APEX

Bonus Chapter 1 - First Blood

"You'll never take us alive..." I hummed quietly.

I dipped my brush in some more black paint, and continued painting decals onto my new mask. This was my first night out, but I wasn't nervous. I can't properly express emotions. I don't feel.

Well, that last bit wasn't true. I do feel. I feel the urge to hurt people. Hurt those who hurt me. Hurt those who made me this way. 

That's the best I way I can think to thank them. Without them, I would've never been like this.

"We swore that death would do us part, they'll call our crimes a work of art." I continued singing.

For a cheap Party City mask, it was sturdy enough. All white. A few straps to keep it secured to my head.

I finished drawing on some musical notes under the eye openings. Perhaps I'll be known as The Musical Killer. It's unfortunate, but I probably won't get a more creative nickname. But that's simply how society is. How many people dress up as Ghostface for Halloween, and simply refer to him as Scream? It's ridiculous.

My mother walked in through the door.

"Um, dinner is ready, downstairs..."

"YOU BITCH! YOU FUCKING WHORE! DID I TELL YOU THAT YOU COULD COME IN HERE?! YOU LEAVE RIGHT NOW!" I replied, using mild force.

She left immediately. My parents, bless their souls. It wasn't their fault they got stuck with me. I'm sure they'd alert the authorities about me as soon as they could, but they know what I'd do to them if they dared to try.

Now that I was done decorating my mask, I had to apply the black mesh to the back of the eye and mouth openings. Wouldn't want to be recognized, after all.

My mask was all done, so I slipped it on, along my white hoodie, black gloves, and gray jeans. I wanted the jeans in white too, but my incompetent fucking parents decided to buy the wrong shade. Those fucking idiots.

I had sewn on a 'delta' to the left shoulder of the hoodie. Delta is the Greek letter for "D", and it looks like a triangle, for any idiots out there.

I glanced at the time. 

8:57 PM. Why did my stupid parents make dinner so late anyways? I didn't actually care though, all that was important to me was that I was on schedule. She goes to sleep at exactly 8:30 every night, so my sources say.

I left through my first story window, and brought my kitchen knife with me. It's cliché, I know, but it remains effective, and was easily available at the time. There was no planned bloodshed tonight, but anything can happen of course, so I took it with me anyways.

It was roughly a 15 minute walk to her neighborhood, but I was more than willing to trek it.

Once her neighborhood was in sight, I let out some laughter. I had to get it out now, I didn't want to have any outbursts that could result in me getting caught. My legs started to tense up, and my heart fluttered; the same way one's heart might feel when in love. I was in love. I was in love with my own despicable actions. The rush of doing something so sinister felt so seductive to me.

I calmed myself, and began to enter the neighborhood. Just my luck, a stray dog began to bark at me from the sidewalk. A small Boston Terrier, by the looks of it. I used to own one as a child. I managed to coax it towards me, and just as I leave to relocate it elsewhere, I can't help but stab it repeatedly. I held his snout shut, as I was aware his squeals of suffering might alert the neighbors. I knew the knife would come in handy. I just left the dog's carcass on the side of the street there, outside the neighborhood. It would serve as a grim omen of things to come.

I was very good at not getting much blood on my outfit. There were just a few stains on my gloves, which could easily be replaced. There also wasn't anyone outside their homes at this point, a factor on which my whole plan relied on.

I managed to find her house. I'd never actually been there in person before. I began to salivate. I hadn't anticipated how overwhelming this would feel. My urges to mutilate every single patron in the house were so difficult to control. Lecherous thoughts flooded my mind. My skin tingled, and my heart raced. I knew I had to get my work done and leave as soon as I could. She had a room on the first floor as well, so this would be especially easy. 

After managing to suppress my desires (at least for now), I made my way to her bedroom window. There she lay, sleeping soundly. She slept on top of her bed sheets, revealing her pajama-clad body. I trembled with delight. I wanted nothing more than to slice her open right then and there. Despite this, I knew I couldn't act on my feelings now, because my master plan would then be ruined. I bit down on my bottom lip to help repress myself. I took out my phone and snapped a couple pictures. With that, I stared and admired for a few more moments, and then disappeared just as quickly.

Back home, I avoided my imbecile parents, went upstairs, and put away all my gear in the closet. I looked at myself in the mirror. 

"Damn it," I said to myself. 

I had bit down on my lip a little too hard earlier. A trail of blood flowed down my chin. After wiping it away, a small wound still remained. Oh well, it was nothing a bit of makeup couldn't fix in the morning.

God, I'm such a fucking psychopath, I told myself happily, before putting in my earbuds and lying down in bed.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This is simply something to help pass the time until the next full chapter is released. I thought it'd be interesting to do a bonus chapter from a certain character's point of view. The purpose of this was to drop a few clues, and foreshadow a few future events. I'll definitely do more bonus chapters in the future, as I often get bored of waiting to post the next real chapter. These new bonus chapters do not have a set schedule. Unlike the real chapters, which I post every Wednesday, these will be released whenever I have an idea for one, or just whenever I feel like it. Also, the future bonus chapters won't all be in this same format. They won't all be from the perspective of this character, and they might not even be narrative at all, but rather documents, or information about characters or events in the story. Maybe even some behind-the-scenes rough character outlines, or drafts. Just whatever I think would be interesting enough to share with the audience. I am excited to see what new things I can manage to do with this new outlet. Thanks for reading!

P.S - Not only is the writing style a bit different due to the new POV, but the details may also be a little warped, exaggerated, and/or unreliable. It's up to you to decide what to believe as we move forward in this mystery. Good luck.