KYLIE'S SONG #SciFriday

Chapter 4

A month before they reached the planet she'd affectionately named Avalon, Kylie moved through the dark as if in a trance. The dull white of the walls glowed blue from the energy conserving night lights. Her sheer nightgown whispered in the stillness of her cabin. Bare feet, a bra, and panties, she had been sleeping soundly in her bunk, but now it was time. She knew the security camera would show her sleeping half naked, covers thrown off, and her chest rising to the slow count of her breathing. Not because she manipulated the security time stamp but because she had a false image projected onto her bed.

Her planning was as meticulous as the joy she felt. She'd already planted the knife under Peter's bed eight hours earlier with her dad's dried blood on it. It was exactly the same as the one she now held in her hand. The only factor she hadn't considered was that Victoreen was in love with her and he'd been sneaking into her closet every night.

Just the sight of her body, the way her hair fell around her shoulders and onto her chest, the little laugh she had when she was dreaming happy thoughts made him ache inside. He would do anything for her, and he watched in silence as she moved towards her dad's room.

She knew she wasn't herself and it didn't bother her in the least. She felt the softness of the voice calling, just as Victoreen imagined the softness of her skin under his fingers. It was the same voice she used to hear when looking up at the night sky.

Darkstar pounded through the inky blackness of space at 5.4 light years per day. Nothing stood in its way and there was no place for a killer to hide.

She climbed up on her father's bed and he mumbled under his breath, turning to lie on his stomach. She climbed softly on his back, straddling his waist like when she was a little girl riding piggy back. The air whispered through the vents and someone coughed but she was in a trance. She slid the knife between her father's ribs, turning it sideways so it sliced the lung open. He tried to suck in precious air, but she moved quickly to the other side and eliminated his breathing all together. That's when she knew something was wrong with her, but it had to be this way because her father was the one person on which her seduction wouldn't work.

Victoreen watched from the door, spell bound by Kylie's precision, dumbfounded by her strength. He was paralyzed with fear but there was the knowledge they were inextricably linked now. Nothing could separate them and it made him smile. She turned and pierced him with her blue eyes, then held a finger to her lips.

"Shhh..."