Page 25 of The Butterfly Killer

He checked into the motel and dragged his almost dead body through the door of the shabby room. The bed resembled more of a hole in the ground than a bed he wanted to sleep on. He shivered in disgust as he thought about bugs crawling out from the stained fabric.

To appease his mind—or to further make him paranoid—he checked the corner of the sheets and bed. Thankfully, he didn’t find any evidence of bed bugs. That would be possibly the worst thing that could happen to him right now.

He rubbed his eyes as he made his way to the bathroom. It was small and crowded. The yellow light made the room look like a scene from a horror movie. He tried to not think about the images of death on constant loop in his mind. That seemed to be how it always was—his mind always trying to break him down byshowing him things he didn’t want to see. It seemed like every time he tried to run away from his nightmares, his mind thought it would be funny to shove the things he hated the most right in his face.

He cranked the shower on, not even using the cold water setting. He wanted to feel the burn. He wanted to feel the pain just so he wouldn’t be numb like this all the time.

The aches and pains in his body lessened just a little when he stepped under the spray. The water-pressure was abysmal. The hot water wasn’t even hot. He groaned in frustration as he didn’t get the relief he wanted.

But he scrubbed himself down quick. He needed sleep and he needed to get up early if he wanted to make it to Lilianna’s house by the early morning. He didn’t know why he felt like he needed to race against time.

The panic was starting to set in. He really needed to sleep so his head would be clear and he wouldn’t start losing his mind off his irrational thoughts.

He toweled off, dressed into a fresh pair of clothes he kept in a bag in the trunk of his car. He was a cop. He was paranoid. He was always prepared for something which might not be normal for any human being, but it helped in his favor.

He slowly got into the uncomfortable bed. The mattress squeaked under his weight, the springs jabbing into his shoulder-blades and spine. He moved, twisting on his side and then flipping over, searching for a spot that didn’t hurt. He gave up in the end, laying on his back with his arms spread out beside him.

His eyes ached, but they didn’t want to close. The ceiling was similar to his back home though it was covered in cob webs. The lights of passing cars shined over the walls. He tensed each time he heard movement outside his door or from the neighboring rooms.

Was this is? Was this where his life ended?

He didn’t have a clue what was going to happen when he got to his sister’s house. He didn’t know if the killer was bringing him closer for a purpose or if it was all mind games.

Marcus closed his eyes, taking deep breaths so he didn’t have a panic attack, and finally drifted to sleep.

In his dreams, when he found his mom’s body, it wasn’t her laying on the floor dead—it was his sister.

7

Marcus startledawake from behind the steering wheel of his car.

A man tapped his window.

His brows furrowed as he looked at his surroundings. He was parked in front of his sister’s house. The sun was high in the sky so it had to be noon or later. The man standing outside his window look angry as fuck—to the point of snarling. He was older, his hair white and his face wrinkled with age.

Marcus thought to himself if he wanted to ignore the man until he left or if he wanted to engage with him. The man angrily knocked on his window again and yelled something that sounded like “Get off the street! Be homeless somewhere else!”.

Marcus rolled down the window even though he wanted to open the door and slam it into the old man’s bony knee-caps. He could just faintly hear the sound of cracking bones in the near distance.

“I’m going to call the police if you don’t move your car.”

Marcus gave the man a dull look. “My sister lives here. I’ve been traveling for awhile. I just fell asleep.”

The man seemed to get angrier at the explanation. “Don’t lie to me. I know this family. Lily doesn’t have any family.”

Marcus felt gut-wrenched. He shouldn’t have been surprised Lily didn’t care to talk about her family. But to be wiped completely…it seemed like everyone wished he didn’t exist.

Marcus stepped out of the car. “Call the police if you want.”

He locked the car and started toward the house. The old man followed after him.

He ignored the man’s nonsense ramblings. He crossed the sidewalk when he noticed a man jogging towards them. The man slowed as he got closer to the two of them. He pulled his headphones out of his ears.

“Hey, Peter. What’s going on?”

Marcus stalled at the attractive man who stopped beside them. The man’s eyes flickered over Marcus once before he gave the old man his full attention.

“This man is trying to break into the Cliffton’s!”

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