Symphony Of A Serial Killer

Chapter 21: Exit Strategy

Huh, what in the hell? Both of my eyes had welled over to the point that actual tears were pouring out of them without me realizing it.

Yes my head is hurting and there's been a consistent sharp pain behind my eyes, but to not even feel the tears trailing down my face..

"No ma'am I'm fine." I quickly retort while wiping the tears from my eyes.

She began to be speak but I turned away and started walking towards the door saying that I was ready to lay down.

Following behind, she agreed and encouraged me to do just that. Stating that my body was giving clear signs that it needed to rest.

Heading downstairs, I could feel that she was close behind. When we reached the bottom, I could see Mark had made his way back to the living room.

He was on the couch scrolling through Netflix, looking for something to watch.

"Caroline sweetie, time to get ready for bed." Mrs. Fritz shouted out from behind me.

"Gotcha covered dear, already told her." Mr. Fritz replied will putting away dishes.

Not embarrassed by public displays of affection, she walked over and thanked her husband with a peck on lips.

They truly embodied the American dream of this perfect couple who managed to figure out life together and live a happily.

This is all based on the dog and pony show that's paraded on the surface of course. Who knows what skeletons come out to lurk and play when no one else is around – Yeah, I'm a jaded cynic but who gives a shit?

"This way Danté." she said while gesturing for me to follow her through the kitchen. "The guest room is this way."

"Later Danté." Mark said, waving while not taking his eyes off the TV as I walked behind the couch.

"Ditto Mark." I replied while disappearing into the kitchen.

Caroline's Dad nodded as I waved and made my way pass him. On the other side of the kitchen was a very short hallway that lead to some sort of shelf that was built into the wall.

The shelves displayed various trophies, pictures and statuettes that were arranged in an inviting fashion.

Mrs. Fritz was at the end of the hall, standing in front of the shelf waiting for me. As I got closer to her, she opened the door on the left.

"Here's the guest room, and directly across is the bathroom." she said while gesturing with her hands.

As I turned into the room, I yawned while thanking her.

"Oh one more thing!" she said just as I was about to close the door.

"Yes ma'am?"

"The bathroom is a half bath so if you wanted to take another shower, you'll have to use the one upstairs again."

I showered? I don't remember showering since this morning before I left for school.. Then again I don't exactly remember getting to Caroline's place either, let alone changing clothes.

"Okay thanks Mrs. Fritz, will do."

"Night Danté." she said while holding her arms out for a hug.

I stepped back into the hall and welcomed her embrace. I took the time to quickly thank her for everything, dinner, letting me stay in their home and overall for them just being... well "Them".

She pulled back, smiled and gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"Absolutely our pleasure, happy to have you. Now get some rest dear, you definitely need it."

"Night again Mrs. Fritz."

"Sweet Dreams Danté."

As she disappeared around the corner and back into the kitchen, I closed the door behind me.

I wasn't too surprised after turning around and seeing what was supposed to be a guest room, it's even bigger than Caroline's room.

If I had to guess, she didn't want to be on the bottom floor so took the smaller room upstairs.

Tossing my bag onto the bed, I made my over to the window to see exactly what my escape route would look like.

It had snowed a little, but not enough for me to be concerned about. The latches on the window worked perfectly, I was able to flip them from locked to unlocked with ease.

My only issue was the street lamp positioned directly across from window, wouldn't be able to make a dash across the street without increasing my chances of being seen.

Best bet would be to trail the side of the house for a bit in order to place myself out of eyesight.

The latches were easy enough but damn trying to open the window itself took a little more effort. It'd probably be a lot easier if I weren't trying to do this quietly without being heard.

The sudden knock at the door nearly gave me heart attack! Having just barely cracked the window, I quietly yet purposefully, slide the window back shut.

What the hell, there were no footsteps.. .no indication of someone walking down the hall.

"Caroline!" her fathered yelled before I had the chance to see who was knocking.

"Coming, I was just telling Danté good night!" her voice called out from the other side of my door.

Phew... she had me worried. I'd rather it be her than her parents though.

A text from Caroline – Sorry to have bothered you, stopped by a bit ago for a good nite huggle! Apparently my dad isn't a fan of me knocking on a boy's bedroom door this time of night LOL! :P

Umm you think? It's almost 10:30 haha. No worries though, it's the thought that counts.Nite Caroline, thanks again.. you know, for everything.

It felt like a cloud when I plopped myself onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling like I always do.

Thinking... thinking about the hellish day I've had and what tomorrow would bring. I could fall asleep right now... so tired.

I'm not supposed to meet up with guys for a couple hours, a quick nap couldn't possibly hurt right?

Besides, I needed to wait awhile to make sure everyone else was asleep before making a run for it.

I was finally able to doze off a bit after setting my alarm for midnight. Before I could fully enter dream land though, my phone vibrated 4 times back to back.

Glancing at the notification bar, I saw that at least 3 of the messages came from Lee, Stephanie and Caroline.

I was barely able to start punching in the code to unlock my phone when my eyes involuntarily slammed shut.