CHAPTER 1

Yaarghhh, ugh, what time is it? Oh crap, it’s 6:05! I’m gonna be late to school! And it’s Monday, AHHHHHHHHHHH! 

You know school isn’t as bad, at least I have my friends and– “Hey!” Gabe interrupts my thinking. 

“Uh oh wassup bro” I responded. “Yo I called you yesterday, why didn’t ya respond”, he replied. “Because he’s annoying.” I said in my head. but I replied saying: “Oh sorry man I was busy”. “Oh well, see you after school!” Gabe said. Ughhh, Gabe is annoying, I mean I don’t know why I’m friends with him, he’s a brat and a jer– “Oh wassup Elliot!” Said John, why can’t my friends let me think in peace! “Ohhh umm, hi John!” I said, he went away, which I’m glad, because I’m really not in the mood today. See, my mom just died and my dad always ignores me, I don’t understand the concept of fun anymore, nor happiness. I wish I could just go back to the good days, but that’s all in the past now. 

Well, that’s the bell, better get on the bus and go back home. At home and I’m still bored, I don’t know what to do and my friends don’t come over and hang out either. Anyway, maybe today will be different! Gabe is a Jerk but maybe we could hang out today. Ehh that will be boring, I will invite John too. But… I have to invite them on Friday, I have school, of course. Aghh, It’s Tuesday, and, arguably, Tuesday is more boring than Monday. I’m going to head to the library, it is my safe place, where I don’t usually get beat up by jocks. Because the library is a place for smart people, which bullies are not. Well, at least not all of my “friends” are bad. At least I have Aiden, he is one of my best friends. And look at that! He’s in the library too, eh, he’s probably playing games on his computer. Either way, maybe he and his three cousins can come over this Friday. I asked him and they said they can come over! Now that’s pretty cool, 6 friends are coming over, it’s like a birthday party! 

It’s Thursday, the day before the big hangout! I’m kind of excited, and I hope it will actually be fun. Most of the time I invite my friends, they’re always on their phones. I’m not really a big fan of modern technology. People call me crazy for that, I don’t blame them. I am so weird, or at least that’s what the classmates say when they call me the “weird kid”. 

Yay it’s Friday! School on Friday is just “meh” all the teachers prepare for the weekend. At least school will be over pretty soon. I am home, YES, I don’t have any homework and my friends are coming over in a few hours, and I gotta prepare. “Knock Knock” Oh wow! Someone’s here already! Aaaand it's—--- Gabe. Oh well, I welcome him in, he’s playing something on his phone. We chat for a bit and I hear the doorbell ring. It's John, at least he’s a better friend. We were hanging out for around an hour before Aiden and his cousins, AJ, Kai, and Riku showed up. Alright! Let’s go ahead and do something. I turn on the TV, I watch the news, and my other friends are doing God knows what. It’s 11 o’clock and we get tired, good thing I got sleeping bags! Now it’s just me and Gabe awake. Somehow Gabe is still hungry when it’s almost midnight. But I’m getting bored, like REAL bored. So I told him to come help me with something in my room, he came into my room and I grabbed a big kitchen knife. I start slashing the air, he manages to dodge my attacks!  I chase after him as he tries to escape the house, I grab a hammer that’s sitting on a counter from my dad’s construction job. I chased him outside. RUN, RUN, RUN, I CANNOT let him report me to the police. A few seconds later, *BANG*. Everything went blurry for a second, I looked at the asphalt and saw what I had done. I have killed Gabe, and he’s lying in a pool of his own blood. Well, luckily nobody saw that, or at least I think. This was horrible. I’m only 13 and I have just committed a heinous felony. Well I do NOT want to go to prison, I need to think of an alternative. 

Ummm, well I do have a black blanket I can use to transport the body, ugh, this sounds horrible. Oh well, I better get to work. I wrap the body and silently drag the body into the house, and into my closet. I need to make this look like a kidnapping, I was so worried I couldn’t sleep. The next day, my friends wake up. A few minutes later and I see they start to panic, they wonder where Gabe is. I need to think of something FAST. If a search party gets called, they can find the body in the closet and can trace the DNA back to ME! I try to calm them down by saying that he probably chickened out and left to go back to his house. Someway, somehow they bought it. Now it’s Sunday night, and I’ve never been more stressed. I go back to my room, and I see John playing something on his computer. No one else is around and school’s tomorrow. I need to make sure there are no witnesses. I grab a phone charger from a plug behind him and strangle him. I tighten the charger as much as I possibly can, I can hear him trying to breathe, but I have to do this, I have to. 

 A bit later, he’s unresponsive. Another kill. I am CRAZY, what is WRONG WITH ME AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Ok ok, calm down and stop acting like there are 4 other people in this small house that will probably be suspicious of why 2 of their friends suddenly disappeared. I put the charger back, and I walk into the living room. I don’t know how to cover my tracks, I’m not a MURDERER!? Oh wait, I am now. As I ponder, I fall to the floor. Oww, that hurt my ribs! I look behind me its…. John? How is he alive!!?? He slaps me and I choke him again, this time he collapses to the floor. I grab that same hammer, and I finish the job. There is blood everywhere I need to clean this up. Aiden and his cousins are going to a store nearby and I only have approximately 15 minutes. I somehow cleaned everything up. And I wrapped and put the body in the closet. I look outside my window, Aiden and his cousins are back. 

Aiden walks in first, he says if I’m alright since I’m sweating so much and how I’m stressing. I say I’m alright, of course. AJ immediately looks for John, of course he does. Riku is questioning me like he’s a police officer. I. Am. Panicking. Kai goes into my room, peers at my closet and walks out. It could’ve all ended there, and now I honestly wish it did. Then, comes the question I’ve been dreading. Aiden asks if I have seen John, I obviously said no because I took a “nap” – that nap in question was me hiding his body. My friends insist we hang out outside, they all chill behind my dad’s car. I can’t let them find out, if they will I will spend the rest of my entire life rotting in a prison cell no bigger than the closet I’m using to hide the bodies of the people I killed. Realizing this, I grab a can of gasoline and I pour some on the hood of the car. They don’t notice because they are laughing at some TikTok memes. 

I grab a lighter, and I light the gas, I run away right back in the house, I have just committed arson. A few seconds later, BOOM, the car explodes, I peer out of the window and I see AJ and Kai motionless and bloodied on the driveway, I hear a lot of screams as I rush outside and pretend to care. I run to Riku, as he is taking cover on the sidewalk, when I come up to him, he – PUNCHES me? I kicked him and he falls, he’s already injured. I kick him a few more times, I realize I’m doing this in public, and Aiden is like 30 feet behind me. I look behind me and realize it’s already too late, Aiden is running away. At least people would probably understand that I killed Riku in “self defense” or they will think that he died in the explosion of the car. People from all over the neighborhood run to us, fire trucks and ambulances pull up, I collapse. 

I wake up in a hospital bed, I was told that I passed out from shock but I am lucky that I survived. They said that Kai, AJ, and Riku have died "unfortunately" and Aiden is missing. They also noted that fire investigators are determining the source of the fire. NOT GOOD. My dad is at work and he is coming to the hospital as fast as he can. 

Five days later, five days since I killed 5 of my OWN friends. I hear a knock at my door, I open it and I see 3 police officers. They arrest me on the spot, they take me into a police cruiser, I know my rights, so I didn’t say anything. They released me 8 hours later, they didn’t have any evidence or probable cause anyway. I still can’t believe nobody found the bodies in the closet yet, and they are starting to smell so I need to dispose of them as fast as possible. When my dad left for work, I grabbed the 2 wrapped bodies and I put them in a garbage can, they will find out eventually but hopefully they won’t know who did it. I put in some extra trash to cover them up. I am a serial killer. 

CHAPTER 2

Ever since that incident, I am the most popular kid at my school for surviving an alleged “terrorist attack”. Which means I have more friends who WANT to come over, yikessss. I am finally home, and I have COMPLETELY given up on killing, that’s done. I just want to live a normal, peaceful, life an- … what is that? Why is there somebody or something laying down in my backyard?! I go outside in my backyard and I see… Aiden? He’s laying down, I look closer, he’s dead. It looks like he lost his left eye. But I didn’t kill him, and I need to know WHO did.  I can’t call the police because they’ll make me the prime suspect. Looks like I have to do the closet thing again, but for the LAST time. The whole day I am wondering who could’ve killed Aiden? A terrorist, a hitman? Why would someone kill an innocent child? Well, that’s what I did, but that’s besides the point. Tomorrow is another day.

I have a sense of dread and unease. I know that someone will find out eventually. Is somebody taunting me? Does someone know that I killed all of those people? I can’t stop thinking about that body of Aiden. I stopped. I stopped killing. I will stop whoever is doing this and I will hand them over to the police.

It's Wednesday, I return home. I look in the living room and – No. Way. My other friend, Jeremiah is laying lifeless on the floor. It’s a pattern now, I have no words. I - I just can’t do this, I frantically search around my house for clues but I found nothing. I do the same wrap-and-closet thing but, under his body, I see a note. It reads “It will be a matter of time before you’re next, Elliot.” This cannot be happening, a stalker being stalked, a predator being preyed on.  HOW did someone get into my house? I haven’t slept in days. It’s Saturday. I am petrified. I don’t know who this is or what they are capable of. I wake up and I sit on the living room floor, reading books to pass the time and distract my mind. Then I hear it, a scream outside. This could be it, this could be the very guy I’m looking for! I look outside, and I see nobody or any signs that anyone was there in the first place. 

I go back inside and I’m planning on reading another book so I go back into my room and I just hope that – Oh. Dear. There’s a body, another body. Upon closer inspection I can see it’s my friend, Prinz. His neck looks mutilated and the sheer amount of blood is horrible. I can’t fathom this. I go to the bathroom to try to wind down and come up with a solution. I get out and I see – JACK?! HIS CORPSE IS RIGHT NEXT TO MY FRONT DOOR. WHOEVER IS THIS KILLER CAN KILL ME ANY SECOND. I quickly grab a knife and start screaming for whoever this is to identify themselves. I then go cold. I passed out. Someone hit me. I wake up in the middle of the road next to my driveway, I see Toko running to me, I ask him what happened. He said – “What do you mean bro, you invited me here? I saw you’re laying on the road, are you okay?”. I stood up and I realized something. 

I killed them. Aiden, Jeremiah, Prinz, Jack. I killed them all. I was the one. I was going crazy. I was dissociating. This is all my fault. I am a dangerous killer. 

I shove Toko on the ground as I hear police sirens growing louder, I know why they’re here. I choke him, my cold fingers wrapping around his neck. He asphyxiates after a brief but painful struggle, he dies. I make a run for it as police car doors slam. I get shot. It all fades to black. Am I… Dead?

CHAPTER 3

Ugh. I try to move. I feel something like a cold concrete or metal beneath me. I feel severe pain in my chest. I sit up. I am... In a medical examiner's office?! The coroner who has a name tag, "Mike" glances at me in utter shock. I need to make a quick move. I grab a scalpel and stab him swiftly in the neck. He falls and slumps over.  I feel like I have been hammered in the ribs. I look down, I see stitches in my chest, pus leaking out. I take Mike's clipboard. "Suspect has 3 bullets to the chest, one that is 2 inches from the heart". Wow, I honestly cannot believe I survived that!!

How is this possible? I feel another sharp sensation, it feels as my ribs have cracked. I'm so stressed I can hear my heart pound against what's left of them. I try to look around, everything is blurry and disorienting. I grab a police jacket and scurry off in to the night, back to my neighborhood. Paradise Estates. They always say that gated communities are safe, I proved them wrong. I don't feel bad for the victims I killed. It's not my fault, I didn't want to kill them, I just did it off of pure impulse, nothing else. I am not guilty.

I come home, my dad's not there. I turn on the news. "A father of an innocent teenage son who was shot by the police last night died today from a heart attack". I cried, that was the first time I really cried. My dad cared for me so much, more than I thought. I should've cared for him, instead I took it for granted, he's dead because of me. And I will avenge him. Can't believe that they said I was "innocent". At least I survived, but the police will start looking for when they realize that a damn corpse came back to life and killed a coroner. The reason I survived was probably adrenaline, I need to find medical attention before I die from this nasty infection. 

Obviously I can't go to school now, but I still am bloodthirsty. Something in me says that I should turn myself in, I'll get the medical attention I need, anyway. But another part of me says that I need to kill. Kill. Kill. Killing is what I need to do. I found a pedestrian strolling in the neighborhood, looks like a perfect target to continue my spree. I run as fast as I can behind him, I grab his neck, we both fall to the floor, THUD, he struggles to breathe as I try to strangle him from behind. CRACK. I cracked his neck. I have just killed another person. I stash the  corpse in my closet, again. 

I go to bed and I try to sleep. I wake up the next morning, surprisingly. That was the biggest amount of sleep I've ever since I killed Gabe. I stand up and I grab a kitchen knife. I need to continue the streak. I spy on people walking outside, some try to take photos. Every now and then, news crew will pull up. But they can't get inside, the police have closed this house down permanently, too bad they don't know that I know how to pick locks. It's getting dark, which means that now is the best time to kill. I see my victim, a young man on a jog. I follow him silently. After a while of stalking I rush and stab him once in the back. I quickly flee back to my house. I don't dispose of anything, which was probably a bad decision. 

Wow, who could've guessed. The news reports the body near my house. They said that a copycat killer of me killed him. They also give me a really cool nickname in my opinion, "The Inheritance". Probably because everyone thinks that the reason I ended up like this is because of my dad, which is only partly true. I need to kill someone, and nothing will stop me until the day I die. It's midnight, of course I can't sleep. I walk on the street and I see yet another pedestrian, I look in my jacket's pocket, a shiny nickel. I throw it in front of him. He looks confused where it came from, he bends down. Before he can turn around and see me, I stomp on his head, he hits the concrete. THWACK. Blood leaks everywhere and pours into the sewer system. I can't wait to do this over and over again.

CHAPTER 4

I am almost satisfied. Honestly I can see myself growing old and still not being able to stop killing, and I'm fine with that. I go to a local bus stop, there I see 2 kids that are around my age. I'm obviously disguised with a cap and some glasses, I lead to them to my house. I said that I can pick the lock of what they called, "The Cursed House" I let them inside. They asked too many questions, "Did people really die here?", "How did you figure out how to get here?", "Where is the killer now?". Honestly, they look like future victims to me. I got their names, Paxton "Pax" and Geoff. The infection in my chest is getting worse and it's hard to hold things, I'm always shaking and constantly I feel feverish. If the cops don't kill me, this infection will. 

The next day is the day. They know too much, I lead Pax to the garage which then I grab a pickaxe and with one clean swing, THWACK, I swung at his skull. He instantly falls, and the pain in the chest made me collapse, too. I get back up and try to find Geoff, I am unsuccessful. I look outside the window and he is walking outside, talking to a neighbor. Oh. No. this is not good. Did he call the police, did he find out I was Elliot?? He enters again, so I guesss nott? He calls for my and I seized the chance to attack, I sneak up behind him and put him in a headlock and strangle him as much as I could, we fall to the ground and I strangle him more, he is dead. But, I hear sirens. This is the end for me. Looks like he really did call the police. 

I sit on my bed as I accept my fate. 2 armored vehicles pull up carrying approximately 15 U.S. Marshals and SWAT members. They bust through the front door and then through my door. They immediately handcuffed me and threw a thin medical blanket. They quickly dragged me out of the house and into one of the cars. I'm now in jail, awaiting trial. The only thing that can save me is if I plead insanity and I get a lighter sentence. 

Looks like I'm guilty with 16 first degree murders and a hell of a lot of felonies and misdemeanors. 

They take me to a specialized armored van, this is it, I am no longer Elliot Vance. I am Inmate #10135. 

CHAPTER 5

I get searched and scanned and my surgery date is soon. The guards order me to put on the juvenile detention center uniform and send me straight to the maximum security wing. I go in my cell, it's tiny, lonely. There is an opening for sliding in food trays and a small opening that you couldn't really call a "window". This is it I will be here for the rest of my li- "Vance, this is for you", a guard slips a letter through the tiny opening. I grab it and read it because let's be honest, what else am I supposed to do here?

It says: "Hello, Elly, remember me? I'm James, we were friends in 6th grade. Call me crazy but I will get you out tomorrow at 2pm sharp, be ready". This is impossible, there is no way, this is a maximum security area! Plus I don't know what time it is. The only sense of time we get here is the little opening outside to see if it's day or night. We don't have clocks or anything that we can use to tell the time. Well, he is the only hope of me getting out of this place, so I might as well give it a shot. Man, I just turned 14 and this is one hell of a way to celebrate.

Well this it, this is the "supposed" escape day. It's early morning I'm guessing, probably 8 or 9am. Again I can't tell just by looking outside. A few hours later I eat lunch, in silence of course, Thinking about all of the victims I killed, Gabe, John, AJ, Kai, Riku, Aiden, Jeremiah, Prinz, Jack, Toko, Mike, 3 jogging dudes, Pax, Geoff. I am never getting out like this. Well it's been 2 hours so it should happen and- WOAH, all the lights turned off, a loud buzz played and all of the doors unlocked. In the distance I see James. He's here, no WAY. I run to him as I trip over the rushing inmates and guards. The lights are flickering constantly. "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!!" he said, "WE DON'T HAVE WEAPONS!", I replied. He gave me a knife, "Take this." he said.