Into the Eyes of a Killer

The pink bracelet. A cheap piece of fun jewelry with a plastic pink gem set on the top. A little gaudy, clearly made out of nickel. Nothing special really. However, it was one of the most powerful tools we had at the time. Roxy had given it to Sophie on her birthday, just an unexpected gift. Roxy knew how much she liked the color pink and wanted to get her something fun. However, that bracelet made Sophie so happy, that whenever she wore it, for some reason, she was never able to get inside her. We weren’t sure what it was, but we all guessed it was that when Sophie was happy, her power over her lessened. It made sense, in theory at least. Either way, it was just a rule that if we did anything that might possibly provoke her, Sophie wore that bracelet. Just as a precaution.

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She glared at Roxy and I while the song Scream blared in the background. I lunged for her arm, yelling at Roxy to put he bracelet on her wrist. However, she was prepared for this and fought us tooth and nail to keep it off. I held onto her arm while Roxy grabbed the other one to keep her from scratching us. She squirmed too much for us to be able to get it on properly, until finally she wrenched one of her hands free, snatching the bracelet from Roxy’s hand. We both looked at each other worriedly and sat back, Roxy into the back seat and me behind the steering wheel.

It had been an experiment. We wanted to know if the songs called her, or if she just liked to play them for the intimidation factor. Roxy was ready with the bracelet, to put it on Sophie should she turn. But she knew our plan. Of course she did. She was listening the whole time. Now we were stuck with her.

She leaned back in her seat with a satisfied smirk. As she glanced at the radio, I snatched my hand out, switching the track to Unbound: The Wild Ride. It usually brought Sophie back. She glared at me, but Sophie still did not return.

I anxiously looked at the boys as the left Lance’s house. We were picking up flashlights and a tape recorder to check out one of the scariest graveyards in the area. We wanted to do some EVP work. Usually we didn’t stay long. Actually, looking back on it, Mouth Cemetery is very similar to her. Both are disturbing to be around, yet they have a strange pull to them… you want to go back. You’re curious about what it can offer you… but stay around it for too long and it’s bound to corrupt you.

I hit my elbow on the horn of my car, trying to get the boy’s attention, desperate to have them realize something was wrong. However, they just glanced at me in irritation, afraid I’d disturb Lance’s mom. She smirked at me as I mumbled “fucking idiots…”. She looked at me and waved the bracelet around, then stuck her hand down, hiding it from the two of us. She then changed the song to one of her preferred tracks, giving me a look that dared me to change it.

I hopelessly hit the horn several more times before they finally pulled up, glaring at me.

“What?” Lance growls, clearly irritated. I’m to anxious to care as I jerk my head towards her.

“It’s. Not. Sophie!” I say through gritted teeth, emphasizing each word so that I won’t have to repeat myself. She just smirks at them. Their attitude changes instantly to concern. She looks over at me and I meet her gaze.

“Drive.” She commands. Simple, succinct. I knew she wanted us to go to Mouth. So that she would be able to corrupt us easier. Maybe even so she could draw from it. I set my teeth and looked back at her, mustering all the courage I had. I wasn’t going to put others in danger. She didn’t have complete power over me.

“No.” I answer her, almost immediately. Her expression hardened. It seemed that her eyes had transformed into dark pools as she glared at me.

“Drive.” She growled at me, leaving no room for arguing. I immediately lost my calm, my false bravado gone. Fight or flight nothing, I was going to do whatever she damn well said.

“Okay…!” I shifted into drive, pulled out in front of the boys and sped off for the half hour drive to the cemetery. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as I drove. She shifted her shoulder, it almost looked like she was trying to work out a knot in a muscle. Then, with her other hand, she roughly shoved the shoulder back with a barely audible ‘pop’. Then she rotated her wrist on the same arm before jerking it to the side with another ‘pop’. Then she went through each finger methodically, each shifting sickeningly. I felt my stomach turn in realization at what she was doing. She had just dislocated the majority of the joints in Sophie’s left arm. Looking over at me, she rested her hand on the gear shift.

“If you try to stop, or change your course… I will shift this car into park.” Her voice left no room for doubt that she would carry through with her actions. I simply nodded. If that happened… the car would flip over itself.

As we drove, I felt the palm of my hand burn. It was the same hand I was using to try and hold her down. To keep her from hurting Sophie or changing the song. To try and bring my friend back. I found myself wanting to go to Mouth. Wanting her to take me there. I would have an excuse that way. No one could fault me for following the orders of a murderer. I began to grow excited at the prospect of what she would do as the burn tingled up my arm.

If it made her smile at me, I would do just about anything to please her.