Two Black Eyes

“It was lucky that you found me when you did. If you hadn’t, I reckon I might’ve froze.”

“Weren’t you worried at all?” I queried.

“Worried about what?” She returned with a query of her own.

“About getting into a car with a stranger.”

“Well, I reckon I’ve got a better chance with you than with that bloody cold out there.”

I chuckled at that because she couldn’t have been more wrong. I had picked her up a few kilometres back, as she too was trying to get away from the insistent snowfall that was raining down from the surrounding mountains. The window was fogging from the heat of our cold breaths. I wanted to remove a cigarette from my breast pocket to warm me up but ultimately decided against it - given that all women nowadays were so anti-smoking. We turned a sharp corner and slid across the icy road. I remembered this corner. We were close now. 

“Is this the first time you’ve helped a backpacker?” she asked. 

“No. I’ve met a few before you.” They were always the easiest to fool.

One of my eyes managed to take a moment off of the road to look in her direction. I observed her keenly and melted slightly at how her hair transformed from a natural blonde to an orange dye. She was pretty, and I wondered whether her head looked as good on the inside as it did on the out. Her eyes, a bright emerald green, met mine. She gave me an interesting smirk and a thought flashed through my mind. Perhaps she wanted to fuck me? I had never done it with a victim before, but my attraction to her was unexpected, and I could feel the urge growing. I was tempted.

“How much further?” Her voice broke my train of thought.

Up ahead through the thicket of trees was a cabin where I could store the body and any other evidence. This was one of many locations that I’d made throughout the Victorian state. I noticed through the fog of my windscreen that a nearby jagged rock lay on the edge of the road.

Now was the time to make my move. With a firm grip, I swerved the wheel and smashed into the rock, causing my van to aggressively shake. This trick was a heavily practiced one of mine, and although I knew the car wasn’t damaged, I also knew that she didn’t. I jumped out of the car and walked around to her door; a deceptively frustrated look painted on my face.

“What the hell happened?” She questioned from her seat.

“Seems the ice has caused the car to crash. You should get out for now.”

As she started to jump out of her seat, she must have noticed the cigarettes in my breast pocket.

“Oh gross - you’re a smoker.” She scuffed. 

Now the look of frustration on my face was genuine. Sex was no longer an option. It was time to speed things up. I quickly paced around to the back of my van and swung the two doors open. Inside lay everything that I needed.  

A shovel, gloves, plastic bags, a machete, a hatchet – the usual. But what I was really after was something simpler - so I reached for a metal string that hung on the left-hand door. As I said, she was very attractive - I didn’t want to harm her perfect figure by putting an axe through her torso – so I concluded that chocking her out would be sufficient and clean. Besides, by keeping her intact I could still do things to her later - if I so desired. I wrapped the string around my hands and snuck up behind her. She was standing on a nearby snow mound, trying to get a signal from her pink Nokia.

“Oh, come on! Not even a fucking SMS signal! This bloody sno-,” she choked on her words.

In an instant, her face had gone from her natural freckle splattered white to a dark bruise-like colour. She slapped her hands about in a desperate panic against my arms and splattered blood on my cheek from her gasping mouth. My mouth watered as that warm metallic tang hit my tongue. In seconds, her body went limp. I dropped her corpse to the ground.

I paused to regain my composure and took the time to observe my surroundings. A growing feeling washed over me. Everything felt oddly quiet despite it being anything but. The wind was howling through the trees and thunder was rumbling in the distance. I noticed that the snow was starting to cease, yet everything felt colder. My eyes scanned the area, looking for some sort of inconsistency.

Then I saw something, and what I saw almost made me jump out of my skin. For a brief moment in the corner of my sight, I thought I saw the girl move her leg. I marched over to her body and kicked it over so her face, which was buried in the snow, was now looking up at me. Thankfully, there was no doubt about it. She was dead.

****

With a heave, I slammed the cabin door open. Immediately, I was hit with a waft of stale air and the smell of sawdust. The cabin was bare of any furniture except for a small mahogany table to the left of the door as well as a fitting in the right-hand wall for a fireplace. I dropped her body to the ground and crouched over it. On her head, I had placed a plastic bag to contain the blood that was seeping through a cut on her throat that the string had made. There was a moist stain of red on the white fabric; I cursed myself as I realised that my “blood bag” had been ineffective.

Fatigue started to overcome me. I reached inside my breast pocket, stuck a cigarette in my mouth, and lit the end of it with a match. People always questioned why I still used individual matches over a lighter, and honestly, I didn’t know the answer. I guess I just enjoyed something a little old-fashioned. Below me, the girl was still bleeding, now so profusely that blood was squirting on the edge of my shoes. I removed my butcher knife from my jacket pocket and prepared myself for the task ahead.

“Ryan…” A dead voice rose from the silence.

I stumbled back from shock and raised my knife in defence.

“What the fuck was that!” I exclaimed.

“Ryan…” The voice repeated.

“Where the hell are you?” I questioned, trying to hide my fear.

As the words left my lips, the fireplace, which currently housed no source of fuel, roared to life. A chill ran up my spine as I turned towards the growing flame.

“I’m here Ryan…” The voice answered.

I walked over towards the fire, so that my eyes were looking directly down into it. Inside the mass of orange tongues, lay two black eyes. Burning yet frozen. Living yet dead. Somehow, a part of me knew who this was, though it almost killed me to say it: Lucifer. 

The flames released a chilling cackle as I whispered the name. “This has been a long-time coming Ryan. But at last, fate has finally caught up with you.”

“What the hell do you mean!” I raised my knife to the fire - though I knew it wouldn’t help.

The voice laughed again and whispered, “I’ll see you soon.”

Instantly, the fire smothered to embers and those two black eyes were no more. Before I could even comprehend what had happened - my worst nightmares became realised. A new voice, carried by the wind outside, entered the cabin. This was a voice that was familiar to me. I had been questioned enough by him to know who it was: Detective Scranton. He was following some sort of trail. Through the cabin window, I focused my vision on the snow at his feet and saw the small dots of red that led to my location. The girl’s blood!

I had to move quickly. In the corner of the cabin lay a bucket as well as various chemicals that I would traditionally use as cleaning assistants after I had completed my work. I filled the bucket with a mix of these substances and splashed them over the entranceway of the cabin. Then, with my knife in hand, I pressed myself against the wall on the right side of the door. The trap was set.

Through the use of a crack in between two of the planks that made up the cabin wall, I observed Scranton as he approached the door. He didn’t know that I was in here, and soon, he wouldn’t know anything at all. His hand was almost touching the door now. I tightened my own on the handle of my blade. This was it. He burst into the room.

“Freeze! Police!” He yelled.

Then he screamed. Scranton slipped on the chemicals and hit the floor, sliding down to the other end of the cabin. He dropped his gun at the moment of his impact with the floor. In an instant, I had the weapon in my hand and had it pointed at the Detective. I couldn’t believe my luck. He looked up at me, fear enveloped his eyes. He tried to speak but all that came out of him were quick, successive breaths shown through thick steam. 

“Finally, I get to shut you up for good Scranton!” I yelled victoriously.

Then I spoke to the Devil himself.

“Where are you know Lucifer? Is this what you call fate!”

It was time to give Scranton the punishment he deserved. I aimed the gun at the Detective’s kneecap, pulled the trigger, and blew it straight off. A chunk of my nemesis sprayed against the adjacent wall. He began to scream. I marched towards him, kicking the head of the girl out of my way as I walked. I rose the gun again, now aiming for his shoulder. Scranton was still screaming. I chose to antagonise the Devil again.

“Where are you now you coward! Too afraid to come out of the shadows!”

I felt invincible. I looked Scranton in the eyes. As our visions met, he stopped screaming. Instead, his look was that of pure horror. His sight was now past me; he was looking at something else. Then, I heard a familiar cackle.

My mouth fell open as I turned to confront the nightmare behind me. I wanted to scream but my voice caught in my throat. I lost the strength to hold the gun; I let it clatter to the floor. My face went whiter than the snow outside.

Behind me stood the girl. 

Burning yet frozen. Living yet dead. With two black eyes.

And in her hands, the metal string.