• Chapter 1: Not Another One

    Beth yawned widely as she came downstairs. Her roommate, Kate was already downstairs, glaring at the newspaper. Beth frowned. She could already guess what the problem was. Another murder. They were making the front page every single day, literally.
    Murders were frightening enough as they were. But they were even more frightening when they'd been going on for six whole months. Everyday, one murder after another. They all made headline news. It was rare these days not to see a headline about the murders. They had affected everyone in town seriously. Children no longer played outside and very few people went out after dark. Some people were even afraid to step into their cars.
    "Morning." Beth said quietly, sitting down at the breakfast table.
    "Morning." Kate sighed tiredly.
    Judging by the bags beneath her eyes, Kate probably hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Not everyone did now. Women in particular, since all those who had been murdered were female.
    What was strange about the murders was that the victims all had no marks anywhere on their bodies. No wounds, no bruises, not even scratches. Other than the obvious fact that they were dead, they all seemed perfectly fine.
    Beth pursed her lips, preventing herself from spouting off some crazy idea about the murders. She was no detective, and all her murder mystery books probably didn't happen very often in real life.
    "Alright, Beth? What are you thinking now?" Kate asked, standing up and making herself some more coffee. It must have been at least her third cup of the night.
    Beth shrugged.
    "Nothing." she replied casually, tucking a few strands of blonde hair behind her ear.
    Kate looked at her skeptically, but said no more. She merely went on making her coffee. Beth made herself her own breakfast, though she didn't exactly feel that hungry. After nibbling on a bit of toast, Beth set down her breakfast and looked back up at Kate.
    "Is there anything else connecting the murders other than all the victims being female?" she asked curiously.
    Kate rolled her eyes and set down her mug of coffee. She turned to Beth and placed her hand on her hip.
    "Don't you ever read the news? Or watch it?" she retorted in annoyance.
    Beth shook her head and shrugged. She honestly didn't. She never read the newspaper except for the comics and advice section. And she never watched it either since she was normally up in her room watching movies. The news just hadn't been that interesting to her.
    "No. You know I don't do either. I'm too busy trying to be ignorant of the outside world." Beth replied, trying to be at least a little light-hearted.
    Kate sighed and leaned back against the counter. Apparently Beth's attempt at lightening the mood had failed. She pursed her lips in order to make herself shut up.
    "You know how the police have forensics and stuff. Apparently all the victims were found out to have had sex probably just minutes or seconds before death. It wasn't rape though." Kate answered with a shrug of her slim shoulders.
    Beth blinked. So he likes to play with prey before he eats it. If it is a he. Might be a she. Though it's probably a guy. It always is in books.
    Kate raised an eyebrow and frowned worriedly.
    "You're not a detective, Beth. Keep thinking about murders to your novels and TV shows." she said, heading upstairs to take a shower.
    Beth rested her head in her hand. She has a point. I'm not a detective. Though it is fun to think like one.
    She stood up and stretched. She definitely wasn't going out tonight. That would just be asking for trouble these days. She also wouldn't be accepting any offers to go out on a date either. Just to be safe.