Lovely Murder

Part One: It Begins

Things happen for a reason; sometimes that reason just doesn't present itself immediately. Tonight was just such a night and it just so happened that an unfortunate but lovely event would happen to a wonderful girl whom had nothing to do with anything important. Her name is Melissa Rose. Her hair is as white as snow with eyes as red as blood. Yes, she is an albino, odd as it may seem, and she's currently living in London. At this very moment, she's simply enjoying a midnight stroll through the market, unsuspecting of any events that may cause her night to go wrong.
"C'mon, Olivia," Melissa smiled as she held the phone up to her ear, "I'll be home in a few minutes. I just want to pick up some things."
"Be careful, poppet! I'd hate to see you get caught up in that string of murders that has been happening as of late," Olivia's worried tone drifted over the phone into the albino's ear.
"I'll be okay," Melissa laughed her friend's worries off, "It's not like I'm going to stupidly walk straight through an alleyway. I'm simply going to the store."
"Just... be careful, poppet," Olivia reiterated her worries.
"I will. Bye," she hung up her phone and shoved it in her pocket haphazardly. She continued to walk down the darkened street, senses heightened and alert for any signs of danger. Although Melissa seemed perfectly calm and joyful on the outside, on the inside she couldn't help but go over the details of the murders in her head.

"Another woman was found brutally murdered tonight, making this the sixth victim found since detectives caught this case over a year ago," a male news reporter's droned in a dull tone on the television, "This woman, one Ann Striker, was found in a shed with no windows with her stomach cut open and organs removed carefully. The heart was preserved inside a glass case and, unlike the body, was not decayed. This shows that it was, indeed, the Bloody Bachelor who committed this murder."
"I can't leave the house without fearing for my life..." Olivia whined, switching the channel.
"Hey, I was watching that!" Melissa complained.
"You don't need the nightmares," Olivia argued, effectively ending the conversation.

"It'll be okay," Melissa whispered to herself, regretting her decision to go out this late at night, "Ugh, why don't I have a car?"
"I don't know, why don't you?" A male voice, sweet and suave, piped up behind her, making her jump out of her skin and let out a shriek. "Whoa, whoa, it's okay," the voice chuckled lightly, "Man, you're so jumpy." Slowly tucking her hair behind her ear, Melissa turned around to face a very handsome man with chocolate brown hair and dark green eyes.
"Well... I just didn't expect anyone else to be on this street with me," she gestured around at the empty streets, "It is pretty late at night."
"Well, that is true," he tapped his chin in thought, "so why are you out?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm just going to get some groceries for me and my roommate," Melissa continued her walk towards the grocery store.
"Would you like some help?" The strange man asked sweetly.
"I don't know you so... not particularly," although trying not to be rude, this odd man did scare Melissa slightly so she understandably wanted to be out of there and in the place with witnesses ASAP.
"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself," the man seemed genuinely surprised at himself but soon the surprise was taken over by a sweet and innocent smile sent in the shorter female's direction, "My name is Jacob Dexter."
"Cool..." the pale woman drawled and continued to wander away.
"So now that you know my name, I can help you with your groceries," his smile brightened, if possible, and he quickly fell into step next to the pretty albino, "Great."
'But I never agreed...' Melissa just sighed internally and decided against voicing her thoughts. Jacob and Melissa continued their way down the street and did end up in the brightly lit, 24/7 store.
"I will be back; I need to go get some things for myself," he stated and stalked off to an aisle while Melissa recalled what she needed and went off in her own direction. Shopping took up most of her thoughts so she didn't have the time to wonder about why Jacob hadn't asked for her name after giving his own.
After twenty minutes of mind-numbing grocery shopping, Melissa finally made her way back to the register. Jacob was nowhere to be seen, much to her delight, so she simply walked out of the store and hurried on her way home. Before she knew it, Melissa was safely back at home and unlocking the door to Olivia and her apartment, unlocking the door to what she assumed to be safety.
"Olivia, I'm home! Told you nothing bad would... happen?" Melissa looked in at the apartment and saw that the lights were all turned off, which was extremely odd since both her and Olivia were scared of the dark. Taking a cautious step inside to turn on the lights, despite her better judgment telling her to run away, she caught a whiff of something strongly metallic.
Melissa gently flicked on the lights and nearly screamed out in horror. Blood was flung all over the floor and walls and pieces of flesh seemed to be littering the floor. A drop of something liquid plopped onto Melissa's nose. Slowly, she looked up, and this time she did let out a blood-curdling scream. Olivia's body was strapped to the ceiling by her ankles and wrists, her stomach and chest cavity had been pried open, ribs broken out of the way, so that her organs could hang freely like sick party decorations. A human heart was sitting on the kitchen counter inside a glass jar. Melissa dug in her pocket to find her phone and pulled it out, eyes glued to her best friend's body, as she dialed 911.
"Hello, this is 911. What is your emergency?" A calm female voice spoke over the phone to Melissa.
"H-hello? I've j-just come home from th-the store and... oh god," Melissa sobbed, tears blurring her vision as she looked around the bloodied room that she'd had so many fond memories in.
"Ma'am? Hello? Stay with me, I'm sending the police to your location now," the dispatcher sounded very calm to Melissa, which didn't help.
"H-he's been here," Melissa sobbed out, walking up to a single wall that wasn't splattered with blood. Instead, words were scrawled in the red, oozing liquid that used to give her friend life.


These hearts are for you, my fair beauty.
because if I gave you my real one,
I wouldn't be around to love you anymore.
...
You shouldn't have left me at the store.
Don't you want to give me your heart too?

"H-he's coming for me..." Melissa gasped into the phone, "I-I'm next!"
"Who's coming for you, ma'am?" the dispatcher asked.
"The Bloody Bachelor... Jacob."