Kill Count

Kill Count: 20

Ever since I was a child, I've always had the ability to see the spirits of the dead, whether they died recently or even years ago..all of them always acting the same way, drowning in sorrow and sadness, looking pitifully at their own unfulfilled lives..I've always enjoyed that feeling, watching them suffer..watching them squirm. Even as a child, I found pleasure in it. And I find it even more as an adult. I'm the town's so-called "Milwaukee Stalker." I reached my 20th kill just yesterday. It's a simple process, after all. Pick a target, preferably one society rejects, the fewer questions asked the better, drug them and bring them to my home, and that's when the magic happens..where I can let my creativity run free. There's no specific way I deal with my victims, but there's one constant, and one constant only: their spirits afterwards, watching the life leave their physical bodies and transform into an apparition looking down on themselves as they stare at me in utter disgust and hatred. It's wonderful watching how pitiful they are..watching as they realize I control everything and there's nothing they can do about it. Spirits have never been able to touch me, let alone harm me. I just leave them alone as I watch and observe. That's how it's always been..I make sure to stick to a certain schedule. Unlike these other animals who call themselves killers, I don't waste all my energy trying to pursue as much as I can at once. I stick to one kill per day. Efficiency is key to this business. I'd say 20 deaths on my hands is a milestone. Why don't I go ahead and celebrate that, then? And give myself a good night out to enjoy myself..I begin getting ready for such a special occasion, making sure to burn the body of my last victim earlier this morning, his clothes along with it..his grey shirt with black stripes and teal blue jeans. I always make sure to take note of the clothes of my victims. It tells a lot about the person, especially after what I did to his face, mangling it to the point it's unimaginable. I really let my creativity run wild with this one..his spectral apparition in the corner, just watching, standing there completely still with nothing he can do about how I'm disrespecting his body. I can't even tell his expression with how bad I mangled his face. The damage that was done to the body before death carries over to what the spirit body looks like after death..and this one's slumped posture, with not a single thing about its face I can make out..makes this feel even more amazing. There's nothing he can do, nothing that can be done. He forever resides in this basement along with the others, because that's where I killed them. And that's the best part of it all...I own them..these people were already nobodies with no one to care about them..I'm giving them a purpose after death, to live under me. Isn't that the best thing a human life can achieve?..I continue getting ready now, locking the basement door on my way out..putting on my best outfit, after all, this is a celebration of life, as you could call it..driving my beat-up SUV down to the local bar. I don't usually have drinks or unwind like this, but now's definitely the time..I order a vodka. Now scanning the room, noticing a few spirits in the corner..probably died doing stupid shit while drunk..what a nonfulfilling death..I can tell they know. The same with how deep in sorrow they look..it's amazing. I wish I could capture that feeling onto others every day if I had the chance...something shifts in the corner of my eye..a spirit..this one looks weirder than the others..yet familiar in a way..It's not mopey..it's determined...sporting a grey shirt with black stripes..teal blue jeans, and..huh..a MANGLED FACE?? That's the same goddamn guy I murdered earlier and burned in the incinerator. How is he here?..Spirits can't leave their designated area, I know that!!..The bartender then sets my drink on the bar table..causing me to look his way for a second..my eyes naturally shifting back to that spirit..it's moved closer..to ME.."How in the hell," I exclaim, almost falling out of the bar stool from the shock of it all..instantly dashing towards the exit..I had a plan..a schedule. I'll be damned if I let something this insignificant try to scare me..I'll go home and figure this out..NOW..I start up my car, pulling out of the bar driveway and heading home as soon as I possibly can..my hands gripping the steering wheel until they go white, trying to make it to my home..there has to be some kind of disturbance, no way my order naturally changes like that..the peace I've kept for almost a month now..they never could leave the areas in which they died..so who the hell does this guy think he is, leaving the peace and sanctity I created for HIM..for all of them..I park in the driveway of my home, running straight for the door, almost busting through it entirely..going straight for the basement..I notice each and every single spirit inside..I've taken note of their clothing in the past..all I'm missing is the man in the grey shirt with black stripes..that's when a cold, sharp feeling runs up and down my senses..my entire being brushed with a cold I've never felt before..a hand grasping my shoulder..I instantly turn back, my eyes wide...it's the man in the grey shirt and black stripes, his hand placed with purpose..it was momentary..he eventually faded away, landing back in the corner of the basement.."..h..he touched me...HE TOUCHED ME"..I yell out..they're not supposed to touch me, they never could touch me, let alone leave the area no matter how long it is..how..how..how..HOW..this isn't right..this can't be right..I know them better than they know themselves. I've always known the spirits since forever. Nothing can get past me, NOTHING..they have to be cheating somehow..playing with my senses. I can't be wrong about them..I've never been wrong about them..they're just a bunch of losers who had nothing before me..I continue scanning the room, noticing the other spirits' expressions..they all look..inspired..by the man in the grey shirt..and that horrifies me more than ever. I instantly shut the door, locking it, even putting a chair over the door..fully ready to even chain it up if I have to..clutching my head, whispering "..no..no..hell no..this isn't right, I'm better..I'm fucking better..I'm not scared of them..they won't do shit just because one got lucky..doesn't mean the others can do anything..they're talentless hacks"

Kill Count: 21

Another day..another kill..but I just haven't found the same enjoyment..especially after yesterday. I check the basement every waking moment..the number of spirits always remains the same..yet I feel like I'm being watched constantly in whatever I do, even by spirits that have nothing to do with the murders..they feel like they're watching me..have I made a sin against the spirit world as a whole..I don't fucking know..even at work I feel these moments of cold rushing through my body..I can't tell if it's just the draft in my office building or a touch similar to the one from last night..I just can't tell anymore..I've been constantly keeping an eye on the man with the gray shirt..he just sits in the corner..he looks so goddamn smug, even through his mangled face I can tell how much of a smug bastard he is..the gall to touch me the way he did..yet I can't even put my full attention onto him..the spirits of the entire room..eyes constantly on me, staring...watching every move I make...it makes me want to vomit..how can I enjoy watching the life leave someone's eyes..how can I enjoy watching them become a miserable spirit..if they only end up looking at me like that..with purpose..like they actually have meaning..but..they shouldn't have meaning unless I say they have meaning..they're sucking the life out of everything I enjoy like a goddamn leech...leeches everywhere..it's like everywhere I go..they're watching..am I going insane..no, I'm not the crazy one, THEY'RE the crazy ones..who would wanna give away paradise..I..I should be able to see them if they're looking at me..I should be able to look at them..so..are they really looking..or am I just going crazy..or..maybe they've surpassed even my knowledge...no way..not a chance, it can't be..yet..I don't feel safe anywhere anymore..how dare they..take the pleasure away from the thing I value most..my celebration of life..the thing that eclipses all others..there has to be a way..to get them to just stop..stop watching, stop seeing..stop being..I pace back and forth in the living room hallway, each piece of furniture perfectly made up as I always keep it..it's getting late..it's already past the time I would usually sleep..I've kept a schedule all these years and these damn things wanna ruin that..even resting feels unnerving now..they can't watch me sleep, right..it was just one case..one spirit gone rogue, none of the others are like that..they know true peace when they see it..the thing that I grant to little lives..ignorance is bliss, after all..even if that spirit with the gray shirt could touch me, it was for a short period, probably a glitch in the system..because he went right back to the basement, whether he liked it or not, like a good boy..even so..getting 30 minutes docked off my usual schedule will still ruin my fucking sleep..they have no right to mess with my schedule..my time that they have no agency over..I should probably get my rest now..before I end up even more agitated in the morning..I say, hopping into my premade bed..even with this peace I've created in my mind..my stomach churns..a feeling that this isn't over yet washing over me..it doesn't matter..just a nervous system shock from last night, probably..I turn over, trying to quell those thoughts in my head..eventually being able to reach my usual state of peace while sleeping..not for as long as I'd like, though..my alarm clock going off hours before my usual work schedule.."..how in the-"..I sure as hell know I didn't set my alarm to go off this early, I never have..NEVER HAVE..I instantly sit up, almost slamming the alarm clock broken just to shut it off..that's when I hear..whispers..coming from the basement..it's so faint that I can barely even hear them..other than a glimpse of my name.."Oliver"..a whisper?..huh..a whisper..in all of my life seeing spirits..they've never been able to speak..let alone MY NAME..that's impossible..I have to be going crazy, maybe my lack of sleep tonight is making me go insane..they can't talk..so I have to be..Maybe I accidentally set the alarm clock earlier than it should be..maybe I'm paranoid..maybe I'm-..NO, cut the maybes..I have to go see for sure..I rush down to the basement as quickly as I've ever moved my legs before..for the first time in forever actually in a rush..unlatching the basement lock..to see..the spirits just sitting in their corners..looking as mopey as usual..I smile..I knew I was out of whack today..everything's in order, they're completely fine..completely normal..no matter how hard you try..you can't avoid your nature..and even as ghosts this is all they are..acceptance of that is key..I let out an exhale..of relief I didn't even know I was holding within me..now beginning to walk back to my room..taking one last look down into the basement..my eyes widen in horror at the sight..all the spirits are standing..AT THE CENTER OF THE BASEMENT NOW...all of them lined up perfectly like this was planned beforehand..the spirit in the grey shirt leading front and center..they don't say anything..they don't do anything, they just stand there..determined..each and every single one of them..this is a statement straight to me..that they are their own collective..that they're taking back something I stripped from them..it's like they're growing and adapting, all it took was a push from someone who could show them the way..they're learning..I don't let this play out too long..rushing up the stairs, locking every bolt of the basement, no longer being able to even control my breathing anymore..even chaining up the door...as fast as I possibly can..even if I don't wanna admit it out loud...I'm scared..but most of all..angry..because this isn't right..this isn't fair..I've given them everything and this is how they treat me..like NOW'S the time for standing tall..so..so..ungrateful

Kill Count: 24

Last night I wasn't able to go back to sleep..not at all. The constant unnerving feeling of the basement in my head..what they did..and how they did it..I don't know how, and that's the problem..I've never woken up this out of order in my life..I showed up to work like a goddamn mess and it's their fault..my suit and tie not styled like usual, my hair messy, even my goddamn watch not on the right wrist I usually put it on..dammit..my work performance in my cubicle has lowered drastically as well..I used to be the top employee at all times..now I'm second..SECOND TO A GODDAMN SCHMUCK..after work I didn't do my usual..I was much angrier today..instead of one kill I decided to do three today..it gives those damn spirits a message..I'll always add to my collection..the thing is..it didn't feel pleasurable at all, it just made me even more pissed off..that I'm bending to their whims..to show THEM of all things up..I shouldn't have to..I'm better..I am better..I go to the basement to incinerate the three bodies I murdered earlier..the spirits of the basement still completely lined up, just staring..watching me as I burn the bodies..just staring..a tight feeling in my chest..is that fear..it can't be fear..I'm not afraid of them..I never have been..right..I go back, trying to focus on the bodies I'm burning, forcing a sense of pleasure in myself just to try to get a reaction from the spirits..but they just watch..I focus myself back onto the bodies. The other two aren't even that noticeable to me..but the other one sure is, a blonde girl I found alone by a dumpster, probably homeless..pink sweater and grey pants..her screams as I murdered her were definitely memorable, choking her as her life left her eyes..it's always a wonderful sight..but I can appreciate such an art form..with these things looming over my head..those spirits..are keeping me from appreciating my passion to the fullest..as I burn the clothes of the victims of tonight's piece..their spirits looming over the incinerator, watching as they get burned..but one thing catches my eye..the blonde girl..a previously innocent soul..looking at the spirits lined up..a sudden passion of her own flaring in her eyes..even in her spectral form..I choose to ignore it..because that can't be real..a spirit finding her own that quickly..impossible..not a chance..my heart beats faster than anything I've ever noticed before..my legs picking up pace, getting out of there..not even giving myself the chance to see what happens next..I lock the door as always..taking a huge exhale..sitting on my couch..a horrible feeling setting in my chest..my coffee table's a mess..a goddamn mess..I instantly get to cleaning the table..yet the fact the table was even a mess in the first place is what irks me most..I'm Oliver Smith, for God's sake..this is below me in every way..because I'm not average, I've never been average, I was born with extraordinary powers to save the souls of the lost..give them a purpose..I AM God's gift to humanity..even with that..my mind keeps flashing to that spirit in the pink sweater..how she found a purpose so quickly..without my control..without me at all..they've never had minds of their own like this before..or maybe they did..and I just refused to see it...NO WAY!!..I see all..I've always seen all..that's my birthright..always has been, always will be..I can't even trust my own goddamn alarm clock anymore..even that's feeding me false information to screw me over..is fate punishing me..punishing me for what..all I've done was what's right in my eyes..I'm doing the right thing..I know I am..the spirits just can't see that..it's pissing me off how blind they are..I give them their purpose..what they should strive to be after death..after living nothing but worthless lives in the realm of the living..I gave them a clear direction, they should be thanking me for taking the time out of my day to even give them such a gift!!..suddenly..a sharp whisper can be heard as if it's right behind me, a distinctly female voice.."I had a daughter, you bastard"..I instantly fall out of the couch, crawling to the other end of the wall.."THE HELL," I exclaim..the woman in the pink sweater from earlier..sitting on the very couch I once was..it continues speaking..a malice forming within its very tone.."I was trying to build a life for me and my daughter..a fresh start at it all..then you come along..and rip us apart, for what..all to make you happy..you're sick..you're lucky I can't kill you yet, but I swear to God I'll make your life a living hell, me and the others..you hear"..she yells out, visibly shaking even in ghost form...I respond almost instantly.."Others?..there's others..well, tell you and your posse that I'm doing what's best..I'M FREEING ALL OF YOU..THANK ME!! It's the least you of all people can do..you were homeless, living by a dumpster when I found you. You couldn't give your daughter a better life even if you tried..and if it helps..I can help her join you"..my hands trembling without me even realizing it..tears welling up..tears of unshakable rage..at the thought of her questioning me in my own home of all things..yet a fear..I wouldn't like to admit..she can speak coherently with me..only after just dying..if she can do all of this that fast, then..what can the others do..could they always do this..just it took someone to stand up and lead them to realize it..and what does she mean..kill me yet..that's laughable..she can't kill me..touching's just one thing, but killing me..that's impossible..right..impossible in every way...the woman stops and stares after hearing what I said..her neck twisted until it's upside down in nothing but pure disbelief..and an anger she can't even try to contain, her bones lengthening..into something unnatural..her fingers turning from something that resembled flesh..into pure bone..she rushes at me with a speed my eyes can barely keep up with..yelling "I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU!" My arms instantly go up, forgetting all about my goal..my passion, even who I am, just pure instinct..and right before she can get close enough..she disappears right back into the basement...I look up..completely bewildered..they can do that..shift into new forms entirely..fear overran me entirely in that moment..they made me feel fear..actual fear..and that pisses me off more than all of the things I've witnessed with them..I lost control for a moment..but..it's just a moment, after all..a moment I can forget and move away from..because it won't happen again..never again..I surpassed such trivialities a long time ago, dammit..even with that being said..I can't help but end up rushing to my bed with a faster-paced movement..refusing to even check the basement tonight like my usual routine..hopping straight into my bed, the covers sprawled out slightly in an untamed manner..right now I don't even register that fact...trying to sleep, spending all night tossing and turning in my bed..trying to find something, anything..but her face continues popping up in my mind, her words that keep clawing in my brain, irritating me even further..I can't sleep, no matter how hard I try, I can't sleep..

Kill Count: 27

I show up to work late..a new standard set by last night..no matter how hard I try, something gets in the way..I couldn't sleep at all last night..I didn't even have the drive to get up for work..the only thing keeping me here..my need to regain my spot as number one employee, but even that got dropped even further, now third place..THIRD!! Of all things..for God's sake, THIRD..thoughts continuing to race in my head at a rapid rate..what if I just killed the ones ahead..it's not like they deserved that position in the first place, especially compared to me..my own job is against me..I just know it, that's the only way I could fall THIS LOW from the top..I can just get rid of them..they're practically nobodies, just like the ones I already deal with, right..this isn't an overstep of what I've already set for myself..they're just like all the others, everyone's the goddamn same..everyone's against me..maybe even with those goddamn spirits themselves..goddammit, I look like a slob..I even forgot my watch on the way here..my suit untucked, my tie barely even on right..I'm getting punished for the good I'm doing this world..that must be it..I continue working in my cubicle space, tapping on the computer drowsily..trying to keep focused..and prove my point..but my body's doing the opposite..I blink..and once I open my eyes I see a spirit right beside me through the corner of my eye..a coy smile on his face..as he says.."You see..I used to be a murderer myself before you killed me..and I must say..even if you did manage to get me, one killer to another..the way you got me was magnificent..gotta respect it"..I respond as quickly as my mouth can catch up to my brain..my body instantly going alert.."..What the hell are you talking about..how are you..better yet, why are you here"..he responds in kind, that coy smile still playing on his face.."Like I said, I respect you..but I for sure gotta say..you're gonna die..real soon..I personally don't wanna kill you..but the others sure do..we're getting stronger and stronger as we go..being able to interact with the living realm as time passes..we're adapting.."..I quickly retort.."No..you're not..not a goddamn chance in hell..you can't kill me, none of you can..just admit it..you all need me..the need to kill me enhances that further..your lives, even after death, all revolve around me..you can't kill the center of the spirit world..I'm inevitable"..yet even with that..a cold feeling in my stomach..what if he's right..what if they are growing..it sure looks like they are..never mind that..I'm the center of these spirits' lives..they can't kill me no matter how hard they might try..it's only human nature..to preserve the beauty I've bestowed upon this world..the spirit responds back..a smile still on his face.."Oh, really now, huh?..you sure do have a complex, don't cha..but oh yes, we are growing stronger..we've always had the ability to interact with the living realm..it just lay dormant within us..it took the man with the grey shirt to show us that we can surpass all preconceived boundaries..soon enough..we'll be able to take our power back..our control back..and we're adding to our ranks..Oliver".."Why are you telling me all of this..and what the hell does adding to our ranks mean..anyway..it's not like you can pull more spirits..right..not a chance in hell.."..now he's lying..he's just saying all this to psych me out..they can't do shit..so they have to pull stuff like this to scare me..well, I won't fall for it..I'm above that, after all..spirits can't pull more spirits no matter what smiley freak says..the man responds, a coy smile still on his face.."I'm telling you all this because I know there's nothing you can do about it..I respect you..I like your methods..it's beautiful in a way..the thing is..I still wanna see you die..and watching the look on your face when we rise up..and murder your ass will be great..you're just some random dude who thinks he's oh so special..well, you're not..and we'll show you that once you're bawling your eyes out on the floor, begging for mercy..as for how we're adding to our ranks..you'll see..soon, either tonight or tomorrow..something's going to go down.." his apparition then disappears..fading out of existence...his words making my blood boil, how dare someone so insignificant tell me that.."I AM SPECIAL, I'M MORE SPECIAL THAN ANYBODY EVER COULD BE, I AM WHAT EVERYONE STRIVES TO BE IN LIFE, I'M WORTHY OF ITS SUCCESSES..YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TELL ME OTHERWISE, YOU LITTLE FUCKING TYRANT LEECH OF A LIFE!!" I shout out..everyone within the building looking at me as if I'm crazy..I'm not crazy, they're the crazy ones, how dare they look at me with such disgust in their pitiful little eyes..I'm more than this..this goddamn job within this goddamn life.."WHAT THE FUCK ARE Y'ALL STARING AT, YOU PRICKS!!" I shout at them, leaving the building, my blood still boiling from that damn spirit..all of them making my life a living hell..making everything about it a living hell, my passions, my successes, every little goddamn thing..that's why I decided to kill the new number one and number two employees of the company..it's all those damn spirits' fault..now I had to blow off some extra steam on even worse cretins..even decided to kill another person..some homeless man on the streets, he had a puppy beside him when I found him too..of course I killed the man, after all he had nothing to strive for..no reason to live..I'll just give him a new one once I burn his body in the incinerator along with the other two..his puppy will probably find an owner better suited for taking care of it..I've practically saved the poor thing from living with a guy who can't even take care of it correctly, let alone himself..the thing is, this didn't help me blow off any steam at all..no matter how much good I do for the world..I still don't get the same fulfillment..because these damn things..wanna feel for themselves now..they're selfish..I pull up to the driveway of my home, ready to burn the bodies of those I've killed in the incinerator, opening the basement door and seeing..my basement filled with spirits, ones that I've never even killed before, littering the entire room..my face drops instantly..I've kept count of each and every one for years..now there's about forty to fifty of those things..in my goddamn basement..and what's even worse..they're all so..ordered..all lined up like they've been waiting..the man in the grey shirt leading front and center like he's staged the entire damn thing..the man with the coy smile in back laughing his ass off like a maniac..and the girl with the pink sweater looking as if she's finally going to achieve what she's desired since her death..my life..and most of all..they look completely normal, physical, no beaten bodies, no mangled faces..no scars from the fates I gave them, even people that were completely cut in half have their bodies restored..as if nothing happened.."..h..how..how..HOW IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING THIS," I yell out to all of them, entire body trembling..as the man in the grey shirt steps up..speaking calmly..yet with a hint of complete satisfaction..like he already knows they won.."..Easy..we've gathered more spirits..ones that you've hurt with your meaningless rationalizations..even if you kill just the target alone, you created a ripple in that person's life..children that are dead because there was no one to watch them, elderly people who had no one to take care of their needs, dying a slow, painful death, even friends..boyfriends or girlfriends losing themselves because of the loss..even pets who realized their owners are never coming back and died of heartbreak...even you just killing one person you considered worthless killed even more than you could possibly have imagined..we may all be our own people..and want different things..but one thing we all have in common..is that we wanna see you..dead..now we have enough spirits to enter the living realm..and do it ourselves.."...my eyes widen even further..I take a step back, my heart racing.."..what..no..no..no..NO, I ONLY KILLED THE PEOPLE THAT NEEDED A NEW TRAJECTORY..I GAVE THEIR LOVED ONES BETTER FATES THAN ANYONE EVER COULD..I HELPED ALL OF YOU..EVERY SINGLE ONE, YOU'RE ONLY HERE BECAUSE OF ME, EVEN WITH THIS NEW PURPOSE YOU'VE FOUND NOW...IT CENTERS ON ME..I AM YOUR CORE..I AM SPECIAL, YOU SHOULD BE THANKING ME FOR WHAT I'VE DONE, I'M YOUR SAVIOR..I'M EVERYONE'S SAVIOR!!!"..The man in the grey shirt responds instantly.."No..because we're taking our power back"..his words sharp and simple..with so much..finality behind them..as they all begin walking towards me now..slowly..as if trying to make me feel every last slow, painful second of fear..because they already know how this'll end..no..no..NO. I bolt towards the door, pushing it open with force I never knew I even had, rushing towards the living room door as a means to escape the house entirely..I open the living room door..to see nothing but at least half of the very ghosts that were in the basement..now outside that door. I fall to the ground, landing straight on my butt..looking behind me..seeing the other half closing in on me..no..no, this isn't right...this isn't right, this isn't fair!!.."YOU KNOW THIS ISN'T FAIR..YOU ALL SNUCK UP ON ME..THIS ISN'T RIGHT..THIS ISN'T FAIR, THIS ISN'T FUCKING FAIR, NO..NO, NO..STAY BACK, STAY FUCK BACK"...I yell out, trying to throw as many objects as I can at them..to no avail..they just go straight through them.."WHY AM I BEING PUNISHED FOR DOING THE RIGHTEOUS THING, I'M THE ONLY REAL PERSON IN THIS WORLD, I'M NOT FAKE UNLIKE THESE OTHER PEOPLE, I DON'T DESERVE THIS, I JUST TRIED TO HELP, I WAS HELPING, I WAS SAVING YOU ALL FROM YOURSELVES, I GAVE YOU ALL A REASON!!"...they don't say anything at all, they just continue walking..now crowding me entirely..they know this is the end..even I know now..this is the end..a realization dawning on me..tears running down my face as all I can do is curl into a ball..my throat choked up with tears..as I finally admit it all.

"They've won.."..I whisper out

The End