HOMEWRECKER {18+}

14

O L I V I A

I leaned back in the chair with a book in my hand.

A law book, to be specific, to familiarize myself with the useless laws of the world, which bore me to no end.

I killed someone and got caught? Boom prison. Depends on the degree of murder.

I steal something and get caught? Boom pay up, do some service or jail. Depends on what I stole and how I stole it.

Unless you got a wealthy family to get you out.

Maybe your daddy knows the judge? Or maybe your mommy pays off the victim to remain silent?

If you were rich, the laws would never apply to you.

That's why the law bored me to no end. They told us we had the law on our side, but that was just an illusion to make you feel comfortable and safe.

There were many other things about the law that I couldn't care less about unless I saw a police car outside the store I was stealing from. Then I knew I needed to run away from them and not run towards them.

I had been sitting here since early morning reading about the law, crimes or non-fiction books about officers' personal experiences in the force.

To learn more about them before they head in my direction.

One thing all of them had in common, and a thing I learned, is that they take their time before announcing a killer is on the loose for the world or the city.

The killer might enjoy the thrill of being on the news.

I suddenly needed to rub my eyes since I had been staring at one thing, even if it seemed like my eyes were on the book, in reality they were somewhere else.

The public study room inside the college campus had a flat-screen TV in the corner with no sound on, but the subtitles were on for me to read out of the corner of my eye.

A news reporter was talking about the latest news around the city, they were talking, showing pictures and then the weather.

Nothing about the murder I committed exactly five days ago. I had no idea if the police or anybody else had even found the body yet, but they wouldn't announce it carelessly if they didn't have the facts about the murder.

I murdered the person far out into the forest inside someone's summer cabin that had zero security, since the people who owned the cabin, didn't think that somebody would pass by so far out into the woods.

But someone did, and it was a murder who left a body in their basement.

I followed my mother's old agent, who used to set her up for exhibitions. I followed the man around for a few days as I learned the man was old and retired from the art business, which was easier for me.

I followed him in different cars from the different warehouses I had stolen them from. Once I was done, I placed them back in the warehouse, like I had never stolen from anybody.

Eleanor Everett only found the run-down car because I hadn't disposed of it or hidden it well in the forest, but now that car had already disposed of.

It is somewhere destroyed in pieces. There's nothing left of it but dust.

My kill was reckless and sudden, but I was going to dedicate everything I had to it, even my life.

I had one year to think it all through and one year to plan for all the murders. To learn from my mistakes, my soft, naive heart still held onto them, and I learned from them.