I woke up confused – the shattered remnants of a nightmare inside my head remained. Opening my eyes, I thought I'd see Marie's purple walls, but instead I squinted through the morning dimness and saw my bare, empty walls, white as egg shells.
I struggled to recall the dream that left me shaking, but the more I struggled to remember, the further the memory fluttered away. Last night was my first full night without the pills. Is that what caused the nightmare? Perhaps quitting the pills was a mistake, I thought.
Then the memory of the night before rushed into my mind, particularly the crushing feeling of Will's knee on my belly.
In the hallway, I saw his door closed. I checked the living room but he wasn't there. Thank God, I thought. He was still asleep in his room.
In the washroom, I snatched the lighter fluid from the medicine cabinet and filled my Zippo. Some of the liquid spilled onto my fingers. I stared at the bottle of pills and then closed the cabinet door.
The silence in the apartment grew eerie.
"Will?" I called out.
An earsplitting squeal startled me. The squeal stopped then blared again, stopping then blaring, over and over in rhythm. It was the building's fire alarm. Adrenaline coursed through me with each loud blare. I hurried to the window and looked down but there was no smoke. I stuck my head out and looked up – still no smoke. Another false alarm.
How could Will sleep through the alarm, I thought. I walked to his door and knocked – no answer.
I turned the knob and pushed the door slowly.
Bewilderment slammed into my brain like a swift kick -- the room was empty – it was exactly how I left it before Will moved in.
The bed was neatly dressed in the sheets I let Will borrow.
The alarm squealed.
I saw that the closet was empty.
Squeal.
There was nothing on the night table beside the bed.
Squeal.
Will, and everything he owned, had just disappeared.
Squeal.
YOU ARE READING
The Online Profile of a Serial Killer
Gizem / GerilimThis is the rule. Whenever you read that a story is true, it is always and inevitably untrue. But in this case, however, everything you read here is true. The burnt remains for Rachel Amina Darwish were discovered in Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canad...
