Sweetheart

Sweetheart Chapter 1

Leaves crunched under the weight of white shoes. A man heavily intoxicated wandered near the entrance to a well known bar. His friends were already inside, yet he decided to stay in the biting cold of the night to smoke the last cigarette in his pack. He leaned against the bricks of the building, holding the cigarette between his teeth.

"Dammit," he seethed as he searched his pockets for his lighter. He staggered ever so slightly as a man, much taller than himself walked up beside him, smoking his own lit cigarette.

"Need a light?" The man asked, a hood blocked most of his face, as the groggy eyed man, Axel, scanned him up and down.

"If you're willing," he said furrowing his eyebrows as the tall man before him sparked the lighter to life, blocking the freezing wind from extinguishing it. Axel pulled air through the cigarette as it sparked to life, blowing out the smoke, closing his eyes to savor the burn that ripped down his throat. Just as Axel was about to thank the kind stranger, he noticed he had been left alone. With a shrug, he pulled air through it several times more before he threw the butt onto the ice cold cement, extinguishing it with his white shoes. He shivered under his puffy black jacket, dragging himself up the cement stairs of the building, and entered the bar.

The interior was bustling, full of intoxicated life. Women and men alike lined the walls, the center floor along with the bar. All dancing, laughing, having fun. Axel walked up to the bar asking for two shots of whiskey. Although he was already drunk, he wasn't drunk enough. His girlfriend had broken up with him no more than three days ago, he needed to get over her by any means possible. If that meant finding more girls to sleep with than he already had? So be it.

Axel gratefully nodded at the bar tender as he pulled the crystalline glass to his lips, parting them to pull in the cool amber liquid. After downing the shots he felt the warmth cascade through his body, warming him up from the inside out. He eyed down where his friends were, all of them had a girl on them, whether that be by choice or not he wasn't sure.

Axel's gaze wandered over to a corner where a girl with short black hair sat. Her eyes were deep brown, and looked innocent. A perfect plaything for the night. He meandered over to her side, plopping down beside her, she immediately created distance between them, scooting far to the left. She was pinned almost to the window in one of the booth seats.

"How are you this evening, gorgeous?" He asked smoothly, not letting his insobriety show through his words. She looked him up and down, still clearly uncomfortable.

"Fine," she stated robotically, not making eye contact with him. Axel reached toward her putting a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"What's a pretty dove doing here all by herself tonight?" He asked cooly, slowly sliding his hand across the booth seat.

"I wanted to be by myself tonight," she spoke quietly as he slid his hand onto her thigh.

"Why don't I buy you a drink and then we can get out of here for the night, what do you say?" He caressed her thigh and she immediately stood up making her way out of the booth.

"I said I wanted to be alone. What makes you think I'd want that?" She scoffed, making her way to the door, leaving Axel in the dust. He swore to himself before messaging his buddies that he was going to go after her. Soon after he made his way back out into the biting cold of autumn.

The streets were nearly empty at the point, as he saw the dark haired lady walk down the street. He followed her across the pavement and into the joining alleyway. As soon as he'd entered something hit the back of his knee, hard. The splitting pain trailed up into his thigh, he tried to let out a yell as a black gloved hand covered his mouth.

"A peep from you and I'll knock your teeth in," the voice made his blood run cold. Axel was shaking, he wasn't sure if it was from the cold or from the terror that had gripped his chest. His leg was still throbbing to the unsteady rhythm of his heart. He felt something sharp trailing its way up his neck as he tried to escape his attacker's grasp. "Ah ah I don't think so," he said as he slipped zip ties through and over Axel's hands, tying them tightly in a crisscross. "You know, I thought you'd have more common sense than to touch a helpless girl, but I suppose I was wrong," the knife was now trailing down his throat. Axel heaving in breathes through his nose.

"But I really wish you hadn't touched her like that, this is my favorite pair of boots after all," he released Axel from his grasp, and just as he was about to scream the man slit his throat from ear to ear. Axel gripped his neck, trying to cease the bleeding but no words escaped his lips, only a quiet gurgle as the last thing he saw before falling into a bloodied heap was a pair of black steel toed boots.

The library bustled with other students chatting, gossiping and doing their daily task of homework. I sat at an elevated table next to a window and watched teachers and my fellow peers walk to and from the library's entrance. My laptop was set up in front of me, the document that was opened had a riveting two words at the top. My name. There had been 2 murders already, and I took it upon myself to keep the school updated on the case. The only issue was I had no sources. Nothing at all to talk about. I began to get frustrated with myself, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Space out like that and you might be the next victim." I looked up to see my friend Kiera chuckling to herself. She took a seat across from me, filling me in on the latest news. "So, you'll never believe what I heard on my way over here." Her eyes narrowed as she gazed at me. "Apparently there was another murder." The corners of her mouth raised slightly, "And I know who was killed." I almost crawled over the table out of excitement. "Well go on, tell me!" I gasped, gripping the table. She laughed again, but began to tell me what she overheard. "Apparently it was another Frat guy named Axel. He was last seen at a bar harassing a girl. Similar to the other ones we've heard about." I wrote down a few notes on what she told me and planned to write about it for my article. "This is the third murder so far, right?" Kiera asked me, I could hear her voice laced with curiosity. I kept my eyes focused on the document in front of me. "Yeah, and it definitely won't be the last."