Autumin

“You think this sounds better?” Then came a muffled reply, sad, desperate. You looked over to the man tied up on the hotel bed. He was sweaty, face red stained by tears and snot. He was throwing himself around like a wild animal, you noticed the wet spot forming on his boxers. You scrunched your nose in disgust. Then he stopped, heaving, teeth biting on the makeshift gag. His silver hair was messy, clinging to his sweaty forehead. “Good grief, though crowd.” you mumbled, sitting on the opposite of the bed in a plush chair. You twirled the knife in your fingers. Muela Kodiak, Spanish beauty, high quality. Then man noticing this started to return to his theatrics, the noise started to give you a migraine. You slowly got up, the leather straps on your costume creaking as you walked towards him. One, two, three. Stab. The knife made a dull noise when it hit the wooden edge of the bed. “Aw, are you scared? I would be if I were you. You annoyed me so hard to catch, always surrounded by people.” you hissed behind your mask. “Does your wife know about what you do huh?” The man only muffled and cried in response. Getting bored of it you decided to release him from the gag. 

“Please, please!” he begged, clearly now. “I will give you everything please don’t kill me!” You hummed, pulling out the knife with one swift motion. Rot, when you got close the smell of it made you cringe in disgust. That’s what the man was itself; “Nah. Smile for the camera!” You plunged the knife into his throat before twisting. “Mx. Y/n?” “Mx. Y/n??” “Mx. Y/N!” “Yes?” “You don’t daydream in my class, it is distracting for me and the rest that want to learn.” “My apologies, I was thinking about the subject at hand. The human body is fascinating” you replied, words tumbling from your mouth in a formal and polite manner. “You better watch it.” You smiled sweetly, hands folded neatly in front of you. Every single move calculated, so polite it was disgusting. The professor in front of you didn't seem very impressed but he did leave you alone after that. Your whole body felt stiff, politeness came at a price. Sitting like something was shoved up your ass was one of them. “You okay?” the girl next to you asked, small, if she wasn’t so close you wouldn’t be able to hear her. You only hummed in agreement. “Don’t worry about him he is….” she added. “Ada, trust me I know. You are cute when you worry so much” you replied, quickly and smoothly, making the compliment seem like an after thought. You knew she would like it anyway. “Ah.. um.” Her cheeks flushed, the red spread from her cheeks to the tip of her ears. Ada was so soft and mushy, you wanted to pop her between your fingers like a grape. It only made your smile just a little wider, enough for her state to get worse but not enough to catch the attention of the hawk lurking around.

Ada was your girlfriend, but you treated it as merely a business transaction. Kiss here, holding hands there. She was sweet, so shy, and barely talked to anyone who wasn’t her friend. She was just perfect, but besides that little parody of a relationship nothing really connected you. You didn’t really love her, she was just… a good cover up really. Nothing was made official, people did talk though.

You went back to your thoughts and Mr. X. Mister X. was an older man, mid 50s. Silver fox as they say, charming until he opens his mouth. You don’t hate him per say, it is rather a strong word, you dislike his presence. His way of life. How he carries himself. The rot is burrowing deep beneath those honey eyes and deep gruff voice.  His personal pleasures are yelling at his students and apparently sleeping around. Using his power to manipulate and crush the weaker ones. You never failed an assignment in your life, but Mr X could create a problem out of nothing. Coming to him for the first time was humiliating, to say the least. You didn’t have anything against authority, it was there for a reason and it entertained you. You “never” caused trouble, a good opinion of the teachers always seemed to serve you right. When you first saw the man, you felt the authority and his hands on your ass. That’s how you managed to find out how his system works and the “dislike” grew. Getting rid of him would bring you back the peace you had. The bell rang, finally the lesson ended, just like the watch. You neatly packed your bag, carefully and in order. In the corner of your eye you saw a girl, black hair, a huge pale peach sweater she was almost drowning in. Shaking like a leaf in the wind. You squint. Another victim. You look away, it’s not your business. She won’t be useful, sticking out your neck for her is not worth it enough. You try to keep your thoughts silent as you leave the class, walking near but not close enough to your “girlfriend”. The corridors are crowded, people walking from and to their destination. Some are fast, some are slow. You smile sweetly and wave to people you are supposed to know but the names blur around the edges. After a while everyone just looks the same, flat, plain. Unimportant. In a way you felt like you were above those people. You are the predator and they are the prey if you so choose.

You catch glimpses of conversations, shocked faces and the gasps; the murder struck again…They mayfield butcher?… Oh my god…

It made your stomach flutter.

Everything was in order, a routine without surprises was delightful after all. Feeling in control of every single thing. The bliss of the normal day was cut short once you entered the cafeteria.

Something new. A new, fresh, bright amongst the crowd. New people, in the middle of the semester? How… boring, not to mention annoying. You were in the mood for coffee. Admittedly you wanted to look more, yet the bodies that swarmed the commotion. Everything clicked after chanting started, loud and raw. Desperate for excitement you usually can’t get in facilities like these.

Your body moved before you actually thought it through, not even stopping when your girlfriend pulled your sleeve. Getting to the middle was no easy task. Every single person wanted to see the spectacle. You grunted, apologised and pried your way through a sweaty mass of bodies.

Finally you managed to get into the main event, the cheers stopped.  The new face was getting beaten to a pulp.

“Oh, dear.” You smiled. “I thought we knew a nicer way to greet people.”

“Fucking- you again?”

“Brook, let it go, it’s not worth it.”

“You are lucky twitch we don’t fuck with them. Open your big mouth again though and we are going to have a fucking problem.”

“P-Pussy.”

“Brook, Josh. I will handle it, go.. do your own thing.” You wave your hand, “The rest of you can go now, the show is over.” You turned to the crowd that seemed to disperse quickly.

 Brook, scar on his left eye, anger issues. The only thing keeping him here is one word and money from his daddy. You knew it, he knew it. That’s why he dropped the boy who landed on the linoleum floor with a thud. He walked away with Josh who only shot an apologetic look. You almost sigh in relief, you somehow remembered their names. Human emotions should be kept at bay, god knows what would happen if you slipped.

The new face had the biggest brown eyes you have ever seen. He looked like a small wounded animal sitting on the floor. His lip was busted, blood flowing freely and dripping. He had freckles, you noticed, besides that little scars littered his lips and jaw. The most eyecatching thing would be the gauze on his cheek. It looked like it was fresh but the saliva mixed with blood were quickly staining it red. It was just sad and annoying. Everything came down to you looking at his bloody lip. You tried not to stare but it was already too late for that.

“Here.” You pulled out a tissue. “You are bleeding all over the floor.”

He twitched, head tilting back slightly. Exposing the bruising on his neck. He took the tissue, hand gently brushing yours. He shuddered when the skin came in contact. He looked at you like you were the shiniest star in the universe, it made your skin crawl.

“Jesus fucking Christ Toby!” Someone ran over, taller guy. Broad shoulders, checkered shirt. Nice bone structure and face, just a little more work and he would be the hottest piece of meat here. Maybe then you would give two fucks about who these people are. You didn’t want to get caught staring.

Still it wasn’t your business but you turned to “Toby” again. Letting your facade falter just a tiny bit. “Don’t cause trouble, please.” 

Turning on your heel, you pass by the lumberjack and return to your very unimpressed girlfriend. “Toby” still stared at you, burrowing into the back of your head. You tried not to care.

“Is everything okay?” Ada asked, she was standing into the far right corner. 

“I couldn’t get my coffee due to the ruckus. It was annoying.” You replied simply shrugging.

“Haha, it just proved you are responsible and mature,” she laughed lightly.

That’s right, because appearances matter, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ has no power in such places. People are such simple minded creatures, if you look bad, you must be homeless but when you wear something expensive the opinion dramatically changes.

The world was a scene and all of you were puppets taking part in a play the puppets itself created. A paradox, if you will. Stepping out of norm catches attention. Unwanted on that.

Small favours, good grades and looks earned you the place on the top of the food chain. Hence why your little stunt, although unplanned, was handled in such a way. Simple, fast and effective. You will forget all about those people anyway. Even so, writing it down could help here and there. You can’t risk your reputation. Hence the slight uncertainty of when it came to breaking off the fight. 

“Can we go somewhere else? I really wanted that coffee..” you trailed off. 

“Sure,” Ada said, a bright smile on her face. “I will text the others.”

She rambled on, your gaze focused on someone behind her. Mr. X and surprisingly he was talking to another girl. This one didn’t seem to be nervous or scared, but genuinely happy to talk to him. She was gesturing widely and from what you assumed she most likely was talking about something important. Poor girl, so oblivious. That old fart was bad at pretending, he only stared at her tits. 

You never hated the man, it would mean you felt something stronger towards him. Stronger feelings cause attachment, you try to separate them from your craft. His house was big, like everything he owned. It screamed wealth and power from far away. High education, diplomas. Money that was not earned but stolen. That was Mister X. That was his life. It was quite funny how simple it all was. One day you have something, the other you don’t. 

Everyone has a hobby, yours is just more interesting. You don’t kill random people, that got boring already when you were 15. The excitement fizzles out once they stop breathing. Getting to know your victim beforehand and studying them makes everything so much more.. captivating. 

You put on your black leather gloves, and correct the mask. You felt lucky in a way, the street lamps broke here months ago and the guy didn’t put any fence. Everything was working perfectly. It made you feel giddy. Another big win. The excitement bubbled in your gut. You can almost see the headlines, “The mayfield butcher strikes again!”. They will be talking about you, then find out about who X really was. The police will leave it at that, who wants revenge for such a horrible person anyway?

You have planned this weeks in advance, spent hours on planning. The closer the day got the excitement grew, then you couldn’t help but day dream about it. You finally manage to see the fruits of your work. It sent sparks in your brain, a  satisfaction like no other. 

You tip toed around in the back, one, two and three. The window was open, a small crack just big enough for you to hook your fingers beneath it. Left from last night's visit, it was located in the blind spot. You couldn’t afford taking his keys again, he might have looked like an idiot, but he was far from that.

The house was just as big inside as it was out. The walls were covered with fancy wallpaper, and adorned with diplomas that screamed: “yes I am fucking smart”. Mind numbing wealth. Always cleaned spotless, because the owners hated every single speck of dust. Appearances, appearances…

You memorised the layout, the working schedule of both the maid and Mr. X. Usually the problem was his wife, she and her nasty habit made sneaking around just a tad bit stressful. She was sleepwalking, while the action itself was harmless, the fact she got too close every single time was. It’s as if she sensed danger. Lucky for you she went on a trip with her sister. 

Despite the very thing going according to your carefully created plan, something felt off. The house was messy, stuff thrown around. You walked swiftly, following the path of utter chaos. That's when you noticed the doors to his bedroom open, hell, not only it was open. Mr. X apparently had guests. “Tobias, fucking hell, we were supposed to do it quick and clean.” You recognise that voice, slightly altered. Lowered. “H-He was putting up a fight, ss-scheiße w-was hätte ich denn sonst tun sollen?” 

What?

“Hoody pulled up, this time try not to break anything on your way out.” You waited until they left, walking into the room. The thing was a mess, and on the bed lay the body of Mr. X. You were speechless to say the least, it was an odd feeling. Empty. You stared at the body, mouth opening and closing. It felt like a set up. Maybe you are overthinking but…that’s what it was, a set up, a mockery of what you have been doing and for the first time in a long time, you were angry. The little voice screaming in your saying it was just a coincidence went silent when the raw, bubbling anger rose in your throat.

Toby. You heard that name, Toby Toby… you chanted greeting your teeth. 

T o b i a s.

You breathed in, shaky, like the air was burning your lungs. Gloved hands taking off your mask. You breathed in and out, calming practices your therapist found you. Visits mandatory after.. whatever. 

Tobias, the guy who got his ass kicked on the first day. The same Tobias that was bleeding all over the floor in the cafeteria. This felt humiliating. Your plan broke apart in your hands, crumbled would be a better word.

As far as you knew, Mayfield was your hunting ground, made for you. You claimed it. How could some first timers probably take away your carefully crafted spotlight. Of course he had people with him, it was collective responsibility. If you only could get your hands on-

In and out.

You feel dizzy, unwell, sick maybe. The only idea that passes right by your head is a payback. A childish trick, you are not 5 anymore. God fucking damn it, that grey duck was supposed to be the highlight of your work. All that time spent stalking, all that phone calls mocking him. All that daydreaming… they were splayed out on the bed, gutted like a fish. Of course you felt angry. The rule of separating yourself from unneeded emotions went out of the window the moment the kill was stolen from rights under your nose. 

Revenge. Yes. A payback. You cracked a smile, oh, even the word petty won’t be able to describe what you will do. They better get their asses ready.