Mercy Abbott - The Kiss of Death

Run Mercy Run !!

Mercy turned and twisted in her chair as the killer drew closer swinging his axe- whistling playfully- like a predator playing with its prey one last time before it kills it.

She knew it was a do or die situation- she had to put together all the clues to reveal his identity now or he will know that she's bluffing.

"Think Mercy think!!", she said to herself closing her eyes.

Mercy couldn't believe her eyes that such a vital piece of information was hidden in her bag all this time? But when did she put the letter in her bag? Then she remembered their last encounter when she met with Amy and sat with her on the park bench, she must have sneaked the letter then.

But what is she supposed to do now? The stalker? The secret boyfriend? Are they same person? But why would the boyfriend disappear only to reappear and haunt her? Was she murdered because she faced her 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.

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.

Mercy was impressed already- Rudy had noticed her as soon as she came in and assumed correctly that she was there to meet her.

"Jusr a few minutes- how did you know?", Mercy asked.

"You never come here this early and also you were staring at me this whole time…" , Rudy replied.

"Huh.. I guess that's right…I just wanna ask you about something..", Mercy said.

"Is it related to the girl that got murdered recently?", Rudy asked.

Correct again! Mercy thought that she'd make an amazing detective.

"Yeah..something about that …", Mercy replied.

"Umm.. the dean said there would be mourning ceremony held in the afternoon… what do you wanna know?", Rudy asked.

"You remember about the party held last month… by the chess team?", asked Mercy.

"Oo yeah… wasn't invited but I dropped by anyway… nobody noticed… great party… tasted alcohol for the second time… lot of cute guys…", Rudy went on a rant

Mercy slowly opened her eyes , her vision was blurry and she could hardly make out the silhouette of a man standing right in front of her-

" Is that an axe in his hand? It's ... red...with blood...", she wondered as she tried to make sense of everything around her.

She soon realised that she was sitting on a chair with her hands tied behind her. She twisted her arms but it hurt. She was in some kind of an abandoned factory. In front of her was a man- standing and watching her- he had a mask on his face- but he was dressed like a businessman, in a brand new suit- his bloodied axe was glistening in the single beam of sun light that peered in through the broken ceiling of the room.

The sun was setting and a 10 yr old Billy was walking home from his friend's place.He was supposed to be back home an hour ago and was half scared that he would be grounded when he reached home.His father was a strict disciplined man who hardly ever smiled and Billy knew he had to face his wrath today.

"If only James hadn't taken me to chase those rabbits on the hill...Now Pops will be so angry! ",thought Billy as he walked fast towards his house.

It was getting dark and the sun was almost settling down beneath the mountains.Billy started to run now as the growing darkness was beginning to scare him.

Suddenly there came a low humming sound from across the corn fields to his left.The tall grass around the field began to sway from a strong draft of wind which came out of nowhere.Billy's heart started pumping ,he ran faster.A shining bright light caught the side of his eye.Billy paused for a while and looked to his left.There was something in the middle of the corn field a few yards from him.The crops swayed from left to right as if a hurricane was forming in the middle of the field.He saw lights , that slowly started to illuminate the entire field.He could feel the hair on his arm rising ,a cold drop of sweat ran down his back,dry leaves on the ground were slowly rising up in the air...the earth began to shake...

Billy simply turned around and ran and didn't look back.He ran as fast as he could until he could see his house in the distance.As he began to approach his house,the sounds died down but he could still see those strange lights. He opened the gate, ran towards the door and began to knock furiously. His mom opened the door and saw Billy breathing hard,exhausted, and shaken."Good lord Billy!", cried his mother"What happened to you?Where have you been?"

Billy was in tears now,"Mom I will never be late again!.." said Billy as he hugged his mother.

"The heavens have brought me here.. ", I whispered to myself as I stood bare foot upon the beach. The sun was setting, the waves rose and collapsed and a soft breeze blew as I stared anxiously into the ocean waiting for the perfect moment-the twilight-the time when it was neither day nor night. I had the crystal in my hand, about the size of a pocket watch and all I had to do was to look into the waters through it and she would appear- "Despoina" - maid of the sea- a mermaid of ethereal beauty- or as the inscriptions said- daughter of the sea god himself...

As the seconds flew by, I glared through the tiny piece of glass, scouring impatiently across the orange waters...

A bright light hit my eye and suddenly I felt as if time stopped, there was no wind, no waves, no setting sun... only a soft seductive voice calling my name... I froze!!

It has been two days since I've been wandering alone in this valley. I have slept in mountain caves, drank water from the streams and have almost finished the last of my ration- just a few slices of bread remain. I have no idea where I am going- I had crossed the last of the mountains and was standing on a field -some two hundred yards ahead lay the forest. The ground was soft with tall grasses and wildflowers everywhere. I was tired and the afternoon sun made me drowsy so I kneeled down and took off my backpack and stared at the scenery ahead - huge oak trees were covered with wild vines and the leaves were swaying wildly in the wind. I decided to lie down for a minute right there in the middle of the field.

Strange soothing winds blew from the east and I dozed off and dreamt of her. I saw her in her white satin dress with hair upto her shoulders playing the piano. She had a certain grace about her as she gently tilted her head along with the rhythm. Her slender fingers running over the keys of the gold and white piano. She played a slow emotional tune, sometimes soft and warm, sometimes a bit sad, but she would always end the melody on a gleeful soft note.She sat in the middle of the room and the windows were open on all sides. The wind fluttered the crimson curtains and it seemed as though they were dancing along with the music.

I watched her from behind and I could smell her hair and I wished I could sit beside her and keep watching her for eternity. But it was like watching a movie through a keyhole while being unable to move...

My dream was incomplete as I woke upto a soft noise beside me.I saw a red fox sniffing around in the bushes.I scratched my head and rubbed my eyes. It was watching me cautiously trying to conceal itself in the tall grass. I sat upright and looked around, there was nobody else - only a little wild fox observing my every move.It would try to hide itself under the grasses and raise its head to take a peek and hide again. It was funny because it didn't realise I could still see its fluffy red tail.