Mercy Abbott - The Kiss of Death

Unbroken

Mercy could feel that he was grinning underneath that horrible mask. She really wanted to kick him in the guts.

"What have I ever done to you?You creep...", she yelled in anger.

"Such anger... ah.. it turns me on...", replied the man walking behind her, "Why... you've been after me for so long ...I thought you'd want to meet me...after all you're my number one fan...".

Mercy took a good look at the man in the mask. He stood no less than 6 ft. tall and wore a black suit and had golden cufflinks,his shoes were well polished and he had black gloves on his hands. He wore a peculiar looking japanese kabuki mask on his face and his hair was dark. The short axe he was holding in his left hand has fresh blood on it. Could it be that he had killed someone recently? He had a dark devilish charm about him and he spoke quite elegantly. Is this the killer that she was after?

"Huh... so you're the serial killer that the police is looking for... tell me do you plan to kill me too?", asked Mercy boldly.

"Oh ,so you're smart too ... yes my dear, I hate to say it but I have to end your life too... You are starting to annoy me a little... ", replied the man pacing slowly across the room.

"So you killed Amy? You scroundel!! Why did you do it? Why?", yelled Mercy.

"Meh! Just for the fun I guess...I get bored easily...", replied the man calmly, as he dipped his axe into a bucket of water to remove the blood stains.

Mercy was furious and she tried to twist her arms to free herself but it was of no use, the restraints were too tight.

"And who have you murdered now?", she asked.

"A nobody...well she was a cop but still a nobody... she should have minded his own business but he interrupted me...and I hate interruptions...she even tore your dress trying to save you...ha ha! ", the man replied as he cleaned his axe and raised it in front of his face and looked at it for a while.

"You do this for fun? You demon!!", Mercy asked.

"Yes... it's just a hobby my dear... most people like to travel or to paint or play an instrument...me...I like murder...the screams, the blood of my prey...thrills me...", he replied.

"You're sick!!", she said.

"Ah! No... I'm evolved... I'm better...You see what does it matter if I kill a few people every now and then...the world is full of people anyways... stupid people, boring people... I kill them because I'm smarter... they're just prey for me and I am the king of the jungle...", he replied cleaning his axe with a piece of cloth.

"So why do you leave flowers for your prey and why do you kill only women?", she asked again.

I am being watched since the last few days. I don't how but I constantly have this creepy feeling that someone's always watching me everyday. It started as soon as I met that charming guy at the after party. He was smart, kind and offered to walk me back to my room. I felt a strange connection with him after that and we began to see each other for a few days. But after a week everything changed, he failed to show up at our last date and he stopped replying my calls or the countless messages I sent him.

I was frustrated and worried sick and that's when this creepy feeling started to arise- there's someone watching me all the time- I haven't seen his face but I know he's there. I have seen his silhouette once or twice- he seemed to be a tall, slender guy.

He's there when I brush my hair in the morning- I can sense his presence as I look out of my window- or when I'm in the library all alone- I can feel him standing behind the rows of endless books. Call it a woman's intuition but I know he doesn't mean well- he's here to hurt me.

Could it be the same guy I met earlier? My date? But he seemed so nice. He said that he was a chef from France and was invited here as a guest. He said his name was Miguel. He spoke with a bit of an accent so I think he's genuine. No, I don't think that's my stalker.

All these questions made her adrenaline rush. She jumped out of her bed and began to walk up and down her room trying to put the pieces of the mystery together. She looked at her table clock- it was almost 3 in the morning - "the devil's hour"- as they say. Mercy felt like she was possessed by the devil itself- she couldn't sleep anymore. Amy had trusted her as her only reliable friend and here she was thinking that she never thought of as her friend. She felt sorry for her and at th same time - she knew that she had to do something for her- but what could she do?

"Yes! The party! Amy said that she met the guy at some after party- I need to start looking for some names of the people who came to the party….yes… but which party? Probably the one that the boys from the university celebrated after they won the amateur Chess competition…but that would mean that loads of people were invited, it would be like looking for a needle in a bucket of needles! No… I just need to find about a french guy- who's a professional Chef. But what was a french chef doing at a party in our university? He said he was invited? I need to know more about this party….and I think I know exactly whom to ask.",

Mercy thought as she sat on her bed.

It was almost morning and Mercy still didn't feel like sleeping. She went to her kitchen and prepared some tea. She then took out her diary and copied down the key words and phrases from Amy's letter and circled those words. Words like - Chef,Party,French,Stalker,guy disappears,stalker appears…etc made her list. Then she thought about contacting the police and handing the evidence over to them but then they would arouse more suspicions if they started investigating in the boys hostel. She thought it would be best that she'd better find all the evidences on her own and then invite the police to help her.

It was almost getting dark,Alexei and his eight hiker friends were struggling through the thick snow trying to find a suitable place to rest for the night. They wanted to reach the summit of the Oterton mountain but the hostile weather with the thick snow and strong winds had made it almost impossible for them. They have been travelling for three days with all their snow equipments,skis and sledges, walking only during the day. "Let's set up camp here tonight",said Alexie taking off his backpack."Good idea",said Yuri,one of the team members, "those bushes will provide us shelter from this dreadful weather...Zinaida... come help me with the tents".

The crew hurriedly set up a modest camp as the blizzard grew stronger and the winds began to howl. After everybody got in , Rustom started to heat up the stove,"I don't think that's a good idea...we might suffocate if you burn it inside", said Alexei ."Well I'm not going to die from this cold...and a few minutes won't kill us .",said Rustom annoyingly. The others agreed and began to drink to ease their shivering bodies. Zinaida asked,

"Alexei,are you sure we aren't lost?...The map shows a curved road to the Oterton hills but the road we have travelled so far had no curves... meaning we are moving towards the Dead mountains".Alexei was getting tired and the whiskey was making him sleepy,he asked her not to worry and that he had it all under control...

The winds grew stronger,shaking the tent and the stove kept burning slowly while the nine hikers slept inside their sleeping bags drunk from the whiskey and dead tired from the exhaustion. A few hours passed,the storm had died down,Alexei suddenly woke up to find the tent half open,the stove still lit but his friends were all gone. He rushed outside calling out their names,but he could see nobody in the dark. Suddenly he stumbled upon a shoe on the ground,it was one of Yuri's,but his friend was nowhere to be found. He took his torch out and began searching frantically,falling, stumbling in the thick snow,but all he could find were socks and shoes scattered all around the tent...

On Christmas eve Chloe sat watching the stars outside through the window . Her father had been smoking and drinking again and her mom was preparing dinner as the guests would soon arrive. Chloe felt like going outside for a while, to get some fresh air - the cigar smoke was becoming unbearable inside - life was too lonely for a 16 yr old. She opened the door and stepped out, "Its not that cold!", she thought and closed the door behind. The stars twinkled in the hazy skies and the moon peeped out lazily out of the clouds. She sat down on the stairs and thought of the days when she was a little girl and her father would gift her something on every Christmas eve- this year he sat silently staring at the fire and said nothing- the war had taken everything away from them and these days he spoke very less . Chloe sighed and drew a long breath...

Someone was coming... Maybe Uncle John from Dakota... Chloe stood up to greet the man but was surprised to see a shabby old fellow in a rugged coat slowly limping towards her. She was scared and turned towards the door but the man called out to her, "Say missy, sorry to bother you but it seems like I am lost..." She turned around and said, "Where are you headed Sir?". "Well I've been looking for one J. Stinson around these parts." said the man."I've never heard of him." replied Chloe and turned towards the door. "Wait!"said the old man, "I've something for you" and handed her a silver strung necklace with a blue pendant. "Why thank you, but it doesn't belong to me", said Chloe staring at the beautiful necklace. She looked up to find that the man had suddenly disappeared, as if the darkness had simply swallowed him. She was simply awestruck and looked at the pendant again, tiny words shone from it in the dark, "The stars will guide your way"... Suddenly there was a loud noise of something crashing into the woods... Chloe hurried back inside and closed the door.