My Lips Are Sealed

Faith was sitting at her favorite bar with her neighbor Ashley talking about the killer that was on the loose – the whole town was talking about it. It was happening for almost one month with three victims. The media was eating it up like a buffet, naming him ‘the silent killer’. This was because no matter how the women were killed, they all shared one thing in common – they were all found with their lips sewn shut.

“I heard somewhere it was a cab driver”, Faith was saying, “It would make perfect sense – who'd know the town better than a cabbie, right?”

Ashley shook her head. “No, that’s just gossip from the news – you can’t rely on that.”

“Well, gossip has to start from something, right? Some of what they're saying has to be true.”

“Again, no”, Ashley said, “you just can’t go by rumors, trust me it really can cause more harm than good.”

“For example...?”

“When I was still in school, there was this girl, and someone started this ugly rumor about her – I don’t even remember what it was.” Ashley downed her shot before continuing. “Anyways it got so bad she had to switch schools”.

“Jesus”, Faith couldn’t imagine something like that happening – she'd always been the popular one in school. Sure, there had been other kids picked on or bullied, but nothing that would resort to them changing schools!

“The point is hon”, Ashley continued, “something like that, that starts off so small can turn really ugly. Hey, how ‘bout one more round before we call it a night?”

On the way home Faith felt uneasy. Knowing that there was someone killing women out there was bad enough, but spending an evening having drinks and talking about it made it feel like he was around every corner. She was about two blocks from her apartment when she heard a sound behind her. She spun around but there was no one there – still, she could swear she heard something. Faith looked around her but there was nothing, just parked cars and the local businesses around her. She kept walking, not wanting to turn around again.

It wasn’t until the next morning when Faith got the news – it had happened again! This time the victim was a mid-aged women found strangled only a few blocks from where she lived – and like the others, her lips were sewn shut. Faith shuddered at the thought of the victim found so close to where she lived, not to mention the sounds she kept hearing on the way home – it could have been him! She just needed to get on with the day and forget about all this! She grabbed her keys off her kitchen counter and went out the door to work. Going through the lobby to the exit, passed the bulletin board beside the apartment mailboxes. There was a large notice for all tenant women to be careful of “the silent killer”. Christ, Faith thought, there’s just no getting away from the guy. She had already stopped watching the news, at least for a while, because he was all over it.

On the way to work, she stopped by the coffee house for a pick me up, when she ran into Ashley.

“Hey Faith”, she smiled warmly, “Good to see you made it home ok last night!”

“Ashley, hey, have you heard the latest?” Ashley shook her head, which Faith found odd since it was all over the news. “They found another body, this morning, and get this, it was just three blocks from where we’re at!”

“Oh, god I'm gonna need another coffee” Ashley said flatly.

“Ashley, this isn’t a joke! It could have been one of us last night!”

“No Faith, you're wrong, if the killer wanted us dead last night we would be.”

“I’m serious, last night on the way home I could have sworn I heard someone behind me!”

“Look Faith, you’re just getting yourself all worked up about all this. It’s understandable to be a little on guard right now, but you can’t let it get to you.”

“You’re right, I was probably just being paranoid and imagining it. Look, I gotta get to work, I’ll see ya later Ashley.” As she was leaving, she thought about it. The killings were all over the news and it probably just got into her head. What she heard was probably just a neighbor, or hell, it could of even be a cat! Faith continued on with her day without giving it a second thought.

On the way home from work Faith decided to skip her usual stop at the bar for a drink. All she wanted to do was just get home and curl up on the sofa. As she turned onto her street she thought about the last night when she thought she heard someone, and then she thought she heard it again. That did it. Ashley lived right down the block. She could just go over to her apartment for company – just until her nerves calmed down. She went up to the intercom box to be rang in.

Once inside Ashley’s brightly lit apartment, Faith felt instantly better. “Thanks for letting me stop by”, she told her friend, “I just started getting spooked again I guess”.

“No problem, stay as long as you like. Help yourself to a drink – I'll be right back”, Ashley replied, and left the room.

Faith walked over to the mini bar to help herself, when she noticed Ashley’s opened backpack on the floor. Looking closer she saw something odd, inside the backpack was a rope, a large needle, and twine – the same kind that was used on the killer’s victims!

“Find something, did you?” Faith turned around to see Ashley standing there – holding a large kitchen knife! She couldn’t believe it! How could this be?!? Ashley couldn’t be the killer, she just couldn’t!

“Ashley?”, Faith was stammering, struggling to get the words out, “Why? Why?!”

Ashley stood there smiling. “I told you how ugly rumors can wreck lives. All those things that were said about me at school?”

“That... that was you, you talking about?”

“And now, now all of those stuck up bitches will finally shut their mouths”.

Faith couldn’t believe what she was hearing! “But Ashley, you killed innocent people! None of those women went to school with you!”

Ashley merely smiled. “They were stuck up bitches – just like you.”

Faith started backing away slowly, eyes glued to the knife Ashly was brandishing. “I...I..”, she couldn’t think of what to say, what to do!

“I .. I what?” Ashley started moving forward. “I won’t tell? My lips are sealed? They will be soon.”

Ashley rushed towards Faith, knife raised. Faith dodged just in time for the knife to barely graze her side! Ashley was blocking the door, so Faith ran into the bedroom and wedged a chair under the doorknob. Ashley was banging at the door, throwing her weight against it , it would only be a moment before she got in. Faith looked around the bedroom for anything she could use as a weapon, but there was nothing.

There was a set of double doors on the side of the room leading out to a small balcony. Faith went out on it, shutting the doors behind her, hoping there was a fire escape, but there wasn’t - just a very long drop down. Faith wedged herself beside the balcony door, shaking, bracing herself for what she was going to have to do. She heard Ashley crash into the room, and as soon as she opened the balcony door, Faith grabbed her by the arm, spun her in a semi-circle and flung her over the railing.

She slumped down, still shaking, still in tears, unwilling to believe what had just happened. She had killed her friend. She had survived, but had killed doing so. It was over – but Faith knew sh

e would never be the same again.