Addicted to You

Diane

Oh god, what have I done? I'll have to hide from the police, and hide from my parents. My clothes, they're covered in blood. It's still only 11:55, I should have time to wash my clothes and get home, I live about two minutes away. I wipe the knife with my bloody glove and hold onto it. I put my pants back on and sigh with relief from surviving my experience. I shove the knife in my pocket and run around the corner, running through as many puddles as possible, to get rid of anything on my shoes. 

Nobody's in the laundromat, thank god it's 24 hour, a note on the first dryer reads

"It's late. What are you doing here? Anyways I've gone home, Diane should arrive here soon. - Gertrude." I sigh and take off my jacket and check my shirt, it didn't leak through. The washing will be done in five minutes, I pull my phone out of my contact and call home.

'Hello?' my dad answers.

'Hi it's Josie,  the streets are full of drunks, I think there's a big sports game on tonight, so I'm going to be late.' I say quickly and awkwardly.

'Okay honey, if you're not home in half an hour I'll come looking okay?' 

'Okay.' I hang up. I cringe at the word honey, and I probably will for a while. Why am I not feeling any emotion? I just killed a man for god's sake. Am I a psychopath? No, I can't have gone crazy, I'm just shocked from the experience, it'll settle in soon, but do I want it to settle in? I've heard of people committing suicide after an accident they blame on themselves, but what about someone who killed on purpose? I don't want to kill myself, but I don't want to believe I killed someone. 

Diane walks in holding a basket of what I assume are her own clothes. After dumping them in the washing machine she sits next to me, I can still see a faint spot of red on my jacket through the small window in the machine. 

'Hey Josie, how are you?' Diane asks. 

'I'm good Di, how are you?' 

'I'm good, but I know you aren't.' 

'W- what are you talking about?' I ask awkwardly, she can't have seen me, I checked when I left the alley, nobody was there.

'You can't talk like that, people will think it's suspicious.'

'What is there to be suspicious of?' I still sound like an idiot talking.

'I live next door Josie. I saw everything.' she says nonchalantly.

'Everything of what?' I ask, trying to act like an idiot.

'You knifing that pervert, you're so sweet, I didn't think it was in you.' she looks at me. 'It was good, I never could have done it that well at your age.' 

'I was defending myself.' I say, trying to cry, I must still be in shock, I still have barely any emotion. 

'Oh stop with that, I can tell you're not crying, you need to work on that.' 

'Di what are you saying?' I ask, I hope she doesn't tell anyone. but why would she act like this? And what's "I could never have done it that well at your age"? 

'Why do you think there's no camera's in here?' she asks.

'You can't afford it?' I guess.

'It's so Gertrude can't see my clothes.' 

'Diane are you a-' she cuts me off.

'Yes, I've killed a few in my time, if you get scared and tell someone I'll tell on you and kill myself, easy as that.'

'But Di, I have no evidence against you.'

'They'd find evidence if they raided my house.' she smiles sweetly at me. I'm so confused, what have I got myself into? 

'Josie, if you need any help I live in room one on the second floor next door.'

'I don't think I will, I'm sure this is a one time thing that will be forgotten soon enough.' 

'We'll see, I was in your situation too, killed for self defense, no emotion, I still knew it was wrong, but kept going. You'll find if you do it randomly, to relieve stress, you feel really good afterwards.' 

My washing machine beeps and I jog over to get it, as I unload it and put the now clean clothes in the dryer I think about my conversation with Diane, she's the last person I'd expect to be a serial killer. I don't know how to handle this. I hope I snap out of it soon, I can't kill a person and be fine with it, I can't be insane, I can't take Diane's advice and become a serial killer like her. Please, just start hysterically crying, shout 'what have I done!' or something, please just don't go insane. 

I sit down again next to Diane, I feel if I sat away from her she'd get the idea I was scared. I've been here six minutes, I need to go home as soon as possible and sleep this off. Or maybe I'll wake up now, and it's all 'hey I had the craziest dream' and I forget this dream and I continue life with no blood on my hands. And I'll still be with Alex, he wouldn't have been mean to me, pushed me down the stairs, we'll be all good. 

'Sweetie you've been zoned out for ages, I got your clothes out for you.' she hands me my jacket and glove. I slip them on, thank Diane and get up. But then Gertrude throws the door open.

'Gertrude what is it?!' Diane runs towards her. Gertrude gags, and spews. 

'Out there, in the alley,' she breathes 'it's a body.'