Page 1 of Bleed for You
Chapter One
Jinx Andersson stood and stared at the job he’d completed. Crimson streaks splattered the room. On the walls. On the ceiling. On the floor. There was barely any white showing through the pools of red. He’d been as thorough as the job had demanded. As the individual who had hired him had demanded.
Jinx always received his calls through a man he’d met in a club one night. A man who had connections within law enforcement. A man who hated watching those who hurt the most innocent escape justice.
A pedo like the one who lay dying on his floor shouldn’t be allowed to live, and Jinx had made sure he’d suffered. Nothing like ending the week with some decent wet work, and he’d paid extra special attention to this one.
Walking over to what once had resembled a human, Jinx squatted next to the ruined remains of the torso. The bones lay bare, glistening in the light, moving slightly with the dying breaths of what had been a man. Jinx felt nothing. The mandeserved everything he had done to him. Standing slowly, he walked around him, absently kicking an arm to one side, the fingers still twitching as if somehow, they could hold on to life, but that life slowly ebbed away, and nothing they did would change that.
When the torso stopped moving, Jinx glanced around the once white room then back to the remains of what had once been a living, breathing man. It would take time to clean up his playroom. He’d had a little too much fun with his target. Not that it truly bothered Jinx. He’d seen the crimes this man had committed, the damage he’d inflicted. The world would be a better place without him in it.
Checking the body for a pulse, Jinx smiled when he didn’t find one. Picking up a rag, he cleaned the blood from his knife. A couple of strokes along the blade and the blood had disappeared. Holding it up to the light, Jinx scrutinized the blade, then shrugged. He’d disinfect it later to ensure all traces had been removed. Placing it in the roll out bag he had, he caressed the other items the bag contained. His equipment. He’d cleaned them all, but again, he’d do a more thorough job once the room was thoroughly clean.
Walking around the body again, he picked up the various limbs and internal organs and threw them on top of the body. Grabbing the end of the tarp the body and its parts lay on, he painstakingly rolled the body up and tucked the ends so nothing could fall free. Last thing he needed was to be carrying the body out of the cabin and have a foot fall out.
Chuckling, Jinx left the tarp-wrapped body and began cleaning the room. It would take him several hours to make sure every drop of spilled blood had been removed. Even though he covered the room in plastic—which he would remove and burn—he always cleaned the room. He had everything he needed todo a thorough job. Several of some items as well. All would be destroyed once Jinx had finished.
It was nearing four in the morning by the time he wiped over the walls, ceiling and floor with bleach, then he stood back and nodded. He’d come back in a day or two and go over the room again, and bring his UV light and luminol spray to detect any traces remaining. The downside to luminol was that it reacted to other compounds like bleach, and Jinx had used multiple bottles of the stuff. Still, he wanted to make sure, so he used everything he could.
A final sweep around the room, and Jinx nodded. Good job. Putting everything he’d used in his van, he moved the tarp and then stripped his overalls off along with the new boots he’d purchased for this job. All went into a bag to be destroyed, along with the gloves he’d used. Best way to make sure nothing remained to implicate him in his crime.
After a walk around the cabin where he worked, Jinx made sure the alarm was up and running and then got in his van and drove to his pre-prepared dump site. The site was a good mile away and not easily accessible, which is exactly how Jinx wanted it.
Parking near the hole he’d dug earlier, Jinx unloaded the body and dumped it on top of the kindling already in there, then covered it with the plastic from the room and fuel before adding all the items he’d used and liberally covered them in fuel too. At this time, there was no one around, but Jinx had chosen this location with care, so that would be the case.
Hardly anyone came here hiking, and it was miles from the nearest town. Once he was sure there was sufficient fuel, he lit a match and threw it in. The whoosh of ignition had him stepping back, a small smile forming as the flames set about their destruction. Throwing a few logs on the flames, Jinx stoodand watched, then grabbed his drink from the cabin of his truck and sipped his soda.
Glancing up, he watched the colors change in the morning sky, night giving way to day. A few clouds streaked across the sky, dotting the dark blue that was rapidly changing to a lighter shade. Morning would be here soon, and Jinx sighed and took another sip of his drink.
It was times like this he thought about his parents. They didn’t talk anymore, and Jinx was just fine with that. They knew he wasn’t like them, so he played the game until he was old enough to leave, and he’d never looked back. Maybe they thought about him. Maybe they didn’t. Jinx didn’t care either way. When anyone asked about them, he always said they were dead because to him they were.
The flames slowly died away, but the job wasn’t quite done, so Jinx threw the remaining logs he had into the pit and continued to watch. The items he’d used were now long gone, and the flesh on the body was charred and blackened. When the flames went out, Jinx would bury what was left and throw grass seeds over it.
An hour later, he drove away, whistling along to some song on the radio. There wasn’t much left of the body and Jinx had buried it. Before long, nature would take its course, the grass would grow, and it would blend in with its surroundings. Just like all the other bodies Jinx had buried there.
Arriving back at the cabin, Jinx got out and opened the back doors to his van. Humming some Whitesnake to himself, he grabbed the hose and began to clean the inside. It wasn’t too bad this time. When he’d first began his little extra job, he’d done his work in the van. Thankfully, those messy days were behind him and the cabin served his needs. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry, as the saying went, so he spent time spraying the interior, then disinfecting it, before repeating. Another hour or two now helped in the long run.
When he was finished, Jinx stretched as he yawned, then tidied the house and put various items away. Going into the cabin, Jinx found the first aid box and treated the cut on his hand. He’d been careless when placing his tools out, but lucky that he’d cut himself before the fun had begun. He’d been able to see to the wound and cover it.
Once done, he checked the cabin and set the alarm again, then got into his van and began the hour-long journey home, stopping at the box where he kept his tools on the way. The box was buried in the ground, with the lid covered by grass. It would be pure luck for anyone to find it, which was what Jinx had wanted when he’d chosen the box’s location.
Listening to the radio had Jinx smiling and singing along, and the hour passed quickly. When he pulled up onto his driveway, he sat in the van and looked at the pretty flowers that had begun to bloom. They were down to Craig, his partner, who didn’t live with him, even though Jinx knew Craig wanted to.
It was better this way. Jinx could do his extracurricular activities without having to explain himself. Not that he had to. He was the Daddy in their relationship, and this was his way of taking care of his boy. And the less Craig knew, the better. If Jinx was apprehended by the authorities, his boy would remain safe.
Getting out, Jinx made sure the van was secure, then strolled up the path to the front door, a spring in his step for a job well done. He could still hear the echoes of the man’s screams as Jinx had gone to work on him, and they had been music to his ears. What a way to start the day.
***
Jinx arrived at work the following day and arranged the tools he would need. He’d arranged the plot the day before, used the excavator to dig the hole, and then tidied it up and prepared it for the funeral due that day. As a gravedigger, he needed to wait, and once the grieving family and friends had left, he would goabout seeing to the grave and making sure it was still safe. Once that was done, he would walk around the cemetery and work on the couple of landscaping jobs he had on his list. He had a few lawn areas that needed to be mowed as well, so he had a busy day.
He spent a few hours cleaning the area around the next burial, making sure all rubbish had been removed, that the paths leading to the gravesite had been cleared. He’d prepared the grave the day before and had draped the cloth that all graves used to ensure it was presentable, then cleared the grass around it to ensure all was as it should be.
Watching the burial from a respectable distance, Jinx let his eyes wander over the mourners. All dressed in somber suits and outfits, he always found it strange. The dead didn’t mourn life because they felt nothing. Why mourn their death when you could celebrate their life? He had it written in his will and his lawyer knew he wanted to have a huge party. If there was anyone there and he hadn’t removed them from his life.
Jinx straightened when the ceremony ended and watched the mourners slowly drift away. He waited a few more minutes after the last one had left and strolled over to the grave, whistling some random tune in his head. He walked around the grave and stared down into the hole, his eyes traveling over the flowers that had been dropped onto the coffin. It was a decent coffin as coffins went. Dark wood with some gold detail on the side. Waste of money if you asked him. The price people paid for wood and some material disgusted him, but when people mourned someone they loved, then others would take advantage of it.
Jinx worked to make sure the grave was safe and tidied up the edges. Once he was satisfied, he checked in with the team and they grabbed what was needed and went about filling the grave. Graves tended to be refilled after the last mourners had left, andonce this grave had been filled, Jinx and the team went about their other jobs until the next funeral. They had three that day, so Jinx remained busy until after he should have finished, but he stayed to make sure the three graves were filled and safe. Even though he’d helped to fill them in, it was something Jinx always did.
