decipher

s.k.

matt and i are at his bedroom while his brothers are in the living room.
"so.. whats his name?"
"well.. i dont think it is his real name.." i say nervously as i rethink about the shocking news im about to tell him, "what do you mean?"
"matt.. the stalker identifies as Christopher Sturniolo."

there are some seconds where no one speaks, only silence, "what do you mean? how is that even possible?" i don't even know to be honest "i dont know matt, but this guy obviously knows stuff about your family, so your brothers are not safe either. it is best if we dont bring something up though. they would get scared and it may ruin our only chance of catching him."

"ugh.. i.. im so.. fuck!" i watch as he throws himself out the bed with his hands on his head, mumbling. he is scared. of course he is. i would be too. what does this stalker want from matt?

i cant watch him suffer any longer, i need to do something. before i get into action myself, i need to comfort him somehow. maybe a hug? it wont be weird.. right? its just a hug Anne! he needs it! yeah that's right. just a hug.

i get up from the bed and walk towards him, them i bring my arms to his hands and remove them from his head. i realize that he has tears threatening to fall from his eyes and i frown out of empathy for him. why do i feel like i need to comfort him and make him laugh again? what is wrong with me?

i decide to finally hug him so i bring my arms around his neck and his arms automatically wrap themselves around my waist, holding me tightly. he shoves his face on my neck but he doesnt cry. he relaxes his body on mine and i notice his breathing calming down. its like he is 'smelling' me while he hugs me and it is soothing.

after 5 minutes we finally break away from each other and i look into his eyes. i wipe some tears, that fell when i hugged him, with my thumbs and smile a small smile towards him. "youre okay." i whisper and kiss his nose, i dont know how and why im acting like this, but i know if it were me in his spot, i wouldve lost my mind already.

he looks at me way too long, as if debating something. but i cant bring myself to understand what. anyway, it doesnt matter anymore as we slowly start to pull away from each other and he nods at me, 'thanking me'.

"look, you dont have to worry about it okay? ill try my best to find out more about him and why he follows you around and ill make sure you and your brothers are safe. just promise me that whenever something, anything, happens youll call me immediately?" "of course, i promise"

------

im at my home office, everything spread all over the floor, as usual, and i try to figure out what to do. i start to make my list of questions;

what does this stalker want from matt?
how does he know about his brothers?
does he know where they live?
why does he follow matts car only?
why does he live in a hotel room?
what did he put on matts poc-

OMG! MATTS POCKET! HOW COULD I FORGET?

"come on pick up pick up!" i pace around my office while i wait for matt to pick up the phone.

"hello?" i hear his hoarse voice, i must've woken him up, its too late right now anyway,
"hey i need a favor please."
"Anne? what is it? what do you need?"
"the stalker left something in your pocket today at the supermarket, i totally forgot about it im so sorry! i just remembered and i need to see what it is, can you send me a picture of every corner of the note? i think it was a note anyway."
"yeah sure. hold on"
after a few seconds he finally found the note,
"uhm.. anne?"
"yeah im here. what is it?"
"the note.. it doesnt say anything.. at least in english?"
"what? what do you mean matt? just send me the photo."

i wait still on the phone with matt while he send me the photo. when i finally can see the message, i open the photo and frown; the note has a smiley face and some 'letters' -if they are letters- that spell something. what the hell is this? and why does it look fucking familiar? after a few minutes of talking to matt we finally hung up.

why do these 'letters' remind me of something? i keep thinking, my mind is almost breaking to this point. i start digging some other, old and unsolved cases, because i think the only possible way of me knowing these letters is because of some case, where else would they be?

i search for about 30min when i finally find it. "OMG!" oh no.. i open the file i wish i never knew existed and look closely at all the other notes, similar to matts, spread across the file.
this is the worst scenario that could happen.. what am i gonna do now? let me explain;

two years ago, when i first started working for the FBI, there was this huge, weird case going around the office where no one knew what was happening. at the time, i wasnt trusted enough to be given this case but when i finally was 1 year later, i wish i never was trustworthy enough.
this case involves a serial killer. someone who murders people based off of something; in this case, their birthdays and their siblings. this serial killer has murdered 7 sets of triplets born in the first of every month. matt is a triplet. matt is born on the 1st of august. oh no..
the stalker isnt just a stalker. he is the serial killer we werent able to catch all those years. he is the most difficult criminal we have ever 'known'. what an i gonna do know?

i think for some minutes before i remember something. the letters have some 'words' saying something. how do i find what these sentences mean?

i search online and find a book called '9 circles of hell'. when i open the site i found online, i start reading the book, trying to see if it is somehow connected to the serial killer.
after reading half the book, i find a page with the same 'letters' as the notes the stalker leaves.

when i finally make the sentences make sence, i read the notes;

1st note, 2012:
no man knows till he has suffered from the night how sweet and dear to his heart and eye the morning can be.

then the next murder happened in the evening,
2nd note, 2014:
everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red.

and then when the next murder happened, the body was found open in half with a book in his hand,
3rd note, march 2015:
would you like to see a magic trick?

then the next victim was found being stubbed with magic wand in his heart,
4th note, september 2015:
when shall we meet again? in thunder, lightening, or in rain?

then the next murder happened while the victim was wrapped around a tree, a lightning strike hit him while he was unable to move,
5th note, 2018:
i dont know who he is.. but he is burnt and he wears a weird hat.

then the next victim was found burnt in his own house, with a stupid birthday hat on his head,
6th note, 2019:
every fairytale had a bloody lining, every one had teeth and claws.

then the teeth and nails from the next victim where found in a vase, next to the murdered triplet,
7th note, 2023:
he is not like us. he smiles a lot. but i think there might be worms inside him, making him smile.

then the next victim was found smiling, with worms eating the inside of his mouth.

now we have our 8th letter, matts letter;
i looked upon the sea: it was to be my grave.

does that mean that the killer wants to choke matt to death with water? in a sea? i am scared shitless right now. what am i gonna do?

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not gonna lie i enjoyed writing this one. vote and comment if you like it <3

-D