Growing Dark (Chapter 1)

Chapter 1

Beep. Beep. Beep. The annoying buzzing of the alarm clock filled the air. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the buzzing ceased. Aislin groaned and slowly leaned up. Yawning like a cat and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she stumbled toward the bathroom.
"I swear, that alarm clock goes off earlier and earlier every day!" She thought to herself. Looking out the window she saw a thin layer of snow blanketing the ground. Shivering, she hurried to the bathroom, looking forward for a nice, hot shower. She yawned again and closed the bathroom door. A grating squeal filled the air as she turned on the shower. Soon, a thick steam filled the bathroom. Quickly undressing, she hopped into the shower, wincing as the hot water struck her body, but grateful for it's warmth. After her shower, she slipped into a comfortable bath robe and made her way to the kitchen to make some coffee. Reaching for the handle to the cupboard containing the coffee, she suddenly jumped as a loud knocking erupted from the front door.
“Wow, look at you. Jumpy before your first cup of coffee.” she chuckled to herself as she went to answer the door. The door creaked as she opened it. Everything about her apartment creaked, but what else could you expect for such a cheap renting price?
“Hello?” She called, “Anyone there?” Poking her head around the corner she looked around. Nobody.
“Stupid kids,” she muttered, “Why can't their parents keep track of them?” After another great, shuddering yawn she decided that coffee was necessary and proceeded to make some. She poured the coffee into her cup and moved to the refrigerator with the intention of getting the creamer.
“Darn it!” she cried, looking in, “Just my luck, no creamer. Well, there is no way I can go through the day without coffee, so black it is!” After her first cup she began to feel a little better.
“Ahh, that's what I needed.” She sighed, taking a sip of her second cup. Now that she had the blessed coffee running through her veins, her mood became much more livelier. She started dancing and sashaying around her room, trying to find the right clothes to wear. Finally, she decided on a blue sweater and jeans. Checking the clock on the wall, she decided it was time to head to work.
The snow crunched peacefully beneath her feet as she made her way down the lonely road. Her breath formed a mist that curled through the air, contorting in various shapes as it blew away. It was a beautiful day, full of light and peace, contrasting greatly to the terrible event that happened years earlier on the same day. Swiftwater, being a small town with a population of less than one thousand, was very quiet. Aislin could hear nothing except the snow crunching beneath her feet and her own steady breathing. A cloud slowly covered the sun and the temperature dropped. Luckily it wasn't far. She worked at the Swiftwater public library and it was extremely boring job, but being such a small town, she had little choice. By the time she had reached the library it had started snowing again and the temperature had dropped even more, making her steps a little more hurried. The library was big and old; a large, arched entrance sheltered Aislin as she opened the heavy, wooden doors. The air was heavy and still inside the library and her footfalls seemed to be unnaturally loud compared to the eerie silence. Clack. Clack. Clack. She walked over to the librarian's desk and started loading returned books onto a cart. One good thing about this job is that there was a lot of free time and Aislin loved to read. Mystery to romance to historical fiction, she read it all. After she had returned the books to their respective shelves, she sat down on one of the large chairs that were scattered throughout the building and started to read her favorite romance novel.
“A-hem, Aislin.” Aislin awoke with a start and looked up. Her boss, Mr. Greene stared down at her. “And what do you think you were doing?” He inquired.
“I'm sorry, sir. I must have dozed off.” She replied. “I was up too late last night.” Mr. Greene folded his arms.
“Make sure it doesn't happen again. We don't pay our librarians to sleep all day!” With that he walked away. Aislin groaned and rubbed her head. This was not good. She needed this job, it was her only source of income. She slowly got to her feet and made her way back to the exit. How could I have slept so long? She thought to herself. It wasn't like her to fall asleep on the job, much less for it to be for so long. She slept ten hours straight! Setting her book on the desk, she started the cold walk back to her apartment.
Yawning, she entered her apartment and kicked off her shoes. Luckily tomorrow is Saturday, so I can sleep in. After she changed into her pajamas she collapsed on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

“Aislin,” a voice softly whispered into her ear, “ Aislin, wake up.” Slowly, Aislin eased open her eyes. Who could be here? She thought groggily. The room was pitch black and she couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. Groping for the light, she turned it on. Did I just imagine it? The room was empty. Deciding it would be best to check the rest of the apartment, Aislin walked into the living room. After turning on the light, her hand flew to her mouth. On the wall, written in what seemed like blood; still wet and dripping, was the word KILL. Her hands started shaking, it's been all over the news: there was a serial killer in the area that left messages written in blood before killing his victims. Hurrying to the phone, she dialed 9-1-1.
“Nine, one, one emergency response. What is the nature of your emergency?” The dispatcher recited.
“I think that killer, the one they've been looking for, I think he is in my apartment!” She whispered hysterically.
“Ok, calm down. How do you know that there is somebody in your apartment?”
“He's here! He wrote KILL on my wall with blood!”
“Ma'am, you need to stay calm. Squad cars are already on their way. They will be there in a few minutes. You need to find a place to hide. A bathroom or closet that has a lock. Lock yourself in and stay there until the squad cars arrive.”
“O-ok,” she barely managed to whisper.
“Everything is going to be fine. You just need to stay calm.” The dispatcher assured her. Dropping the phone, Aislin ran to the bathroom and slammed and locked the door. Silence. Time seemed to stand still. Every second seemed like an hour and yet she heard no police outside. Clump. Clump. Clump. Aislin's breath caught in her throat. Somebody was walking around outside the bathroom door! A loud scraping noise echoed in the small bathroom. It sounded like whoever was outside the door was scraping a knife across its surface. Aislin's mind unwillingly flashed to the descriptions of the victims of the serial killer. Each one was found with her wrists and throat cut. All women, all the same method of killing, all the same message on the wall. The killer had stopped in front of the door and just stood there, she could see his boots from underneath the door.
“Knock, knock,” came the voice through the door, “Open up in there.” Aislin was frozen in terror, she couldn't breathe. Suddenly, she heard a loud bang and the shout of “ Police! Freeze!”, followed by two gunshots.
“Ma'am, it's ok. You're safe now. You can open the door.” Came the strong, male voice from the other side of the door. Disengaging the lock on the door, she swung it open to reveal a tall, muscular police officer.
“It's ok, the suspect has been detained.” He reported. Walking into the living room, Aislin saw the killer being dragged out by two other officers. He had been shot once in the arm and once in the leg. Seeing Aislin, he grinned and slowly licked his lips. Shuddering, she turned away.
“This won't be the last you see of me!” His cold, menacing voice whispered. Then he started to chuckle, then laugh hysterically as the officers dragged him out of the apartment. “My prey never escapes!”

“Oh, Aislin, you must be so scared!” The thin, tinny voice came out of the telephone.
“Not really, Mom. He's in jail now. I am completely safe.”
“Lock all your doors and windows just in case. You never know with these maniacs.”
“I already do that, Mom! Trust me, I will be fine. There is no way he is going to get out of jail.”
“Alright, you do know I love you, right?”
“Of course, Mom. I love you too”
“Stay safe.”
“I will” With a sigh, Aislin set down the phone. The bloody message was still scrawled on the wall and she began to feel sick looking at it. The phone rang, shattering the silence and causing Aislin to jump.
“Hello?”
“Hey! It's Lita!” Lita was Aislin's long time best friend.
“Lita! Hi! I could really use some company right now!”
“You poor thing! How about you meet me at the coffee shop?”
“That sounds great! Fifteen minutes?”
“Sounds good to me! Meet you there.” Desperately needing to get out of the house, Aislin put on her coat and headed to the coffee shop. She was glad that Lita had called. She had always been there for Aislin and their friendship grew after Aislin's dad died of cancer, leaving her mom all alone. Both Lita and Aislin were going to attend medical school that year, but Aislin had to drop out because of her mom, so Lita went with her and they had been together ever since. Finally, she could see the coffee shop on the corner. Through the window, she could see Lita's bright blond hair. As soon as she opened the door, Lita jumped up and gave her a big hug and instantly her heart lightened.
“You don't know how much I needed that!” She said as they sat down at the table and ordered coffee.
“After what you went through? I bet! You must be terrified!” By then, the other costumers at the shop were looking at her, for the story had been all over the news.
“Not really, I mean, its not like he is going to escape from jail right?”
“I doubt it, but most people would be scared after something like that.” For a while they just sat and enjoyed the day. A man from another table got up and walked over.
“Excuse me, but I couldn't help noticing who you are and do you think I could have a moment?” As he said this he pulled a black notebook and pencil from his coat.
“I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk to the press.”
“I understand. If you ever want to talk, here's my card.” He gave her his card and walked out the door.
“Wow, you're kinda famous now!” Lita joked as she punched Aislin in the arm.
“I know! You would think I would enjoy the attention, but I would rather that it didn't happen at all!”
“I don't think anybody would want it to happen, but it did. So maybe you should use it. I bet you could get quite a bit of money for your story.”
“No, I don't want to talk about what happened.” With that they finished their coffee and went their different ways. Already the sick feeling in Aislin's stomach was starting to return as she walked home. The sickening message was their waiting for her. Grabbing a rag, she started to wash the blood off the wall as best as she could, but it still left a dark stain. With a cry, she grabbed a bucket of white paint and splashed it on the wall, covering the stain. Tears started to well up in her eyes as the terrible voice of that man filled her mind. She knew that she would be scarred from this forever. Trying to rid her mind of the voice, she turned on the TV. The evening news was on and it showed a helicopter shot of the nearby prison. The bucket slid from her fingers and hit the floor. The headline flashed: Serial killer escapes from prison. Lock all doors and windows. Report any suspicious activity to the police immediately. Do not go out after dark. Thud. Her breathing grew heavy. Thud. Her heart was pounding. Thud. The man's voice echoed in her mind: “My prey never escapes!” Thud. She felt hot, moist breath on the back of her neck as a voice whispered,
“I told you my prey never escapes.”

Work still in progress....