Peter Pan The Killer

Chapter 15: Peter Pan I Accept Your Challenge

Sleep had become a distant memory to Gwen for the past week. That night sleeping was impossible. What was she thinking? She made a deal with a murderer. To solve the case in a month? And to not go insane. It was a lose-lose situation. The nightmares she had experienced were crazy enough. How would she stand a chance against the killer whose was an expert in driving people mad?

It was a Sunday, and Gwen had gotten up before the sun had risen. Not like she slept anyway. She went to her workroom and slumped on her chair. If she were to win, she would have to work double time. No room for breathing. To top it all off, she had school exams to deal with. Pauline texted her twice to come over and study. Gwen could not think of studying when she had a serial killer breathing down her neck. Then again, if she failed, retaking an entire year would kill her.

One week of studying. Just one week. She convinced herself. As soon as the exams were over, it would be back to working on the case. But that would only leave her with three weeks. Gwen groaned in frustration. She called up James. He was her only hope at the moment.

"Hey, James. How's everything coming along?" She asked.

"Fine... But you sound exhausted, it's six in the morning. What are you doing this early?" he replied.

"I could ask you the same thing," Gwen retorted.

He could almost hear his smile, "True. I was just working on a couple of things."

Gwen sighed to herself. She could not tell him about the deal. She had to veer her way around it.

"Say... You know I have exams coming up," she began.

"Guess we're taking a break off the case then," he said.

"No, no, no. We have to keep going. I rather sort this out, sooner rather than later," she said.

"Well... Okay then. I could do as much as I can, focus on your exams," he said.

"Really? You would do that? Thanks so much, James! You're a life saver," literally she thought to herself.

He chuckled, said goodbye and hung up. Feeling relieved, she called Pauline and told her she was coming over for a study session. Happy to leave her apartment, she gathered her things just before noon. Before leaving, she glanced at her calendar hanging by the door. She pulled out a marker pen and circled the date thirty days from today. It now did not seem like much. She just fell into a trap.

How could she beat him?

Upon reaching Pauline's house, a double-storey terrace in the quieter part of town, she pulled up on her driveway. Pauline's mother greeted her with a sweet smile.

"You're lucky you dropped by today. I made pumpkin crisps," Mrs Gonzales said, entering the kitchen. The spicy sweet scent of pumpkins filled the entire house.

Pauline's home always felt warmer. Gwen had only felt this warm in her household until she was three. Once her mother left, it was as if she took the entire central heating with her. To make things worse, her room has been getting even chillier thanks to a certain someone.

Gwen shivered. He must be getting a kick out of this.

She made her way to Pauline's room, but as she swung open the door, it was stuck. Pauline stuck her head out.

"Gimme a sec. I have to move this," she said and her head disappeared behind the door once again. After a few seconds of shifting, she opened the door.

Gwen stepped in and glanced at the new prop in her bedroom. "Pauline! A life-size cardboard cutout?" Gwen muttered in disbelief.

Positioned just beside her shrine of K-pop albums, posters and light sticks, was a huge cardboard cutout of one of Pauline's favourite Korean artists. Pauline squealed.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she said, hugging the two-dimensional figure. Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on! You were just like me before you started running behind some criminal!" Pauline said with a scoff.

Gwen glared at her. It was not a lie. She was very much like Pauline before her sister's death took a toll on her. She remembered giving Pauline all her albums to keep, as she cleared her room out of all sources of enjoyment.

"Okay, okay, sad topic. Let's get studying," Pauline said, brushing it off before sitting on the carpeted floor and opening her books. Gwen did the same. After an hour or so, boredom crept its way into their heads. Munching of pumpkin crisps, they chatted for a while.

"Gwen, you've been so detached. I mean, like more detached than usual. What's up? You act like you've seen a ghost," Pauline said. Gwen was stupid to think even the slightest changes in her would go unnoticed to Pauline.

Gwen sighed and sprawled on the floor. "I'm... A little worried. I keep thinking maybe I've taken things too far and I'm biting off more than I can chew," she said.

"I don't want you getting hurt, Gwen. But your determination is something else. You're the most stubborn person I know. And that's a compliment," Pauline said, lying down next to her.

Gwen shut her eyes, and an image of the killer appeared in her mind. He was confident, very confident. He had all the reason to be. Losing was something he did not experience, she presumed. He was just testing her, wanting to see how long it took before she shattered.

"I can't back down now... You know that," Gwen said. Pauline was silent for a moment.

"If you can't back down, you gotta go all out. That's the only way you'd win," she replied. Pauline stood up and walked over to her K-pop shrine. She picked up an object. It was a pink hammer.

"Maybe you just have to look at things in a different perspective!" she said, shaking the pink rubber hammer her hand.

"It may be a hammer to you, a tool to whack someone on the head," she said and proceeded to whack Gwen on the head. Gwen yelped and rubbed the spot.

"But to me," Pauline said, flicking a switch. The pink hammer lit up, "It's a symbol of my devotion to my favourite group. It looked dangerous, but in fact is something really beautiful!" she said.

"Don't get all philosophical on me, Pauline," Gwen muttered. Pauline grinned.

"Think about it. Maybe if you look at things in another way, you might just find a solution. A much easier one to achieve," she said. Gwen grunted in frustration.

"Pauline, you're talking about a light stick and I'm talking about a serial killer. How does that even make sense?" she said. Pauline shrugged.

"You make some sense out of it," she said, putting the light stick back in its place.

Gwen stared at the ceiling and the glowing plastic stars pasted on them. Look at things from a different perspective? But what other perspective was there? He was a killing children and had to be arrested. Period How could she stop him by looking at things from another angle?