Page 14 of Unholy Bonds

I hunted, I waited, I studied, and when it was time, I carved Jacob up until he was just as broken as the girl.

Enzo—Hanna’s older brother—who was also looking to kill Jacob, saw me sawing his hand off. He stood there and watched as Jacob begged Enzo to save him.

“Please, man, please. I-I did not… I couldn’t—” Jacob sobbed out, pain destroying his ego. Oh, how powerful the pain was!

“Shut the fuck up.” I kicked him in his mouth, making him whimper.

I cut and sliced until he was but pieces of shredded skin. I stuffed his limp corpse into a trash bag I’d brought. It was a fitting end for such a man.

I displayed Jacob Levey’s pathetic, shriveled dick in his hand, tied together with red string cutting into his cock.

It was a tribute to Hanna.

The cops went mad. I had masterfully displayed five before Jacob. The media had by then dubbed me The Abstract Killer, and I had become a headache to the Detroit Police Department.

“I know the perfect place to discard the rest of this garbage,” Enzo said as he grabbed the garbage bag filled with the pieces of Jacob and threw it into his trunk.

He drove me to the funeral home and we both settled into a strange silence. “It was my great-great-grandfather’s, and eventually it came to my father. Now that Hanna’s gone, it’s me. Just me. I shouldn’t have… Hanna was all I had.”

Together, Enzo and I watched Jacob burn. Enzo sniffled as the fire crackled, swallowing the man who destroyed his sister.

When Jacob Levey was gone, he looked at me and said, “I’m glad it was you who wrote her story. You know, if you ever want to do this again, the crematorium is always open for you.”

I didn’t deny it—I knew he would see through the lie. “Thank you, Enzo.”

“No. I’m the one who has to thank you.”

“But it isn’t… it’s not that simple. If I ever get caught, the DPD will dig deeper, and they’ll charge you as an accessory to murder or even an accomplice. Do you want to do that for a stranger?”

Enzo took a deep breath. “You did it for Hanna. You succeeded when the law failed us. I won’t fail you,” he said with a smile. “And I’ll go down for a friend.”

A friend. I smiled.

That night, I found someone who was now like a fucking brother to me. He’d die for me, and even though I wouldn’t admit it to him, I’d die for him.

“No display today? He looks intact to me. Or did you take something from the inside?” he asked curiously as he studied the body, noticing every part was where it should be. Clenching my hand into a fist, I shook my head. “Something wrong, Ry?” His eyes narrowed. “You look ready to pounce.”

I had planned a poetic display for Matthew, but it was all wasted because of that woman. I heaved the pieces into the cremation chamber in silence and watched as he caught fire.

“What the hell’s wrong with you? You look… like you’re brooding. You’re usually happy after a kill… No, don’t tell me—” He went pale. “Fuck, what the hell happened?”

“I think a woman saw me. No, I know she saw me,” I muttered as the room was filled with the sound of fire eating away flesh and bones. “She must have followed me.”

“Fuck, man. This isn’t good. You shouldn’t have killed tonight.”

“I wasn’t planning to kill tonight,” I said, shaking my head, and tugging at my hair with a growl. “It just happened. He was a fucking rapist, and I couldn’t let him destroy another woman.”

“Do you know anything about the woman who saw you?”

“Nothing. She was wearing a black dress. And a scarf to cover her face. I only knew it was the same woman from the pub.”

“You met her at the pub? For fuck’s sake, Ryden.”

“She was driving a sedan—it was old. She’d covered the license plate with black tape. I couldn’t just leave this asshole and follow her. Now she’s out there somewhere.” Like a ticking time bomb. If she exploded—when she exploded—my life would be over, and so was Enzo’s.

“What now?” Enzo asked, pacing back and forth.

“I don’t know. Wait for her to make the first move,” I said, hating how foolish the idea itself was, but I had no other choice. I didn’t know who she was. I only saw her silhouette and heard her voice—that voice was very memorable. I’d know if I heard her again, but where the hell would I go to hear her?

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