Chapter 4 - Requiem

The reckoning is at hand.

Chapter 4: Requiem

Kevin could feel his hands tremble with a mix of excitement and nervousness as he put down the phone. The wait was unbearable, yet he forced himself to stay focused. After all, the reckoning was soon to be at hand.

He fiddled with the knife in his hands, a short and dull blade worn out from repeated use which caused it to wobble precariously within the confines of its black plastic handle. It wasn’t up to the task of a clean kill, Kevin mused, yet tearing out her heart was going to anything but clean.

For yet another moment, Kevin hesitated again. Murder was a crime if the highest order, its consequences as dire as the deed itself. Yet there was no other way out for his soul. Drawing the blood of Lucy, the light of his life was akin to damning himself to the darkness. He shuddered at the thought of this while his conscience scrambled to find reason within the vortex of chaos that was unfurling within his mind.

But once more, Kevin was able to regain his composure. He remembered that he was already damned to begin with. After all, sin plus sin was still sin, so what if he took the life of another at this point, even that of his beloved? No, Kevin thought, this was a crime of passion, undeniably deadly yet with the beauty of a blooming rose adorned with a crown of thorns.

It was as beautiful as the ideal of perfection he held sacred in his heart, his Lucy. He could feel her visage invading his thoughts once more, her cerise hair, scarlet eyes and curvaceous body flooding his senses with lust and longing.

Despite all the romanticising in his head, he knew that this crime of passion was nothing like he would have wanted it to be. He had always pictured it to be like in the movies and novels, where the killer would strike the victim with a blade as sharp as his passion under the dying sliver of the waning moon. Yet it was going to be nothing like that, nothing even remotely poetic. He was going to cut her down with a cheap kitchen knife in a dark room where only a blur glimpse of the full moon could be seen from that small crevice of a window in his room. It was to be both brutal and unglamorous, but he had to do it. Or else.

It was her fault anyway, he reasoned once more, in a bid to strengthen his resolve. In his mind, she was at fault for all this, for tempting him into this path. She had forced him to take drastic measures, and the least she could do was die for him.

Kevin’s train of thought was abruptly broken when he heard a knock on his door. It had to be her, he thought as he glanced at the clock loosely adorned upon the wall, which read that it was three in the morning. At this unearthly hour, it could have been no one else. That said, no one really visited him to begin with, regardless it be dusk or dawn. The moment was nigh, he grinned to himself as he stumbled towards the door.

When he opened the door, he saw Lucy standing before him, draped in a nightgown as white as snow, pure like the ideal of perfection. However, everything else about her was not. Her red eyes, once gleaming rubies that sparkled with zest and courage, were half-closed and gave off signs of lethargy and decay. As she shambled towards him for an embrace, he noticed that she no longer walked on the balls of her feet. It was as though she was nothing more than a walking corpse.

“Kevin… It’s so good to see you again.”

He embraced her. She was cold, unnaturally cold. He could feel a shiver down his spine as he felt her body on his.

“I uh, come in. We need to talk.”

She stumbled into his room, and Kevin closed the door. The reckoning was at hand. He could feel the knife trembling in his pocket as he walked towards her, as though mimicking his apprehension. He drew it out as her back was turned, making use of the darkness permeating in his room to conceal the action.

“Kevin… Please make love to me.”

They embraced again. As she wrapped her arms around him, Kevin returned the favour with one arm, whilst using the other to bring the knife closer and closer towards her as he plunged it into the side of her ribs before withdrawing it in one swift strike.

Lucy cried out in pain as the blade dug into her flesh. Her nightgown was now blemished with an expanding patch of crimson. She clutched the area around the wound with one hand as she fell to the floor.

 

“You… You….”

Lucy cried out as she attempted to stagger away from him. Her face looked as though she had seen a ghost. It was as though the sudden pain had jolted her senses and tripped a raw nerve. She clutched her head, her expression betraying the turmoil within her head as she tried to make sense of what was going on.

Did the pain break the spell? Kevin mused wryly as he advanced towards the now injured Lucy. It didn’t matter anyway, since she was about to die.

“I’m sorry, Lucy.”

The words came out of his mouth, yet he could feel no pity, no remorse from them. Had he become a monster? It was too late to consider anything now. The deed was done and it was time to finish it.

Kevin raised his knife once more, and stabbed her between the ribs, causing yet another crimson patch to form on her nightgown. She cried out once more before she collapsed onto the floor, lying there motionless as a small pool of blood began to form.

He had done it. He killed her. His goddess. She had to die so that he could be free. Kevin removed his shirt to check if the mark was gone. After all, he had upheld his end of the bargain.

And to his horror, it was still there, like a scar on his flesh. Nothing was happening. It wasn’t responding to his deed, and he had not earned his redemption. He had just committed murder for nothing. He dropped his knife as he began to cry out in fear at what he had just done.

“No! This can’t be happening!”

Kevin turned away from Lucy, not wanting to face her lifeless body. His eyes widened in despair as he put his hands towards his mouth as though he felt the urge to puke.

He began to cry. He had destroyed everything, his future, and the living embodiment of his ideal of perfection for this sinful wish of his.

Yet, in between sobs, he heard something scream. As he turned around to investigate, he saw Lucy’s visage for a split second as she slashed his face over and over with the knife he had dropped while she screamed in a symphony of anger, hatred and pain that was in tandem with her furious strikes. 

Kevin cried out in agony and shock as the knife cut into his flesh over and over. It was a painful, yet surreal experience. Ironically, he had always wanted to cut someone like that, like what was happening to him right now, to hear that beautiful sound. Of course, for that to happen to his own body was simply absurd.

He tried to say something, yet he could only see darkness before him as he fell to the floor.

As the red mist cleared from her eyes, Lucy collapsed, exhausted from her outburst. The wounds Kevin had inflicted on her had taken their toll. She felt as though blood was leaking from her body like a punctured water bag.

Her consciousness was slipping away fast, yet as everything turned blurry, she noticed a black mist form around her, revealing a slender white haired woman that towered over her crumpled form. She could feel it speaking to her.  The words were not clear, but she could make out what it was saying.

“You don’t want to die, at least not like this, don’t you?”

“H-Help… me… please.”

“Of course. All I ask in return is that you give it to me.”

“H…Huh?”

“The book. Hand it over and I will be your salvation.”

It cackled loudly, piercing the darkness with its shrill laugh while watching her fear wracked expression with glee.

“The choice is yours.”

Reviews

[Cyndy Robinson]

Plot twist at the end is interesting. I am just sort of wondering about this book. It has never been mentioned before. I think it should have been mentioned in some way shape or form, where it's relevance isn't obvious previously. Something's off with the fight scene too. It is a little unbelievable. I am not sure what. I am not sure I agree with portraying Kevin's pain, as he really might not have had any, his body would be in shock, but there is something off with it.

[Lavorther]

To be perfectly honest, if felt a little bit anti-climactic. After the build up in the last chapter, it was over very quickly. Lucy's attack surprised me, as it came out of nowhere, which is good. However, it happened also very fast, while Kevin just stood their like a punching bag. Having someone repeatedly slash at your face with a knife should be incredibly painful, yet I don't read anything about his pain, or any feeling for that matter. He just takes the hits and falls to the ground while his vision turns to black. It's a bit unrealistic, and you should try to add more of his feelings into this chapter, especially from the moment she attacked onward.

You did leave another plot twist at the end, with the reference to the book. It seems like the woman from the mist had planned all of this, to get her hands on the book. Curious to see what the Epilogue will bring.

[Aurafiex]

You're right about that bit. I'll probably add a paragraph regarding Kevin's last moments.

[TheMalady]

I'm sorry. I read the Epilogue even before the 4th chapter. However, It still surprised me. Regarding about the moment when Lucy retaliated with Kevin, I would like to suggest to give it an air of suspense. (Just a suggestion) to make the readers more surprise. You could make Kevin do something or express something, anyway, the choice is yours. :)

Also, I just noticed some typo errors, but I just saw in your profile that you made this using your phone so it's understandable. :)

Here they are:


- '...It wasn’t up to the task of a clean kill, Kevin mused, yet tearing out her heart was going to anything but a clean...

I'm not really sure about the clean at the end. Clean kill?

- '...Kevin turned away from Lucy, not wanting to face her body. His eyes widened in despair (AS/WHILE) he put his hands towards his mouth as though he felt the urge to puke.

It was just an opinion, however I only take note of these typo errors. Nice work! :)