No one wants to have to move away from one part of the country to another when you've grown up in one place. All your life, you've spent it in one small town. You grew up there, made friends, learnt how to ride your first bike, got your first kiss behind a tree, went on a date, experienced heartbreak, cried, laughed, made countless memories there. And then suddenly, you are ripped from there and thrown to the other part of the world, just like that. Why? Because your mother is determined on believing that she has found the perfect man after 4 failed marriages. I am the result of her second ruined attempt of having a decent family. Mother told me I had a step brother back in Wolverhampton, with her first husband. I never really understood her ways, I don't think I ever will either. Mother is just so determined and optimistic; she never seems to stop trying. I wish I had inherited this trait of hers. I can't go out without grumbling that I don't want to be here and that I have better things to do other than roam around with my mother. She takes this moving thing as a new adventure for us. But all I can think about when I think about it is that I will have to go to a new school, the past 16 years that I spent trying to make some friends and overcome my social anxiety going to ashes. Mother tells me it's a new opportunity for me to start afresh with her and Rupert, her new lover. Have you heard his name? Who is even called Rupert nowadays? I'm going to have to start anew, to try and make new friends. I'm most probably going to get bullied for being different but mother pays no attention to what I say; the only thing she says as soon as I bring this topic up is that change is good. I don't like change. I was good back in Doncaster. My life was good there. There was no reason for me to have to move to freaking Wisconsin. My studies were going great, my writing skills were only getting better and my social life was at its peak; I literally didn't need anything else in my life. Funny how your life can change with one sentence , huh?
So here I am right now; helping my mother unpack all the cutlery that she insisted on bringing. Rupert is outside, talking to the movers into getting a discount. My mother still keeps talking about how excited she is about moving here and how things are going to go great this time. I force a smile just for her sake, simply because I don't have it in me to destroy her positivity. I might not be entirely satisfied with my life at the moment but that didn't give me the right to ruin the life of others. As soon as Rupert comes in, I tell him to help my mother while I go up and start unpacking the things I brought for my room. As soon as I open the door to what is supposed to be my room, I feel like crying. The walls are bare and a dull green, nothing like the black and white walls of my old room which were filled with photographs accumulated during the several years that I had lived there. The bed was smaller, the sheets looking dusty and old. The curtains also definitely needed a change and the view was horrible, if I looked out of my window, I would find myself looking at my neighbor's room and same for him. I guess these curtains will just have to remain closed. The unpacking went quite quickly; my earphones were plugged in so I didn't really see the time flying by until I hear my mother calling me down for dinner. I quickly unplug my earphones and plug my phone to charge before bolting down the stairs; I am famished. Just as I am pulling the chair back to sit, the doorbell rings. Rupert and my mother both look at me as if I didn't have to even question them, I was obviously the one to have to open the door.
I let out a sigh while walking to the door, opening it to reveal a boy looking a few years older than me; he has a light stubble dusting his chin and cheeks, his green eyes capturing mine as he smiled at me. My breath hitched in my throat when he opened his mouth to speak;
"Hello, you must be the new neighbors. I just wanted to welcome you guys." He pushes a plate full of cookies in my hands, smiling goofily at me as I blush, "I'm Dane. I live just next door. Just call me if you need anything, yeah? I'll be glad to help." It's only when he looks at me expectantly that I realise that I haven't spoken a word yet.
"Um, thank you." I struggle to form a proper sentence, afraid to trip over my own words, "I'm Sofia, nice to meet you." He just smiles at me and I find myself blushing under his gaze.
"I guess I'll see you around then? Thank you for the cookies." I motion towards the plate of cookies in my hand and go to close the door but he catches it with his foot, making me look back up at him.
"I'll see you around, Sofia." He winks at me before turning around and walking down the few steps before hitting the concrete and walking towards his house. I take a few seconds to breathe so I don't appear too flustered when I go back there. If either Rupert or my mother notice, they will ask too many questions.
"Who was it, Sof?" My mother asks as I walk back into the kitchen just as Rupert says "ooh, cookies!".
"It was the guy from next door," I say, "he just wanted to say hi."
"Well, that's really nice of him. Did you thank him properly, Sofia?" My mother asks, an eyebrow raised.
"Of course, mother. I have not forgotten my manners."
----
Later that night, after I have changed into my pyjamas, I decide to take a peek behind the curtains in my room to see if anything is actually visible from my window. My breath is stolen away as I see him, shirtless with a knife in his hand, his finger run across the blade and I almost warn him that he might cut himself. I watch as he draws blood to the skin before bringing his finger to his lips and sucking on it. His dresser is then opened, the knife placed safely before he closes the drawer and turns around to draw his curtains. I quickly draw mine back and jump to my bed, my heart racing with the doubt that he might have seen me watching him like a creep.
----
We rarely saw Dane going out, the only time I saw him out was the time when I had gone out to put the trash away and he was leaving his house, lit cigarette dangling from his lips as he fumbled to keep his keys in his pocket. I had offered to help him and he had accepted, thanking me before quickly walking away, looking as if he was in a hurry. I rarely see him, and I had almost forgotten about him when I hear a knock at the door downstairs. Mother and Rupert aren't home; they have gone out for dinner. I am a little hesitant to open the door as my mother's words flash before me;
"Do not open the door to strangers, sweetheart. You will get into big trouble if you do."
I decide to peek through the peephole and i am quite surprised to find Dane at the other end of the door, looking quite breathless. I hurry to open the door, my mother's warning discarded, Dane wasn't a stranger, right?
"Hello, Sofia." He smiles at me as I take him in, he looks beautifully chaotic. His hair is messy and hangs in his eyes, his jeans are ripped at his knees and his shirt looks dirty, as if he hasn't been home in days.
"H-hey Dane." I curse at myself for stuttering and proving that I am, in fact, nervous. "Are you okay?"
"Um, yeah." He quickly says, almost too quickly but I brush it off. "Do you think you have something for me to eat right now? I haven't ran my errands in forever and there is literally nothing in my pantry right now." I almost immediately start to feel pity for him and hurry to the kitchen to fix something for him. He makes himself at home on the couch as I quickly throw a chicken sandwich together for him. His eyes look dull for a certain reason, but I push the thought away, it's not like I would know anyway, I've only met him once if you don't count the few times I snooped behind my curtains to find him drinking his own blood.
"Thank you, Sofia." He smiles at me before taking a bite. I decide to make myself comfortable on the recliner while he's eating.
"Where are you from?" He suddenly asks, making me jump before recovering.
"Um, from England." I say quietly and he smiles as if to himself.
"Mhm, i could tell from the accent." He smiles and my stomach flips at the beautiful sight.
"Do you live alone?" The effort it takes for me to truly not trip over my own words is unbelievable.
"I'm a 25 year old male, Sofia." He states, "I think it's a little normal for me to live alone." I suddenly feel stupid just by the tone he used. I didn't know he was this older than me.
"And how old are you, darling?" My breath hitches in my throat at the pet name.
"16." I feel suddenly a lot more shy now, he will think I'm a child. He's 9 years older than me!
"So young, so innocent, so naive." He mumbles to himself before standing up from the couch and walking towards me. From where I am sat on the recliner, he towers over me. He extends an arm at me for me to get up and as I do so, he steps closer, his fingers going up to brush against my cheek, his breath fanning against my lips as he whispers to me;
"Mhm, so soft." His lips press to the skin and I let out a ragged breath, shocked and left breathless by his actions. I thought he was just saying thank you but I am proven wrong when his fingers trail down my cheek, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear before trailing down to my neck. His head buries in the crook of my neck and I can feel his lips against my skin;
"And you smell good too." He mumbles before pressing his lips again. My hand flies to the back of his head and I don't know if I want to use it to keep him there or to remove his head.
"Didn't your mother tell you not to open the door to strangers, Sofia?" He whispers, eyes glinting under the lighting.
"I-" words fail me as the realization of how he could have known this dawns on me; he had been eavesdropping on us.
"Strangers are dangerous, they can do horrible things to you." His voice is eerily calm as he speaks, and while that should have comforted me, it only frightens me even more,
"I'm a stranger, Sofia. And I am about to do horrible things to you. You naive little girl, you actually thought you were safe here? This is one of the most dangerous areas of this town. Here, you can only find druggies and people like me; people who aren't meant to be alive and breathing." He smiles at me, "how could someone like you move in here? You look... misplaced here. You have such an innocent aura around you and my darling, I cannot wait to destroy that." I am trembling by the time that he has finished his sentence and I suddenly feel very light headed. But I am not given the time to breath as I feel his grip on my hand as he tugs me out of my house and into his own. I can hear my heart beating in my ears, threatening to break through my rib cage.
His house is clean and smells heavily of detergents. I let my eyes wander quickly around his apartment as he keeps tugging me. It seems like my voice is stuck in my throat and I can't seem to be able to scream. He leads me downstairs in what appears to be his basement and sits me down on a chair, quickly tying my wrists together and he uses shackles to bind my ankles to the chair.
"Now, Sofia." He turns to me with a smile,"you are going to die." At his words, a fresh stream of tears start to blur my vision and I hold back a sob.
"C'mon darling," his touch is feather light as he brushes my tears away, "I'll make sure it doesn't hurt a lot. You see, your skin is so smooth, mhm, so smooth. And your flesh is so tender. I haven't had a proper meal in days, baby. And winter is coming in, I'm going to need a new rug and perhaps a new coat too. And some gloves."
My mind is frantic, I feel like shouting for help and begging for my life at the same time. I want to kick him so hard and cry out loud at the same time and it is so frustrating that I want to tug my hair out. He is inching closer to me, his eyes not holding a single bit of remorse. I suddenly feel the urge to speak;
"P-please don't do this to me. I swear I won't tell anyone. J-just let me go, please." I can't even recognize my voice as I speak, it sounds broken and pitiful and usually I would have snickered at myself for my behaviour but right now, nothing seems to be more important than my survival.
"I can't do that, darling." Is all he says before I feel a sharp pain at the base of my throat where he just slid his knife, the pain is unbearable and i can feel the blood dripping out of the cut.
"Mhm, I've missed the smell of blood." He sniffs the air and lets out a content sigh. I am starting to feel drowsy. The last thing that I manage to catch before I black out is;
"Your flesh is going to make such a good meat. I can't wait to taste you, Sofia."
THE END
I might make a part ii in the point of view of Dane later on if inspiration strikes.
