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as of yet. She is left to wait as law enforcement connects the puzzle pieces while she and the slayer of her friends take their rest in a seedy motel room.
The room is small, has a bed and a television that barely gets reception. The TV sits on a banged up dresser that is 254
pushed up against the wall. There are two rolling chairs sat across from one another at a small, round card table. Cheap art hangs from the wooden paneled walls, dimly illuminated by old lamps on chipped end tables. At sixty-five dollars a night, this is the kind of room that junkies pay to overdose in on a suicide binder.
Locking the door and drawing the shades, Matt ties Emma to the bed with torn strips of the motel's sheets. After tying off her last limb, he whispered in her ear that this was for her own good and his. The television is tuned to a local news station as Matt takes swigs from a bottle of cheap whiskey. Watching as the screen ripples with static interface, the reporter reads of Matt's crimes from the teleprompter. Still no new information of suspects is given as they show pictures of Emma to their audience. Her eyes locked on to the screen, tears roll down Emma's face as she looks on at the young, happy girl that she used to be. Bound to the stiff motel room bed, she is left to wonder where she went wrong.
As the news program cuts to a car commercial, Matt starts pacing in front of the television as he takes quick sips from his bottle. Now knowing that the authorities are looking for Emma, he tries to clear his head from exhaustion and find a plan within the chaos of his erratic thoughts. Waiting for some kind of clarity, he relies on the voices that have brought him to this place. With a few more slugs, the cobwebs begin to clear away for his demented purpose. The voices slowly raise in volume, telling him to kill the girl and bury her someplace far away.
Watching him walk back and forth, Emma starts to worry about what her outcome will be. Her eyes shift from Matt to the large knife lying in the center of the slanted round table.
She can see it in his edgy actions that he is not thinking straight. He is giving into his nervousness and allowing paranoia is steering his movements. His brain screams about the stolen car parked in front of the door while harping on Emma being tied to his motel room bed. Halted in his steps 255
by a sudden thought, Matt starts to wonder if the in-keeper was watching the same broadcast. What if he recognized Emma and called the police? Piecing these scenarios together, he convinces himself that the police are most likely on their way to capture him.
Matt sits back down at the table and glares at Emma as his mental gears slow to a grind. Feeling his gaze, she sinks her teeth into her gag. Fearful of what he could possibly be thinking in that moment, she puts nothing past his sick mind, quivering for the worst. Taking another swig from the bottle, Matt finds his center and directs his attention back to the television. He keeps his thoughts to himself as he caps the bottle and moves over to her.
He looks her in eyes and says, "I am going to untie you because I think I can trust you… just don't make me regret this."
Loosening the sheets from her hands and feet, he unties the gag from around her head. Unsure of how to react to this gesture, Emma slides off of the bed slow and timid. Matt backs away from her to get two plastic cups from the bathroom. Emma nervously fiddles with ends of her hair as Matt pours two shots of whiskey into each cup. Handing her the beverage, her arm trembles as she accepts it.
Sipping it with shaky hands, Matt tries to put her at ease,
"Hey, relax… I'm not gonna hurt you. Pointing at the Television he says, "Did you see what they were saying? It won't be long 'till they find us and if anything happens to you they'll know it was me. I want them to find you untouched…
I need you to tell them that I didn't do it."
With a stutter in her voice, Emma replies, "I'll tell them whatever you want."
Swigging from his cup, Matt nods, "I know you will… I believe you."
His cast iron nerves allow him to breeze through a conversation with the person whose sister he had just killed.
Emma however is iced over with an awkwardness that 256
borders on her want to vomit. Every second that she looks at his face, she wants to lunge at him and tear out his eyes. She restrains such maneuvers because she knows that he is insane and will do anything to overpower her. There is nothing that she wants more than to watch as Matt suffers in his last moments of lethal injection.
While Matt sits at the table, Emma stays as far she can away from him, parked on the edge of the bed. The two watch television, hardly saying a word to one another. Matt keeps refilling Emma's cup and Emma drinks it to keep herself sane as she counts the hours towards dawn. Her eyes grow heavy as she fights the urge to fall asleep. It has been days since she has had a decent nights rest and the alcohol is not helping her stay awake.
Matt takes simple glances at her, seeing that she is growing tired, he says, "Lie down and get some sleep… I'll take the floor."
Unable to look at him, Emma takes a sip from her drink and replies, "I'm not really tired…
"Bullshit" he scoffs, "You're damn near passing out where you are sittin'."
"I'll be fine."
Finishing her drink, she scoots back onto the bed and rests her back against the head board. Her eye lids want to so desperately close but she fights to keep them open. She tells herself that she must stay awake after Matt. If Matt is sleeping, it could be her one and only chance to make a break out through the motel door. Emma sees herself running out of the motel room, down the hallway, and to the front office where she would be safe to contact the police. As this scene vividly plays out within her head, Emma finds herself helplessly dozing off.
Her eyes slowly close as her head slides down the back board and on to the pillow, drifting into her much needed slumber. Emma's lids flicker over the white of her eyes before they finally slam shut. Slipping away, she can no longer catch 257
herself as she comes into a deep sleep. Fading in and out of conscience, she enters a sound slumber, uncaring of what may befall her in her most vulnerable of moments. Gone with undertow of her exhaustion, she starts to sleep the night away, leaving the horrors of what could be in its dust.
Staring out of the motel window, Matt has been up all night and is now mentally preparing himself for the road ahead. Sober and thinking clearly, he knows it is time to go.
He must ditch the barrowed wheels and move on as fast as he can out of the state. Whether or not the police are on his trial at the time does not matter. He tells himself that no matter what he does they will always be after him. This is his life now, the rouge hunter of the road, moving on with his instincts intact. Slipping in and out from town to city—trying to fit in the best that he can.
After handing in the room key to the innkeeper with a smirk, he fires up Donnie's car and casually drives away from the motel. Exiting the parking lot, Matt turns on to the empty road and makes his way towards the turnpike. Tuning the car radio from station to station to find something that fits his mood, Matt continues on his trail, north bound with twisted sense of freedom in his mind. Wishing that he had a cigarette to smoke, Matt fights his sleep deprived hangover with a handful of painkillers. Chasing the pills with a gulp from a half empty water bottle, he waits for them to kick in as he makes his way over to the next town.
Coming to an empty stretch of road, he pulls over to a wooded area where a line of trees surround a secluded ravine.
Cutting off the engine, he steps out of the car and gives a quick look around for passers-by. He casually makes his way to the trunk while looking over both of his shoulders in a subtle fashion. With a deep breath he contains his nerves and stifles his shaken nature. Popping the trunk with the key, he reaches in and picks up the package wrapped in cheap bed 258
sheets. Running from the car, he cuts through the brush and towards the bank of the canal.
With all of his might, he tosses the saturated wrappings into the waters. While catching his breath, he watches the mummified remains sink into the disgu
sting canal. White fabric turns to a blackish green, submerging towards the depths of the forgotten sludge. Matt looks over the scene looming from the muddy banks, taking in every tiny fragment to make sure that no one will find this disposal too soon.
Basking in the sight, Matt grins with a macabre cheer, satisfied with his doing. Rid of the final witness in the case against him, he is able to move on and continue his life elsewhere without being harassed by small time detectives or public pretending attorneys.
Readying himself to leave the scene, Matt gets back into the boosted car and drives off. Content with his doings, he peels away from the scene with a twisted smile upon his face.
Heading north on I-95, he is on his way to another town to start off fresh, to be a man without the bloodlust. He tells himself that a new scenery can quiet his demons, but it is all a lie—no matter where he goes his yearn to kill will cry aloud in his soul.
This is the hell that Matt must combat. This craving for the freshest of flesh is a yearning that he will never be able to fully satisfy. Deep inside he knows this is true and it is only a matter of time before he is caught and judged for his crimes.
Passing the mile markers, he does so with an arrogant smirk—a temporary grin to keep him moving along. Living moment to moment, Matt cruises towards the next place where he can move forward without being cornered by law enforcement. Every step he takes and every move he makes will be traced by the officials who are gaining on his trail. No matter where he goes or what he does, Matt will be looking over both shoulders in paranoia, fearful that his victims will ultimately have the last word over his life.
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32