Forever Alone (Book 1 of the Misguided Killer Series)

Chapter Two: Captured

He felt it. His flesh burning. The laughter of the ones who caused this echoing in his ears. He heard frightened voices, his mother was one he believed, yelling for someone to call 911. He knew he was writhing on the floor, his body a human torch. He hated it. Hated the agony he was in.

'Kill them. Kill them all. They're no better than animals. Make them sleep.' The voice that whispered dark things to him had been relentless that day. For once he didn't want to ignore it. 'You're lost. Broken. You're no longer beautiful to your mother.'

Suddenly he was elsewhere. In his bathroom, peering at who he'd become. His eyelids: burned away. His face: torn by his own hand so that he'd always smile. His skin: bleach white from the burning. This was him now.

His mother's screams as he killed her. She'd lied to him. She hated what he was, didn't understand him anymore. So he'd made her silent. Maybe he really was a monster to begin with. Maybe that was why he'd felt so uncomfortable in his own body. He wasn't human. At least not after the attack.

He found himself freed from his memories, suddenly kneeling before his brother Liu. Liu held a gun to his forehead, one finger on the trigger. His normally understanding smile was gone and his eyes were frozen. The Liu he knew was no longer there. "Liu?" He questioned, "what're you doing?" He had so many more questions, but there was no time to ask them before his brother's voiced pierced him like ice.

"I'm ridding the world of a monster." He knew getting shot wouldn't kill him, knew that none of this was real, but in that instant he felt raw fear course through his veins.

"Liu, it's me," he tried, "your brother." The grip Liu had on the gun didn't loosen. His gaze didn't soften.

"No," he said, "you aren't my brother. Not anymore."

"Liu please," he said, desperate now. He didn't want Liu to hate him. Liu, his faithful brother. They'd been through so much together, but Jeff knew that his bloodlust had drawn a fine line between them. One neither of them could cross. "It's me Liu. It's Jeff." Liu only shook his head.

"You're not my brother. You...are nothing but a monster." The gun went off.

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He jerked awake in an instant, heart pounding in his chest. He yanked his sleep mask off, shaking his head to clear the last images of his brother from his head. When that didn't work he forced himself to get up. He went downstairs to where the others were eating. All except Jack, who was likely eating the organs he stored in his room.

"Jeff! You're alive man," Ben said rather loudly, drawing all attention to the teen killer, "bout time. I thought you were gonna sleep all day." Jeff flipped him off, grabbing himself a plate of food and ignoring Slenderman's disapproving look at his action.

'It doesn't matter,' he told himself, 'after tonight it won't matter what I do anymore. It won't effect any of them.' He sat down and ate, ignoring the chatter around him. Masky was talking calmly with Hoodie while Ben tried to rile the former up. Slender was chastising him, a disapproving look on his face.

Waiting until dark drove Jeff nearly mad. He spent most of his time on the roof listening to music or in his room sharpening his knife. When the sun began dipping below the trees he started packing up his stuff. He shoved his laptop, MP3 player, and phone into a bag, slinging it over his shoulder. He ripped his knife from the wall and stuffed it in his pocket before clambering onto the windowsill.

He ran through the trees with ease, knowing the well worn path by heart. He stopped at the edge of his most common hunting grounds, feeling the desire to kill flaring up with a vengeance. He walked through the streets, his hood hiding his face. He was grateful for the darkness and lack of people so his bloody hoodie went unnoticed. The first window he found open he pulled himself through, eyes scanning the room.