The Killer Among Us

Chapter 49

The Final Moments

Jacob

We all have our dark side, our insecurities and fears, our wrong desires and mistakes, a shadow that trails us wherever we go. What was different about Ian Brooks was that his shadow had consumed him, turning him into a different person altogether, a person that tortured and killed innocent girls in order to ease his own hurt, to satisfy his sick desires. He wasn't merely evil, he became evil itself, turning him into Isaac Burke.

Issac Burke was an ordinary member of society, with a perfectly normal upbringing, a good job and reputation and yet he was living a vile, wicked, depraved parallel other life.

Our paths were destined to cross, at least that was the way the story played out in my mind, and he finally stood before me, the director and star of the movie unspooling in his own head.

He broke the silence, his voice thundering like a storm, "Are you ready?"

I wasn't ready to give myself over to him before I saw that he upheld his end of the deal. It was then that I searched for Aria, scanning the forest for her fragile figure. But to no avail. Frantically, I turned and turned, hoping to see her glistening eyes in the shadows. Yet she was nowhere to be found, I could feel his treachery stinging every cell in my body. Deep down, I knew I had been fooled, but I didn't want to admit it, I didn't want to admit that my plan hadn't worked.

Again, he exclaimed, "Are you ready, Jacob?" He knew exactly that I was looking for Aria. The amusement in his dark voice made that clear.

"Where is Aria?" I yelled at him.

He only scoffed, no answer needed. Instantly, my mind spun in all sorts of directions, searching for a way out of this, searching for anything to help Aria.

His taunting voice pierced through my thoughts, "I thought we had a deal, Jacob."

"There is no deal," I told him, "Not before I know she is safe."

Burke threw his arms up in amusement. "Oh, Jacob, don't you know the legend about Devil's Bridge? It's all about trickery," he took a step closer to me, "And who's the most accomplished trickster of them all?" The devil.

A fresh dose of adrenaline pumped through my veins at his words. Slowly, I reached back for my gun. "I know the legend, Detective," I sneered, "I think I just prefer a different ending."

A spark of electricity rushed through me as my fingertips finally found my gun.

The Serpent's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Oh?"

"The hunter should have killed the devil when he had the chance," I declared as I rapidly drew my gun and pointed it at him, my finger putting slight pressure on the trigger already.

Before I could even think about pulling the trigger, Burke bolted at me, throwing me to the ground and overpowering me with his sheer strength. We both hit the cold ground hard, the impact caused me to foolishly let go of the gun, which landed somewhere in the dirt.

Immediately, his fists found my body, colliding relentlessly with my face as I groaned in pain. After a few hits, my skin broke open, hot blood running down my already bruised face. His hits hurt but it was nothing compared to the wounds on my heart.

Soon, I realised that I needed to move, I needed to fight. It was the only way to come out of this alive. Quickly, I held up my aching arms in front of my face to shield myself from his hits. The hitting never ceased but my defense gave me a chance to work out my next steps.

Then, with all the strength I could muster, I kicked up my knee, hitting him in the stomach. At that, he let out a stifled groan. Seeing that it worked, I repeated that move again, and again. Soon, he couldn't hit back anymore, giving me time to clench my fists and punch him in the side. Somehow, he ate my punches like they were nothing. His body still loomed over me powerfully. So, I started attacking his face. Like I did before, he held his arms in front of his face to block my punches.

Figuring that his vision was blocked by his arms, I shifted my weight and threw him off my body and to the side. Rapidly, I rose and towered over him. The power had shifted. I grabbed a hold of his throat and squeezed as hard as I could, making a choking sound escape his bloody lips.

The fury blurring my vision made me blind to the immorality of my actions. Even after he barely stopped moving, I continued unleashing all my rage. Blood gushed out of his mouth and suddenly a sinister smile formed on his lips. I would have killed him in that moment, had he not somehow reached for the gun in the dirt and held it out between the two of us.

I tried pulling it away from him, struggling to release his grip on it. It was utter chaos, a struggle for life and death. Both of us were panting in exhaustion, tugging and pulling at the gun to kill the other one.

Then, suddenly a deafening gunshot banged through the night. Its impact propelled me backwards and I landed on the ground. For a few seconds, I simply looked up at the moon, the warmth of blood comforting me and putting my thoughts to rest. Finally, I closed my eyes and saw Aria's face before me, alive and well. I thought it weird that she had just shown up, her face somehow younger than when I last saw her. In fact, it was Arias face when she was just twelve years old and I heard the faint echo of her giggles. My vision blurred as I slowly dosed off. Finally, I closed my eyes, the last thing that I saw being Arias sweet smile. A weak smile formed on my own lips in response and somewhere in my mind, I welcomed the sweet escape of death with open arms.

Except it never came.

Hesitantly, I opened my eyes again, the same moon was shining down on me. Nothing had changed. I must have been laying there for a way, suddenly overcome by the chill of the night. With trembling hands I searched for the bullet wound but I couldn't find one. So I heaved my body off the ground. My entire hands were doused in blood but it wasn't my own. I dared to cast a glance toward the ground.

Burke was laying in the same spot, his body limp and lifeless. I clumsily stumbled towards him, falling on my knees beside his bleeding body. My hands found his collar and I pulled him up.

"Where is Aria?" I shook his body, commanding him to tell me, "Where is she?"

The quiet of the night hurt in my ears. At last his eyes opened slightly, the poison green of his eyes dim and dull. The same sinister smile formed on his lips as he coughed up dark blood.

Again I yelled, "Where is she!?"

His eyes found mine, his hand gripped my wrist and he pulled himself up slightly. Then, he weakly whispered, "She's already dead."

The words hit me hard, throwing me back onto the ground again. "No," I whimpered, "She can't be." I reached for his body and shook him violently, but no further answer came.

I laid there for a while, crying in agony at everything I had lost. It was all finally over and yet I found no peace. Aria was gone and I couldn't save her.

When I looked up after a few moments. Burke's body was completely still, his blood sickled into the ground. I began to realise what I had done. I had killed him, but at what cost? What's the point of killing the devil if you become one in the process? Killing him had not brought back the countless victims that had suffered at his hands and it sure as hell didn't save my Aria. The only thing it had accomplished was turning me into a killer myself.

In one fateful moment I had become both a failure and a monster. The one person that I did everything to save was dead. Aria was dead and there was nothing I could do anymore.

The legend had changed. The hunter killed the devil but lost himself. Instead of riding home on his horse, he laid in the dirt, cold and alone. He lay there, next to the cursed bridge, for a long time, the metallic whiff of blood burning his nose as he wished for death, but it was a relief he didn't deserve.