Please, Kill Me (Jeff the Killer x Reader)

Epilogue ✓

"AAAHHH!"

"Gosh! You scared me half to death, girl!" the old man---in his 40's or 50's with a receeding hairline that visibly shown his wrinkles in his forehead---in the seat next to me grumbled, clutching his chest.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" I chirped, scratching the back of my head with a sheepish grin. He just huffed and went back to his crossword puzzle. I pouted for a second before turning my gaze back to the plane window. Below us, the clouds looked like giant piles of mashed potatoes.

Hmm.. thinking about potatoes, I think I am craving some fries especially those newly cooked and flavored by cheese, sour cream or maybe barbeque? Oh gosh.. I am drooling.

But honestly, I cannot believe that I was finally doing it. I was heading to a place where I could actually build a future for my family. After leaving behind the comfort of my household and my hometown.. I am now venturing a new place and grab any opportunity I can get.

I am currently daydreaming about some possibilities once I landed until my phone buzzed-a frantic "flood" of messages from my parents. Did you land? Are you okay? Don't forget to eat your vegetables! I giggled, my thumbs flying across the screen as I replied that I was safe and-as always-still avoiding anything green.

Once we touched down, I hauled my life-packed into one backpack and a single, oversized suitcase-out into the humid air. I am quite nervous but also excited to be independent in a new area, but of course afte I saw a stall where they sell fries, I did not hesitate to buy some. At least while waiting for a taxi, I am eating something.

Then old ladies who stops almost near where I am started talking to each other. I did not plan to be nosy but once I overheard two girls gossiping about some incidents, I can't help but to listen.

"Did you hear about the precinct? The whole Police Department... just wiped," the blonde one whispered.

"Oh! Yeah, and I also heard a girl fell from the roof," her friend added, shivering while clutching at her thin scarf around her neck, "They found a police car downstairs with the roof completely crushed in. Like something heavy hit it from a great height."

"Probably just a piece of the building fell off," the blonde shrugged. From their description, it looks like there was indeed a serious incident happened here, not to mention, if they are right about a whole police department was wiped just like that. For sure it's just some people making stories to scare someone.

"Taxi?" a driver called out, breaking my focus.

"Yes! Please!" I loaded my luggage into the trunk-after a clumsy attempt to bring it into the backseat that earned me a chuckle from the driver-and settled in.

"Where to, Miss?" the driver asked. He had a thick white beard and eyes that had seen far too much of this road.

"The town at the end of Oakwood Highway, please."

The driver stiffened. "The ghost town? You know people don't go there for the scenery, right? It's... dangerous."

"So I've heard! But I hear the job market is great," I said, leaning back. "Easy money, they say. And I'm a teacher-primary school-so I'm hoping to find a small school that needs help." I giddily answered.

I did not notice the expression of the driver since I immediately lock my eyes outside the car window and finish my fries. As we sped down Oakwood Highway, I rolled down the window to fill the wind whipped my hair into a frenzy, smelling of pine and damp earth. It was so peaceful... until it wasn't.

A sound suddenly heard.

It wasn't the wind. It was a raw, gutteral howl-half-scream, half-sob-that echoed from the deep heart of the forest. It sounded like an animal that had lost its mate, or a man who had lost his soul. High above, a murder of crows took flight, blacking out the sun for a split second.

"Did you hear that?" I asked, my heart skipping a beat. Feeling strange and unsettled.

"Hear what?" the driver grumbled.

There it was again. A low, broken whimpering that seemed to vibrate in the very air.

"That! It sounds like someone is crying or hurt!" I gripped his shoulder while shaking the driver to make him believe that I am serious while pointing outside.

"Stop that! You'll crash us!" he barked. "I didn't hear a thing. Probably just your imagination... or your stomach." He laughed, but I knew my own hunger. I just ate a fries and even though I am not full yet, I know the sound of my tummy when its need to be fed. But that sound... it came from the trees, but maybe it was just me.

Stepping out of the taxi felt like stepping into a cold, damp basement. Oakwood didn't greet me with the hustle and bustle of a thriving town; it greeted me with a smell-a heavy scent of ozone, wet pine, and something faintly metallic, like old pennies.

Every building seemed to lean inward, as if the forest was slowly squeezing the life out of the valley. The paint on the storefronts was peeled and blistered, revealing dark wood that looked like bruised skin. I noticed a group of men sitting on a bench; they didn't speak as I passed, they only watched me with eyes that looked far too tired for their faces.

On the corner, a rusted sign for the 'Oakwood Police Department' was draped in yellow crime scene tape that had turned gray with age. Beyond it, the road just... stopped, swallowed by a wall of trees so thick and dark they looked like a solid cliff of obsidian. It was a beautiful place, in a haunted, tragic sort of way-like a flower growing in a ribcage.

But hey, looking at the bright side---literaly on the other side of this town is where some buildings are tall and people walking around doing their business and work. I just offered a kind smile to those men sitting on the bench till I head towards the apartment I have seen from the advertisement.

The landlady, a woman who looked like she was carved out of old leather and cigarette smoke, stared at me over her newspaper.

"Travelers usually have the sense to keep driving," she rasped, lighting a cigar. "This town is a graveyard, lady. Every night there's a new scream. Even the cops are gone now---or I could say, getting lesser and lesser these days."

"I'll be careful," I promised with a bright smile.

She smirked, blowing smoke toward the ceiling. "Optimism. It's a disease. It'll pass." She flipped through a heavy, yellowed ledger. "The only vacancy is 318."

"My favorite numbers combined!" I exclaimed.

The woman paused, her pen hovering over the page. She gave me a long, strange look-almost like she was seeing a ghost. "Right. Name?"

"Y/N. Y/N F/N."

She wrote it down slowly, her eyes narrowed. After I paid the deposit, I took the keys and headed to the third floor. The elevator groaned, the metal gates shaking as they closed.

The room was surprisingly perfect. Clean, neat, and smelling faintly of... antiseptic? I kicked off my shoes and flopped onto the bed, hugging a pillow tight. I walked out onto the small balcony, looking out over the dark treeline of Oakwood.

Grandma used to say that for every soul that leaves, a new one is born to take its place. I breathed in the cold night air, a strange sense of déjà vu washing over me.
"What a beautiful day to be alive," I whispered to the empty room.

Now I wonder.. how would my life will be here in this strange yet alluring town found in the end of the road of Oakwood?

TO BE CONTINUED...