tainted | jeff the killer |

one

(evelyn pictured above)

Evelyn's P.O.V.

It's a cloudy Sunday afternoon. The kind of day where it makes you want to stay inside and just watch movies under a pile of blankets - as well as procrastinating over a bunch of school work and leaving it for midnight.

I planned to hang out with Fletcher today, who is just about my favorite person in the world. He's been my best friend since freshman year of high school. We've stuck together like glue while everyone else came and went. We're now seniors at Melrose high school. Scary how time flies.

Our favorite place to hang out is by the abandoned train tracks that happen to be hidden by the woods down the road by my house. It's peaceful down there and no one goes there much. There's a creek that runs by there and sometimes during the summer we would go to stick our feet in. Now since it's mid-fall, we mainly just walk or sit as the cold air bites at our cheeks.

I throw on my loose brown coat over my black turtleneck sweater. I grab my phone from my dresser as I shoot a quick text to Fletcher.

"Meet me there in 5,"

"Alright," he responds

I take one last look at myself in the mirror. I run my fingers through my long dark brown hair. Dark brown eyes stare back at me, thick brows sitting straight over them. Freckles lightly dust my olive-toned skin as my long dark lashes are curled and coated with mascara.

I shrug as I turn around and head towards the door, rushing downstairs as I shoved my phone into my pocket.

"I'm heading out," I call out to whoever may be in the house.

"Alright, don't be back too late," my mom responds from the kitchen.

I open the front door, already walking down the front steps and down the walkway. The cold wind blows through my hair, making me shiver. It smells like snow and leaves.

"I hope it snows," I quietly say to myself.

I don't rush to walk to my destination. The sight of my quiet neighborhood never seems to get old. A car passes by as I hide my face with my hair. Just a habit.

I cross the block, quickly glancing both ways before making my way over to the other side. I see the dead-end of the road, the same small opening in between the trees. There are fewer houses towards this end since it's a more wooded area.

I look down at my worn-out vans on my feet. I hope Fletcher gets here soon. I step over puddles and soggy brown leaves, seeing my reflection in the dirty water.

I then hear a rustle a few feet away behind me, causing my head to snap towards the sound. My heart begins to rush, hearing it loud in my ears. I stop in my tracks as my eyes search in between the trees, my whole body turning around.

"Hello?" I ask, feeling stupid.

My feet begin to slowly move, not knowing what to do.

"Evelyn!" I hear a voice say from another direction

I look over from the other side of the road, seeing Fletcher beginning to cross towards me. I give him a forced smile, greeting him. I look back over to where I had heard the sound.

"Hey. did you lose something?" He asks as he approaches me

My eyes see nothing but colored leaves and branches. "Oh, uh no. I just thought I saw a deer," I say

"Oh cool," he follows my eyes "So, should we get going then?"

I look back at him "Oh, yeah. Yeah." I chuckle.

We begin to walk side by side towards the entrance that leads to the tracks.

"So how was your weekend?" I ask him

"Oh, same shit. I was practicing on my drum set and guitar as usual," he says.

He continues to talk as I look back over my shoulder. I see a tall figure peering out from the edge of the trees, staring me down. I quickly look away as I lean into Fletcher. I look back over and see that the tall figure is gone.

"Ev?" Fletcher asks. He puts an arm around me and looks to where I'm looking "Are you sure everything is alright?"

I quickly look back over at him. I blink away the confused look on my face. "Huh? Yeah, I just saw the deer again,"

"Well, this deer must be really fascinating to look at,"

I breathe out a laugh "Yeah,"

We step onto the railing as Fletcher let's go of me, my body immediately feeling exposed. I stare down at my shoes as we walk over damp rotten planks. My mind goes back to the figure that was staring at me. I couldn't even make their face out.

"Anyway, have you heard of all of those killings happening lately?" fletcher asks

We step down the small hill down the side of the railings. I look for a nice rock to sit on.

"Yeah. It's pretty crazy since I wouldn't have thought in a million years that killings would happen around here," I say as I sit down on a large rock.

Fletcher joins me as I look out onto the creek. "Me too. I know people will freak and take it seriously when someone from our school gets killed,"

I look over at him with an eyebrow raised "Are you trying to tell me something?" I tease

"I'm not the killer! I promise," he exclaims "Plus, the entire concept of murder is just messy. It's a lot of thinking if you're trying to get away from it," he snorts

"That's true. I agree,"

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and read what's on the screen. My heart sinks at the sight

"Shit," I mutter

"What is it?" fletcher asks in a worried tone

'Two people found dead in the Melrose area. It's advised that you stay home...,' I read

"Two people have been killed. It doesn't say who," I say to him

He pulls his phone out, coincidentally receiving a message.

"Holy shit. One of them was Timothy Lake. He was in my chem class,"

I look over at Fletcher, his eyes filled with terror "I guess you spoke too soon," I mumble

I put my phone down, my mind rushing with a million thoughts. "I wasn't looking at a deer," I barely whisper

"What?"

I look up at him as I pull my knees up to my chest "When you approached me and asked what I was staring at, It wasn't a deer,"

"Then what was it?" he stammered

"I saw someone looking at me when we began to walk down here. At first, I just heard something, but then I looked back and saw a figure staring me down,"

"What'd they look like?"

"I don't know. I couldn't make their face out. But I know they wanted me to see them," I sigh, leaning into his shoulder

He opens his mouth to say something but holds back

I lean back "What is it?"

He hesitates for a bit "I know this may be a stretch, but what if it was the killer," he trails off

I purse my lips, shaking my head at his statement "I doubt it. We both would've been dead if that was the case,"

He nods as he visibly relaxes "You're right,"

I think back to the figure, trying to think of what they truly looked like. I see that they were wearing something white, but that's all I could remember.

Now I have to find out what was reported of the killer's appearance.

-

ahh I hope you enjoyed!

feedback is well appreciated <3