𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄, 𝘤𝘮𝘣

nineteen

maisie waved goodbye to gavin as she left his house with their project. maisie had forgot to write down their cited sources and had some more images she wanted to use. unfortunately, gavin couldn't help since he was going out with his family so maisie dropped by and picked up their project and headed to corbyn's house.

maisie walked to corbyn's house, poster in hand, and knocked on the front door. she waited patiently and smiled when her boyfriend opened the door, smiling as well.

maisie let herself in and sprawled the project out on the floor. corbyn sat beside her and looked at the project.

"can you start typing down the sources for me please? i'm gonna start gluing the pictures," maisie said, grabbing her gluestick.

"sure," corbyn replied, getting out his laptop.

the house was relatively quiet so maisie decided to turn on the TV. she and corbyn continued working until the reporter said something that made maisie and corbyn stop what they were doing.

"good evening, tonight we have a new story on the continuing murder spree of the sweet caroline killer," the reporter began.

"just in, two boys were found unconscious last night in the middle of the woods. their names, jack avery and zach herron, were found in the woods by a hunter earlier this morning."

the camera then panned over an area surrounded with police tape. corbyn sat up in his position and watched intently.

"our lydia tratton interviewed one of the victims, zach herron, earlier this morning."

the camera switched over to another reporter holding a microphone to zach who was laying down in a white gown in a hospital bed. his hair was messy, faint dried blood on the side of his bead, and his face was tired.

"i remember waking up to being dragged by something. i had no idea what was happening. the dude must've thought i was dead so i played dead. i didn't know it was the sweet caroline killer until he started humming the song. i became even more freaked out," zach started.

maisie clutched the gluestick, seeing zach tell his story. corbyn he had a shocked expression on his face, analyzing zach.

i thought i killed them both, corbyn thought.

"after dragging us, he left us in the middle of no where and he-god, he kept-he kept singing. it was so horrifying. i was too weak to run for help and jack was still out of it."

maisie reached for the remote and turned off the TV. corbyn looked at her wondering why she turned it off. once his eyes met her, he immediately sat down beside her and held her.

maisie sobbed, "corbyn, what do we do? we go to school with jack and zach! and-and daniel-he could've-

corbyn shushed maisise and rocked her back and forth, trying to calm her down.

"this is why i hate being alone. he's out there, that murderer. he's in this town and-anyone could be next! i could be next," maisie spoke, crying into corbyn's shoulder.

corbyn held maisie tighter and made her look at him. "i won't let anything happen to you maisie. i promise, i won't let anything happen to you, daniel, and their family."

maisie nodded and wiped her tears. "i'm scared to go to bed every night you know. i'm scared that-he will come into my home and kill daniel and his family or even you. i can't relive that again corbyn, i already lost my parents, i can't lose anyone else."

corbyn held maisie even closer to him and ran his fingers through her hair to calm her down. eventually, she fell asleep somehow, and corbyn sat still holding her in his grasp.

this is it. i'm not doing this anymore. i'm leaving him behind, i want to start new. corbyn thought.

start new? but corbyn, this is who you are. a cold-blooded killer. even if you start new it's gonna keep biting you in the back. the voice in his head teased.

shut up, i mean it. no more murders, no more sweet caroline killer. i'm starting over, for maisie.

what's so different with maisie? why didn't you start new with christina?

i didn't love her.

this is your fault, you let your feelings get the best of you. maisie was only supposed to be another victim. but now, you've killed more people than you intended. you were supposed to kill her then run off again, remember?

corbyn sat still, trying to push the voice out of his head.

you can never run away from me, corbyn. or your past. you are the sweet caroline killer. that's who you are, nothing, not even maisie, can stop you from leaving yourself in the past and starting new.

corbyn growled lowly and looked down at maisie, watching her peacefulky sleep in his arms. he ran his hand through her hair again.

watch me.