Talmer-Grey Terrace (or Hilter and his Beating Heart)

Chapter Five: The First One

I never imagined he would never show his face in the city, but he has. I'm the only one who's ever seen him. He's kept himself well hidden, I must admit. I couldn't tell mother, who knows what she would do. The only people I could trust were Amelia and Caleb , and Amelia could never keep a secret, but I know she would never betray me. It was at this moment I couldn't take it anymore. Everywhere I looked I always saw him. Everywhere I was I always saw him. Every thought I had he was there.
          I couldn't take it anymore. I called Amelia and Caleb into my room and locked the door behind them.
"Astrid," Amelia said, ready to burst, "for the last time, I will not help you with any of your problems."
"Hold that thought," I said. I began rummaging through my drawers and placing papers on my desk.
"Is this Alfred Hilter?" Caleb asked as I saw him gaze at the picture of him.
I nodded. "Yes."
"Alfred Hilter?" Amelia said, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Now," I said, resuming my conversation with her. "You said that you don't want to help me with any of my situations? That's a pity, because one of my situations involves you and something mysterious I saw on your bed the other night. It would be a shame if mom found out that you were using who knows what." Amelia's eyebrows lowered. "So, I either help me with what I think you're going to like, or I'll let mom know that you stole her boss' stress-relievers and used it who knows how many times."
Amelia looked at me with a hateful glare. "Fine," she said finally.
"Good," I said, hiding my relief. "You know who Alfred Hilter is?" I asked, holding up one of the papers up to her eyes. I wanted her to know, but for some unknown reason, I didn't want her to.
"Yes, I did. He was a friend of mine. We spent most of kindergarten together."
At this, my heart sank just a little. I couldn't think about my older sister spending almost half her life with someone who's not even the same age as her. I couldn't deal with the fact that she knew him first. The mysterious shadow that constantly disappears from the city and my life used to be friends with my sister. I couldn't stomach it nor could I cope with it, but I had to choke it down for the time being.
"Why?" Amelia asked. Her face was hit with realization. "Are you trying to look for him?"
I nodded.
"Astrid, there is a reason for his disappearances and appearances. He's a murderer and a thief. Everyone in this city knows what he's done. For those who don't are lucky. They're better off if they didn't."
"I don't care," I said, almost at the point of it becoming a scream. "He's never left me alone. I see him everywhere I go; I see him in every thought that crosses my mind. He is always there."
Amelia shook her head. "Astrid, you shouldn't be doing this."
"That's why I need your help. Come with us." I could see the hesitation in Amelia's eyes, but more importantly, I can see she wanted to come.

We were off like a wolf in the night. Amelia and Caleb were close to my side as we crossed the empty streets and the vacant buildings. The swaying of the trees brushing against each other was a calming sound to hear in the evening sky, and the bustle of the wind sweeping itself across the night, taking anything that it comes across.
          We were kids the last time I remembered seeing the dark night illuminated by billions of stars with just the three of us. We were all sitting on a blanket in the backyard, and we were all watching the bright stars twinkle above us. Shooting stars would come across us, and Amelia and I were the only ones who would make a wish. Caleb didn't believe that wishes can come true with a falling piece of rock. That made Amelia mad. She was only eight, and I guess she had the right mind to scold him. We were so close when we were little, and now, we hardly talk to each other anymore. I can talk to Caleb whenever I want, but I have to have a reason in order to talk to Amelia, otherwise, it would feel awkward. I don't know what happened to us.
          It wasn't long until I can see the dark silhouette of the tree standing in the distance. I felt the cold grass scratch my ankles, forcing me to scrape my skin constantly, and the soft dirt seep onto the soles of my shoes. I followed behind Amelia as she approached slowly and cautiously towards the tree.
          The silence around us sounded almost too real. I'm pretty sure it was all in my head, but the crickets that sound during this time were silent, and the classical music that normally plays during the night were barely audible. I don't know. I can hear Caleb breathing heavily behind me, and his heavy footsteps trotting close to me. It didn't bother me as much, but it made me anxious if we were going to get caught or not.
We stood at the roots of the tree. Amelia smiled as she walked around the trunk as ran her fingers along the surface of the wood.
"I haven't been here since I was little," she said happily. "Alfred and I used to come around here and hang from our legs on branches. But it didn't last long," she said, glancing at me then returning her attention to the tree. "His mother would come find us and scold him, saying that it was too dangerous for him. She was nice to me, of course, but she always said that climbing and hanging from trees weren't proper for young men to do, especially with women like me. I didn't know what she meant by that, but I know now what 'being proper' meant, and she was right."
I didn't know how I felt at this moment. I felt sick. My soul was twisted and bent, and my heart was cracked like a mirror after something was thrown into its plane and shattered into small shards. I wanted to hurt her. I didn't care how; I just wanted to.
          I walked up to the tree, feeling a burning resentment towards it-towards my sister-towards Alfred-but that all vanished when I saw a corpse lying against the trunk. I didn't gasp. I only stared, as if I expected something like that to appear.
          The corpse was pale as the moon. Its eyes were open with shock and fear with its mouth dangling wide open, letting blood and drool run down his neck and soaking his clothes. There were marks cut into his forearms that had dried blood running to the ground. His shirt was torn open, and there were no marks printed on his skin. What really disturbed me was the writing scratched into his forehead that had dried blood drip at the end of some words.
"Number One," it read.
Amelia and Caleb walked up to me, and they both gasped with horror. One of them grabbed my arm, I didn't recognize which, and began sobbing into my sleeve. I could feel their hot tears seeping through the cotton. I just stared at the corpse that was covered in dried blood and dirt while Amelia ran behind the tree and vomited. Caleb turned from this gruesome scene and was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath that somehow disappeared from his lungs.
The first murder was all I could conclude from what is was and what the message was giving us. The tree gave me a hint to who the murderer was, and it was because of that did I grow more interested in Alfred even though I know I shouldn't. In more than five hundred years, this was the first one. This was the first murder.