Splitfoot
Kiera
Derren Splitfoot made a gagging noise in the back of his throat. He clawed at his eyes as if they were on fire, then collapsed across the table. It was the rest of us in the room who should have been spooked, not him.
I hadn’t even wanted to go to the séance, but Tom said he thought it would be a fun idea. I only agreed because it was the first time since leaving the town of Ripper Falls that I had seen him smile. I had followed Tom across the country for miles. He had said he had no idea where he was heading next, but he’d asked me if wanted to go with him, wherever that might be. I had agreed. So sitting in my car alone, as I followed him into the night, I listened to Suzanne Vega play on my iPod. The song Small Blue Thing came on and I started to hum along. Listening to that song reminded me of a girl I once went to school with. I think her name had been Lila – or was it Lisa? I forget now. She always looked a little sad. I could see why, so I sidled up to her one day and told her she should listen to that song. She never said whether she liked it or not, but the following day I could see she looked a little less sad. I guess we all feel small and fragile at times. I do. And despite Tom’s cockiness and athletic frame, I knew that deep down he could feel fragile too. He had looked like that as he let that pretty young waitress’s phone number slip from his fingers to be blown away on the wind. Why hadn’t he kept it? Tom was a good looking guy with the charms to match. Whoever Tom ended up with would be a lucky girl. I doubted I would ever be lucky enough to end up with such a nice guy. Knowing my luck, I’d probably end up with some arrogant chain-smoking jerk who swore a lot. All the things I disliked in a guy. But maybe deep down, that was the kind of guy I was secretly attracted to. Like I said to Tom as we sat and watched the sunrise, I wouldn’t know who the right guy for me was until I met him. And perhaps, like me, Tom wouldn’t know who the right girl for him was until he saw her. Besides, I knew Tom wanted to concentrate on his career for now, and that was probably the real reason he threw that young girl’s phone number away. But if I was honest with myself, there was a tiny part of me that was glad he had.
Trying to push thoughts of Tom from my mind, I began to wonder if Melinda Took’s body had been found. Had it been washed up on some remote beach further along the shore? I hoped it had. She could then at least be laid to rest and the police would have more evidence against the vile Mr. Took. I pictured him kissing her corpse in the car. It seemed that some people would stoop very low indeed to try and get away with their crimes. I was learning a lot about the dark and cunning side of people. I was starting to understand that there was more than just seeing the physical stuff, like footprints, loose strands of hair, and blood splatters. I had to learn how to see into people’s hearts and how dark they might be. That’s where the real truth hid. That’s where we kept our darkest secrets – locked away inside of us. Were these killers born evil, or did some event in their young lives turn them toward a path that they found too hard not to follow? I guess I would only ever find out if I were fortunate – unfortunate – enough for such a killer to open up his heart to me one day.
I peered ahead, the brake lights on Tom’s car glowing red. He was slowing down. Glancing at my watch, I could see that it was just after 1 a.m. We had been driving for hours. The last road sign I had seen was pointing us in the direction of the peak district. I knew that was where Tom’s parents lived. I glanced out of the car window, but there was only darkness. While engrossed to my own thoughts as I’d blindly followed Tom, I had lost all sense of direction. It was as if I’d been driving on autopilot. Tom stopped his car just ahead. With the engine still running, he
Kiera
Derren Splitfoot made a gagging noise in the back of his throat. He clawed at his eyes as if they were on fire, then collapsed across the table. It was the rest of us in the room who should have been spooked, not him.
I hadn’t even wanted to go to the séance, but Tom said he thought it would be a fun idea. I only agreed because it was the first time since leaving the town of Ripper Falls that I had seen him smile. I had followed Tom across the country for miles. He had said he had no idea where he was heading next, but he’d asked me if wanted to go with him, wherever that might be. I had agreed. So sitting in my car alone, as I followed him into the night, I listened to Suzanne Vega play on my iPod. The song Small Blue Thing came on and I started to hum along. Listening to that song reminded me of a girl I once went to school with. I think her name had been Lila – or was it Lisa? I forget now. She always looked a little sad. I could see why, so I sidled up to her one day and told her she should listen to that song. She never said whether she liked it or not, but the following day I could see she looked a little less sad. I guess we all feel small and fragile at times. I do. And despite Tom’s cockiness and athletic frame, I knew that deep down he could feel fragile too. He had looked like that as he let that pretty young waitress’s phone number slip from his fingers to be blown away on the wind. Why hadn’t he kept it? Tom was a good looking guy with the charms to match. Whoever Tom ended up with would be a lucky girl. I doubted I would ever be lucky enough to end up with such a nice guy. Knowing my luck, I’d probably end up with some arrogant chain-smoking jerk who swore a lot. All the things I disliked in a guy. But maybe deep down, that was the kind of guy I was secretly attracted to. Like I said to Tom as we sat and watched the sunrise, I wouldn’t know who the right guy for me was until I met him. And perhaps, like me, Tom wouldn’t know who the right girl for him was until he saw her. Besides, I knew Tom wanted to concentrate on his career for now, and that was probably the real reason he threw that young girl’s phone number away. But if I was honest with myself, there was a tiny part of me that was glad he had.
Trying to push thoughts of Tom from my mind, I began to wonder if Melinda Took’s body had been found. Had it been washed up on some remote beach further along the shore? I hoped it had. She could then at least be laid to rest and the police would have more evidence against the vile Mr. Took. I pictured him kissing her corpse in the car. It seemed that some people would stoop very low indeed to try and get away with their crimes. I was learning a lot about the dark and cunning side of people. I was starting to understand that there was more than just seeing the physical stuff, like footprints, loose strands of hair, and blood splatters. I had to learn how to see into people’s hearts and how dark they might be. That’s where the real truth hid. That’s where we kept our darkest secrets – locked away inside of us. Were these killers born evil, or did some event in their young lives turn them toward a path that they found too hard not to follow? I guess I would only ever find out if I were fortunate – unfortunate – enough for such a killer to open up his heart to me one day.
I peered ahead, the brake lights on Tom’s car glowing red. He was slowing down. Glancing at my watch, I could see that it was just after 1 a.m. We had been driving for hours. The last road sign I had seen was pointing us in the direction of the peak district. I knew that was where Tom’s parents lived. I glanced out of the car window, but there was only darkness. While engrossed to my own thoughts as I’d blindly followed Tom, I had lost all sense of direction. It was as if I’d been driving on autopilot. Tom stopped his car just ahead. With the engine still running, he
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