The Killer Among Us

Chapter 40

Four days left

Jacob

Parked in front of the Hartley residence in the security of the darkness of night, I wasn't entirely sure what I anticipated. I followed Tate around all day, hoping to catch The Solemn Serpent fixing what I had broken. Maybe he even cared about Tate, although it was hard for me to gauge, but I was counting, depending, on that maybe.

I had called the sketchy guy from Craigslist, feeling like a complete idiot as I did, and he agreed, for a certain price of course, to dig into Ian Brooks and acquire some much-needed information on him. "Maybe even a phone number," he told me, making my fists clench in excitement. We set up a meeting for the following day and until then, the only thing left for me to do was to wait outside Tate's house in the hopes that The Solemn Serpent would pay him a visit.

Sitting in my car, hidden away in the shadows, I leaned my head against the cold window and yet my eyes were glued on Tate's house. He entered hours ago, holding a small paper bag of what I presumed were groceries. Since then, there was no sign of him.

Slowly, my eyelids were getting heavier and heavier, and sleep threatened to come over me. The fear of missing The Solemn Serpent or being thrown into another unpleasant memory that I would rather leave undiscovered, forced me to fight the sleep, however.

Suddenly, my stereo turned on, the buzzing bringing the inside of my car back to life. Yet, there was no sound coming from it, except for cold static. Slightly annoyed at the noise, I turned the radio off again, confused at why it turned on in the first place.

Again, I leaned against the window and observed the neighbourhood. When I glanced back at the Hartley residence, I saw a shadowy figure standing completely still in the upstairs window. I froze. Could it have been The Solemn Serpent? Did he see me? I ducked down quickly.

The figure took a step forward, making the shadows on his face disappear and revealing Tate, simply standing there and gazing out into the night. Maybe he was hoping for a visit from his old friend, too.

I scoffed as he eerily drew the curtains, blocking my sight into his room. "Coward," I whispered annoyed, as I returned to my somewhat comfortable position.

Letting out a soft yawn, I let my eyes rest for just a moment. I didn't even feel sleep overcome me.

The sudden buzzing of my radio jerked me awake, startling me slightly. "What the-" I mumbled as I went to turn it off again. Confusion hit me when I realised that the radio wasn't even on.

Then, out of nowhere, I heard a faint whimper coming through the radio. It sounded like a girl crying in pain. Immediately I leaned in to hear the voice more clearly, when the low sound of shoes hitting a floor sounded through. The girl suddenly started begging for her life, "Please, please don't kill me."

The whole thing felt out of touch, intangible and completely bizarre and yet it drew me in. Worry filled me for this complete stranger but there was no way I could have helped her. To be quite honest, I wasn't entirely sure if it was real.

Her voice appeared again. "Please," she begged, "Don't kill me."

Then, she uttered a name that shook me to my core, instantly snapping my cord to reality, "Please, Jacob." My name.

My guts twisted in panic, and I started slapping my cheeks, hoping I could escape this horrible feeling. When I listened intently again, the buzzing had simply vanished, and I could finally breathe again.

I glanced at the clock and realised, to my surprise, that I had slept for about an hour. "Fuck," I sighed. Not knowing what was real and what wasn't felt like constant drowning to me.

Upset at myself for falling asleep, I sat up straight, rubbing the tiredness from my face, when another noise, this time coming from the Hartley residence, startled me. It almost sounded like a gunshot, metallic and thundering. Did The Solemn Serpent do what I couldn't?

Moments of eerie silence passed. Then, a high-pitched scream pierced my ears.

"Mrs. Hartley," I thought. The poor woman had been through enough. Losing her son would tear her apart.

Still, I didn't move. I simply observed the surrounding area. If The Solemn Serpent had actually shot Tate, then he must have been lurking near somewhere. My eyes squinted to see better in the dark, but it didn't help, everything was a blur.

About five minutes later the weak wailing of police sirens drew closer, making me jump into motion. I couldn't be caught here, not when I was this close to finding Aria. So, I started my car, the engine revving in excitement, and escaped the crime scene.

As I was driving down the street, multiple police vehicles drove past me. None of them seemed to have noticed me. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins and the bright moon above me reflected off the wet asphalt. Still, I had nowhere to go, nowhere was safe for me anymore and so I simply drove listlessly through the city, contemplating how much time I had left until my insanity would catch up with me.

My eyes, however, were always on the lookout for a dark figure, passing through the streets. Someone who remained unseen, undetected by the residents. He might have seemed like just a normal person to you, walking the streets innocuously. But really, he was a killer, watching your every move and waiting for the perfect moment to attack.

This killer was standing in the shadows, peeking through closed blinds and preying on your weakness. Young girls were sleeping in their new homes that night, unaware that they could be snatched from their beds at any moment. Still, no one expected the worst. Everyone always thinks that evil won't strike them.

No, you wouldn't find this killer in therapy. Narcissists don't go to therapy. What I learned from this calamity is that psychopaths are of the opinion that there is nothing wrong with them. They become arrogant, virtually impossible to pick out from the crowd because they are so well adapted.

While my opponent remained faceless, I began to understand the rules of his game, rules I wasn't sure I could follow anymore. I needed to come up with a new strategy. So, instead of waiting for him to come to me, I needed to go to him.