The Killer Among Us

Chapter 25

Eight days left

Jacob

"Ava?" I grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to me, planting a soft kiss on her cheeks.

She kept pulling away from me, trying to play hard to get, but she wasn't aware that I was holding a small gift box for her seventeenth birthday behind my back.

It took me months to come up with a suitable present for her, one that showed her just how much she meant to me. Still, nothing seemed quite right, it was nothing more than a feeble attempt at matching her beauty.

"I have something for you," I whispered in her ear and she gasped happily, jumping up and down in excitement.

She held out both her hands and I laid the wrapped box in her small palms.

Her eyes instantly lit up, sparkling in joy.

"Open it," I hurried her, nervous to see if she would like it.

Whilst looking back and forth between the gift and I, she unwrapped it slowly.

Under the blue wrapping paper was a small velvet box, which she popped open quickly.

"Jacob," she gasped, "It's beautiful."

She held up the small golden bracelet, that was decorated with filigran daisy pendants.

Ava's twin sister Daisy died on their thirteenth birthday in a car accident and Ava had a hard time remembering the beauty of their relationship.

I took the bracelet and gently put it around her wrist, kissing her hand affectionately.

"Happy Birthday, Ava," I said whilst wrapping one arm around her, causing her to giggle.

We walked a few steps down the school's corridor when she suddenly froze in her step and looked up to me with urgency.

"Why aren't you waking up, Jacob?" she suddenly whispered eerily.

I laughed nervously, not quite grasping what she was trying to say.

"Wake up," she commanded in a pressing tone, "Or Aria will die at your hands, too."

I looked down at my right leg and a knife was plunged deeply in my thigh, causing blood to gush out of it. It stung like venom and the entire corridor was suddenly doused in a thick fog. Ava was no longer there, leaving me utterly alone and confused.

"What the -"

The faint sound of water rushing and a blinding bright light were abruptly stealing me away from this world.

With a loud gasp I awoke once more, barely getting a hold on reality that time.

The shower was still running, overflowing even, and blood was all around me. Most of it was already dried, some of it was still emanating from the stab wound.

The knife in my thigh was the only evidence that The Solemn Serpent truly came after me the night before.

A ray of sunshine was beaming through the tiny bathroom window, making me wonder just how long I was unconscious.

Reality was slipping through my hands, like a bar of wet soap, no matter how desperately I tried to grip it.

"These damn dreams," I mumbled as I slapped my face to make sure I was awake.

That instantly made my vision spin, pain contracting my skull. At the back of my head I felt a crack in my skull, blood transfering to my hands, making it fit in with the red of the rest of the room.

There was no way I could go to a hospital without getting arrested, so I needed to pull out the knife and stitch this wound myself.

With a loud groan I lifted my body from the ground and heaved it onto my motel bed.

Equipped with some bandages from the first aid kit, an old sewing kit and a bottle of whiskey, I gathered up all the courage I could muster.

With a gulp of whiskey burning down my throat, I let out a loud groan of anticipation as I mentally prepared myself to pull out the knife.

My hands were trembling, my vision was still blurry but still I grabbed the knife slowly and pulled it out in one swift motion, feeling my flesh cling to it. The sound of the knife falling onto the floor echoed through the room.

Almost immediately more blood spurted out of the wound, making me sick to my stomach. Quickly, I pressed a towel to the wound, trying to calm the river of blood escaping my body and draining me slowly. My breathing was laboured, making my chest rise in heavy motions, indicating how gruelling this was for me.

I opened the sewing kit and took out a pointy needle, fiddling a string through it with great difficulty, almost giving up halfway. Having disinfected it with some whiskey, I pierced the needle through the skin surrounding my wound and finally pulled the string through my skin. My entire body trembled in pain but I had to keep going. There was no other way.

More groans and grunts escaped my lips and I almost couldn't bear looking at the injury.

"Come on, Jacob," I pressed myself, knowing that I had no choice but to do this.

When I pushed through the pain and stitched up the rest of the wound, I slightly admired my work and then speedily wrapped it up with some bandages.

My breathing steadied a little, my posture relaxed, when suddenly my burner phone chimed, indicating that I received a text message.

"Can't I get any damn rest?" I exclaimed, highly annoyed.

I picked up my phone and opened the message. However, this time I wasn't as anxious as I was before. Maybe I simply got used to the anxiety. Maybe it was already a part of me.

The message read: "Soon we will be even"

I whispered, "Fuck," leaning my head back. Fantasies of me burying the knife he used on me in his heart lurked through my mind, motivating me.

The time on my phone revealed to me that I wasted a day away by dreaming. Time was slipping away, I had to act soon.

So, I banned any fantasies from my mind, knowing that dreams were just a waste of time. I needed to focus on the reality in front of me, I needed to stay sane in order to find Aria. But how do you stay sane when it feels like a dark cloud of calamity came over your life?

***********************************************************************************************

Thank you so much for reading this chapter! Let me know what you think in the comments :)

I want to give a special shoutout to @J_H_Hope for being so active and leaving such nice feedback! Thank you so much. Please make sure to check out J_H_Hope's work as well :) 

If you want me to read your story and or give you a shoutout at the end of the next chapter, leave a vote and a comment :)