Into the Eyes of a Killer

Then the heater shut off. And this time, no one was anywhere near it.

I jumped back. Ryan stood up. Roxy placed herself between him and me.

He stood up. And looked directly at me. His eyes seemingly on fire in the candle light.

Ryan yelled for me to get into the house. I didn’t question him. I didn’t protest. I just ran.

When I glanced back at the others, I saw them both grab onto him, to keep him from pursuing. It didn’t take long for him to shake them off. I flew into the house, slammed the door shut and backed away from it. Afraid to lock it. Afraid I’d keep out my protectors. Afraid that I’d anger him even more.

He wasn’t happy with me. That was an understatement. I had been a constant thorn in his side. Going out of my way to try and keep Sophie upbeat. To make the 45 minute trip to Sophie’s from my university because something was wrong. I helped the others to put on appropriate songs to banish him. I don’t know if he meant to actually kill me.

But I wasn’t about to find out.

I immediately went to my laptop, praying that it would start up faster. That it would open the program. I didn’t care that Norton Anti-virus was expired, now was not the time! I finally, finally got Windows Media Player up and running and had Brompton Cocktail waiting to be played. It was the song that gave Sophie strength and courage. It helped her fight him off. Most days at least. Sometimes he had more energy and it took longer for the songs to effect him. Or perhaps he was bored and would just leave. It was hard to get the mechanics of how he and his kind worked. But we were learning as we went.

After a few minutes of trying to catch my breath and forcing my heartbeat to slow, the door slammed against the wall as he forced his way in, shrugging off Roxy and Ryan’s attempts to hold him back.

He smirked at me and began to advance. I hit the play button and turned the volume up as I backed away from him. The song started… but nothing happened. He just looked angry. Ryan and Roxy both grabbed his shoulders and forced him back, causing him to trip and fall into the recliner we had. The three of us backed away even as we heard the door to the room I shared with Kristin open. She sleepily rubbed her eyes as she looked over and saw Sophie, then the three of us.

“What’s all the racket…?” She asked, almost lazily. He just smirked at her. The three of us looked around nervously.

“Nothing, sorry for being loud. You should just go back to bed now.” I said, trying to force her back with my words. She just looked around, a little confused.

“Alright then… night all.” She said with a sleepy smile. He kissed at her. She went back into her room. He stood up, now that he had a moment to himself and slowly started moving around, keeping an eye on us as he shifted closer to the other side of the house, where my other two roommates still slept. He glanced at Stephanie’s door and smiled. It was then that he began to walk towards her room.

No.

Not her. Stephanie was perhaps the purest, most good natured person I had ever met in my life. She always lit up any room she was in with a laugh. She was something rare in this world. A genuinely nice person.

I would not let him hurt her.

Over my dead body.

I jumped over the chair and positioned myself between him and the room, my eyes hard. His self-satisfied smile was gone. He stepped towards me, then snatched a fistful of my hair, yanking me down roughly. Yelping in pain, I followed my hair, trying to hold onto his hand to keep it from hurting, or more importantly ripping it out.

I should have known better. I should have worn my hair up. Of course I didn’t know he was going to be coming out tonight… but this was his newest thing with me. I can’t even begin to describe how horrified Sophie was when she woke up with a fistful of my hair in her hand. I wore a hat for that week, at least until it evened out.

Ryan and Roxy were immediately there, trying to untangle his grip from me. A few moments of struggling and his grip went limp. I slipped free of his grasp, watching as he closed his eyes, Sophie falling over. Ryan caught her just before she hit the floor and set her down. Now, we waited to see if she would wake up, or…

“Shit, grab a pillow.” I said quickly as Sophie began to whimper. Roxy tossed me one just as she started gasping, filling her lungs. I placed the pillow over her mouth, careful not to smother her as she let out a blood curdling scream. All of us flinched and my grip tightened. The sound may have been muffled, but it chilled my blood as it did every time… this didn’t always happen. Sometimes she just woke up, groggy and confused… but other times… well, we didn’t know what it was he forced her to see in her mind… and neither did she. After waking up, she would just be inexplicably frightened, her voice raw from screaming.

She screamed again… and again as we all just looked on helplessly.