「ABSENCE」 TMNT 2012

6; Jeff

Elly scrunched up her nose, obvious disbelief in her expression. "Just Jeff?"

"Mmhm."

"What's your last name?"

Jeff shrugged. "If I had one, I wouldn't tell you."

Elly was beginning to feel less threatened by this criminal. He was clearly out of his mind. He seemed to have lost sight of his intentions for coming to her home, whatever those intentions had been.

But Elly realized the danger she was in. He was still standing in the doorway, preventing her escape, and they were the only people in the apartment. This Jeff could do any number of things to her and leave before the day was over. Her parents would never know what had happened.

She thought about screaming, but that wouldn't help her much because he might just kill her immediately. Maybe if she could get him talking, like in the movies, he would relax a little and get distracted. But he already looked completely calm, like this was an every day occurrence for him. She was also reminded of the fact that she hadn't watched a movie in ages.

Clearing her throat, she decided to take a chance and speak up. "So," she choked out. "What are your . . . hobbies?" Halfway through the sentence she thought it sounded utterly stupid, but it was too late. But the words had already exited her mouth.

Jeff was looking down absentmindedly at the sink. He took a slow, steady step closer to her, dragging his index finger along the edge of the countertop. "Oh, I like a variety of different things."

Elly gulped, watching him come nearer. Fear gripped her heart again. She was cornered. She was about to become the victim of a silent murder.

"Like . . . like what?" She managed to get out.

Jeff lifted his finger and examined it closely, then wiped it on his shirt. Against the black fabric, a soft trail of grey showed up to dirty it. "You're sink is dusty. It hasn't been used in a while, hm?"

Elly frowned, confused as to why he would change the subject. "Um . . . yeah?"

Another step and he was just a few feet away. The space between them was closing at an uncomfortable pace. "That sounded more like a question than an answer."

It seemed whenever he grew serious and terrifyingly evil, his voice would drop two notches as if to confirm his split personality. What was wrong with this guy? Why had he chosen Elly, of all people, as his target? She'd only just come out of captivity and now she was in a room with a killer.

Another step. Two steps. She tried to back up even further, but there was no were left to go.

"Well . . . well you didn't answer my question," she retorted, though instead of sounding like a confident young woman, her voice cracked and the last few words came out as a high-pitched squeak.

Jeff had been steadily moving closer and now stopped, tilted his head to the side, and reached up to stroke his jaw for a moment. "No," he mused to himself. "No I didn't." He suddenly turned his eyes back to her, his gaze melting her courage to nothing but a small puddle.

    "You wouldn't want to hear about my hobbies," he decided after a few more horrible moments of staring. "I'm sure they wouldn't appeal to you."

    Elly debated whether or not to press for a response. On one hand, it would be more time for her to live. On another, she might not like what he had to say after all. But, glancing around at the bathroom that was slowly disappearing behind Jeff's body, she took option A.

    "No, I-I-I . . . I can take it," she assured.

    Jeff nodded. "Guess you have no other choice since you're goal is to stay alive. Alright, I'll tell you."

    Elly groaned internally at hearing this. He knew what she was trying to do. He knew she was trying to hold off his ultimate plan. He was much smarter than she was giving him credit for.

    "I like to watch people suffer."

    This caught Elly off guard, but then, alarm surged through her. She didn't expect such a dark response. But then again, what else should she expect form a heartless criminal such as Jeff?

    "What do you mean, suffer?" She asked, this time more out of curiosity than a need for breath in her lungs.

    Jeff reached into his back pockets. "I find the screams of intense pain somewhat calming."

    Elly was back to her first impression of Jeff. Cold hearted, villainous, and completely insane. Who even said things like that?

    Jeff, of course.

    When he brought his arms back around, he held two knives. They made Elly's heart stop beating as Jeff turned them back and forth, watching the light glint off the cold steel. He stared at them as if they were his most prized possession. Actually now that she thought about it, they probably were.

    Before she'd recovered from the shock enough to scream, he glanced down at her, then lunged the last step forward toward her. Instinctively, she lifted her arms to block the blades and closed her eyes, hoping her death would be swift and as painless as possible.

    But after a couple seconds of waiting for the impact that never came, she chances a peak. Jeff had moved back. The knives were put away. He was laughing.

    "You should've seen your face!" He hooted. "You were so scared you didn't even do anything! Just closed your eyes and turned your head away like you were accepting fate."

    "I was," she whispered, unsure of how to react to this epic plot twist in her life.

    He settled down and grinned at her, his lips turning up in a handsome way, despite it wackiness. "I'm here to give you a message, not to kill you." He turned his back to her, walked to the doorway, and turned to look at her over his shoulder. "If you happen to see April again, let her know Bonehead's back."

    He winked at her, flashing a shining smile, and left. He was chuckling all the way out the front door, and she heard him say something about loving "those scared looks they make".

    She sank down to the floor, hand over her heart as she tried to regain her composure. She didn't feel safe at all. She had thought escaping for her captors would bring her peace, but no. Now she had a crazy stalker in her life.

    After she'd run through the experience multiple times, she stood up, reaching for her phone by the sink. She decided she had to call April.