The Fifty State Nightmare

4

You and Jim don't speak for several days and soon a whole week passes. You're not as happy as you expected to be at winning the challenge he had set for you. He was obsessively searching for you and you knew it. You knew he was lying awake and fretting over you killing again. You planned to leave but you're too pissed to even focus on where you wanted to go next. You were a serial killer and you were pissed people didn't know who you were. Ironic, since the whole goal was NOT to be caught but you wondered if it would be more fun and challenging to give people a name to the face of your mask. Maybe you could kill one more person in this area and leave a clue. Something to make them think you were slipping up.

It would be unexpected and those obsessively trying to find you would have more than evidence leading them to your identity. You weren't in the database so maybe some blood? A finger print maybe? No, that was too big of a risk. You fret over what to do as you lay in bed, staring up at the bright sky through the skylight when the sun finally rises. You roll over in bed and at last sleep comes to you. You'd worry about it more when you woke up......

~~~~

Two weeks pass but you don't kill anyone and the itch begins to crawl over you. As you're at the grocery store you imagine leaping on some unsuspecting victim and bringing an end to their life, right there in the grocery store. You didn't kill here because everyone knew who you were. If they somehow linked you to the murders you'd be caught for sure. That's why you traveled the U.S. To make sure they couldn't pin the murder on you and you had been successful so far. You shake the murderous thoughts from your head as you check out, giving everyone a smile as you walk through the grocery store. Once you finish shopping you checkout and then go home, your eyes widening when you see Jim's truck outside the cabin. You sigh and pull up beside it, Jim getting out of his truck as you leave your car.

"Hey. I uh.....wanted to apologize. What I said wasn't very cool," He tells you.

"You think?" You snap at him as you grab your groceries.

"Alright, I deserve that," He sighs, coming to help you. "I really am sorry."

"I get you're scared and worried but everyone gets caught eventually. The police are warning people to be safe. Hell, we'd be luckier if we knew where the mask came from," You tell him.

"Where the......Y/N! You're a genius! If we figure out who made the mask we can figure out who might have bought it and is killing!" Jim cries excitedly.

"What if they made it themselves though?" You point out.

"Shit, you're right......," He mumbles, but you can tell he was still going to try.

Once again he'd be led to a dead end. You found the mask online and learned how to make it yourself. You made sure not to buy anything that would link you to the murders. That's why you generally stole knives from your victims' houses. The police wouldn't usually notice a missing knife and you only used the same knife a total of three times. You knew he was going to exhaust every possibility of that mask but without having an idea of who it was then knowing who bought it wouldn't make a difference. You smile slightly at that thought as you put the groceries away, turning to Jim with a straight face once you're finished.

"Any new leads from the police?" You ask him.

"They think it had to have been a local. They don't think someone stumbled across him randomly. He was in a pretty hard part of the forest to navigate," Jim explains.

"Really? But he was right off the road. He hadn't gone in that far?" You tell him.

"True, but what are the chances of a famed serial killer 'stumbling' across their victim in the middle of a forest. There were other campers before him that they could have attacked. They avoided them for a reason and attacked him because he wasn't easy to get to. Unless you knew that path you wouldn't have found him," Jim explains. "So, it's someone who is from here."

"Interesting," You tell him. "Guess they messed up. People might be suspicious of each other now though. Lots of false reports?"

"Possibly, but we at least have an idea. I just can't think of who it might be," He tells you with a sigh. "I know pretty much everyone here after all. Not many actually travel here."

"So it's someone who's renting a cabin?" You try.

"Or has bought one. It's an easy place to hide out. Notice there hasn't been anything for two weeks. They haven't left yet. I can just feel if. We're close Y/N. Very close," Jim tells you.

You simply nod your head but part of you was worried. If the police were thinking that then they were bound to come and question you. You couldn't leave or else that would be suspicious and you'd have a whole army waiting for you to get back. No, you'd need to wait this out a little longer. Let the investigation die down and get questioned before you left. You hadn't planned on staying long but you didn't have much choice at this rate. You might have messed up big time. You knew very few people living here knew these woods as well as you did. You grew up here during the summers and spent hours exploring these forests. You knew these trails almost as well as Jim did and he knew it. Would he suspect you?

"Y/N?" Jim calls out gently. "Relax, I don't think they'll come after you."

"But if they know this place as well as we think they do I'm a good target. I'm here alone Jim," You remind him.

"But you're a light sleeper and you know how to protect yourself. You said you weren't worried before. Why the change in heart?" He asks you.

"It's just.....it was so close to here. It's a few miles down my game trail. If they decided to follow it then they know I'm here," You tell him.

"Should I get an officer out here?" He asks you.

"Would you? I think I'd feel safer that way," You tell him with a smile.

"Of course. Don't worry. We'll catch them. I'll stay again tonight. Just to be safe. Keep your chin up okay?" He encourages you.

"Okay," You tell him.

That should help take some of the suspicion away......