The Killer's Pattern

1

Lynn tried to fight off the figure, but she couldn't. The last thing she felt the bullet go through her heart as she fell to the ground. She gasped for air one last time before going limp. "It's alright, sweetie. You were the hardest one yet, you should be proud" the killer whispered into Lynn's ear. 

She stood up and walked out, leaving the bloody scene behind as usual. She took one last look at her cousin's lifeless body "19" She whispered. Footsteps could be heard in the distance followed by loud sirens. She had just made it back to her apartment when she heard the police and EMT's talking in the apartment below her. The walls were thin, so she had to be quiet. 

She couldn't tell if she was lucky that the real owner of the apartment didn't notice her once again. She had been hiding there for months now, but always went unnoticed. No cameras were up, he never has seen or heard her. She did feel lucky in away.  

Once he had fallen asleep, she let herself drift off to sleep, but woke up with a bang as she heard the door being kicked down, followed by heavy, booted footsteps and voices. "What's going on?" the owner, Mr. Tran frantically asked "We have a warrant to search this apartment. As part of a new procedure, we must search the apartment above, below, across, and beside the apartment that a murder or suicide has taken place in." 

"It's 6:30 in the morning and I was off work today, dude! Just let me sleep" he laid back down but was thrown off his bed as a few officers picked up the mattress the check under it. "All of you are nuts" before they could check the crawl space in the closet, she had already escaped, but had left the gun, and other weapons behind. She made sure there were no fingerprints on them. Her plan was to have him framed. The gun she had used that night had Lynn's blood on it. She knew that. 

The girls real home was back in Mercy, California. She needed time to plan out the murder, so she got closer to the victim. She had found a suitable home, not too rich, not too poor, and someone who didn't care to know every inch of his home. She was far down the street before she heard the crawl space door be knocked down, and Mr. Tran being arrested. 

After years of doing this, her senses seemed to have increased. She could see and hear things probably miles away. She basically had night vision and super hearing at this point. "two" she mumbled to herself. 

Once she was sure she was far enough away for nobody to be suspicious if she was walking that early in the morning, she took her hood off of her head and let her hair down. She walked into the local cafe that was down the street from her real home. "How many now?" the lady working, Francis, asked. "19," Millie said "two framed. Now, they are either going to believe I'm still out there, or that there were multiple people involved." "Knowing them, they will say multiple people are involved, until they have too many people" Millie nodded "Yeah, they're idiots" 

Francis set a cup of coffee in front of Millie "Same as usual" "Thanks, Francis" she nodded. "How long do you think before they realize almost all the victims are related to me?" "I don't know, they might say because almost all of them are, you are trying to create a fake pattern to throw them off." "The only ones that aren't are Mr. Tran and Kacy. All the murder victims are related to me." 

"I'm about to open, are you going to stay and help?" Francis asked "Yeah, let me get cleaned up first" she walked away "Flip the sign on your way out," Francis said which Millie did. "Can't believe she got that far. Thought for sure she would only get to like ten before getting caught. She started when she was 15, now she is almost 22. What the fuck happened to her?" Francis said to herself. 

Millie her work clothes out of her closet and set them on the bed. She took the bloody black hoodie off and the jeans off. Out of all the colors she tried to hide the blood on, black seemed to be best. She had found that she could never match the shade of red she needed because it was different every time. So she settled with black, knowing that anything wet that dried on it, seemed to be invisible. 

Not so much with the pants she wore. leggings were too thin, jeans were never truly plain black, and on sweatpants, the color bled through onto the material on the inside, which was never black. So she decided to settle with the jeans which were her best bet.  She always wore black undergarments just in case. 

She flinched when the hot water hit the scratches on her back "Damn it, Lynn, why put up such a fight?" She cursed "At least you didn't hurt me too bad, just nail scratches and a cut from the stupid pocket knife. Who the fuck keeps a pocket knife in their pillowcase?" she asked herself. 

She finished her shower and got dressed. Her usual work clothes, blue jeans, a white long-sleeved sweatshirt, and black boots. She pulled her shoulder-length hair into a high ponytail. She grabbed the keys to her home and left, locking the door behind her. "Another day, another pay" She reminded herself. 

The bell rang as she walked into the cafe "Millie, you're back, that didn't take as long as usual" Francis said "Well the water hurt my back because I slipped and scratched my back" She said, trying not to get the attention of the customers. "Excuse me, my order wasn't correct," a customer said at the register "Coming," Millie said. 

"What was wrong with it, sir?" "I ordered a coffee with three sugars and five creamers. You gave me a black coffee" the man explained "Oh, sorry about that. Your order must have gotten mixed up with another's. I'll get you another coffee, it's on the house. You said three sugars and five creamers?" the man nodded. She headed into the back to make the coffee "Francis, turn the television up" she grabbed the remote to turn it up. 

"Local man involved in a murder last night. In Mr. Tran's apartment, police found evidence that could confirm his involvement in it. They found a bloody gun, a kitchen knife, five cases of extra bullets, and a change of clothes in the crawl space in a closet. The blood on the knife belonged to Lynn Chestshore, the resident below him. Mr. Tran is currently claiming innocence, but they believe he is guilty. 

Moving away from the usual 'Innocent until proven guilty' Police believe he is guilty of going off the evidence in Mr. Tran's home. The court hearing will take place in a couple of months, but no sure date has been confirmed. Judging by the fact that one other person has been arrested in this manner, they believe there is a gang of killers out there. 

Be safe out there, especially at night, and warn others about this tragedy. We cannot afford another death like this one."