Gut Instinct

‘No more!” Kyla screamed. That was the last time she would ever fall for another stupid guy. Kyla threw the bedroom door shut behind her and fell onto the bed. Her muscles screamed with the tension of the evening. Kyla burrowed her face within the folds of her pillow and let the tears she had fought so hard to hold back, stream down her face. It wasn’t long before the pillow was drenched with the liquid of her sorrow.

Was it her? Did she just attract them? Kyla thought back to earlier that evening when her date had leant towards her and placed a hand on her lap in a suggestive way. It had made her stomach crawl. She barely knew the guy and he wanted to get intimate in ways she was still too naïve to understand. Kyla had tried to relax under his hand but her hairs had stood on end and an uncomfortable stab had pierced her gut. It was a warning.

Kyla had made some excuse as to why she suddenly must leave. It had sounded like a pathetic excuse even as it exited her lips. He had picked up on this too. Following her out of the restaurant he had gripped her wrist and tried to pull her back into the restaurant. Spinning she had looked him dead in the eyes and demanded he take her home.

Her eyes must have spoken more than the words that left her lips because he quickly let her go and hurried to the car. In a blink of an eye, she was back in her own home and he had driven away so fast dust billowed up in his wake.

Kyla sobbed again into her pillow. The guy had done nothing wrong. She was a prude, that must be it. Why else would she have felt so uneasy this evening? Kyla wanted to believe that it was her instincts which had make her flee the situation but this wasn’t the first time, or the second or even the third. She had lost touch with herself. With men and what their intentions were. She had put them all in the same box and no matter what they did, they would always have ulterior motives. She always used to laugh at the idea of crazy cat ladies and the idea of being alone. Who could possibly choose that as an option? Yet here she was turning down perfectly decent folk on the premise that they may be up to no good.

Kyla broke into noisy sobs which must have caused a stir downstairs because moments later, she heard the opening of the living room door and the sound of soft footfalls gradually making their way up the stairs. Hastily, Kyla wiped the tears from her eyes and rushed to her dresser to see if it looked like she had been crying. It did. There was a soft knock at the door.

‘Kyla’ her mother whispered.

Kyla didn’t say anything, the last thing she needed was her well meaningful mother giving her life advice.

‘May I come in?’

Kyla held her breath, please don’t come in, please don’t come in she thought.

Kyla heard a small sigh on the other side of the door and the soft steps of her retreating feet.

A pang of guilt shot through Kyla. It was cruel to keep shutting her mother out like this, she hadn’t spoken to her mother about anything personal in weeks, but what else could she do. It was just as cruel to burden her with her teenage problems as it was to keep them from her. Kyla knew she was over-reacting and she had enough about her to realise that hormones were probably making her feel like the world was caving in, but that didn’t make it any easier. It didn’t stop her heart ripping in two as she once again sabotaged her chances of love.

Kyla sat back down on the bed wondering how best to soothe the ache that continued to pierce at her chest. She thought about going down to see her mother, maybe a hug from her wouldn’t be so bad.

Just as she was willing her stubborn legs to move, she heard a resounding crash which reverberated through the floorboards on which she had just placed her feet.

Stunned, Kyla sat waiting to see if the cause of the noise would become apparent. The house fell silent for a moment before another crash echoed through the house. ‘What the hell?’

Kyla jumped to her feet, flung open her bedroom door and raced down the stairs towards the living room. She flung wide the door and stood rooted to the spot with her mouth agape as she took in the scene. Her mother and father lay in a heap on the floor, a small amount of blood trickling down their faces. Stood over them was a man. A man she knew.

Kyla took a few steps back, trying to comprehend what was happening?

‘C-Callum?’

‘Oh, you remember my name, do you? I figured you might have forgotten me already.’

Callum started advancing on Kyla like a lion preparing to strike.

Kyla’s heart started to pound heavily against her chest. ‘What do you want Callum?’

‘Well, I thought that was quite clear, I’m here to claim what you refused me earlier.’

Kyla panicked. Pushing him hard and away from her as she fled to the front door. She was just about to rush out in the street when the smash of glass drew her attention behind her. He had fallen backwards across the living room onto the glass coffee table. He was groaning and clutching at his back.

Kyla hesitated, unsure what to do for the best. The panic within her was stopping her from thinking clearly. Kyla looked to where her parents lay unconscious. There was no way she could leave them alone with him. Kyla wanted to cry.

Kyla took a step towards Callum just as the front door behind her was thrown open. Several armed police rushed into the room behind her. Pushing her aside, the men entered the living room and pulled Callum forcefully to his feet. Swinging him around they pinned him against the wall and placed the hands behind his back into handcuffs.

Kyla stared with wide eyes as the scene progressed in front of her. She felt disconnected. As though she were watching something on TV. It didn’t seem real. She heard the groan of her parents and quickly snapped back into conscious.

They had already rolled over on to their backs by the time Kyla got to them. She softly pulled them both to sitting. Scanning over them quickly she noted their head wounds, and slight trickle of blood on their faces. Otherwise, they seemed okay.

‘Kyla, are you okay?’ her father asked.

‘I – I think so. Are you? I’m so sorry’ Kyla started to sob, ‘I know him from school. I didn’t think he was the type. He seemed so genuine.’ Kyla’s tears were falling thick and fast.

‘Kyle, hush now. We’re okay.’

Kyla heard shouting from outside. After checking again that her parents were okay she rushed to the window to see what was happening. The police were gently pushing Callum into the police car. They had shut the door and were talking to one another and pointing towards her house. One of them looked over and caught Kyla’s eyes.

He slowly started walking back up the drive and Kyla went to the front door to meet him.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked with kind eyes.

Kyla nodded but didn’t speak, afraid she would burst into tears again.

‘We got a call from your neighbour, luckily for you we were very close and able to respond within minutes.’

Kyla nodded again.

‘Is this the first time you have met this man?’

Kyla shook her head, ‘we go to the same college. I also went on a date with him earlier today. But something seemed off so I called it early.’

‘Well, you have been very fortunate. You must have incredibly good instincts. We have been looking for Jason Tonalton for longer than we can remember.’

‘Jason? You mean Callum?’ Kyla blurted out.

‘No, Jason. He is a wanted serial killer. Applies for local colleges under different names and preys on young girls such as yourself.’

Kyla’s mouth grew dry. Looking beyond the police officer Kyla saw Callum in the back of the police car, looking straight at her with a sick smile. As though she were a tasty piece of meat.

Kyla’s stomach dropped to her feet. Looking back at the police officer, Kyla started trembling.

‘Don’t worry you’re safe now.’

‘But why me? Why did he come back here after he dropped me off?’

The policeman brought out a small piece of folded paper from the inside of his jacket. ‘We got this from inside his pocket as we arrested him.’ Opening it up he turned the writing towards Kyla where she could clearly make out a list of names crossed out. The only one not crossed out was…

Kyla nearly dropped to her knees. The policeman was quick and caught her before she fell.

Kyla renewed her sobs as she rested her weight on the kind policeman.

‘He had me on a list to be killed?’ Kyla blubbered through her tears.

The policeman didn’t say anything but continued to hold her close as she cried into his shoulder.

‘Hm’ the policeman muttered softly as though lost in his thoughts ‘such good instincts.’

Kyla stopped sobbing and her muscles froze.

The uncomfortable stab to her gut had twisted again.