Pastel Town

Chapter 5

The following day at school, all Alex could hear over and over again was Max talking about Lilly and how he was going to ask her out. He didn't want to show it, but each time Max mentioned it, he felt a greater amount of anger. Nobody else was allowed to have eyes on Lilly. Not even someone who was one of his best friends. Alex couldn't bear the thought, but what had to be done had to be done. Besides, now that Kyle knew, it would be much easier to get past the family. He only had to worry about his parents. And Kyle could cover for him if they find out. Nice.

So that night, Alex took his knife from behind the Adventure Time poster, put it in his backpack and got everything else that he needed. It was like clockwork at this point. He didn't do it every night, but he did do it most nights. Despite hanging out with the not-so-popular kids, Lilly was one of the most popular and well-liked people in the year at school, so a lot of people liked her. And a lot of people end up seeing what Alex was up to during the night, so he had to get rid of those witnesses too. By this time, Alex had killed up to 35 people. And he enjoyed every single time, regardless of what method he had to take. Whether it was a well thought out scheme or an improvised neck snapping, there was just something about this whole thing that gave Alex an unusual pleasurable sensation.

So Alex stepped out of his room and, of course, Kyle was standing outside his own door, which was right next to Alex's.

"Alex..." his voice was quiet and trembly. "Please...Please don't do this..."

"You know I have to," Alex also spoke in a quiet tone, in order not to wake up his parents.

"You really don't... Alex, I haven't been able to sleep for two whole days... I haven't been able to think right... People at school noticed a difference... Misty even asked me what was wrong...I had to lie to her... I had to lie to her because I'm scared of my little brother... I don't wanna go through life being scared of a kid who I love so much... So please..."

"Kyle," Alex interrupted his brother before he could continue, "I do have to. Do you not understand? If someone else ends up with Lilly, I lose her. And I cannot lose her. She's my everything. She's my rock. She's all I have in this Hell. I can't lose her and I have to make sure that no matter what the cost, that doesn't happen."

You're not gonna lose her! And even if you did, she's not all you have. You have me. You have mum and dad. You have Petal. You have the twins... You have Max. Max, who you're going out there right now to fucking kill!"

"Kyle. Just stop. You're not gonna win. I've made up my mind. And I'm not changing it." He proceeded to go down the stairs and leave the house, ignoring anything else Kyle had to say. Kyle just didn't understand. This was the only way to ensure that Lilly had nobody else besides Alex.

Fortunately, Max didn't live on the other side of town like Casper Acorn did. He only lived down a couple of roads. A downside was that Alex would be out in the open for the entirety of the journey. But if luck was on his side, he wouldn't be seen. And thankfully he wasn't.

Another plus side was that Alex knew Max's house very well. Max didn't have any pets and both of his dads were heavy sleepers. He should have killed Max ages ago, this is like a tutorial difficulty. But the door was still locked. His family weren't careless enough to leave even the back door unlocked during the night. But it was okay because Alex knew how to pick locks. A skill needed for someone with a hobby like Alex's. It did take some time though. This lock didn't seem to want to be picked. But once Alex was indoors, he quietly but quickly made his way upstairs, took his tranquilliser out of this backpack and opened Max's door to find Max wide awake on his laptop.