Her Silent Killer

Chapter 17

The king was now helping me out of the dress I was wearing. He had started with my shoes. I wasn't feeling so good anymore. I felt really really miserable to the point that I didn't even have the energy to do anything. It was like all the alcohol that I had consumed had completely left my system which was impossible by the way but with the way I was feeling it seemed that way. There was a giant ball stuck in my throat. I wanted to cry so badly.
Kumkani: "Put your arms through the holes little beauty." One of his t-shirts was hanging around my neck. I did as he told me groaning and then I flopped back on top of the bed covers. He opened them for me and indicated that I should get in. I groaned again miserably and crawled in.
Me: "Did you find the bad man?" I asked him after a short while in the smallest of voices. He paused what he was doing. He had been changing.
Kumkani: "No."
Me: "He's coming for me, isn't he?" Before I knew it the king was suddenly in front of me holding me up by my shoulders.
Kumkani: "I will kill him before he gets to you."
Me: "B-but I t-thought he was dead. I-I thought you had killed him all t-those years ago." I said to him blinking back my tears... "w-why and h-how is he alive King?" He looked away briefly from me and then his eyes came back to me, full of promise, danger and determination.
Kumkani: "I will kill him for sure this time beautiful. That I promise you."
Me: "I-I'm terrified out of my mind right now King." He pulled in his arms and squeezed me. His body along with mine was also shaking.
Kumkani: "I know beautiful. And for that I'll make sure that he dies a slow and painful death." He vowed dangerously... "do you trust me?"
Me: "Yes." And I did. With all my being.
Kumkani: "Thank you little beauty."
Me: "B-but I still don't get how he knows about you though. How he knows your name." I said to him after a while. He said nothing... "King?" He pulled away from and just looked at me saying nothing... "King?" His silence was making stomach be in nervous knots for some reason.
Kumkani: "I don't want to lie to you beautiful." He said putting his hand on my face.
Me: "Then don't." He said nothing. His eyes were completely blank showing me nothing... "K-king-."
Kumkani: "After."
Me: "What?"
Kumkani: "I'll tell you everything after I catch and kill that monster. Okay beautiful?"
Me: "Why not now-."
Kumkani: "Please." There was desperation in his voice... "after beautiful. I promise." I was conflicted. Even though there was a part of me that wanted to know, there was also another big part of me that didn't want to know, it urged me to wait for the after that he was talking about. It was scared of the answer.
Me: "Okay." I finally agreed in a soft voice. So much relief was reflected in his eyes... "but you'll have to keep your promise and tell me everything, after. No excuses."
Kumkani: "I will." I could see the truth in his eyes and something else that looked like fear. I told myself to ignore that fear and focus on only the truth that was reflected in there. I lied back down on the bed and he quickly changed and put on only his sweatpants and joined me in bed... "sleep beautiful." He whispered against my ear. I shook my head.
Me: "I'm scared of closing my eyes." I confessed to him... "scared that he will be there in my dreams." He said nothing. He just adjusted us so that I was now almost on top of him with my head on his chest with our arms and legs hugging each other. We were now in what was called the nuzzle position. I don't know, but this position made me feel like I was in a cocoon ... "with you in my arms like this beautiful, nothing bad will get to you. So go on and sleep with no worries. Your man will stand guard and protect you." God! Lendoda! I breathed him in closing my eyes and I fell asleep.

When I woke up the next day, the king was on the phone. I decided to lie still and earsdrop on his phone call even though I woke up with the worst of headaches and there was the fact that I needed to go to the bathroom asap. He was standing by the window. He had his back to me. He looked tense.
Kumkani: "I really regret not killing him back then. And because of that I've been looking for the bastard for almost 13 years now and every time I thought I had him I came out with nothing." He said angrily... "I know I know but I can't help but feel that he's only doing all this because of me. He wants to take a crap on my face and ruin the little happiness I have. I know it." He kept quiet. I guess he was listening to what the other person was saying... "I know." He sighed... "but my woman...damn Jasper, my little beauty is so terrified right now. What am I going to do? If she finds out...God..." He groaned miserably... "she'll want nothing-." I couldn't hold in my bladder any longer. So I dashed to the bathroom quickly before I could hear anymore and did my business. The king had lied when he said he talked to me more than he talked to anybody else. It seemed like he also talked to this Jazz person a lot. I brushed my teeth and washed my wash. I wasn't going to be analyzing anything about what I just heard. I didn't want to be stressing myself. The king said he would tell me all I needed to know after he kills the bad man so I was going to wait for the after. Deep down I somewhere, I knew that I was just trying to prolong the inevitable because of being afraid. Afraid of finding out what connection the king and the bad man had. Something was telling me that knowing would just devastate me and I didn't want to be devastated especially by the king. The king was the only one holding me together and keeping me sane right now so for my sanity and well-being I was just going to turn a blind eye just this once. I know it was a foolish and stupid thing to do since I was going to end up being devastated anyways in the end and maybe even more than I would've been if I only hadn't been a coward and pushed for the king to tell me everything but I just didn't want to. I really deserved a break even if it was just for a short while. The only upside to this morning was that last night I didn't have any dreams. So I decided to focus on nothing but that. It was a win bethuna. I really wished that this meant this was the end of the dreams about the bad man and what happened to me 13 years ago but I knew I wasn't going to be that lucky. I might have gotten a reprieve last night but they were going to come back especially now with the bad man being back.      

It was now a month later. And I hadn't had a single dream about what happened 13 years ago ever since that time with the black box. And there hadn't been any word from the bad man. Nothing.  The king though hasn't stopped looking and hunting for him. And for that reason I was back to living with my parents. Even though I didn't like sleeping alone at night without him, I kind of accepted it because he was out there trying to keep me safe. It has been almost 10 days since I've seen the king. He only stays with me for one day or for even just a few hours, when he does come back, and then he's gone again. My parents knew about the bad man being back and the black box he had sent me. And to say they were terrified and shocked as I was that he was still alive was an understatement. My mother now cried and prayed more and she insisted on having the gates and the doors of the house locked at all times. I was forbidden to step even a foot outside the house. I hadn't wanted to tell them about the whole thing because I knew how it was going to be for them but the king convinced me that they had to know for my protection and that since they were my parents they deserved to know. My father even went and got a shotgun that was now sitting in the living room corner which got on my mother's last nerve. My mother was against guns but my father argued that he had to do anything and everything to protect his family. There was even a police car that sat watch outside the yard in front of the house. That had been Anga's doing. When he heard from my mother about the whole thing with the black box, he went berserk. He now had police vans doing patrols around our neighborhood. I appreciated everything that he was doing but to me it was just calling for attention. Now even the neighbors were curious as to what was happening. They made any excuse to come by the house to find out. All of a sudden now they were short on this or that and had no sugar, flour, salt and even rice. People are so nosy I tell you. My mother told them in their faces to mind their own goddamn business which kind of put a stop to them coming. You might be asking how I was in all of this, right? Well, I don't know how I was exactly. There were times when I wasn't okay...where I would just freak out because of the terror and fear I was feeling inside and then there were times when I was okay. It was like being in a roller coaster I tell you. The only thing I wanted was for the king to find that monster and kill him. That's the only way I was going to have some sort of peace.

It was Sunday. My mother was at church and my father was in the living room watching sports. I on the other hand was sitting on one of the counter chairs in the kitchen just going through our mail to pass time when a white folded paper caught my attention. It wasn't in, in any envelope and nothing was written on the outside. Even though I had a bad feeling, I took it and unfolded it. It was from him. Again like the last note, letters cut out from a magazine were pasted on the paper. My whole body ran cold. I shook as I read the note.

It read as follows: "Remember my son little one, the pro? I told you a lot about him during your bedtime stories. He's closer to you than you think. Say hi to him for me. See you soon. ZP."

Something in what he wrote must've triggered my memory because suddenly I was back in that dark room and I was 7 years again.

The bad man was telling me one of his stories again. He liked telling me stories. He called them bedtime stories. I didn't like listening to his stories because the stories were not good ones like the ones I used to hear about at school. The bad man talked a lot about his son and his dead wife. He told me that he killed his wife with his own hands. He even showed me how he killed her by holding my throat and squeezing it so hard. That day I had cried and choked thinking I was going to die...that I wouldn't ever see my mommy and daddy. But luckily he had stopped and had laughed. I didn't like the bad man's laugh. It was ugly like him. "Now my son, when he had reached the age of 6 he was already a pro at sucking dick." He laughed. "A real pro that one, not like you little one." He pulled me roughly by my hair close to him. "You still need a little more practice and then you'll also be a pro like him. It's a pity that he's not here. Maybe he could've taught you a thing or two." He said angrily. "That little shit ran off as soon as he reached the age of 15. He just ran off and left me!" He shouted. "He's the one that made me like this. Because of him, I had to go out and find other kids like yourself to satisfy this demon inside me." He laughed. "There has been many more before you little one. All of them are dead now." I tried not to cry because the bad man didn't like it when I did. If I did, he always punished me. So I bit my lip hard as I shook in fear. "You'll also die when I'm done with you.".....