Paranoiac (19 page)

“
I always knew there was
something wrong with you,” Snarling, he reached for my trusty
fire-iron.

“
I don’t think so!” I
gasped, jumping onto his back, punching him as hard as I could on
either side of his temples. He anxiously tried to push me off but
it was futile. All he could do was take each blow, unprotected from
my fury. His fingers grasped at the fire poker as Josie screamed
her pretty little head off. I needed to take care of him before
Vince showed up.

“
Get off of him!” Josie
screamed dramatically. I glared at her then smiled greedily as she
scrambled to find safety.

“
You’re going to love
this!” I said grabbing James’s head. He tried to break free but I
had him locked down. “Don’t worry James, I’ll take great care of
your sister.” I muttered angrily into his ear. In a rage he started
yelling at the top of his lungs, flailing his limbs as he tried to
wiggle loose. Before he could make any progress I started to bang
his head into the concrete as hard as I could. Josie’s screams
escalated while James’s died out. I could feel his skull cracking
on the paved poolside. Fretfully he kicked his legs and grabbed at
my hands but he couldn’t reach me. I just kept pounding his face
into the ground. Eventually Josie stopped screaming and the only
thing I could hear was the sound of wet meat slapping against the
floor.

I crawled off of James, out of breath
and stumbled over to the fire poker. The color in Josie’s face
drained the moment I fixed my eyes on her. The front of her dress
was soiled with puke and she was shaking violently. “No,” She
quivered, backing into the corner and on top of her own
vomit.

“
Yes!” Hissing, I finally
caught my breath. I sprinted towards her, building momentum.
Glimpsing out of the corner of my eye, I could see Amy pulling
Vince through the kitchen. It was obvious he was belligerently
drunk. I couldn’t waste any more time playing with my food.
Scuttling up to Josie and with all of my strength, I swung the iron
hook into her throat, piercing it deep into her larynx. Gargling
and choking she slumped to the floor, gagging on her own blood. Her
eyes were wide with shock as I hoisted my foot on the wall and
tried to rip the hook from her throat. I pulled and yanked but it
wouldn’t rip free from the tendons in her jugular. Vince and Amy
were almost outside still I couldn’t get this fucking thing out of
her throat. Dropping the poker, I quickly ran around the corner of
the house. I needed the element of surprise and there was nothing
anyone could do for Josie. She’d be dead in seconds.

Journal Entry Thirty Three

I put my back against the siding of
the house. The sun-room’s door crashed open and I could hear Amy’s
screams. Josie was still choking and gagging on her own blood but
it didn’t last long.

“
What the fucking-fuck?!”
Vince yelled out, incredibly drunk. His footsteps were heavy and
slow. “Are you sure Izzy did all of this?”

I peeked around the corner just in
time to see Amy barreling towards her lifeless brother. “James,
no!” She tripped, skinning her knees and covered herself in his
blood. “James, no! No! Please!” Amy was pulling at his body, trying
to wake him from is eternal slumber.

Putting my back to the wall again, I
could still hear Vince’s bumbling, heavy steps. He didn’t seem as
shocked by the carnage as the others, but then again, he used to be
a cop who worked homicide back in the day. “Jesus Amy, I’m so
sorry,” He muttered sadly. Amy didn’t respond, she just kept
sobbing and sucking in fragmented breaths of air. It almost sounded
mechanical. “Amy, I know this is terrible and ugly but if Isaac
really did do this –“

“
He did! I’m not lying!”
She interrupted with a bellowing sad scream. I peered around the
corner again, my curiosity winning over anonymity. Amy was laying
on top of her brother, blubbering into his bloody shirt. Vince was
wide-eyed and I could tell by his pallor he had been
sick.

“
Amy, I’m sorry but we
need to go. It’s not safe here.” Clumsily Vince knelt down and
gently put a hand on her back. For the first time I realized he had
tears running down his face as well. “We need to get somewhere safe
and call the police.” She turned around doe-eyed and looked up at
him. “He’s gone, Amy. What’s important is for us to get to safety.
You need to get somewhere secure, for James,” He sounded so
genuine. Vince must have been a great cop. Soon though he’d be a
dead one.

I turned back to the wall to conceal
myself in the shadows. “You wouldn’t be so calm if you knew I
killed your precious Rosie!” I yelled out at the top of my lungs.
Both of my victims went still and silent. The hunt was
on.

“
My Rosanna?” Vince said
quietly. He took a few steps forward and then stopped, swaying back
and forth. “Liar!” He hollered obstinately. Amy started to cry,
softly urging him to be quiet.

“
I’m afraid it’s true! But
don’t worry, it was quick. Too bad I can’t say the same thing about
James!” I cruelly shouted, sending Amy back into her pathetic
mourning. For the first time in her life, she was alone.

“
Izzy, you’re sick,” Vince
said gently as if he was trying to diffuse a bomb. “Izzy it’s over.
Just turn yourself in.” I smiled at this. All over? There was no
one who could save them. This was the end of their road.

I peeled myself off of the siding and
staggered to the side of the pool. An eerie, green, caustic light
was emanating from the pool. It added a dreadful ambiance to my
horror show. “Poor, poor Rosie didn’t even see it coming. None of
this would have happened and everyone would still be alive if Rosie
would have just minded her own business,” I stated matter-of-fact
with a morose, sharp smile. Vince went even more pale, clenching
his fists. Amy was shrinking away at the sight of me, crawling
behind Vince in a manic terror.

“
Isaac you didn’t… You’re
sick and you-“I cut Vince off with a chuckle and took a few steps
forward. Amy clutched onto him, petrified of me.

“
Oh Vince, I’m not sick.
I’m seeing everything so much clearer than before.” I looked at my
feet and bounced on my heels. “She was moaning your name you know?”
I lied. His face turned to stone and he took an angry step towards
me, pushing Amy away. I started to pace back and forth. “Vince,
where’s my pretty Vince?” I cried theatrically, mimicking Molly’s
cries for Davis.

“
You son-of-a-bitch!” He
bellowed charging awkwardly at me. Amy was shouting for him to stop
but it was too late. I had broken him, under his skin. He was mine
now.

Vince tripped however, his hulking
body slamming against the floor, seemingly bouncing, and slid to
the side of the pool. He was too drunk and old to do anything but
thrash and moan about. “Poor Vince. It’s okay, you’ll see her
soon.” I bent down and grabbed his fat, heavy, moaning head. “Well,
if you believe in that sort of thing.” Dazed, he tried to get up. I
punched at his ribs severely and he collapsed solidly. “Don’t
worry, your daughters won’t be too far behind.” I whispered into
his ear. He instantaneously grabbed at my shirt and threw me off
balance. I was flipped into the pool, disoriented and I splashed
around trying to steady myself.

“
Amy! Run! Get help! Run!”
Vince roared with a surprising moment of soberness and clarity only
to collapse back to the macadam. Amy bolted around the corner,
obeying his last words.

I waded over to him, the blood from my
body clouded and spread throughout the water. Smiling widely, I
looked him dead in the eye, “You better pray I don’t get to her
before she gets away.” I grabbed his head and pulled it into the
water. He tried to fight back, water splashing loudly around us.
Punching and snatching at me, Vince couldn't win, gravity was on my
side. I was lucky he was so drunk. Vince in his prime would have
torn me in half. But he was only an echo of his past self. He was
splashing violently now, desperate for air. “Shhh…” I murmured as
he slowly weakened. When I finally let him go his arms and head
went limp and sank into the water.

Out of breath, I rubbed at my burning
nose. I was almost too exhausted to climb out of the pool. Yet I
needed to get Amy before she could leave or worse, call the cops. I
ran out of the garden and heard Amy screaming. “Well, I guess she
found the others,” I laughed to myself tiresomely. “Only one to
go,” Growled the demon, knowing my resolve was fading alongside my
vigor.

I made my way to the driveway just in
time to see Amy barreling out of the front door. She was running
for Senter’s car as fast as she could. Her bikini top was twisted
askew and her breasts were half exposed. I ran sluggishly, my
clothes heavy with cold water as she crawled into Senter’s car. She
was rummaging around in the car in a panic trying to get the key
into the ignition.

I slid on the grass and into the
gravel and tried to pull her out of the car. She kicked me to the
ground and slammed the door shut. “You bitch!” I howled, spitting
on the windshield as she started the car. I hammered on the window
with my fists and snatched at the car’s handle, frantically trying
to get to her.

I ran back around the car and ripped a
large stone out of the yard’s pathway. Out of breath I heaved it
through the passenger side window. The glass blasted inwardly and
without a moment to spare, I unlocked the door.

I summoned up the last bit of strength
I had and ripped her out of the car kicking and screaming. Her head
struck the curb fiercely and she grunted awkwardly. “Please…” She
begged whilst I grabbed her by the throat. I smiled weakly, lifting
her off the ground by her neck and slammed her back down to the
curb. Her eyes went fuzzy and her body went limp.

“
I don’t want to die…” She
cried softly as I pulled her by the legs back into the house. Her
arms and head scrapped against the ground as she weakly tried to
twist away. Amy was the last one. After I was done with her,
everything could go back to normal.

“
Let’s get this over
with,” I grunted, kicking the front door shut. Amy was staring up
at me, half-naked and pale-faced. “Don’t worry, it’ll be quick,” I
said, exhausted, dragging her raggedly to her death.

“
Why are you doing this?”
She wept, trying and failing to wiggle herself free.

I rolled my eyes with annoyance and
grabbed a fistful of her hair. “This isn’t about you!” Hissing, I
yanked her head back. She winced in pain then leered at me. “I
didn’t want to kill any of you. I was just trying to get all of you
to leave.” Amy grasped at my hands feebly trying to break
free.

“
Then why don’t you just
let me go?” She sniveled, trying to weasel her way out of the
inevitable.

“
I’m sorry Amy but you’re
going to die,” I sighed with frustration and dragged her over to
Senter and Rosanna’s corpses. I yanked her on top of Rosanna’s body
and grabbed a thick shard of glass from the floor, using my wet
long-sleeved shirt to protect my hand. “You can blame Rosanna for
that!” I declared, pointing the impossibly, sharp glass shard at
Rosanna’s pale, blood-covered carcass. Amy slowly looked down at
the pallid cadaver and started wailing miserably.

“
Help me! Somebody help!”
She screamed hoarsely backing away and into the semi-coagulated
blood that was pooled around Rosanna.

“
You are just wasting your
energy,” I moaned irksomely, watching Amy slip and fumble around in
the blood gracelessly. I was done playing games with her. The glass
shard was pressed uncomfortably into my hand and I just wanted to
get this messy ugliness out of the way.

“
I used to love you!” Amy
cried as I sauntered towards her. My cold, wet clothes were
weighing down on me with each step. “I don’t understand!” She was
backing up against the couch, trembling from shock. I lifted the
glass dagger and stared down at her. The impish demon within was
cackling with excitement but I just wanted to get this over with.
“Please Izzy don’t do thi-“I sliced the shard smoothly across her
neck. Amy grabbed at the wound, her eyes were panic stricken and
darting around the room

I crouched beside her and quietly
watched her gasp for air as she slowly died. Blood was gargling
sickly in her gullet and her eyes were fluttering wildly. Killing
Amy was worse than what I had to do to the others. I killed all of
them out of passion, pity and desperation. I hated all of the
others, but Amy was different. She had always been nice to me,
loved me and what did she get in return? An agonizing, slow and
cruel death. Finally, she stopped gagging and her hands dropped to
her sides. My pallid twin sighed with relief as the light in her
eyes faded. Then my boorish hellion crawled back into its dark
oubliette and went silent.

I suddenly felt very cold, alone and
above all else horrified. The house had become dead silent and my
guilt was sinking in. I stared at the chaos around me, at the
corpses that cluttered the floor, and I knew my life was over. But
as soon as I cleaned up this mess I could forget any of this ever
happened. That’s all that mattered now.

Journal Entry Thirty Four

I shambled out of my living room and
into the driveway. Though I was tired, sore and wet, I had to
finish what I started. As I made my way to the garden shed I could
feel the world around me blurring again. I felt that pressing tug
of that invisible lasso compressing around my torso as it tore me
from the past and back to the present, tossed violently into that
howling, miasma whirlwind that was between and betwixt reality.
Images of my entire life were flickering against the tumultuous
black smoke around me. I refused to focus or look at any of the
spectral effigies. The air around me bit at my skin and in a flash
I was thrust back into reality. Immediately I found myself tumbling
painfully down a flight of narrow steps. My head smashed into each
step and with every blow fantastic colors exploded behind my
clenched eyelids.