Page 49 of The Xmas Day Butcher

“I can’t do it,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “Lenny, I can’t live with this. I can’t live with any of it. Please…end it. End me.”

After everything, this is how it ended with Angela. After everything I had done—all the people I had murdered in her name…it was over. She was right. We could never be the same, ever again.

I was a killer.

After 25 days of hell, my life ended on Christmas Day.

“No.” I knelt beside her, touching her cheek lightly. “Never. I love you. I always will. I swear I’ll make him pay for what he did to us.”

I stood up.

If I’m a killer now…so be it. I am the Xmas Day Butcher, and my next victim is my brother—the Dollhouse Killer.

I grabbed the hatchet and the gun, but before I could charge out into the darkness and kill Lincoln—I collapsed to the ground.

An odd sensation erupted inside my head, as blood spilled over my eyes.

The last thing I saw was Angela standing over me, the gun in her trembling hands, as tears streamed down her face.

One day it'll end. One day.

EPILOGUE

Lincoln Frost, the twin brother, disappeared—like a ghost in the wind. He went into hiding, changing his name and his appearance.

He worked any construction jobs he could find—the ones that wouldn’t ask for any identification, the ones that paid under the table. He lived in abandoned cars, underneath bridges, and occasionally he’d spend a few nights in a motel when he could spare the cash.

Eventually he made his way back to Whisper’s Creek—several years later. But, under a new name—Lonnie Jacobs. A twisted serial killer hiding in plain sight. But his urges never vanished, and he looked forward to the day when he’d be able to strikeagain, as theDollhouse Killer.

10 YEARS LATER…

A different kind of monster—a sinister, depraved man named Bedlam would abduct a young woman in Whisper’s Creek.

The “Cycle” begins…