Killer one: found

JENNA:
IF I was ever loved by my parents,
it wasn’t for long, that’s for sure!
They gave me up. It’s not like they
turned me in for adoption or anything
—they died on me. Fourteen years ago,
when I was just three, a baby. My
real name is Freddy Appleton, they say.
What a ridiculous name. I’m glad they’re
gone—who knows how they would have
raised me! The only one I’ve got is
Carl, my “father”. Everyone around here
thinks he’s a good Samaritan, an angel
whom saved a poor, orphaned little girl.
Well, he’s not.


STORMY WEATHER
Mildred Miller watched her little girl, her precious little Jenna, as she tried to pump her legs on the swing. She was getting better at it---a real pro. It was clouding up; soon it would start to rain. They had to get going, because Mildred hated rain, even when watching it from inside a house. IT WAS EVEN WORSE BEING IN IT. Trying to pry the girl out of the playground was hard enough, but now a man in a midnight blue suit was blocking her way, too. ‘Excuse me, we need to get home before the storm breaks,’ she said to the man and noticed he was quite handsome.

‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ he said and stepped aside. ‘I’m new around here, my name’s James Nevins. I’ve moved in the old house down the street, the pink one.’

‘You mean the Higgens’ old place?’ Mildred asked the man. ‘It’s a nice house.’

‘It really is,’ Mr. Nevins agreed. ‘I saw you through the window and decided to come down here and say hallo. I’ve already greeted all my other neighbors. Anyway, I don’t want to be in your way, I just wanted to say hi. See ya!’

Mildred looked after Nevins as he started toward the pink villa. ‘See ya.’


PERFECT
She was perfect for his purposes. Ever since he was a kid, Carl Dennison had been fascinated by death, and by killing. He never got caught. But as he grew older---he was now thirty-three years old---he realized he could not take the risk of being prosecuted anymore, and he got himself a few sidekicks. They were reliable men, but he did not trust them for his Big Plan. No, he needed someone fresh, someone to personally train and teach. SOMEONE WHO WOULD GROW UP WITH DEATH. That someone was Jenna Miller.


FIRE
In Tuesdays newspaper you could read about the tragedy on Newborn Street; the fire at the Miller’s place. Three dead, it read. Mother, father, and son. Carl smiled to himself. Already his plans were successful. The only thing he still lacked was his new apostle.

At Hannah Way he could find it. He hurried up the steps to the adoption agency and went inside. He had never been at such a place before, but he learned fast AS WITH EVERYTHING ELSE. An attractive woman in her late thirties sat behind a big oak desk, clicking on the keyboard to her computer. He cleared his throat. A pair of very beautiful blue eyes met his. TOO BAD HE COULD NOT BRING ON ADULTS. ‘Um, hi, my name is James Nevins, I’m new in Blackwater,’ he started and acted like he was nervous; he was a great actor. ‘I just met Mildred Miller two days ago, and I heard of the little girl . . .’

‘Jenna, yeah,’ the woman confirmed. ‘She was lucky to survive. I guess her mother or father saved her first, then went back for the others and unfortunately didn’t find a way out.’ She looked bitter, as if maybe she had eaten something sour for lunch. Carl knew she had been a friend of the Miller’s ever since attorney Larry Miller helped her win a divorce case three years ago. ‘What’d you have in mind?’

He looked to the floor, as if he could not stand seeing her grim face. ‘I was thinking maybe . . . that poor little girl . . . I want to do something for her. She was so sweet when I met her, you see. Could never forget such a sweet girl. Since my daughter died five years ago I’ve been kind of down, and . . .’

The woman took a step toward him. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry, Mr. Nevins. Is there anything I could do for you?’

‘Yes. Yes, there is. I would like to adopt that girl.’


FIRST DAY
This was the first day of school since spring ended, and Jenna Nevins was NOT happy about it. She hated school. Never really got the point of it---she already knew everything! Carl had taught her everything she needed to know when finally getting the permission to set his plans to work. But till then, she had to go to school. Just for the act. Everyone had to think she was just another girl, A REGULAR TEEN. She hated pretending. She was not a regular teen; never was; never would be.
But . . . acting had its good sides, too. SHE GOT TO PLAY BLONDE AND STUPID IF SHE LIKED. And no-one ever bothered her, just the way she liked it.

Today she was going to take her act to a whole new level; she was going to make a friend. And she knew the perfect victim . . . ‘Hi Johnny, troubles with your locker again?’

‘Too many,’ he grumped and straightened up a bit. Watched her with his blue-green eyes. ‘Having a good day, are we?’ he then asked.

‘There is no good days,’ Jenna replied.

Johnny lightened up. ‘Exactly my point! Good days are for losers, no-one can live their whole lives and actually pretend they’re happy and loved. There is no love! No true love, anyway, everything’s just an act to keep God busy. Hey, what do you think about politics?’

Jenna wrinkled her nose. ‘Politicians are just a bunch of shitheads who don’t know how to think. They’re talking so much bullshit, but they’re never bothering to do something about all the stuff they’re complaining about.’

Johnny nodded. ‘You’re completely right. They should go fuck themselves.’

She could actually like this guy.


IN LOVE WITH THE WRONG GIRL
Martin Knight did not feel to smart when he discovered he had fallen in love---with Jenna Nevins! Some girl he had been watching a couple of times, quite beautiful and always so wonderfully unaware of her surroundings. Marty could never be like that; all he ever cared about was what other people might think of him, and what he’d possibly have to say to them if they ever decided to come over and have a chat. The first time he spotted her had been one of those days when he picked his sister up after school; since Dad caught her in her room naked with some guy their parents never let her alone. Sure, you could not exactly blame them, but you could not blame Kitty, either. She was seventeen and did whatever she liked; Seventeen-year-olds was interested in sex, and that was it. No harsh feelings.

His parents could not deal with it, though. They always thought of their Amanda as a sweet little girl with pigtails and nice little girlfriends who liked to play with dolls. How completely blind they were. Where had they been the last ten years? They were the only ones who still called her ‘Amanda’, too. She now preferred Kitty. He did not know why she had chosen that name, but she had, and they should respect that.
This was one of those pick-up-days. Marty stood outside the school building and waited for his little sister. As if he did not have better things to do, more important things than playing baby sitter. He remembered what he had yelled at his mother when she had first come up with the idea.

‘God Mom! She’s an adult! Let her live her life in privacy, please!’

‘No, she’s just a kid,’ Mom had answered. ‘At least you don’t sleep around, Martin. You’re a fine young man, but you’re still a virgin, right?’

He had not answered to that. He would only make it worse for Kitty. Almost twenty years old and still a virgin? He would not think so. He’d had a few beauties.

As he waited he spotted something blond and very good-looking; Jenna Nevins. She was coming down the stairs, on her way to the bus stop or maybe a waiting car. He did not if her father used to pick her up after classes ended. With his heart bumping like never before, he watched her as she approached him. Suddenly she lifted her gaze and looked straight at him. He could not turn away from her. She gave him a look that said, ‘Psycho’ and turned the other way around. DAMMIT.

Just as he began to wonder why he had been such an idiot, his sister finally joined him. ‘Could we get going, please? I’m meeting Jessie in an hour.’


FREAK
FREAK, Jenna thought as she sat down by the bus stop. He had been staring at her as if she was a piece of meat and he a hungry dog. He had almost been drooling. She knew she was attractive, and guys usually looked at her in an appreciating way, but THAT GUY . . . There was no words for it. Tonight was her first big hit since June. Almost two months. BETTER START FOCUSING. She’d promised to meet Johnny at four and grab a pizza, maybe hang out with him for a while, act like she was just another teen, but then . . . Then it was her turn.


THE VICTIM
The victim was a man in his early forties, a lawyer. Carl always had certain motives for having people killed, but he never told her. All she did was killing them; she was not supposed to think. This one would look like a suicide---untraceable. She broke into the kitchen at 2 o’clock through an open window. SLOPPY. You should always protect yourself as carefully as possible, always keeping everything locked. This was an age where teenagers like Jenna turned up in the middle of the night and erased a few people from the living.

She had to smile. THIS WAS ACTUALLY KIND OF FUN. Slowly, without making a single sound, she climbed the stairs to the second floor and turned left by the top. To the right there were two doors; a den, and a bedroom. Michael Jonas Thornton lived alone, had no close relatives and no relations whatsoever. He was a bachelor and lived that way, she could tell. She stood beside his bed and watched him for a while.

Then she clubbed his head twice with a vase. IN A DEEPER SLEEP NOW. Without much problem she carried him to the other side of the bedroom, prepared a chair and took out the rope.

Hanging. The perfect suicide. Killing was almost too easy.

Skriven av: Pipeline S. Karlsson