The Grinner

Chapter One

Hello, and welcome. My name is Y/n, and this is my story.

I'm a fairly normal girl, nothing much standing out about me. My life has always been simple, simple family, simple house, simple. My parents had two children, my sister then me. My sister was the party animal of the family, blonde hair, beautiful eyes, and a taste for vodka. I on the other hand, stayed in most nights. The serenity of my room was always preferred over loud music and sex. Some people thought I was weird because I was quiet and kept to myself, but everything went downhill after my classmates found out I liked reading about serial killers. The psychology behind those people fascinated me, and soon my fascinations made me an outcast. People stopped inviting me to parties, stopped asking me to hang out, but I didn't mind. I had always turned them down away. But enough about me, more to the story.

It technically started long before I realized it. A few weeks after senior year started, people started dying. It wasn't a lot at first, a family here, a young girl there. Nothing really that scary. Every morning before school I would watch the news, that's how I found out about all the murders. The deaths were only a few days apart, and they all had the same signature. A big, jagged grin was painted in blood above the main bed. As months went by, the killer finally gained a name. The Grinner. I personally thought it was a little dumb of a name, but they didn't exactly have a lot to go on. I watched every day as these killings gained more publicity, about six months after The Grinner started people were starting to get scared. His attacks were brutal, but lacked personal motive. They were just fits of rage, random and messy. The weapon was deemed a knife, evident from the slashes and stab wounds. The killer seemed to sneak in the homes at night, then massacre the family until they were nothing but shreds. I become obsessed with this so called "Grinner". My very own serial killer, right here in my town to study. I searched all night for leaked crime scene photos, connections, anything I could to learn more about The Grinner.

Now, fast forward to the last week of school. For weeks Stacy Goodwin had been planning this years End of School Senior Bash. It was tradition for the seniors to have a huge party at the end of the year to celebrate graduation, thrown by that years graduating cheerleader. I began instantly dreading it when I realized the party would be held at Stacy's house, who lived only a street over from me. I wasn't looking forward to the loud music, inevitable police officers, and drunk drivers, but what could you do?

Now it is finally time, the night of the party. As I predicted, the music was almost unbearable. I tried desperately to focus on my laptop. I was currently researching The Grinner. It had been three weeks since his last attack, which was highly uncommon for him. After two hours of finding nothing. I shut my laptop and sighed. I slipped off my bed and began walking to my bedroom window. It faced the street, and gave me a direct look at the tall house and bright lights that was currently Stacy Goodwin. That's when I saw him.

Across the street, stood a boy with his hood up. He stood perfectly between the two circles of light that were given off by the streetlights. The area of darkness he stood in couldn't have been more then a few inches, but he was aligned perfectly. He was back lit, causing his face to just be a black hole. He had the body of a young boy, he couldn't have been more than nineteen. He stood so still, I began questioning if I was actually seeing him. But then he moved, ever so slightly to the right. He stepped just enough into the light to let it glint off a knife. It was big, like a kitchen knife and his hand gripped it loosely.

"You..." I whispered, amazed that this was actually happening. I knew it was him, it was The Grinner. I stared with wide eyes, and just like that he was gone. He moved so fast and so sudden I barley saw him leave, but I saw enough to know which direction he went to. He was heading straight toward Stacy Goodwin.
I stood staring out of the window, eyes glued to the small part of Stacy's house that I could see. I knew what was going to happen, I knew what was coming. He had been too dormant recently, it wasn't like him. That is, unless he was planning something much bigger than normal.

"...One" I whispered. Time seemed to move so slowly, the loud music drowned out by my concentration.

"...Two" I stared, waiting. I sucked in a breath and held it.

"...Three"

Nothing. I let out the air I was holding, and sighed. I must have been- screaming. My eyes widened and I pressed myself against the glass, desperately wanting to see him again. The screaming was so loud, it hurt my head. After what seemed like way too long, sirens sounded off. The screams varied in age and gender, I knew what was happening. He was killing them. He was killing them all.