ᴘʀᴏᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ꜱᴇᴍʙʟᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛɪᴠɪᴛʏ

𝔸 𝔽𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕪 𝕄𝕒𝕟

This was written in a literature class when we were going through gothic fiction. Obviously, I wasn't the best at the task. But all things considered, I think I did pretty well.

TRIGGER WARNING: There are mentions of blood and murder. It pretty much starts with blood. So please skip if you are uncomfortable with that sort of stuff.

The red dripped from his fingers as he decided how to use them to stain the blank canvas. Slowly, he lifted them and touched the canvas. There. The perfect foundation for his next painting. He picked up his mop paint brush and dipped the brush into the neck of the source. He needed to be careful about using his red. It was very limited after all. Gingerly, he picked up his brush and did three massive strokes. He could see it. That perfect end result. He looked at the source and smiled. Little Jenny will be so happy with his work, after all, it was all for her. He continued to paint big red strokes, then moved on to big red splotches, until there wasn't a hint of white left. He looked down to see that the source was nearly empty. He'd have to get rid of it somewhere new now that the Jacobs bought that bit of land. He turned back and saw the paintings he made with them. The way the sun caught the paintings were awfully wonderful. He looked back at the one he just painted. A masterpiece. They all were. He slowly washed his hands until they were spotless. Then he opened the door to get rid of the coppery smell that always hung around the shed.

Charles Miller went outside and locked the shed door. If Mary Anne or Jennifer, saw the paintings he made for them too early, it would ruin the surprise. He smiled at himself and was contemplating how he would present his hard work, when he sniffed the air and paused. Bacon and eggs. What every man needed after a gruelling, early morning toil.

He went through the back door of the house, and found Mary Anne, his beautiful wife, frying some bacon strips and hard-boiling eggs, all while pouring two cups of coffee through a strainer. He paused for a second and wondered. Wondered how the hell he got so lucky with a woman who could do it all, cook, clean, sew and look good while doing it. He would have fallen to pieces if it weren't for her.

He crept up behind her, and put his arms around her waist, and lightly kissed her neck. She bent her head towards him, in response. "Chuck, darling", she said in an almost-husky voice, "You might want to stop distracting me, else you and Jenny be getting burnt bacon for breakfast."

"Well", he said as he pulled his arms back towards him, "We wouldn't want that, would we?"

Charles went to the dining table and found the day's newspaper in his usual seat. He sat down, and opened the newspaper with a gusto. A face he remembered quite well, stared back at him.

"Such a shame what happened, isn't it?" Mary Anne said in a sympathetic voice as she put the coffee and breakfast in front of him. Charles remembered that his face was still in quiet thought, and replied, "It is."

She sat down at the edge of the table and turned to him, "Can I see it now, or are you not finished?"

He smiled at her manners. She was impeccable as always. "After a minute dear, I haven't finished quite yet."

"Of course," she said as she smiled, "Besides I have to check-up on Jenny and wonder, WHY SHE ISN'T HERE FOR BREAKFAST?"

No doubt, Jenny will hear the subtle threat in her shout. He turned his attention back to Mary Anne. I had to lie, he told himself, they wouldn't approve just yet of my methods, but they'd understand that it was all for them. The thought settled his worries. They'd understand. He continued to read the head line 'PRETTY KILLER'S LATEST VICTIM FOUND':

"Early Thursday morning, young Millie Jameson went missing on her way to school. The fourteen-year-old was last seen by her mother as she bid her farewell and went on her way, as any normal day. But unfortunately, she was marked absent as it was reported that she never even arrived to school. The Milton John High School is the school for the past four disappearances and murders, all of them fourteen-year-old attractive girls, the most beautiful, according to the students here. Unfortunately for the parents of Millie Jameson, her body was recovered last night in the same field as Meghan Hillary. The bodies all have the same MO, strangled neck and drained of blood. Police officers are urging parents to keep a close eye on their children and to be careful."