4. Chapter Four

Rema spends some time with Zekk, and Frey spends some time killing people and being a reckless moron!

Warning: Contains violence, Murder, mentions of abuse, mentions of drug use, somewhat graphic descriptions of blood and gore, Disturbing character thoughts and actions, and themes and topics that may disturb or upset a sensitive reader.

-Rema-

The man was a bit strange and closed off, the way he held himself reminded me of a wild animal who expected to be attacked at any time. He kept his head down, face hidden by a dark hood and his arm in front of his plate of food like someone was going to snatch it from him. He seemed... Withdrawn, secretive, and... Lonely.

I normally didn't do things like this. Hell, I normally didn't even socialize with strangers unless I really had to; Especially men. It wasn't like me to even talk to this homeless stranger, much less buy him a meal and feel okay with walking down dark roads alone with. It wasn't that I was stuck up, I was just very cautious... Almost paranoid.

But this man, Frey... There was something different about him, and something that seemed almost familiar. It felt like I had known him before, like there was some odd connection that I couldn't put my finger on. I felt drawn to helping him, and I couldn't help but feel bad for him �" sitting out there in the freezing cold winter, drenching wet like he had been caught in the rain, shivering on a bridge he said he was thinking about jumping from... I had been there before.

I was extremely suicidal when I was with my abusive husband, and had held a gun to my head several times but was too weak to pull the trigger. After I got away from him, I was left homeless for months with only a small bag of clothes and less than twenty dollars to my name. I remembered the hunger, cold, and exhaustion... I remembered the loneliness. I wanted someone, anyone, to listen and understand me. To help me. Without meeting Zekk, I probably would have died on the streets.

“So, where are you from?” I asked the stranger named Frey as we ate, the coffee slowly sobering me some.

“Not 'ere.” He mumbled, still not looking up from his plate. That southern accent was rather soothing, despite the impassiveness in his tone...

He was vague. Mysterious. It drew me in.

“How long have you been living on the streets?”

He did glance up this time, and glared at me in annoyance again. He then shrugged and tapped the spoon on the bowl of soup in front of him. “A few years...”

“Years? Really?” My eyes widened slightly and I frowned, quickly dropping the expression when he shot me another look.

“Why you askin' so many questions?” He snapped.

I straightened, narrowing my eyes at his rudeness. He certainly didn't have manners, and seemed to have some trust issues �" and judging by the scars I noticed on his face, I was sure he had a reason to.

“Look, I work at the bar on 38^th street. I'm there almost every night. If you ever need food or something, stop by and look for me. I know what it's like to be on the streets and hungry, not a lot of people want to help.” I told him.

He chewed slowly, his eyes cast down again and shoulders tense. He nodded slightly and stayed quiet, eyes darting around every once in a while.

Despite him being rather ungrateful, I still wanted to help him. This city had a lot of homeless, and a lot of them would turn up dead, he seemed like the type of person who experienced a lot of hardship and had very little support, if any, and I had a hard time just ignoring that fact. I saw something in him that reminded me of myself.

Frey and I went our separate ways, I headed home �" calling up Zekk for a ride. I had walked a lot and the booze was making me even more tired than I already was.

“So,” Zekk said as he pulled away from the diner, his hand reaching to turn down the rap music he had blasted. “Who was the guy you were talking to? He don't look familiar.”

I shrugged, “A homeless guy I met, he was out in the cold, looked like he was freezing and starving, so I bought him some food and coffee.”

He made a face, “That's kind of unlike you.”

“To help people?” I narrowed my eyes.

“No, to talk to random, strange men.” He corrected me, “Be careful. You never know with people these days.”

I scoffed, “Hey, you helped me out when I was homeless. Hell, you even let me stay with you for a while.”

He rolled his eyes teasingly, “That's different. You were a cute girl.”

“So, you took me off the streets to f**k me, eh?”

He laughed. “Well, that wasn't my intent, but it did happen...”

I playfully punched him in the arm, giggling, “A*****e.”

He smiled a bit, but his tone went back to a serious one. “Honestly though, you just gotta be careful with guys around here. When I said not to be so paranoid, I didn't mean go hang out with a random homeless guy that could be a murderer or rapist or something. This city ain't exactly known for nice, honest people.”

I nodded, shrugging a bit. “I know. I don't normally do s**t like this... I don't know, he just seemed... Lonely. He didn't have anyone. I can relate, you know... Just felt like helping.”

“Well... That's good. To be honest, I thought you were callin' me to clean up another body for you...” He said quietly.

I looked away, a blush of shame coming across my face. “Not tonight. Hopefully never again.” It was the same song and dance, and I always swore to myself I'd stop �" but I never did, and I always called upon Zekk to clean up my messes... It did make it seem like I was using him. “I'm sorry.”

He glanced over at me, his hand touching my arm gently. “Hey girl, you got nothin' to be sorry for. I'm glad you're okay. You worry me sometimes. Especially when you hardly ever call me to chill or anything anymore. It's always another body...”

“I know. I'm sorry.”

“Hey, quit apologizing.” He said softly, a small smile on his face. “I'm here for ya.”

That was the thing, Zekk was always there for me �" but I couldn't help but wonder how long he'd put up with me. I wasn't a good friend, and in the past, I wasn't a good girlfriend to him and pretty much used him to get over my ex husband, and on top of all that I was a overly emotional murderous wreck half of the time. Even I was sick of me, so I was sure soon Zekk would be as well.

//

-Frey-

As I walked, I was thinking about that girl. It was pretty rare for people to even talk to me, much less buy me food and show concern. I wasn't used to that kind of compassion and it made me feel sick to my stomach. Why I didn't murder her, I wasn't too sure of. The Monster more so convinced me not to.

I didn't know what the Monster found so interesting about her, she seemed pretty normal to me. I could tell she had secrets, yes, and a dark side of her that she didn't talk about �" but none of that really concerned me. Most the people in this fucked up place had problems anyway, most of the people here were secretive and depressing and had a devil within them. It didn't strike me as anything out of the ordinary, but the Monster was sure she was different somehow.

With my stomach full, I was more comfortable, but even more tired. It was getting harder and harder to fight sleep. I wasn't going to risk falling asleep and having the Monster f**k with my head, but it was passing out on the ground was so damn tempting.

Something about the whole experience bugged me, and made me wish I had killed that woman even more. It was odd to me and something about it made me feel nervous. It got under my skin, boiled my blood.

“The woman will bring change, Frey.” The Monster told me again.

A week went by and there was no change. In fact, I hadn't even seen or thought of that woman since that night. I stayed in an old abandoned house in the bad part of the city to avoid people and police, and steal food and money from the junkies that stayed there.

The abandoned house was rather big, and it looked as if it had been abandoned years old and served as a crack house and squatting spot for a while. It had no electricity or gas, was full of trash, and smelled like drugs, mold, and rotten food, but it was warmer than the spot under the bridge �" and a better place to stay during the day since Cops had stopped showing up there a while ago.

I nodded in and out of sleep on the dirty sofa, staring over at three obnoxious thugs talking loudly as they used. They annoyed me, those illiterate gangster types who made it their life purpose to be as loud and rude as they could be.

“Hey! What are you lookin' at, Freak?” One of them snapped at me, noticing me staring. He was the biggest of the three, somewhat muscular and tall, while the other one was thin and the third was very out of shape.

I just kept staring at him.

“Ya need somethin'?” He said in a threatening tone.

“Yeah, I'd like it if the three o' ya shut the f**k up already.” I replied.

He seemed a bit taken back at first, his eyes narrowing as his buddy spoke up.

“You wanna get fucked up, buddy? Better shut your damn mouth!” The thinner of the three snapped, eyes wide like he had taken way too much of those drugs they were using.

I wasn't in the mood for this s**t.

“Ya'll givin' me a damn headache with your illiterate bullshit over there.” I said, “So shut the f**k up or f**k off already.”

“Hey, listen up m**********r, there's plenty of rooms in this f****n' house �" you can go into one of those and make it easy for yourself, or we can take this outside and me and my buddies here can kick the s**t out of you? Which you want?” The taller man asked, standing up.

“I'd personally love to slaughter all three of ya.” I said coldly, my eyes not even blinking as he stood above where I was sitting, attempting to intimidate me by towering over me.

He scoffed in surprise and shook his head before he reached out and grabbed my arm, yanking me to my feet. 'Really, man? You wanna get your a*s beat that bad? Okay, fine by me.” He shoved me toward the back door, motioning for me to go out to the back yard of the place.

I stepped outside, looking around the fenced in yard. The wooden fence was high enough that no one could see over, and the street this house was on was so bad I seriously doubted anyone would call the police if these guys were screaming for help or not. I chuckled to myself.

“Dah f**k you laughin' at?”

“Just the thought of you screaming while I tore your insides out.” I replied.

He made a disgusted face, “You're f****n' nuts, man.”

I saw his drugged up buddy come at me and flipped open my blade, stabbing it into his stomach. He was so high, I don't even think he noticed what happened until I had already stabbed him three times. He fell over with a thud in the dirt, his blood puddling under him. I didn't get much time to admire it as the other two were already attacking, ganging up on me like the cowardly idiots they were.

I kicked the heavier one in the shin, knocking him to his knees and cut deep across his face with a quick slash. Blood sprayed through the air and he screamed, holding the gash as the red gushed over his hand.

“M**********r!” The tall one hissed, clocking me across the back of the head with something blunt. He kicked me in the ribs when I fell to my knees, panting hard as he pressed a gun against my head. “The f**k's wrong with you? Who the f**k do you think you are?”

“He's going to kill you Frey, what are you doing?” The Monster screamed at me in my head, “You idiot! Are you telling me you didn't see the gun? Idiot!”

“Calm down, I got this.” I mumbled as the cold metal pressed harder into the back of my head.

“This is what happens when you're too reckless, Frey. Did you really think you could take on all three? Especially when one has a gun?”

“Shut the f**k up. I don't give a s**t if he has a gun or not, he ain't gonna f****n' use the thing.”

A harsh kick in the leg distracted me from my conversation with the Monster, “Who the hell are you talking to?!” The thug yelled at me.

I looked up, turning my head slowly with a sick grin on my face. “The devil.”

His face twisted in confusion and something similar to fear before I reached up and clamped onto his arm. He screamed as my teeth sunk deep into his flesh, breaking the skin until I tasted blood. He dropped the gun and yanked his arm away, a chunk of skin torn off in my broken teeth.

I chewed the torn flesh and swallowed it, just to watch the horror warp his face as he stared at me. His flesh was tough and hard to chew, the texture of raw chicken, but his blood was almost sweet. I smiled with a bloody mouth, rather enjoying the metallic taste and wiped my face on my sleeve.

“You're...Insane! You're a f****n' monster! A freak! A f****n' freak!” He screamed, holding his arm. He was shaking, blood dripping steadily onto the ground.

“I know.” I said simply.

He looked over, finally noticing his friend's motionless bodies. “You killed them!”

“Mmhm.” I nodded, reaching for my fallen knife.

He snapped out of his trance of terror and flashed forward. I felt a sharp pain in my left thigh as I swung my arm backwards and stuck the blade into his shoulder. He fell on his a*s, trying to get up as I crawled over him, my face glowing with bloodlust and desire to kill. He grunted in pain when I twisted the blade, his strong hands fighting mine.

“You are going to die, accept it.” It was the Monster speaking, not me, but it was the truth.

“Don't! Please! Stop! Get the f**k away from me!” The idiot was shaking, tears running from his eyes as I yanked the blade out and shoved it into his stomach.

“I've seen women beg less than you... It's funny how when someone dies, you really get to see if they're a coward or not... You... You're a coward.”

I tore the blade across his stomach slowly, watching his guts spill out and blood bubble out of his mouth as he made choking noises in the back of his throat. His eyes widened, bloodshot and hazy. I withdrew my blade and he squirmed, his intestines slipping out of his stomach and onto the ground like thick warms, moving and sliding around as his body did.

He choked for a few moments, soundless screams escaping his mouth before the life left his eyes and he went limp. It was then I noticed the pocket knife sticking out of my left leg, embedded into the skin.

I grimaced at the sight, the pain hitting me all at once. Quickly, I got to my feet and limped into the house, feeling the warm liquid stain my jeans fast. I was bleeding heavily. I climbed up the stairs to the disgusting bathroom, closing the door and held onto the sink so I didn't collapse on the floor. My hands shook as I looked at the knife.

“That was reckless... Frey...”

“Yeah, I f****n' know!” I snapped at the Monster inside my head, hissing as I tried to pull it out. It was in pretty deep, I felt lightheaded. I pulled again and blood rushed out around the knife, coloring my pants a dark red. Pain shot through me and I fell sideways, my head hitting the wall hard.

I crawled to lean against the tub, nearly puking as sweat beaded on my forehead. It hurt. It really hurt. It had been a while since I had been hurt like this and experienced this kind of pain. It wasn't rare to get someone who fought back and split my head open or busted my ribs, but I wasn't seriously injured very often. Horrible pain wasn't new to me though, but it had been quite some time.

“Don't pass out. You'll die.”

“F**k off...” I hissed. “I'm fine.”

“You will die, Frey. You're bleeding out.” The Monster yelled, clawing at my skull.

“F**k off!” I yelled back.

My eyes slid shut, darkness beginning to take over. Then, suddenly, an image flashed before my eyes.

“Stay awake, Frey!” He screamed in my face, smacking me upside the head. “Or you'll get it twice as bad when you wake up!”

The snap of the belt made me jump, jerking me out of my daze. It hurt, cracking against my skin, leaving marks on top of marks on top of marks that wouldn't fade �" that would serve as a reminder for how useless and idiotic I was.

“F****n' brat! Stay awake! You ain't gonna learn nothin' if you pass the f**k out durin' your punishment, lazy f**k!”

I choked on blood when a boot dug into my side, knocking me into a fetal position. I wanted to apologize so bad for some reason.

“Yer f****n' useless, ya know that? You got no f****n' worth, stupid kid! Quit yer damn cryin', no body cares and no body is gon' hear you down 'ere anyway!”

I snapped awake, dry heaving and gasping for air. The pain of the knife wound hit me again and I hissed, cursing under my breath.

“Stay awake, Frey.” The Monster warned me.

“F**k you, that was f****n' dirty!” I yelled at it, not caring if someone heard me screaming at the top of my lungs.

“Just stay awake.”

Author's Note

Chapter Four here, and this one was a fun one to write. I think I'm starting to have too much fun writing these Murder scenes... Really, it's beginning to worry me that I'm losing my mind rather than actually writing a novel. XP

So, Readers get a better look at Zekk and Rema's relationship (which is a bit different than it was in the previous version, where as they are not exactly a couple during this time in the story - but still shown as having feelings for each other and sometimes hooking up). I plan to carry out Zekk's arc a lot different in this version, and he'll be around a lot longer than he was in the previous, so Readers will get to know him and his character a little better.
Readers also get a look at Rema's impression of Frey.
Frey is well... being the crazy reckless serial killer he usually is, and during this time in the story, I really love writing his character as an unemotional sadistic badass rather than when his character changes later in the story. Writing the Monster is also very fun, as I'm trying to give more depth to its character (if you can call a psychotic voice/demonic force in another character's head a character.) But yeah, Frey kills some loudmouthed thugs and ends up getting hurt in the process, and a bit of his backstory is revealed here.

The first chapters in this version follow the previous version pretty closely, mainly just introducing characters and setting the feel of the story. I'm trying to give the start a little more depth this time around, and look at things from a new view, but all-in-all it's pretty similiar... So if you have read the previous version, it might feel like the same thing, but I promise, it does change quite a lot as it goes further in.

Reviews, feedback, and comments are very well appreciated and make me feel bubbles of joy and happiness, so please feel free to leave a review.
I am also extremely grateful for constructive criticism and corrections of grammar and/or spelling mistakes, as I do not have an editor and suffer from very annoying dyslexia which makes me miss simple freakin' errors. So pointing them out would really help me.
Thank yaa!

Reviews

[Dr. YumnaKay]

I really see a vast difference in this rewrite and the one I read before. This chapter was really detailed and I think I love that you decided to give more depth to Zekk's character. Would be nice to read in detail a character who ain't a killer haha ;P
And the Monster, well it's looking more sinister now but I quite enjoyed the effects.
All in all, the best chapter so far in the rewrite. But I'll be back for more ;) (:

[Sinbulvinter]

Thanks for reviewing! =)
Yeah, I tried to add more detail to the characters, especially Zekk. I want to carry out Zekk's character arc different than I did, and make him more of a person. He didn't get a whole lot of depth in the previous version, I think even Kacia had more character depth than he did.
The Monster's always fun. In fact, I think I enjoy writing the monster more and more each time I do.
Thanks again, I'm glad you liked the chapter. I look forward to your feedback on the next ones. =)