The Witching Hour Killer

FIVE - CASSIE

Tuesday, 26th October

My head pounded to an unrelenting rhythm and it felt like it was about to explode at any moment. Like my brain was ready to pop from the inside.
All I could see was blackness... blind to everything.

It wasn't until I attempted to move my arms that I realised they were bound together behind my back. I tasted the dirty rope in my mouth, felt the cold, almost sticky concrete floor beneath me and came to complete clarity.

I wasn't dead.

I wasn't blind.

The images of Alison being killed so brutally in front of me flashed through my mind like a twisted slide show.
I tried to let out a scream, but only muffled whimpering was dragged from my lungs.

I wasn't dead.

He didn't kill me...

A surge of relief and sheer terror washed over me simultaneously. Where the fuck was I?
I moved my head to see if I could shift the blindfold down  my face but failed miserably. Disorientated and drowsy, I tried to figure out how long I had been here and the events that lead up to me being taken.

Alison... wardrobe... the eyes.
Oh god, the eyes. The two black holes that bore into me the moment the wardrobe doors were opened. The crooked smile on his porcelain face as he yanked me out of my hiding place.
Then... nothing.

Did he knock me unconscious? I scoffed at myself for asking the question. Of course he did. That's why I had no recollection of what happened after he dragged me away, and why my body was drenched in pain.
But, why me? Another blood-curdling thought came into my mind... If he didn't kill me, then it means he isn't done with me yet.

I need to get the fuck out of here and fast before he disembowels me in the same way he did Alison, I thought.
I yanked my arms hard to weaken the ties on my wrists, but the solid pipe behind me stayed put. Letting out a frustrated scream, I tried again but met the same conclusion.
I was trapped here.
During my frenzied attempt to escape, I heard the loud creak of a metal door opening somewhere in the room and froze in utter panic. Every hair on my body stood on end as I listened to heavy footsteps and raspy breathing draw closer to me. I wasn't alone anymore. Whoever killed Alison and dragged me out of my house was stood in the same room as me and I was completely helpless.

I sat holding my breath, trying desperately to make sense of my surroundings and be prepared for whatever might happen next.
Whoever was in the room started moving heavy objects around and clanging metal together in a deliberately loud way and my body reacted by shaking violently.
The noise stopped and I held my breath again. I could feel the sweat dripping from my forehead and underneath the blindfold towards my eyes. The salty liquid burned and caused tears to brim quickly. I was officially living my worse nightmare and I wondered... Would I be better off dead after all?

Suddenly, the sound of someone inhaling sharply through their nose came directly from my right ear and I snapped my head towards it, my heart thumping loudly against my ribs.
He was close to me now. So close I could smell him.
In a swift motion, he tugged at the rope and pulled it from my mouth.

"Please..." my voice broke the air like a hammer as I pleaded for my life. "Don't kill me."

"Shh." The noise was at my left ear now and I snapped my head in the other direction.
Even though I was wearing a blindfold, I could picture his face being only inches away from mine. His eyes locked onto me like a predator.
After all, I was his prey. His play thing. I was only alive right now because he wanted me to be.
But why? What did he want?