WANTED:

This was third time I’d seen an article promising money for me or any information about me. I didn’t want to kill people anymore, I just wanted to live a normal life. Before I was the the hunter. Now, the hunter is being hunted.

I walked to the train station today, normally I took a bus till there. I couldn’t get a car because they would find out my identity. I had to move houses three times because neighbors got suspicious.

I thought about my wife and kids during the calm train ride to the office, I wondered how long I would be on the run and when I would reunite with my family.

I walked into the room with my laptop bag, Everyone was tapping away on their keyboards. I was a bit late, but not late enough to be screamed at by my boss. Without wasting a moment, I quickly grabbed myself a coffee and settled into my cubicle.

I currently worked for The Age, I liked this job, I felt like a normal person when I worked here. But to not get exposed I had to do some sketchy stuff, I was currently working on a article about myself. What I was trying to do was do research and investigations and then tell everyone that I allegedly ran away to another country.

But I knew I was still wanted, I vividly remember when one of my coworkers had come really close to finding out the truth when he was doing a separate investigation.

About fifteen minutes before lunch Smith came up to me and said to me that he wanted to talk with me privately. I was a bit skeptical at first demanding he talk right there but at the end he did pull me somewhere private.

“Okay what do you want” I demanded

“I know who you are, Ted Bundy” He accused me

“No I’m not, that guy is in another country” I tried to explain myself “I’m not a murderer”

“Stop lying” he pressured

“Proof?” I demanded

“here” he showed me his phone screen

My facial bio-metrics matched up with that of Ted Bundy. I was exposed.

“You can’t run from the truth, Ted”

“Hand yourself in and do yourself a favor” he added

“I’ll see you in prison”

He walked out the room without looking back. Someone knew me, by my real name. I walked out he room afraid for what was next and whether anyone else knew my true Identity.

I was on edge the whole day, I kept working through lunch to avoid any awkward situations

Finally the day had ended, I breathed out a sigh of relief as I exited the door. but things were not over yet. Smith still knew my secret, he had always been jealous of me and I was afraid that he was going to use it to his advantage. Blackmail me or expose me and get a promotion.

I came home to letter in my mailbox, it was from my wife. I was overjoyed, this was the first time after running away from home I had contact with my wife.

I sped into the house and kicked off my shoes, impatient to open the letter. I sat on my sofa and opened the letter.

“Dear Eric I was to inform you that I am filing for a divorce. I wish I didn’t have to do this, but our kids need a father that is there for them.

Please sign the document,

Emma”

I could hear her sobbing from the other side of the country, and I was sobbing too. But couldn’t escape from the reality, my two daughters didn’t have a father all that time. I was happy for them, they would get someone who was there for them.

My phone rang, It was Ben.

“Yo, how you doing” his voice calm and soothing

“What’s up, man” I sobbingly replied while I folded the laundry

“Why are you sad, what happened?” he asked

I explained to him how quickly my life had turned around and how bad things were now. At the end of the conversation he had something to confess.

“Eric, The FBI pressured Your wife to gave all the information she knew about you for money. She accepted it and gave the information to The Age and the FBI.” Silent tears flowing down his face.

“I’m about to do the same. The secret is** too heavy for me to bear” Then, he hung up the phone.

I tried calling him again but the number was blocked. I turned off the stove and collapsed onto the sofa. The person I trusted most betrayed me when I needed him most. Smith was right. I couldn’t run from the truth, I it would catch up to me sooner or later

I scrolled through my callers list, I wanted to talk to my mum and aplogise to her. Nearly at the end of the list there was a number called Mum, I clicked on call and waited for the line to connect. I didn’t know if the line would connect I hadn’t called her in 7 years.

“This phone number Is not valid anymore, try another number”

I put the phone beside me disappointed. There was nothing to live for anymore. I had to decide, run away, to face the consequences of my past.

I went for a shower, mainly because I make good decisions when I’m in there. I’m warm and there’s no distractions. The shower was the very place I made the decision that I wanted to live a normal life and not murder people anymore.

I thought long and hard, it was hard to come to a decision. But at the end I decided I did not want to live in a lie anymore, if I was going down, I would go down happy with my life.

I came out of the shower to my phone ringing. I picked it up, still soaking from the shower. It was the police, they informed me that Ben had died by suicide and they were sorry for my loss.

All his death made me think was that if he went down for me, I was going down with him, no matter what came in my way.

I wore the same outfit that I wore when I left home. I walked out the door and took a last look my house, I threw the divorce papers in the bin as I walked out. I wasn’t scared for what was next, I was ready to bear whatever consequences I faced.

It was dark and cold outside, my whole body was numb, But it was the least of my concerns. I was five blocks away from the police station, My note to my two daughters was almost complete.

I heard a noise behind me, I knew the noise all too well to ignore it. I looked behind to see a dark figure standing behind me pointing something at me. suddenly heard five loud bangs, my ears were ringing and I fell to the floor. I felt a warm feeling on my chest, I tried aimlessly to get up but my body wouldn’t respond.

I opened my eyes to a team of five standing around me with the figure in a hoodie standing right in front of me. He took of his hoodie and showed me his face. It was Smith.

“Game over, Ted Bundy”

Those were the last words I heard before the life started draining away from my eyes and the world slowly faded away, bit by bit. My soul started slipping away into an alternate dimension, Impatient to meet Ben.