Fanboy Serial Killer
I slowly circled around Arthur. He clearly had no intention of fighting back. In fact, he seemed so much more at ease just watching me do my work. His eyes flitted around and he was almost making me nervous. He wasn’t scared or defiant like all the others were.
“How many have you killed now?” he asked.
I took a step back. Is that what was really on his mind?
“You don’t know who I am?” I asked haughtily. That was actually a serious blow. He should have heard of me by now.
“Oh, I’ve heard of you. Starsign, right? Such a stupid name,” he spat the words at me.
I held my knife up to his throat, pricking the skin.
“What did you say!?” I growled.
He didn’t flinch.
“Your name. It’s stupid. It holds no intimidation. It’s no wonder you almost never end up on the news. The anchors would probably just laugh as soon as they said your name.” He never broke eye contact. Now I was really mad.
“How dare you!” I cut a swipe into his jacket. He let out a gasp, but nothing more, seething rage filled his eyes. If it wasn’t for my mask, he would have seen me break eye-contact.
“Amateur,” he muttered.
“Amateur? Like you could do any better! I’ll have you know you’re my fifth victim! And the cops are in shambles looking for me! They get all my messages and have no idea where to look! I am compl — “ He was staring at his watch!! Like he has someplace better to be!! Wait, no. It wasn’t with disdain. It was reminiscence. I grabbed his arm and looked at the watch.
“Hey!” He screamed.
There was nothing special about the watch, though. The stupid thing was broken. It was just a Zodiac.
A ZODIAC!! ARTHUR!
“Oh my God!!” I fell backwards into my collection of noses, “Oh my God, you’re him!” He smirked, immediately catching on to what I said.
“I’m your biggest fan!” I continued. “I read all the books on you — I read a bunch of ciphers! My — “ I gasped, “my name! It’s super inspired by you! You know how people’s zodiacs are from the stars!! You know, like their Zodiac signs!” he wasn’t at all impressed. He didn’t like talking about me.
“Wait a minute, Arthur Leigh Allen, right? You’re dead!”
He gave me a really adult-like look. The one that really pisses me off where someone looks at you like you’re stupid. I kept my blade down. After all, this was Zodiac!!
“Obviously, I faked my death, kid.”
“But you had a heart attack and everything!”
“How could I rule my slaves, when my death was less tragic than their own?”
He was obviously referring to how he thought that all of his victims were going to be his slaves in the afterlife. The fool. Obviously, removing scum from this earth puts you at a higher level of heaven. What an idiot.
“So you’ve been… waiting for this?” I asked.
“Your code was exactly the same as mine.” He replied. I bobbed my head excitedly, I was ecstatic that he recognized that. “Your victims all came from four different areas, the center of which was where you found me. You were making the place of the victim’s deaths — “
“Righteous murders!” I corrected.
“Their untimely demise” he continued, “was drawn in the shape of my crosshair symbol.”
“Yeah! Yeah! That’s all right I knew you were a genius!” He smirked again.
“So now it’s time to come full circle,” he stated calmly. I cocked my head to one side.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s time for the serial killer to be killed by one of his own,” he lifted his throat.
“No, sir! I wouldn’t dream of killing you! Not a chance!”
“I need you to do this for me. For my slaves.”
I looked at the blade in my hand, and the fresh blood dried on his jacket.
“I’ll only do it on the condition that you aren’t tied up like this,” I said in a commanding tone.
He nodded and held his bound arms and legs to be cut. I freed him and we stood face to face. I felt awkward under the mask so I revealed the face of his to-be killer. He smiled, warmly.
I stood back.
“It’s such an honor to — “
My chest suddenly felt warm and I collapsed to the floor. I tried to say something, but I choked and coughed up blood.
“You fool,” he pulled a silenced gun from under his jacket. “You think I’d let someone take control of all of my slaves once I’m dead?”
I could only look up into the barrel of the gun in response.
“I’ll see you in the afterlife, Starsign.”
I began to cry. Tears of joy. He called me by my name. The name he gave me. I closed my eyes and let my master do his work.