The Night is no Place for a Girl

The Malrich High School Library was opened every Saturday from 4 P.M. to 7 P.M. The time was 7 P.M. and Clarissa was making her way back home. She had fallen asleep and lost track of time whilst working on the Math assignment only to be woken up by the old librarian, Mrs. Harn, telling her it was closing time. The time had been 6:47 P.M.

Thirteen minutes later she was walking on foot to her house. When she had left home, she had refused bus fare from her mother thinking she would be back home on time. But as she walked in the pitch-black of that Saturday night, her books pressed closely against her chest, she was beginning to think she should have taken the money. Her house was now only thirty minutes away. At least that's what she thought. She had never walked from school to home on foot before. There was not a single human being in sight. In Malrich, people always retired into their homes at six in the evening.

She continued with her quick paces, occasionally looking over her shoulder. It was so quiet she could hear the sound of her own breathing. She heard a dog bark twice in a home about two hundred metres to her right. The sound made her feel safe somehow. It made her think that the dog was chasing a robber or murderer. As she pondered over this she thought she heard footsteps behind her. She stopped and turned around. There was no one.

'Anyone there?' she asked the thick and empty darkness. Her voice was rather hushed, thinking if she made it louder she would alert any killer of her presence. She stood still for at least a minute, her eyes searching the empty black. Satisfied that no one was following her, she resumed her walk home.

The footsteps again.

She leaned her back against the corner of a shop. Her heartbeat had made it to her ears. 'An…Anyone there?' her voice cracked. She heard the footsteps approach. She was now stuck to the wall. A new sound emerged. It was like something being dragged along the pavement. Something probably heavy. It sounded like metal. She began breathing quickly…sporadically. 'If anyone is there, please tell me,' she said. The sound continued to approach. She decided she could not take it any longer. She bolted.

She ran as fast as she could, staying loyal to her books, pressing them harder into her chest. She ran until she could no longer hear anything behind her.

Her house came into view. Hope lengthened her strides. All she had to do was run at least another seventy-five metres.

She heard a rustling in a bush to her left. A cat jumped into her path. She tripped on it and fell forward into the concrete pavement. She felt a sting just above her eye. The impact had more than just grazed her. She could feel blood flowing from the wound. The cat quietly scurried off to the other side of the street. That's when she heard it again. The sound of slow and steady footsteps accompanied by steel being dragged on the concrete. She turned onto her back. The pain of the impact had sent a shockwave of disorder through her head. Her mind turned fuzzy. Besides the streetlights flickering in the distance to her left, she could make out only a few objects.

She pressed her eyes closed then opened them. She closed them again. When she opened them she thought she saw something approaching her from her left. She closed them again. She opened them. She could now see what looked like a shadow standing above her. She rubbed her eyes thoroughly but the shadow did not go anywhere. It seemed to have something long in its hand. It swung it onto its shoulder.

'Who are you?' Clarissa mumbled at the shadow. The pain above her eye was burning up. It made it difficult to keep her eye open.

'Ever been raped? Just keep walking alone in the middle of the night.'

She rubbed her unwounded eye. 'Please, who are you?' She was terrified.

'You sound scared,' the shadow said. 'You're looking at me like I'm death itself.'

Tears rolled down her cheeks. 'Please, don't hurt me. Please, I'm only eighteen years old.'

The shadow laughed. 'I've heard of people that got raped and murdered at less.'

She whimpered. 'Are you going to rape me?'

'I don't rape.'

'Please have mercy on me, please. Please, don't kill me.'

'I'm not a killer either,' the shadow said. 'I'm just a musician.'

She tried her best to raise her heavy head from the ground. 'A musician?'

'At your age you can't tell me you've never heard the sound of jagged steel chugging away at bone? You see; with a knife you'd probably take a few stubborn stabs before you reach the bone. Your hand might even slip on the blood from the handle and you could cut yourself. The rush wouldn't be that much fun after that. So, let's say you had something longer…and heavier. Something that could get you straight to the bone with only two or three swings. The sound made in that impact is heavenly. It's like…like…oh, I can't even describe it. But the feeling is much greater. Not even an orgasm could match it.'

'Are you going to kill me?' Clarissa asked.

The shadow swung what was in its hands towards Clarissa's face. There was a loud clang. It brought it back over its shoulder.

Clarissa was weeping heavily. The object had struck the concrete just a few centimetres from her ear. The sound almost made her left ear deaf. 'Have mercy, please! Please!' she screamed.

The shadow laughed. 'Did you hear that noise? I know, I know, it's not nearly as good as steel on bone. Now that's platinum right there. Don't worry; someday you'll get the joke.'

'What did I do to deserve this?'

'Listen here…what's your name?'

She tried to raise her head again. 'Cl…Clarissa.'

'The night-time is full of woes, Clarissa. Don't let them find you.'

The shadow turned around and began to walk back up the road along the pavement, dragging what was in its hand along the concrete.

Clarissa gathered a little bravery. She hesitated. Then, 'Did you kill Justin?' she asked.

It stopped.

'Why did you kill him?'

It decided to walk away.

She managed to raise half her body up. Her face was covered with tears and her wounded eye had closed shut, soaked in blood. 'I said why did you kill Justin?!'

The shadow laughed, not even stopping for a second. 'Games, Clarissa. I don't play games.'