Jesse
It seemed to last an eternity, but after long moments, Jesse felt her body go slack. The screaming had stopped, at least. Jesse bowed his head and listened as the night got quieter with each slowing breath from her body. He relaxed the grip of his hand over Abby’s mouth as her body slumped in his arms. That’s better. Gingerly he lowered her to the ground and rolled her over face down in the grass. The blood was flowing freely from her wounds, and had soaked into his hoodie. What a shame, it was his favorite. He’d need to pick up some matches on the way home.
Snnnnnnaaaap! The sudden crack of a branch brought Jesse out of his focus and his eyes flew up to find the gaze of a figure at the edge of the path and the outline of a cheek lit by the glow of a phone. They couldn’t have been more than a couple yards away. He recognized the figure immediately. Hannah. Shit. Jesse launched himself at her, a grunt ripping from him as he leapt over Abby and slipped in the muddy bank of the river. He could hear Hannah’s footsteps reach the concrete walkway as he struggled to find his footing.
“Hannah”, Jesse called into the night after her. The mud and blood on his hands made it difficult grip the rocks on the bank but after a moment his fingers rippled over something rough that felt like a block of concrete and he found the corners of the culvert he’d planned to dump Abby into. He pulled himself up to his feet again. “Hannah,” he hissed. “I saw you. I know it’s you.”
The copse of trees that hid him from the walking trail were thick, but he could see Hannah’s slight frame on the path and the phone still at her face. She was whispering, eyes glued in Jesse’s direction, but he wasn’t so sure she could see him. He could hear her, though.
“… please hurry!” She gave the name of the park as she whispered into her phone. Shit.
Jesse bolted out of the trees towards her. A branch whipped him in the face as he emerged onto the concrete path. She was holding a small branch and dropped it as Jesse lunged at her. “You little bitch!” He growled. His hands just barely missed grabbing her pony tail as she jumped away from him. The air was filled with her high pitched gasps as she stared at Jesse for a moment and he started towards her. His hands were slick with the mixture of the riverbank and Abby’s blood. He could see the terror in her eyes and he smiled, with the barest twitch at the corner of his lips. There was something about how they looked at him that was intoxicating, with fear and terror. And a wildness.
“Hannah.” He hissed again. Her eyes snapped to his face. There it was, the wildness. She was backing away, starting a retreat with tiny steps. “Run!”
Her scream response was the cherry on top.
Hannah
It wouldn’t be long now, Hannah thought, puffing hard as she gripped the railing. She doubled over the stairs and tried to steady her breathing and heart. Her legs felt like fire was burning up her calves and thighs. She held onto the splintered banister to keep her knees from buckling. Despite having run to relative safety she could still feel his eyes on her, the hard deep pits that watched her flee in the night. If he wasn’t after her yet, he would be. He knew who she was, where she lived, and what she had seen. She’d torn away from his grasp and ran like hell down the nature trail, mirroring the path of the river and sloping back up the hill to the dormitories.
Oh god, Abby. The image of Abby, body limp on the riverbank while Jesse crouched over her, returned to Hannah’s mind. The scene intensified when she closed her eyes. The sinking feeling of realizing grief came to her with every breath. Hot tears spilled down her face against the cold night, and she still struggled to keep herself together. Jesse would be closeby, she wasn’t safe yet. At least at the stairs she felt some sense of security. The lights over the stairwell lit the fire escape down to the alley entrance, and she was confident it would keep Jesse from pursuing her. I’m ok. I’m going to be okay. Each new gasp of air came in shaky waves, but she was alive. Abby is not. She couldn’t think of that reminder now. Not until she was sure that he wasn’t tailing her.
The burning in her legs was subsiding, but the weakness had not. Hannah leaned against the cinderblock wall and sank onto the steps of the stairs. I should call the police again. She reached her hand into her running pants pocket and froze. Her phone was gone. It must have slipped out while I was running.
Abby
There were sirens in the distance and she prayed they were for her. It was getting harder to breathe. Her blood was sticky and hot on her forehead, and there was so much of it. The edges of her own body were fuzzy as Abby tried to focus. The pain was rendering her efforts null. Her world kept slipping further away in a haze.
Please. Her prayer was barely above a whisper, it was so hard to get the words out. Please find me. I’m here. Please. Her chest felt like stones were being piled on her one by one. Just trying to make words only resulted in ragged gasps.
There were no defined edges for in her vision anymore. Just lights. Now even the sirens were quiet. Just the river lapping against the rocks beside her filled her ears. Please. Don’t let it end like this.
Please find me.
Jesse
The short little runner stood at the bottom of the stairs, with the door propped open and the light of the second level entry spilling down into the alley below. He could see her from the edge of the darkness, across the walking path and tucked into the trees across from where she perched. It’d been easy to follow her. All he had to do was listen for the panicked breathing and typical noises of terror that frightened animals made. He’d followed each one of her steps. What a pleasant surprise it was to find her phone nestled into the grass by the trail, obviously lost in her flurry of screams as she’d veered out of his grasp ten minutes before. Jesse smiled. Sometimes it was too easy.
With soundless footsteps he retraced her route again to the dark side of the building. Just far enough down to be out of view from whatever cameras would be at the edges of the light. The path still followed the river, though the height of the hill it climbed meant for a steeper descent to the riverbank. He knew the descent well, he’d made it frequently all the times he’d followed Abby and Hannah during their daily routine. The little steps he’d worn into the steep riverbank were solid enough to support the two of them. It was even better than where he’d left Abby’s body. It frustrated him that his prey had interrupted him before he could properly take care of the scene, but he couldn’t let her get away, either. She’d pay for it with the impromptu death of her own.
Ensuring he heard no one else coming, Jesse darted onto the walking path and knelt. The phone slipped out of his blood crusted fingers silently as he placed it on the concrete.
Hannah
It was then that she heard it. Her ringtone of nearly a decade was playing softly nearby. Where….? She stood up, listening hard for the sound. Following the music, she tiptoed down the steps and back around the side of the building she’d come from. The noise was definitely stronger in that direction. The north side of the building was dark. As her eyes slowly adjusted they landed on her phone, screen down on the pavement near the corner of the wall. At least it wasn’t far. Hannah ran over to the phone with her arm outstretched to scoop it up.
The sudden jerking back from behind her sent her body crumpling to the ground, pulled by her hair and some unseen force. She cried out with a sharp gasp.
“Hannah”, Jesse hissed. She stiffened and strained away from him, but he’d caught her with her ponytail like a lasso. Her head snapped back as he demonstrated his control of her with her hair and a second hand curled around her throat. His hot breath on her ear in the cool of night made her shudder. “You’re dead too, Hannah.”
She whimpered and shook her head, struggling against her grasp. Again she felt feverish tears spill down her cheeks. “No, no, no, no….” Her voice was weak and desperate. “Please…” Her pleads were becoming heaving breaths with little more noise than staccato wheezes. Her fingers flew to claw at his, closing over her throat. “Nnnn!” The force of his grip stayed strong despite her attempts to dig her fingernails into his skin. All that she felt give way was a layer of caked mud. That’s when the real panic set in.
Jesse
There was something about it when they plead for their lives that always pushed him closer the edge. It was adrenaline, power, and an element of cold enjoyment when they would start to realize this is the end.
Asphyxiation was probably his favorite method, but he’d tried something new with Abby. Not enough time for experimentation for Hannah though, and after all, it was his go-to for a reason. Especially after he hadn’t been able to enjoy Abby’s last moments as he’d planned. No time for a second attempt for now.
He now held her struggling against him, both of his hands closing tightly over her throat. He liked to watch as their eyes would bulge wildly. First their instincts would kick in, and flail about hard for a good couple of minutes. He felt rewarded when they put up a good fight, like he was really getting a return on his time when they did. Hannah was no different. She frantically sunk her nails into his hands, but only succeeded in flaking away the mixture of blood and mud all over his skin. Her nails were sharp, even sharp enough to tear into the back of his hands, but his grip stayed strong. Just little marks to remember her by.
“Shhhh,” he told her. He had to lift her up and drag her to the grass to keep her body from thumping too much against the pavement. The grass absorbed the sound of her resistance all the better.
Soon her nails digging into his skin began to lose their power. Her twitches and convulsing against him slowed. The gurgles quieted. There was little struggle in her body now, but this time he would wait. He wouldn’t abandon this one yet. He couldn’t go home empty handed and a ruined hoodie to show for the evening’s work.
Distant sirens started to wail. Jesse listened for a moment and stiffened, but they seemed to stop quickly and far enough away. He lowered her limp body to the ground, just as he had with her friend. Only this time he’d get a chance to leave his mark on it.
Abby
The sound of the river lapping against the rocks seemed to go on for an eternity. Her enormous loss of blood left her in a nauseating haze. The nauseous feeling intensified as a beam of light kept sweeping over her. Abby groaned. The light stopped suddenly, and then seemed closer, and swept over her again. Then the crackle of a voice and a radio.
“… northside of the riverbank.” The sound of the radio was deafening after so long.
“Copy, 843, northside of the riverbank.”
Abby groaned again as the transmissions pierced her haze. The light was getting closer again til it was a blinding light at the edge of her consciousness.
“Central to 843, I think I’ve got something. I’ll take a medic.” It was a woman’s voice, somewhere close to her. Each crunch of leaves brought the voice closer to her.
“Central copies 843, northside of the riverbank, medic paging on 10”. The response came back over the radio in sharp crackles and a little feedback that made the noise particularly painful as the woman came closer. The flashlight beam landed on Abby.
I’m here. You found me. A cold flush of relief washed over her. She tried to roll towards the light but her limbs would not obey. With each groan she felt her weakness. Despite her groan being barely audible, it must have been enough. The crash of leaves beside her in the mud was the flurry of the source of the voice slipping down the bank to arrive beside her. The light flashed over her again, searching her body for signs of her trauma and wounds.
“Stay with me. Stay with me, ” the voice encouraged her gently. “Central step it up”. The radio parroted back, “copy. Medic 56 enroute to the northside of the river for 843, step it up.”
Abby couldn’t respond with anything more than another low moan. You found me. It was hope.
It was enough.
In the distance she could hear more sirens, and the clamor of footsteps coming down the trail.
They found me.
“We’re here, stay with me. Keep breathing. Stay with me.”
Abby could hardly obey, let alone respond, but it was enough to last her this long. It was a relief for anyone to even know of the body at the edge of the riverbank. I won’t die in the dark. They found me.