Fateful Night in Akron

The moon is high, the crisp autumn air bracing as it meanders through the, now still, streets of Akron. No cars on the road, just the subtle sounds of wind whistling down the pavement, giving the street a very calming sense of undisturbed peacefulness. Most everyone has already turned in for the evening and drifted off to sleep, ready to resume their lives in the morning. Scattered bits of light spilled into the street from a few windows, indicating some night owls were still awake. The rain drying on asphalt from the recent drizzle formed a layer of thin mist over the town, reminiscent of an old road in a foggy UK city. Meanwhile, Kate just finished up her shift at the Silver Bullet diner. Ready to get out of her work clothes and into her pajamas. She wore black slacks and a collared shirt, with her long brown hair tied in a tight ponytail, her standard uniform. She gave the diner a final glance, checking to make sure she finished all the usual nightly routines of the closing shift. She locked up, stowed the keys in her pockets, and started walking down Millard Ave. to make the journey home. She let out a lengthy yawn, exhausted from the long work shift, but satisfied it was done. Her thoughts were engaged with images of herself, wrapped up, comfy and cozy in her own bed blissfully sleeping away. All that stood in her path is her usually half mile walk home.

She enjoyed the closing shift, despite her not usually getting home until 1 or 2 in the morning. The Silver Bullet has been around since she was a child. Known for its fast service, guest come in and out of the diner in droves, like a continuously spinning revolving door. But these moments of uninterrupted stillness provided a nice counterbalance to the fast-paced environment of the restaurant. She shoved her headphones into her purse, choosing to forgo the musical stylings of whatever new pop star rose to the top of the charts with their latest single this week, in favor of the silence for her walk home. She walked along, taking her time to enjoy the small window of freedom she had in this moment. Work was done, no significant other to look after, no children to take care of, just the night air and her thoughts. Trivial thoughts that occupy your mind when nothing is there to stimulate it. “Which show should I watch to go to sleep tonight?” “Can’t believe that woman tipped me a $20 earlier.” “Gotta update the playlist for the diner, I can’t listen to anymore country music.” “Wonder if that bread in the fridge is still good.” “If it isn’t, I guess there is nothing wrong with ramen noodles for a third time this week.”

She walked down Millard Ave letting her mind wander. The path was familiar to her, as it had been since she started working for the Silver Bullet four years ago. It was a route she took so often she could follow the path home without even thinking about it, often times opening her front door without even realizing she had walked the entire route back. Down Millard Ave, left at Rothrock’s Jewels, right at Mrs. Howl’s Book Shop, and then down an alley between Gerald’s Army Supplies and Mr. Mantle’s gym, then Glenwood Road, and finally home. She passed Rothrock’s Jewels and the bookshop without a care, but something was different when she got the Gerald’s Army Supplies. Standing in the middle of the alleyway was a dark figure, a man. The shadows from the streetlights masked his features, but his bulky physique and tall frame were easy to make out. She stopped just before she made the turn down the alleyway, but to no avail. There was no avoiding the figures line of sight from the straight lane of the alley. The figure didn’t move in her presence, simply continued to lurch in the shadows, unmoving. “Creepy weirdo.” She said as she continued walking past the alley way. “I guess I can go another block down and cut across the grocery store parking lot? At least they have more streetlights over that way.” She said to herself.

As she moved on from the alley, she heard the rapid pace of footsteps echoing off the walls. She quickened her pace, trying to put as much distance between herself and that guy as possible. She shot a glance back to the alley way, now a few dozen yards behind her, and her heart dropped. Standing just past the entrance of the alley where she had just been, stood the dark figure. Their body turned towards Kate.

The figure was motionless again as Kate periodically looked back to him. “Ok, ok breathe. Breathe.” She said trying to calm herself, but her breath escaped her. She was already panicked. Her pace quickened again, now a slight jog as she continued. The silence of the night proved to be helpful, as she could hear his footsteps behind her matching her pace. Kate felt heat rising from inside her, as her heart pounded in her ears. She ran into the open parking lot of Blaylock’s Grocery. She had never been happier to see the dull pale glow of the florescent streetlights. She continued to cut across the parking lot, now running to flee. She had not heard the figure’s footsteps as she crossed, but she had to make sure. As she reached the other side, she turned back around to face her pursuer, and what she saw terrified her.

The figure was in the middle of the empty parking lot, perfectly between the shadows of the streetlight’s radius. Kate’s eyes started to fill with tears as the figure was holding something. The subtle glint reflecting the florescent light revealed a large knife, almost like a machete in his hand. A bloody trail of red followed behind him, dripping on the asphalt. The dark figure continued towards her, this time in a sprint.

Kate whirled back around and took off in a desperate race home. Her purse, barely hanging on as it whipped around with each stride. Her steps grew faster as fear started to overtake her. “Please! Please! Keep going! Just make it inside! Just get inside! Grab the gun! Get it!” Kate bolted down Glenwood, as the heavy footfalls of her pursuer were trailing right behind her. In her desperation, she inhaled as much as she could and burst out screaming, “Please, stop! Don’t do this! Please! HELP! PLEASE SOMEONE! HELP!” Nobody heard, no lights were turned on, no one came out onto their porch to see who was screaming. Kate had only one solution.

Her house was in sight. The rusted gutters, wire frame banister on the porch, and half tended to garden were a welcome sight as safety was in her grasp. She walked down the footpath to the door, reached into her purse and pulled out her keys as she ran up the six stone steps of her porch. The dark figure was rounding the corner down the footpath of her lawn. She struggled to put the key into the hole as fear made her hands shaky. She heard the boots of the figure stomping down her front yard getting closer and closer, closing the distance between them. By the time she had put the key to the door, he was on her porch steps and reaching up to grab her. She pushed through the door and slammed it shut in a blur of motion, just as the figure collided with the solid wood barricade. She reached for the lock and turned it as the figure began jiggling doorknob, then pounding on the door in a rage. Guttural screams echoed through the house as the figure rapidly hammered the door with his fist and slashed at the door with the knife. Kate could hear the wood splinter with each strike. She ran to the kitchen and reached under the sink. As she gripped the heavy cold steel, she felt a mix of relief and power come back to her. She loaded the shotgun with the box of shells she kept beside it and pointed it to the front door.

The banging had not ceased as the figure was desperately attacking the door, in hopes of breaking through. She took a deep breath and walked forward to the door. The sounds of hacking wood and the continuous scraping of metal made her heart drop, until Kate saw the machete pierce through the door. The figure yanked it out and shoved his face in the newly created hole. Kate saw a set of bright blue eyes and a manic smile peek its way through the slit in the door. Suddenly, the smile faded as the figure saw Kate holding the shotgun to the door. “You want a piece of me motherfu…” The blast rang through the house and obliterated the door. A spread of burned holes now decorated the doors green paint. The banging stopped as the door was a mangled mess of its former self. Adrenaline was pumping through Kate as she stood there in the middle of her den, still pointing the gun at the door. She waited to listen for any movement from the other side, any single indication that would warrant her to pull the trigger again.

Nothing, just the sounds of crickets. As Kate stood her ground, barely breathing to not make a sound, she knew what she had to do. “I have to see. I have to open the door.” She took a couple deep breaths, building up her resolve, and with authority she marched to the door, yanked the door open and pointed the shotgun outside. She let out a quick gasp of relief, the man was no longer there on her porch. However, there was a thick trail of blood leading down the steps and away from her yard.

She looked at the blood trail as an emotion she was not expecting erupted out of her. “No! No! You can’t! You won’t!” She screamed as she walked back inside and grabbed the case of fresh shells and shoved them into her purse. “You think I am gonna let you run away so you can lick your wounds and do this to me again? Absolutely not!” she said out loud to no one in particular. Her inner voice now escaping her thoughts and becoming her words, “Just so you can do this to me again. Just so I will spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder? Watching out for you? You!? Some ugly stalker, preying on women? No, I will not live my life like that! I earned this! You are not getting away.” Resolute in her words she walked out of her house, slamming the door behind her, and began following the blood trail.

The blood led Kate on a rambling path through the streets. Turning and twisting with small puddles pooling together from where he stopped moving for too long. He was hurt and barely walking. Branching off every few feet only to correct himself and continue on his winding path. “I must have gotten him pretty good for the amount of blood he is losing.” She thought to herself, holding the gun in front of her. The blood trail was leading her, in its own wandering way, back down the route she took home. As Kate turned the corner of the block to the grocery store parking lot, there in the middle of the empty sea of black asphalt was the man hobbling along, holding his arm at the elbow as it limply swayed with his gait. “Hey!” Kate yelled across the parking lot. The man turned to see her. The same bright blue eyes Kate had seen in her doorway. Her adrenaline rose as her heart started pumping. She walked forward, with the gun pointed at the man. Fear came across the man’s face at the sight of Kate. He tried moving faster but Kate started to run, closing the distance in seconds. When she got close enough to him she yelled, “You like that! Chasing down women in the dark? Well, let’s see how you like it, you sick piece of filth! What were you gonna do with that knife! Huh? HUH!” Her voice cracked as she wasn’t used to yelling this loud for so long. “Answer me!” she demanded, holding the gun up and ready to fire.

The man turned around. In the light of the dull fluorescent streetlights, Kate could finally see through the dark façade and make out his features. He was fatter than she originally thought, with a mop of thick black hair, damp with sweat. He wasn’t particularly ugly, but not handsome either. He was dressed in all black. Black shoes, black slacks and a black hoodie. The metallic like sheen from the light let Kate know that blood had seeped into all of his clothing, as a few holes in his hoodie became more visible. “Please…please… don’t do this.” The man shakily said, slowly putting his hands up while still holding the machete. This infuriated Kate, “You didn’t stop when I said it! Why should I?” She retorted back. The man simply held his hands up and said, “Please…” His bright blue eyes never wavering from hers.

Suddenly the man leaped forward, whatever fear he had, now faded as he lunged at Kate, machete held high. The blast rang out across the parking lot and echoed into the streets behind. The man’s body fell to the floor as a pool of blood began forming around him. Kate walked over and kicked the machete away from the body, like she had seen in all the movies. She dropped her guard, letting the gun rest on her shoulder as the fatigue her adrenaline had pushed back finally caught up to her. She spit on the ground, her final act of hatred for this man. Kate slowly walked home with the shotgun lazily hanging on her shoulder and called the police.

The next day, the news broke that the Akron Slasher was found dead in the parking lot of Blaylock’s Grocery. With Kate’s account of what happened and the evidence the police had already compiled on this guy, they were certain it was the same person. According to the police, he had fled the scene from another victim earlier last night and then came across Kate walking home. They said, “There is no telling what else he would have done if you hadn’t stopped him. Thank you.” One of the officers said to Kate as she was leaving. Before she could exit another officer stopped her and said, “Thank you for what you did. I know you are a little shaken up at this point, but if you don’t mind me asking, what made you chase after him? You managed to save yourself and even wounded him, but what made you follow after him?” Kate thought for a moment. The night had become such a blur to her as she tried to recollect her emotions at the time. All she could manage to say was, “He followed me in the dark, I just wanted him to feel the same way he made me feel.” The officer nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer as he held the door open for her to leave.