery?” How does she know we went there? “I assume you found the messenger.” Oh no. I forgot about the letter he gave me. It’s still in the back seat of Sara’s card along with the angel trumpets. If Valory sees that, I’m really in for it. “Is Sara here, now?” she asked, looking around the room from the door. “No, she’s not.” I lied, “Also, don’t mention to her that I keep a bow in her closet. Please.” “You and your bows. I’m just glad you’re not as good of a shot as people say you are.” No, you’re just lucky I saw you in time. “Hahaha, yeah, I guess so.” I closed the closet door and leaned the bow against it. Sara gave me a very worried look. At least she knows not to move or make noise. “Can I get you some tea, anyone?” I offered. “No, we’re leaving soon,” Valory said kindly. “We were just here for Sara. I’m sorry we scared you.” “I’ll see you out.” I walked them to the door. “Oh, and you owe me.” “For what?”

180 “The door.” I smiled. “Take care, Valory.” “She waved bye and walked away chuckling at my joke. Though, I wasn’t joking, but it’s better than her finding Sara right now. “Call me when Sara gets back, will ya?” she hollered down the hallway. “Will do.” I shut the door and relocked it. “Sara got out of the closet and walked over to me. “Why was she here?” “I don’t know.” This situation just got a whole lot worse now that Valory is involved. “I need to think of what to do next, but first, I need your car keys.” “For what?” “I left the letter and angel trumpets in your car. It would be bad if Valory decides to break into your car only to find a preserved poison and a possible evidence to a suicide.” She handed me the keys. I looked out the window toward the parking lot to see Valory and the two cops getting in their cars and drove away. I rushed to the front door and opened it. “Hello, Mr. Rivers,” Vince greeted. “Son of a bitch.” One break, that’s all I ask for. “Is that really a way to say hello to a friend?” He thinks we’re friends now?! “What do you want?” I looked down to see he had pulled out a gun. It was pointed at my stomach. On his other hand he had the box with my angel trumpets in it as well as the, now opened, letter. “Well, come on in, I guess.” I turned around and walked to the living room where Sara was standing. “Lex!” she cried out. I signalled her to stand down. “Perfect, you’re here too.” That smug look on his face must mean there’s something very incriminating in that envelope, “Please, take a seat. Get comfortable.” “What do you want, Vince?” I asked rudely. I could feel my other half starting to take over. The half of my personality that I don’t let others see. Not even Sara has seen it. “Since you asked so nicely I’d like three point four million dollars, in cash, brought to this address by tomorrow night or I’ll

181 expose these photos in this envelope to the police.” He threw the envelope on the floor in front of me. I bent down and picked it up without taking my eyes off of him. I opened the envelope and pulled out the pictures from inside. Shit. There were five pictures of the factory rooftop that Marker and I were on when I killed him from an aerial point of view. The first picture had Marker holding Liora at gunpoint with me standing offside between him and Aldo. The next shot was with Liora and Aldo dead in a pool of their blood. Then the next three shots were of me shooting Marker followed by me cleaning up the scene and rearranging it. It seems that the man that was following us was sent to send a message but things must have become complicated and he killed himself after giving me the photos. Perhaps someone paid him off. Maybe it was Vince all along. I guess there’s only one way to find out. “So how much did you pay our stalker friend to hand over the papers and kill himself?” “Hahaha, oh, you’re a clever one, I’ll give you that. It didn’t take much. Just his two daughters and wife as hostages.” That cold-hearted bastard. I’ll enjoy killing you slowly. “And how do you suppose we get three and a half mill in one day’s time, huh?” “Oh?” It looks like he knows something I don’t, again, “You don’t know?” Just tell me already, you bastard, “Know what?” “Your sweet lover over there has a Swiss bank account with exactly three point four million dollars in it.” I looked over my shoulder to see her facial reaction in the corner of my eye. It looks like he’s telling the truth. “Leave her out of this.” Great, now he’s pissed me off even more. “Then pay up and all of this will disappear with one push of a button.” “Fine. I’ll get you the money,” Sara said to him. I turned around and looked at Sara, shocked that she’d even consider doing this for me and also in disapproval. “Good!” He smiled. “I’ll be at that address tomorrow all day. I don’t expect to see anyone else besides the two of you come. Do I make myself clear?” I let out a sign. “Yeah. Clear.” Odds are he won’t be there, anyways, so calling the police won’t do anything. Plus that’ll only

182 lead into an investigation, and I can’t afford to have that come down on me. I’ll have to kill him before he leaves this building then. “Good day to you both, then.” He approached the door walking backward while keeping that gun aimed at me. I only have seconds after that door closes to get into the door and grab the bow once that door shuts. He shut the door and I quickly jumped to the bedroom, “Lex, what are you do—” I hushed her before she could speak anymore. I grabbed the bow and the arrow I fired at Valory from the ground and opened the front door. I looked both ways down the hallway but didn’t see him anywhere. Impossible! There’s no way he’d have been able to walk down either way of this hall within the few seconds it took me to get out here. “Fuck!” I slammed the door shut. “Lex, don’t worry.” She tried to comfort me. “We will get through this.” “There’s no way he could have left—” That’s it! He didn’t leave; he just entered another room. That must be how he knows where we’ve been going and what our plans have been. He probably bugged the room with cameras or microphones, or even both. “We’re leaving. Let’s go.” I put the bow and arrow on the bed and walked to the sofa. I reached under and pulled out my knife kit. “Where are we going and what are those?” I never told her about this kit as it was an emergency kit in case something terrible had happened. “Let’s go, now.” I demanded her open the door and escorted her out. We walked down to her car, got in and drove to the river where I usually do my body dumping. The whole ride was quiet and awkward, but I couldn’t risk there being bugs in the car listening to what we say. “Will you talk to me yet?” she asked as we approached the water. “You’re starting to scare me.” I put my finger up to her lips and hushed her. I turned her head around and closely examined her earrings without touching them. It’s very unlikely that they are bugged, but at this point, I can’t be too sure.

183 A sigh of relief escaped as I finished checking her earrings. “Good. We’re alone.” “What are you talking about?” she stated angrily. “We were alone in the apartment, too.” “I have reason to believe that the apartment is bugged.” I explained to her how I came to the conclusion. With the sudden appearance of Vince, followed by him knowing where I get my tea regularly was just too suspicious, but also not that hard to imagine someone figuring out with a few simple stalking measures. It wasn’t until he accused me of killing Marker that I didn’t think he was working alone. Though, I was wrong. He has been working alone this whole time. When that man following us gave me the envelope and then killed himself I knew someone else was pulling the strings from there. He must have a camera in the car because he knew what to take. “I should have opened the envelope when I had it from the beginning. I’m not sure why I didn’t.” I’m very upset with myself. “The good side of all of this is that he has to be in close proximity to us for the wireless bugs to work. I’m thinking he might possibly be next door to us.” “How could you come up with that?” she questioned. “It took only eight seconds for me to get to the bedroom, pick up the bow and arrow, make it to the front door and open it to look down the hallway.” I explained, “On our way out we were walking fairly quickly, would you agree?” “Yeah.” She’s confused already. “Well, it took us over fifteen seconds to make it down the hallway and to the stairs. Unless he ran, which we would have heard since that apartment’s halls echo like a motherfucker, he must have walked into another room within four doors left or four doors right of ours.” “Oh shit, you’re right!” “Now what we need to do is figure out what one.” I just don’t know how to go about doing that. “I have an idea.” She suggested, “Let’s order a few pizzas.” “The hell?” She’s thinking of ordering pizza at a time like this?! “Yeah, let’s order a pizza, one every hour, and have them delivered to each room. The room who doesn’t answer their door must surely be his, right?” This is actually a good plan. “And even If he

184 does answer it, we’ll have two cameras pointing left and right from the bottom of our door. We’ll see everyone who opens their doors from in front of us.” “Four cameras.” I want all angles in this. “I’ll deal with the neighbours across from us.” This is as good of a plan as we’re getting on such short notice. All we have to do now is get four wireless cameras small enough to fit under a one inch gap of the door, and I know the perfect place. “Welcome to Wal-Mart, I hope you can find everything you’re looking for!” The doorman greeted us as we walked past him. No one ever pays attention to the greeters. I’m not even sure why they get paid to stand there and greet people, no one cares. “Behind the store, there’s a guy named David. He’ll have the type of cameras we’ll need.” “They aren’t on the shelf?” “Nope, these are cameras he orders privately. He’s sort of a fence. He uses Wal-Mart as a cover job for his fencing operations.” “How do you know this?” If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear my mind was just blown by the fact. “Because I got him into the business.” “Fuck me.” Her love for me just grew even more. “I didn’t think it was possible to love you any more than I already did.” “Hey, is David in today?” I asked one of the ladies working in electronics. “Yeah, he’s on lunch right now. He won’t be out for another twenty minutes.” “Can you get him, please?” I used my innocent-seduction voice. “Let him know it’s Rivers and he’ll come.” Her face turned red and she stuttered a reply, “O-okay, one moment.” She walked to the back room to get David. “I hate when you do that. I hope you know.” Sara seemed jealous. “Don’t worry, my love. No one can ever take your place.” I leaned down and kissed her. “Fuckin’ right!” She’s so cute when she’s jealous.

185 “Rivers, nice to see you again,” Dave said, reaching for a handshake. He withdrew his hand, “Right, germ-guy. What can I do you for?” “I need those cameras. The small ones.” “I got some in the back if you don’t mind waiting a few minutes.” I leaned in to tell me. “Also, it will cost you. Sorry.” “I couldn’t accept them otherwise, mate.” I held out my hand and shook his. In my hand was a fold of five one-hundred- dollar bills. He accepted the money nonchalantly. “Where do you get your money from?” Sara asked. “I never see you work and I know your family isn’t rich. So where do you get your money?” I chuckled at her question. “Yeah, I guess that is a good question, huh.” She let out a sigh and didn’t question it any further. I can be stubborn at times, especially when it comes to the topic of money. I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone how I have so much money. We waited there, casually browsing the electronics, waiting for David. After five or six minutes he came back with an unmarked box. It wasn’t large, but it wasn’t small either. He must have manually packaged everything in there because it doesn’t look like there’s four cameras and a receiver in there. “Here you go, man.” “Thanks, Dave.” We walked to the register and he pretended to ring in the box. I handed him a twenty-dollar bill, and he opened the register, handing me back a few random amounts of coins. Just an act for the cameras. “A pleasure as always, your highness.” Dave nodded. “The pleasure is all mine.” I nodded back and walked away with Sara. “Your highness?” she said it as if it were impossible to believe that I was of great stature. “Yeah, it’s a long story.” I don’t feel like explaining it. “Let us focus our attention on Vince for now, though.” Once we got back to the apartment, we had to figure out where the cameras were set up. We pretended to clean and organise the room so that we could figure out any blind spots on the cameras. I managed to find the one pointing at the front door. If I moved it, then it was

186 completely out of range then I’d only be making it clear that we know and our efforts will have been for waste. What I need to do is “accidently” knock down the table that our keys rest on so that I have a reason to move the lamp that’s on it. I have the perfect, most cliché way of doing it too. I hope you get a laugh out of this. Vince, because it’s the last laugh you’ll have. I pulled out my phone and pretended to text on it. “Sweetheart, come and take a look at this hilarious video my brother just sent me.” I walked quickly toward the corner where the lamp was and collided into Sara the moment she turned the corner. The klutz that I am, I tripped and hit my head off the wall and table, thus knocking the lamp onto the floor. It didn’t break, but it looked incredibly realistic. Now only if it didn’t feel as real as it looked. “Oh my god, are you okay?” She couldn’t help but laugh at the accident. “Ow, fuck me that hurt,” I said, rubbing my head. I could already feel a bump forming on my forehead. “Could you go get me some ice please?” “Sure thing, dear.” Still laughing, she went and got me some ice. I reached down and picked up the lamp, placing it back onto the table. Only this time I had the camera pointing halfway at the door and halfway toward the bathroom. We’re ready now. “Let’s rest for a bit. We’ve got a long day tomorrow.” I turned off the lights in the hallway and living room, Sara, can you get the bedroom ready please?” “Sure thing.” “And wear something nice for when I get in there, okay?” She blushed and bit her bottom lip. “All right.” That sexy smile tells me that she knows exactly what to put on. Let’s hope this gives us enough time to plant the cameras. It looks like I’ll only have about two minutes to get them planted. I knocked on the door from the inside. “I’ll get it!” I hollered out to Sara. I left the apartment and went to double-check that the cameras on my neighbour’s side were planted in the right spot. All good here. On my way back into the room, I planted the cameras subtly into position. All we have to do now is wait for tomorrow evening to call for the pizzas and we should know by which room he’s in.

187 “Lexie,” Sara called out to me with her erotic voice, “I’m waiting.” I hate the fact that he could be listening and even watching everything we are doing right now, but I can’t resist. Seeing Sara in that crimson lingerie with the black lace trim just made my body go into autopilot. The following morning I had already gotten dressed and ready to leave. I didn’t want to wake Sara, partly for the reason that she had been through a lot yesterday and also because I wasn’t done making my tea. I walked to the kitchen and turned off the kettle that had boiled my water. I poured my tea and carefully made my way to my chair that I always sit on every morning when drinking my tea. I feel odd. Like this is the last time I’ll ever sit in the chair. It’s actually really depressing. “There you are,” Sara said quietly while standing around the corner wearing one of my shirts with just her panties underneath. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to wake you.” Now that she’s awake I guess we can get an early start at the bank. “It’s okay, as long as some of that tea is for me.” She walked over and sat down on my lap. She’s so warm. It’s moments like this that make me wish I could just hold her all the time and never let that warmth go. I handed her the cup. “We’ll be at the bank for at least three hours getting the money ready. I hope you can find something else to do while we wait.” “That won’t be necessary,” she said, sipping the tea. “What do you mean?” I don’t recall this being part of the plan. “Oh, yesterday while we were at the park I made a phone call to my bank and I had them prepare all the funds to be ready for pick up at one o’clock today.” That’s some good improvising she’s got there. “One step ahead of me, I see.” This is sure to fool Vince. “So, since we’ve got about three hours until one, why don’t you come back to bed with me?” There she goes again with those sexy eyes and that voice. “That’s very tempting, you don’t even know.” I wish I could, but I’m already dressed and need to go to the pizza shop. “Aww, no fun.” She pouted. “But I understand.”

188 “Get dressed, we’ll be leaving in twenty minutes, okay?” She got up and I patted her on the butt as he walked to the bedroom. “Oh, and get some running shoes on. We’re walking to the bank.” I hollered to her while grabbing my backpack from underneath the table with the lamp on it. Every detail counts. We should be back into the apartment by three and all we’ll need to do is sit and wait for the deliveries. Conveniently enough, the pizza shop is just around the corner from the bank so we can pick up some cash and head straight there from the bank. Once I order the pizzas, I’ll have them leave a small note on each one with their apartment number followed by an anonymous goodwill pizza delivery. What better way to lure out someone than with free pizza. “Okay, so your total will be.” The cashier paused in amazement, “Uh, $340.88.” I don’t think he’s seen such a bill on a single order before. I handed him four hundred dollars in the fifties and twenties. “Keep the change.” “Sir, that’s sixty dollars. Are you sure?” I guess he’s never seen a large tip before either. “Yeah, keep it, mate. Just remember to follow the directions I’ve set on that paper to the letter, okay?” “Yes, sir, I’ll deliver it myself so that there are no screw ups.” “I’m counting on you.” I left the store and met up with Sara who was stuffing the bag with neatly folded newspapers with a thin top layer of fifty-dollar bills. If he does ask to see the money, I’m almost certain this will fool him, but the objective is to not even let him see a single dollar of that before he dies. “Everything all set?” she asked, zipping up the bag. “All in place. We just need to wait for the deliveries to go through.” “Should we go back to the apartment now?” “Yes, our pizza is the fourth to be delivered and I’m getting hungry.” I hope you enjoyed playing this game with me, Vincent, because today is your last day alive.

189 Get Out of Jail Free Card Eight of the apartments have received their pizza so far. All six have answered, me being one of them and Vincent being neither of them. I don’t like sitting here just waiting and not knowing what will happen next. Here he comes again. Delivery number nine, three doors to the right of mine. The delivery boy knocked on the door but there was no answer. “Hey, Sara. Come and check this out, hahaha.” I directed her attention to the screen. “Aww that’s so cute.” I could feel it, this is the one, and I know she can feel it too. The delivery boy left with the pizza and we got our tools ready. Using the blind spots in the kitchen, we rolled up the knives and stuffed them into the bottom pocket of the bag. I pulled out a syringe and a bottle with a pink liquid in it. Sara tapped my arm and asked. “What the hell is that?” “Don’t worry. It’s just a sedative.” I bought this sedative last week when I thought I was going to be taking out another person from my journal. Oh, how I miss my journal so dearly. I haven’t been able to focus properly on completing my project because of this whole issue with Vincent. Soon it will all be over and I’ll be able to get back to what’s important, killing everyone in that journal and X’ing out their faces from this earth. “Lex?” Sara called my name. “Lex, hellooo.” “Oh, sorry, let’s go.” Looks like I got lost in thought there. I just can’t wait for Vince to be gone for good. It’s hard not to think about it. I pulled out my lock picks and opened the door with only a few seconds. The door hinges were freshly oiled to not make a noise when opened and closed. This has to be his room. I took a few steps into the room and saw his gun sitting on the end table in the hallway. How convenient. The bathroom door was shut and the light was on. I could hear the shower running. He must have thought we were leaving to drop off the money. He’s making this too easy for us. I signalled Sara to unload the clip of its bullets. He didn’t understand so she just gave me the

190 gun to unload. Without bullets in his gun, he won’t be able to stand a chance at resisting, not that I’d give him the chance. I put the bullets in my pocket and gave Sara the gun to place back on the table. I then pointed her to wait in the bedroom. I’m going to wait beside the bathroom door for when he comes out. Once he exits the bathroom I’ll slip the needle into his neck and let him drop. Once he’s tied up securely we can begin. “Wake up, Vincent.” I demanded, “Open your eyes, Mr. Vincent Marker.” Sara slapped him in the face, really hard. I bet that felt good for her. He opened his eyes and groaned in pain. The drugs should be in his system for quite some time. It’ll make him feel incredibly weak, physically, but he’ll be able to feel every bit of pain by now. “Ah, you’re finally awake. I’m glad to see you in such better circumstances.” I put my knife kit on the table and rolled it out. All the beautiful silver coloured cutting tools just make me smile in ways that would normally disturb someone. “I’m so happy to finally see you like this. I’ve been waiting all day for this.” I grabbed my largest knife from the bundle, I call it my Executioner, as it’s the knife I kill all my victims with. “Now then, I’m going to remove this gag from your mouth. If you scream or if you even raise your voice to a level that Sara doesn’t like, I will have her stab you wherever she wants to. Nod if you understand.” He nodded his head. “Excellent!” I removed the gag from his mouth. “Name your price and I’ll leave you alone forever. I don’t care that you killed my brother, honest.” He’s so scared to die. I could easily just untie him and make an easy buck off this, but I’m not interested in money. “Do you really want those to be your dying words?” “Oh god, please no. Please don’t kill me.” “I’m not the one who got you in this position, here, you are!” Now I’m getting annoyed. “All because you had to blackmail me. You could be happy, free, living your life. But you had to fuck with me and my girlfriend. “ “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I swear, if you let me go you’ll never see me again. I’ll leave the country and go to the shittiest place on earth. Somewhere you’ll never find me.”

191 “The problem is I’d want to know where you are all the time if I were to let you go. This way, when I’m bored I can go kill you.” “Please don’t kill me.” “I could let you live your life in fear of one day being found by me again, but that is quite risky for someone in my position. Especially knowing you have certain images of me that I don’t want to ever see the light of day.” “The pictures? Yeah, yeah, you can have them!” “I can accept them, but I won’t know if you’re telling me the truth when you say there’s no copies.” “My laptop, it has everything on it. Open my laptop. The password is ‘William.’ In there you’ll find a folder on the desktop with the pictures and a couple video files. It’s all there. Everything, take it all!” Sara had started looking at everything as he was explaining it. She nodded to me and acknowledged that it was all there. “Oh, I believe you. I’m still going to kill you, though.” “No, no!” He cried aloud, “Help! Hel—” I plunged the knife into his chest. That sweet feeling of taking his life, for some reason it reminds me of taking the first bite of a freshly baked cookie. So delicious, I had to savour the moment. “It’s a shame he couldn’t give us any money.” Sara pouted as she wrapped her arms around from behind me. “In the closet there should be a safe. Let me know how many digits it needs to open.” “Are you sure?” “No, but check anyways.” I just want to stay here for another moment watching the blood pool onto the plastic bags we placed on the floor. “You’re right, there’s a safe here.” She hollered from the bedroom. “It has a five-digit code.” Five digits. Hmm. “Try 40488.” That’s the only combination he would be able to think of. “Holy shit, it worked. How did you know that’d be the combo?” “Because that’s his brother’s badge ID.” The day Marker came and took me to that factory he flashed his badge. I guess he never thought I’d remember that.

192 “Oh… my… God…” Sara seems shocked at something. I bet she hit the mother lode in that safe. “So much money in here. I’d have to say at least a million in cash, if not more.” “Looks like he ended up paying us after all.” I chuckled. “We’ll bag it once we’re done with the cleanup. Let’s hurry and get this mess taken care of.” I grabbed him by the wrists and folded his arms together over his chest when I noticed he was wearing a watch. I don’t recall him wearing a watch when we had our meeting at the coffee shop. This is a little odd to see, also considering he doesn’t have a tan line from wearing a watch on a regular basis. I removed it and put it in my pocket before Sara saw it. “Need help?” Sara asked, approaching from behind. “Yeah, get the legs. We’re going to need to wrap him in new bags. The ones on the floor are too soaked.” We spent the next little while warping his body and seating the bags to make sure no blood would seep through. Afterward, we sanitised the room and got rid of any trace left by him and us. It was as if no one was ever here. “Finally.” Sara stated. I know how she feels. It’s nice to have this whole Marker situation set to rest after all we’ve been through the past few days. I can’t imagine what would happen if we had been caught. There was a knock on the door. Sara and I looked at the door and then each other. Without saying a word and slowly placed the body back down, trying our best to not make any noise. The knocking continued only this time someone spoke through the door. “Uncle Vince, are you there?” Shit, he was expecting company on this day? No, it can’t be. He wouldn’t have even been here. This has to be a coincidence. I waved for Sara to slowly step back into the kitchen area. The door knob started to jiggle, whoever it was really wanted in. Then, to my surprise, it cracked open. He just picked the lock open. Fuck, the bar lock was in place which means he knows that Vince has to be in here. “Uncle Vince, I know you’re home. The door wouldn’t be locked like this if you weren’t. We need to talk now.” It looks like he’s getting impatient. Maybe I can use this to my advantage. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a black net mask and put it on. Hopefully this mask is as good as they say. Apparently the

193 net is supposed to distract them from seeing your face and also takes their attention off of your eyes. I have no idea if that’s true, but here goes everything. I approached the door after he closed it, unlocked the bar, opened the door and black jacked him. Unfortunately, he was walking away so I didn’t even have to do that. What terrible luck I have. “Fuck me,” I whispered to myself. I grabbed the man by his legs and dragged him into the room. “Who is that?” Sara asked. I looked down at the man and told her. “This is Collin. The leader of the bully group I was telling you about.” “Oh shit.” She seemed shocked to find that Marker and Collin were related, so was I. “Do we kill him?” “No.” I can’t kill him, it’ll draw too much attention and this would never get let go. “Why not?” she questioned angrily, “He is the main cause of why you do this. Just kill him and we can go.” “If he dies too there will be an investigation that will not end. They will find something then link everything back to us. We need to leave him and go so that way there isn’t as much chaos down the road.” I blindfolded, gagged, and tied him to a chair facing a wall in the bedroom. I walked out, shut the door and proceeded to double check if we missed anything during the cleanup, which we didn’t. “So we just leave him here?” She didn’t completely agree with my plan. “Yes.” I don’t like it any more than she does, but it has to be done if I plan to continue. “Fine, whatever.” She turned, grabbed the wrapped up corpse by the legs and impatiently said, “Let’s go.” “I’m sorry we had to leave him, but there will be another opportunity.” “I know. I’m sorry I got upset,” That was easy. “It’s because of your thinking and your plans that we don’t get caught, I understand that, and I’m sorry to ever have second guessed your choices.” “Now you’re beating yourself up, love.” Maybe it wasn’t that easy. “You know this isn’t able to be done all by myself. If it weren’t for you I’d have been caught by now.”

194 “No, it’s because of me that you were ever caught to begin with.” What is she talking about, I was never caught. “Sweetie, we’ve never been caught.” “I caught you, didn’t I?” Touché. “That’s different.” “Marker caught us, too. He had some crazy fucking surveillance on you from the start.” “No, he had that on his brother. He wasn’t watching me, specifically.” “Still, the point is, you were being watched and you didn’t even know it.” “That’s because my emotions got in the way. I watched Samantha die right in front of me moments before all that. There was no way I was going to let him get away with not doing anything.” Now I’m starting to get angry. We argued the whole way to the river and then apologised to one another after we had stopped. It wasn’t really anyone’s fault that Samantha died. I know Marker was doing his job as an undercover investigator and his concerned brother was just having him watched from afar to make sure nothing bad happened. In the end, the only people to blame for anything are Aldo and me. If it were for him Sam would be alive and if it weren’t for me Marker would be, too. After we dumped the body in the river, we sat down on a bench and just held one another. For some reason I get this feeling like she’s leaving. I held onto her tighter in hopes that this feeling would fade. She lifted her head up and kissed me. That got rid of the feeling pretty quick. “You need to move out from that apartment.” I hate to have to do this to her, but there’s no other choice. “It’s just safe there anymore.” “I know, I just want you to come with me.” It was dark, but I could tell she was blushing. “I’ll always be with you, Sara.” I held her tight again. This feeling feels right. I closed my eyes and sat there with her in my arms just listening to the waves and the wind. It was so peaceful. For the first time since Sam died, I feel at ease. As soon as I’ve finished killing everyone in that journal I will ask her to marry me. This is one thing I can plan for my future.

195 The next morning was spent packing her stuff into boxes. She doesn’t like to travel heavy so there wasn’t that much. We were constantly stopping and waiting for people in the hallways to pass by before making any noise. The reason behind this was because we didn’t want the police to be interviewing us any more than they had to. Valory was the one looking after the scene Collin was found sitting in. I did my best to avoid her but unfortunately I couldn’t evade her forever. I explained to her that I was supposed to meet Marker, again, at the coffee shop, but he never showed up, so I waited in the parking lot for him after we left the park to come. After an hour I just decided to go home. They pulled up some video footage, but I’m always one step ahead of them. After we sat down at the park for a bit Sara and I went to the coffee shop to create our alibi for the night. Picking up a Retail flyer on the way, I pretended to have surprised her with a “new house” that we’d be moving into. With her great acting skills and my plan, we managed to create the perfect front for our little scenario. Collin told Valory that he didn’t know what time it was when he got there, but if he had to guess it would have been around eleven thirty. That is where we got lucky. The store places us at the coffee shop at eleven twenty until twelve twenty, making it impossible for us to have been at the scene or even in the city within the time of his disappearance. Yet again, we get away with murder. I told Valory not to let Collin know I was here. She didn’t understand when I told her, but gave a quick personal issue explanation to her, she was able to understand. After she interviewed us and congratulated us on our new home together, she let us finish packing and proceeded on with her duties. Unfortunately, the only problem now is that I have to buy this house from the current buyers. If I can’t get that done then there may just be a problem with my plan. “Hello! Introduced a very eccentric young, pregnant woman, “You must be Lex, right?” Her smile, voice, and hand shaking is already getting on my nerves. “Yep, the one and only!” I have to put on a fake smile and happy-go-lucky attitude if I want to make this work.

196 “So from the message you left us it sounds like you missed out on the offer we accepted for the house, right?” “Yes, that’s correct. My fiancée and I were looking at this house for a number of years but the previous owners said they weren’t selling. It’s upsetting to see it get sold to someone after all this waiting.” “Well, we got it on repossession and it’s a fairly nice lot.” So she is looking to sell, it seems. “Well, I’d be willing to buy it from you for the regular retail price, if you’re willing to sell.” “Oh my, I didn't know the retail price of this house originally. Let me ask my husband.” She walked into the front door and hollered for her husband, Paul. He came out and shook my hand, unfortunately. “Hi, I’m Paul. I see you’ve met my wife, Tammy.” “Hey, Paul, yes, we were just talking about a possible buyout for this place.” “Yes, we got your message. We aren’t particularly looking to sell, though. I didn’t get the chance to leave you a message back, but it seems you don’t have voicemail.” I do have voice mail, I just disabled it so I had to come here and speak with you. “Yeah, I came by to throw an offer in the air. You paid forty-five for this place. I’m willing to pay you two hundred for it.” He stood there in shock at my offer for a moment. “Uh, well, you see we had a hard time finding a good location and with the baby coming and all we—” I interrupted him, “You'll get all the money you can get. Besides, this place is run down and prettied to look good.” “It’s a good place, especially for the coming baby.” I hope he doesn’t actually believe that. “Here’s what. Forget my offer of two hundred.” I pulled out the real-estate paper and opened it up to a marked page. “This house right here has three bedrooms, three baths, and three levels. An upper, ground, and lower. The backyard has a pool, which I’ve made sure is in great condition, a children’s play set at the back as well as a small sandbox. It is, by all means, the perfect house for a child to be raised in. It has every cliché you can ask for in it, and it’s two blocks away from the public school.”

197 “That is a very nice property, but we couldn’t afford it on our salary. I’m sorry.” He thinks he has to buy it, that’s cute. “You don’t understand my offer here. I’m offering you this house, for the one you just bought.” His face flushed white and his wife’s eyes widened. They seem to like my offer. “I don’t know if we can accept such an offer. That property has to cost about three hundred thousand.” “It’s yours for this house.” This is a small blow to the wallet for what I’m in for if they say no. “Paul, do it.” His wife practically begged, “If he wants this place that badly, take the deal. For our son.” He held out his hand. “For our son.” I shook hands with him and gave him a form to sign. “This is the deed to the house. Take it over there right now and my fiancée will be waiting with an agent to pass everything over into your name, right now.” She shrieked and giggled in joy. Paul leaned in and gave me a rather tight hug out of excitement. Once they got to the new house Sara had been waiting for them in, they filed all the necessary paperwork and we became the new owners of the house. We spent the next week repairing a few things in the house. We fixed a few walls, tore down a wall, replaced rusty pipes, and got a new lighting system installed. After about a month we had all unpacked and settled in.

198 Living the Dream It’s dark outside aside from the moon shining down on us from the clear sky. Sara is laying her head on my chest staring at the sky from our backyard. I’m relaxed and focused. I want to stay here in this house forever. I don’t care about anything else anymore. “Are you ready, love?” she asked, lifting her head up off my chest. I stretched my arms above my head. “Let’s do it.” We got up from the grass. She grabbed two shovels that were on the ground and carried them a distance behind me. I jogged toward a wooden privacy fence, and once I got close enough, I sprinted for a few steps. I jumped into the fence and kicked myself over it. To my surprise, it hardly made any noise. It looks like I’m getting better at this. I packed very lightly. The only thing I have on me right now is a syringe with a sedative and a knife. I slowly approached a pool where Bree was swimming, alone. She has a small black Mudi as a pet. It’s usually kept outside on a short leash, and she isn’t very nice to it. I made my way over to the dog and it started barking. “Shut up, mut!” Bree clearly doesn’t know that this dog was warning her of an intruder. With one swipe of my knife the dog stopped barking. I never did like dogs. “Mut?” She first tells it to shut up and now she’s seeing if it will bark for her? “Stupid dog.” Stupid girl. She got out of the pool and walked toward the, now dead, dog. I’m hiding on the side of the pool, but there’s a light on the edge of the pool. As long as she doesn’t look over here I should be able to slip over and drug her before she even realises what happened. Sara slapped Bree in the face, hard. I was surprised at how hard the slap was and it instantly left a red handprint on the side of her face. “Wake up, bitch.” Bree’s eyes opened. “Aww that’s no fun. I wanted to slap you again before you woke up.” It’s nice to find a girl with a sense of humour. That’s pretty hard, nowadays. “I’m glad you’re finally awake, Bree.” I double-checked to make sure her binds were tight enough, “Surely you remember me, right?”

199 She seemed genuinely confused at what was going on, “Fuckin’ let me go.” I smacked her on the forehead. “Calm down or I’ll have to gag your mouth.” Sara handed me my executioner. “Thanks, babe.” “What the fuck you want with me?” she screamed after seeing the knife. “Let me go you sick fucks. I didn’t even do anything.” “That’s where you’re wrong!” I snapped and almost lost control of myself. “It’s because of you and your friends that you are in this position and I’m going to kill you just like I killed them.” “Who the fuck are you?!” she cried. “You remember Matt from grade eight and Luca from high school, right?” I smiled at her. “It was so easy killing them all those years ago. Even though we just recently saw one another you still can’t recognize me, can you?” It’s a little insulting that she can’t tell who I am right now. Maybe it’s the lighting. “I swear, whatever it is that you think I’ve done, you got the wrong person!” She tries so hard to beg for her life. I leaned over her and made her look in my eyes. “Can you see me now, Ms. Krumble?” “Lex, is that you?” Her eyes widened as she finally realised who I was. “I’m sorry for whatever was done to make you go crazy. If you let me, I can help you.” Sara slapped her in the face again. “Thank you, love,” I said, smiling at her as she smiled back at me. “You guys are both insane!” She cried out, “I’m surprised you even have a friend, you stupid piece of shit.” “Alas, your true colours have finally shown!” I held the knife up to her throat while kneeling behind her and whispered, “Goodbye, Ms. Krumble.” I slit her throat open and watched the blood quickly flow out of her and into a large bucket below. After a few moments the blood slowly started to stop pouring and we began our cleanup. This life I live is the most suitable one I could have chosen. I have a beautiful house and a beautiful career that I can share with my beautiful fiancée. When I’m with her it’s like nothing else matters and I feel safe knowing she has my back. For two killers, we seem to

200 have a better grip on reality than most other people. We know our limits and know when to act in certain situations. “I love you, Sara,” I said, putting my arm around her while we looked at the stars fading away from the sunrise behind. The water is calm this morning and the birds are quiet. It’s almost too peaceful. “I love you too, Lex,” she replied, wrapping her arms around me and holding me tight. I often think back and try to figure out how I got here, but then I soon realise that I don’t care how I got here because this is exactly where I want to be. “Let’s go home and get some sleep.” Sara yawned. “I’m getting tired.” I chuckled and we walked back to the car. “Can you drive?” “Sure.” She threw me the keys. Instead of going straight to bed when we got home, Sara had a sudden urge to make love. Here I thought she was tired. After sex, she went to sleep and I just laid and started thinking of who would be next on my list to be X’d out. I’m down to three names, excluding Collin. All that’s left are Jonny, Ryan, and Gord. Ryan and Collin are very close friends, so I think I should wait before killing Ryan. However, the last thing I remember about Jonny was that he had a heavy argument with Collin back in school. I wonder if they are still friends since then. Gord is also a fairly easy target, but he’s also close to Collin and Ryan so it’s possible that the three might be drinking buddies on a regular basis. I’ll have to find that out while I’m taking a look into Jonny. Shit, what was Jonny’s last name. I looked over at Sara to make sure she was asleep; then I got out of bed and made my way to my computer. After searching my computer for five minutes, I ended up giving up and realised I still had my journal sitting in the closet safe. I flipped to Jonny’s page and there it was. “Fuck me.” I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. All this time I’ve spent profiling the Marker brothers. I never saw a single thing about a child. How was this missed?! I’m willing to bet Jonny is probably at his mother’s house still. This is going to be too easy. A third Marker marked off my list. I