Ketchup Stains

1. Jeffery Samuel Frederick

Jeffery Frederick: Honor roll student, first chair trumpet player, brother of sweet little Agnus Frederick, mommas special boy, front row seat kind-of guy in every class Frederick. Jeffery Frederick--he repeated over and over within his mind until his head throbbed and his knees buckled beneath him. His knuckles were still clutching the steering wheel in utter shock, turning as white as the winter snow that continuously fell onto the cars windshield. Jeffery Frederick: honor roll student, first chair trumpet player, brother of Agnus Frederick, Momma's favorite, everyone's favorite, Jeffery Fredericks the... murder. The last word sent chills down his spine, tightening and twisting it up into a knot of excruciating pain. He let out a cry mixed with terror and throbbing agony from the deepest part of his soul.

His fingers were still numb from the bitter cold that nipped and ate at his raw skin. He glanced into his rear-view mirror and felt his breath hitch, lodging a lump the size of a quarter into his esophagus.

What have I done? He asked himself as he fumbled for his car keys, nearly dropping them twice in the process; but the real question wasn't what he had done--it was what he'd become.

The snow fell in fluffy white puffs all pure of every sense, contradicting himself; he could starkly feel the darkness ripping through the back of his mind, peeling back the curtain. The show has finally begun. As if turning on a hidden switch in an empty basement, the darkest part of Jeffery Samuel Frederick was vulnerably exposed. It wasn't long before people would start to piece the puzzle together, for the audience was watching now and even if he wasn't the star of the show, eyes would follow. 'For the eyes are the window to the soul', and Jeffery Fredericks in particular, were now shadowed over, forever.

. . .

Before that night on Beryl Trail Road, Jeffery Samuel Frederick had lived a simple small town American life in the midst of Grabbles Ville Ohio. Deep within the suburbs, Jeffery slept blissfully inside a three bedroom apartment complex with his mother and younger sister Agnus. The rather beguiling yet uncanny night was growing with fresh Autumn dew, for October was finally here. No matter how much Jeffery complained and hated almost everything about Grabbles Ville Ohio, he couldn't deny the fact that fall within his home town was the most enticing and extraordinarily beautiful time of year compared to anywhere else.

As the fog spread across the town of Grabbles Ville, so it did in his dreams; blurring and contorting images of a sweet girl in a gray cardigan with golden blonde hair. He recognized her as the girl from his Zoology class at Grabbles Ville High, the girl that had generously handed him her pen with the glittery pink ink to complete his test with. Erin Patelline was her name. Jeffery tossed and turned in his sleep, recalling in his dreams of how innocent, pure, and most of all, angelic this beautiful human had appeared to him as Erin Patelline. His dream mirrored real events taken place with the girl, except, this one in particular was sinister-like and dark; a somewhat parallel universe wherein Erin's face held nothing but a terrifying look of hatred and animalistic rage. Jeffery looked down at his blood soaked hands and let out a scream in horror.

Although the dream was fake, Jeffery's screams were in fact, not. They had ripped through the night like a wolf crying out in anger, waking up his younger sister and mother who came barreling into his room looking quite dazed and confused in their pajama pants and overly large t-shirts. Jeffery sat up suddenly, gasping for air as he adjusted his sleep filled eyes to the sight before him. He pushed back thick dark waves of sweaty hair off of his forehead and to the side. He couldn't help but tremble at his family's concerned appearances at the foot of his bed.

"Are you okay Jeff?" His mother put a hand up to her heart in fear of her child's well-being.

"I-I think I just had a really bad dream mom," he said as he rubbed his green eyes with his hands confusedly. "Why are you guys in my room?"