No 3 ~ Part 2
“How naïve.”
The week passed by. Serene and Jeff kept peaceful, almost like an average couple. They fooled around, made stupid jokes. Serene took photographs with her Polaroid camera. It felt like everything was almost normal. A warm feeling like always when they stuck together.
In the afternoon Jeff left. He kissed her goodbye and told her to be careful – as he always did. The reason he left so early was that he didn’t want to bump into her parents. They still mistrusted Jeff, although they didn’t know his true colours. So Serene was left alone.
With her stomach still full of little fuzzy animals she made more photos as a time kill until her parents came home. She doodled on her hand and took a few pictures of herself, when her parents finally arrived. Surprisingly they were in a really good mood and so Serene spent the rest of the evening chatting with them about their trip and everything that came in mind. The only topic she avoided was Jeff.
At ten o’clock Serene went in her room to get ready for bed. Her parents had already gone to sleep. Serene was always the last to remain, but that wasn’t too bad for her, at least like this she had her repose.
After her evening routine Serene went back to her room. She put the photos on her bedside table and took a short last glimpse in the mirror. She was just about to lay down, when a sweet voice interrupted her movement.
“Oh, darling…”
Immediately Serene turned around to face whoever was talking to her as the flash of her camera blinded her.
The young woman had taken a photo.
“Don’t go to sleep! You’ll never wake up.” A womans’ devilish snicker resounded.
As she could see again, Serene discovered the woman dressed in a long black gown. Her face was white and with black lips and black eyes. Her face had no countenance, as if she wore a mask. The next thing Serene saw was another flashlight, then she bumped onto the bed, her mouth blocked by a gag.
Red blood covered white hands.
“How messy…” He thought wiping it off his hands.
It was early in the morning. The sun hadn’t risen yet, as he sneaked into the house. Full of anticipation he stroke through his hair several times before he silently opened the door to his girlfriends’ bedroom. He gazed into the chamber and found a horrible scene.
Dozens of photos where lying on the floor next to an amount of dry rose petals. Serene was lying on her bed. She was totally cut up. Her stomach was opened and bloody guts were hanging out. Only shreds of her nightgown covered her dead body. She looked like she was staring at the ceiling, her face mostly covered with her blood.
It was so cruel for him to look at what had happened to his love. He started sobbing, almost not able to stand this look, but the tears made his vision blur. He kneeled next to her death-bed sobbing and crying like a little child. All around him photos, picturing Serenes’ slow death were scattered. It was a perfect rip off of his crimes. “Go to sleep” was written on the walls with her blood. After a while Jeff raised his head he had buried in the mattress next to her.
This situation was absolutely hopeless for him. He knew it wasn’t his fault, it was Janes’. Jane had murdered his beloved as a part of her revenge, but he wouldn’t let her succeed with this. Pure hatred filled his heart. But he couldn’t count on help, or any kind of justice. He would be blamed for this anyways.
He gazed out of the window as he thought about dying, slowly fading out of this live to fi-nally find peace, to get back, what he had lost by this night. It was one of the first days of spring. The sun was rising, slowly brightening this scene of crime with her warm glow and slowly diminishing Jeffreys’ time. He hated the sunlight as well as he hated Jane.
Jeff stood up. He had at least a little bit calmed down. He looked at Serene again. Deep sad-ness overwhelmed him as he saw those words in her open hand.
“I love you”
“I love you too.” He repeated her words in the belief she would hear them and bent down to kiss her forehead and her lips.
Her dull, once so lively blue eyes watched him. How much he had loved them, now he couldn’t stand them staring at him.
“I am sorry.” He whispered. “I should have killed her. I should have taken better care for you. I shouldn’t have left you alone. I should have stopped murdering.”
He looked over to the bottles over to the bottles full of organs he had endowed Serene over the time. Her mother had always called them useless tchotchke. The clock told him it was four thirty in the morning, but the sun already wanted him to leave.
He sank down again with a bitter sob, leaning against her bed and holding her cold hand.
“I will take revenge on Jane for what she did to you. I promise.” His voice sounded bitter-sweet as he talked on. “You know, a year longer and I would have stopped murdering – probably.”
A small laughter escaped his lips.
“It’s just, so damn, so goddamn hard to stop.” Jeff looked on the floor ashamed. “For you I would have stopped. Just for the future we would have had together, with you as my wife and the children. Just one and a half year longer, I would have even started working, trying to build up a proper life. You would have been a wonderful mother. Our kids would have never turned out to be such monsters as I am.”
He laughed as the tears started running down again.
“I love you.” He tried smiling. “And I’ll keep myself alive, for you.”
He let off her hand and examined the photos. Most of them showed Serenes’ death, except one. Serene had taken if from her. Jeff decided to keep it.
He stood up and went off to the door. He didn’t look back as he went out for the last time.
