Come alone.
The note had an address listed, one that was in a section of town that had been abandoned long ago.
You've been waiting
months
for this moment.
It had taken longer still to catch a lead in your friend's case, after she had been found dead in her apartment. Other details had been obscured by the police to the press, not wanting to give rise to who would be known as the
Juliet Killer
: for the express reason that the killer had killed using a very small dose of Atropa Belladonna to throw his victim into a coma.
But his fingerprints weren't found on the vial; the victim's were.
They didn't tell you what actually killed the victims. But, judging from what you saw when you found Trix...
It was hard not to think the killer knew you.
He left behind hand-written notes with quotes that would tip you off to another place in town. Clues that only
you
could understand.
You became a consultant on the case these past few weeks, and were shocked that with every new location, the note from the previous scene would match.
It was only a matter of time until the killer finally left a note for
you,
telling you where to meet them.
You look up at the mansion you were standing in front of, after getting out of the taxi you took to get there. The taxi driver seemed concerned when you opened the door to get out, offering to take you
anywhere
else for free. You smiled a little at him, thanking him and paying the man before you shut the door.
Your fate was sealed, now, as he drives away from where you stand in the old gravel driveway. You turn to see that a single light—a candle, you think—flickers in the windowsill above you.
It is then that you see him; everything but his wide and twisted smile obscured by a hood they wore.
Something was familiar about him.
He watches you walk towards the front door, your footsteps crunching in the gravel below your feet.
It was time to face the ghost that had been following you far longer than you realize.
The door creaks loudly open, admitting one and none other.
You don't call out. You know full well you aren't alone, and you could
feel
their eyes on the back of your neck as the door closes slowly behind you, as if of its own will.
You ignore the chills that seize your spine, breaking the spell fear itself had on your feet, mounting you to the old, tiled flooring on which you stood.
Now was
not
the time for fear...but you could feel it anyway: writhing in the pit of your stomach, sending the aftertaste of bile up your throat. Your hand clenches, moving past every emotion or sixth sense telling you to run, to never come back.
But he would follow you. He would follow you until the ends of the earth.
This stopped
now.
"Show yourself." You say, facing the grand staircase. You manage to keep the trembling from your voice, this time. The chandelier flickers on at that moment, illuminating the room in a warm, yellow light.
He descends the staircase with a grace you've never seen, his posture mirroring that of a great leader, or a conqueror. He wore a pair of coattails, with a plague doctor's mask.
"Welcome..." His voice was deep, distorted by the mask he wore. You could have
sworn
you could smell rosemary and other herbs in his mask.
You're silent, waiting for him to reach the bottom of the staircase.
"My, how you've
grown.
" He said. Was he smiling? He began to walk around you, examining you closely as he sighed. "You look just..." He taps your ass with a cane, making your fists curl. "...like..." He taps your hip. "...your mother." He steps forward, face-to-face, inhaling suddenly.
"Doubt you can smell me with that mask on." You say. If he was going to play games, you could too. Honestly, the suspense was
killing
you.
No pun intended.
The man chuckles. "Nice try." He says, then sighs. "I'm sure you've figured it all out by now." You're silent as he moves in a circle around you again, his heels clicking against the tile you both stand on.
"I..." You say, brows creasing as you try to remember.
"Tsk tsk." He says, a smile in his voice. "And to think, you've been working with a detective and have learned
nothing.
"
"Oh, I've learned plenty." You say, marking where he is in his orbit around you.
Three...two...one...
You grab his arm, swinging him into the bannister before ripping his mask off.
The mask drops from your hands to the floor, dried herbs scattering as it lands with a final
thud
.
Your jaw drops as you struggle for breath, finally seeing the entire picture for what it was.
"No." You say, emotion swelling in your chest, distorting your voice as you stare at him.
That same smile that you had thought so
beautiful
