the thirteenth | kim taehyung

chapter 2

TAEHYUNG'S POV

I heard the rusty lid of the mailbox being opened and closed, indicating that the mail has come for the day. I hastily threw on my robe and walked outside to get it, praying that it had nothing involving me. I dropped every bill and advertisement there was and grabbed the one thing that caught my eye. 3 FEMALE BODIES FOUND IN A LAKE, read the heading of today's newspaper. I skimmed through the article, thinking about how suspicious some people must be of me at the moment. It doesn't matter anyway, like they'd find me here in this garbage.

Each and every body has gotten harder and harder to take the life out of. Damn, I'm losing my game. It has come to the point where my stabs and cuts still leave the body recognizable to whom who knew the person it belonged to.

I went into the kitchen, where the T.V. light illuminated, for there was no other light source. This is now the twelfth time I had to move, yet I still have the feeling that the police are going to knock on my door and arrest me the next day. I now live in a beat shack, with no neighbors or stores around, but that's the way I like it. I wouldn't dare risk the chance of my secret being exposed to the public.

I drank the half empty liquor bottle sitting on the dining table and threw it into a growing pile, hoping it would put me into a deep sleep. These past few days, sleep has not been easy for me. There was something about the last girl, Alice. The way she attempted to fight back was impressive and left me speechless. She kept me thinking late at night, worrying about her mourning family, and even regretting my choice to kill her. I remember the day so vividly, almost as if I had just lived through it a few minutes earlier.

"TaeTae! Where are we going?" Alice asked and giggled as I dragged her to "The Scream", as everyone would call it. It was an old cabin, where couples would go. The reason behind its peculiar name was that there were always screams heard each time a couple entered, and the reason is anonymous. It was dark at the time and the wind harshly blew the dry leaves from the dead trees. There was not a single person awake at the time, for it was almost sunrise.

This was normal behavior for Alice and I. She always had trouble falling asleep, so I would bring her to a fast food restaurant and let her eat her sorrows away. Alice would somehow always make a mess and spill soda on her pajamas, and I couldn't help but to notice how disgustingly cute she was. The way her face turned pink each time I teased her made me wonder, did she really did love me?

The old cabin has stood there for decades, yet it still hasn't been taken down. I carefully turned the doorknob to open the door, revealing bloodstained sheets on a moth eaten mattress and a decaying chair in the left corner. I stepped into the room, hearing a cracking sound from the bottom of my shoes. I looked down and saw a skeleton, its skull facing up, as if greeting me. Because there was no light, the shadows made it seem as if there was someone else in the room, but it was really another skeleton. And then I realized, maybe I wasn't alone on this crazy roller-coaster. This made the heaviness weighing down on my chest vanish, like a prisoner seeing daylight after being behind bars for years. I spun around with a smirk on my face, only to see a pale faced Alice, scared out of her wits. I chuckled and left a quick peck on her lips before grabbing her wrist.

"Don't worry, just sit here and wait for the surprise." I said with a fake smile. To my surprise, she didn't obey me. Instead, she made a run for the door, but I was quicker than she was. Alice didn't waste a single second and kicked me, square in the face. I groaned and grabbed her by the neck. I reached for the knife in the pocket of my jacket and slowly carved it into her chest. I felt her warm blood begin to trickle down my arm, but my tight grip remained still. Although this was the first time any victim of mine had tried to escape, I've been planning for this day for a long time. If this one escapes, I would become a failure. She squirmed in my reach, throwing light punches here and there as her last breath was drawing near. Within the last thirty seconds or so of her life, she struggled to whisper, "The hungry look in your eyes while we kissed, as if you wanted more. I just thought I could change you. Trust me Kim Taehyung, I knew it all along." Alice's dark eyes closed after this statement, leaving me wide eyed. It didn't take long for me to get the usual breakdown, but this time, I kneeled down to the lifeless body. I'm sorry, I whispered.

I'm not sure what happened after, but I remember waking up and rushing to throw her body into the polluted lake just behind the cabin. That was the last time I had slept, but I felt that it was also the last time I would ever live happily again.

Did I kill someone I was actually falling for?