Page 22 of Love Me in the Dark

I get home and immediately start a fire in the fire pit. Once everything is clean, and everything is thrown into the fire, I sit in a camping chair to watch the remainder of the evidence burn away. It is a peaceful night, so it’s slightly annoying when my phone starts ringing.

“Hello?” I answer.

“Hey,” Cade says. “I, uh… I found something when I got home earlier.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. There is bread on my counter,” he remarks. I can hear in his voice that he is trying not to cry. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I did,” I say. “Mom and Dad started that tradition with us when we were children. We still carry on that tradition, and I’m not letting those three assholes take that from me. It was hard for a while to even look at a jug of milk, but last night I decided that it was time. The first loaf, I completely messed up, but that was my second try. I left it shortly after you went to work. That’s why I was a few minutes late.”

“I love you, Phoenyx,” he says tearfully. “I fucking hate that I keep crying.”

“Oh. Big scaryemotions,” I laugh.

“Shithead,” he chuckles. “What are you doing?”

“Just sitting by the fire. You?” I ask.

“Watching TV,” he says. “I just wanted to check in on you. Are you liking the cabin?”

“I am. I like being in the middle of nowhere,” I tell him. “Can I ask you a question?”

“You can ask me anything?”

“Do you think I’ll ever find love after what they did to me?” I ask.

“Absolutely,” he says. “Your trauma is not who you are. Any man who has an issue with your past, especially things beyond your control, is not worth your time and attention.”

“I’m just… I’ll be okay,” I say. “Just thinking, is all.”

“You sure?” he asks.

“Yeah. Just got a little lonely sitting by the fire,” I say.

“Callum and I will bring pizza and hang out tomorrow. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds great,” I say happily. “See you then.”

“Goodnight, Nyx. Call me if you need me,” he says.

3

Phoenyx

One Month Later

One month.

Four murders.

Zero regret.

Every Friday night, I kill someone new. Each were guilty of rape. One was guilty of rapeandmurder of a child. They all screamed and begged in the end. They all suffered, and I haven’t had a single nightmare since. I go to work during the day, and I research at night. I have made a name for myself in a short amount of time. Outside of the men who attacked me, I am the only one who knows that they called my Birdy, so that is what I have named myself on the dark web. Morbid, I know. I think it’s funny, but I also murder for fun.

I have researched all week, and the only one of interest is a mafia leader named Knox Butler, who apparently raped,murdered, and dismembered his wife ten years ago. There are plenty of rumors of his ruthlessness and cruelty, but I can’t find anything that is telling of what happened to his wife. I cannot even find her maiden name, but her name when she died was Macey Butler.

I have everything ready to go, but I am still double-checking things. I wish I had more information to go off of. I know his address, and I know that all week his property has had very little activity. I should be able to sneak in through a side door and go to the main living room. It seems like the biggest area, according to the vague blueprints. Sometimes I wish I could talk to the people who send me this information, but I would get caught so fucking fast.