(Publisher's Note: This story is NOT a true story. It is completely fictional and part of a triology Danny is working on. )

dannywoodall500@hotmail.com

Dale walked into his apartment, and tossed his coat on the couch. He had to admit he loved the bachelor life. It had been a bad day at work. Two weeks before Christmas, the mail was heavy. Still the supervisor rode him all morning. Oh well, tomorrow it would be another carrier on the hot seat. He wondered if Mrs. Larson would bake him cookies like she did last Christmas. Todd, the relief carrier, knew the cookies were off limits.

He sat down at the computer. First, a game of chess, he played the Dragon variation and won in twenty moves. The Dragon bishop was a killer piece. With the Dragon, you either got smashed, or you smashed someone. Next he played through a couple of Bobby Fischer’s games.

Then over to NetTown, the latest spin off of MySpace. A few clicks and he was on Kathy’s space. It was his one small pleasure in life. Kathy was a blonde haired blue-eyed girl. She was one of the most popular girls on the site. For the past six months he had been on her top ten friends list. When he joined NetTown, she wrote in his guestbook, you must be thoughtful because you are a chess player. She lived in a city only two hours away, but he had been burned once in a relationship, and didn’t want to go through the pain again. Come home, click on NetTown, look at her page, and keep it at that.

Her list of friends popped on the screen, his heart froze. Deleted. Why? He stared at the new number ten, a young musician. A quick scan through her friends, he was nowhere to be found. His head started to throb. Back to the new number ten, Steve, a gospel singer. Dale’s fist punished the table. Anger flowed like molten lava from his heart. He felt it oozed throughout his body. He thought he was through with Christians. Linda’s picture flashed across his mind, his only girlfriend. She married a young preacher, since then he detested Christians. He had noticed Kathy’s references to Christianity, but thought they weren’t real. Someone with that smile couldn’t be a Christian.

A few clicks and he found Kathy’s address. He was off the next weekend, and could check her neighborhood, maybe give her a good scare. For the next couple of hours he planned his trip of revenge. The next weekend he drove to her town. He cruised through her neighborhood in his red Toyota. Her house was on the corner. The gate wasn’t locked. No one was home, from everything he saw, she lived alone.

When evening came, he parked the car at a local grocery store three blocks away. Behind the store he changed into black clothes, and moved like a phantom across a vacant lot. One block, one house with a string of Christmas lights, two blocks, and a cat darted across the street. He turned the corner. The driveway was empty and the house was dark. He slipped into the backyard through the gate. The privacy fence gave him shelter while he waited for his prey. A quick search along the back of the house and he found a window he could shove open. Maybe he would confront in her living room or the backyard. She would mumble some apology. He would laugh and walk away. No one would get hurt.
He noticed the moonless night. The cold air seeped into his bones. While the darkness seeped into his soul He settled into a comfortable spot by a tree and waited. The couple across the street came home. Later a car load of teenagers raced down the street. At last he heard a car turn into the driveway. He watched while Kathy made her way into the house. She was on her cell phone, and her voice carried across the yard, “I’m home now Mom. Everything is fine. Tim will fix the gate and the window tomorrow. No, mom we’re not dating. We’re only friends. Talk to you tomorrow. Love you. Good night.”

She unlocked the door and went into the house. Through a window he saw her turn on the TV and watched the news. He was struck by her grace, a woman at peace with herself and the world. After the news, she turned off the TV. The light over the back door came on. Kathy took a step into the backyard. She paused and looked around, then turned around and went inside. Next, the bedroom light came on, in about ten minutes everything was dark.
He couldn’t walk away. She deserved a good scare. No activity at the house next door. The streets were still deserted. He made his way to the window, without a sound he slid the window up. He waited. No sign of a pet. One quick glance around and through the window, his nose detected the scent of orange and clove. A dark form of a Christmas tree was to his right. There was a hallway to his left. He walked down the hall toward her room. A voiced rumble inside of him, “Now is the time?”

The voice unnerved him. He had to get control of himself, all this trouble over a Christian girl. He came to her bedroom, and pushed the door open. The street light shone through the window. By the light cascading through the window, he could tell she was asleep. He walked over and stood beside her bed. A Bible on her nightstand was open. He squinted his eyes, Mark chapter five. For some reason he remembered a night at Vacation Bible School, the teacher talked about how Christ had died for our sins. He couldn’t imagine God loving the world. Not after we had messed it up so much.
The night’s chill filled the room, his eyes glazed. Kathy started to toss in bed. His heart pounded. She moved her head. His hands started to shake. He glanced at the clock on her night stand, ten after ten. She screamed. He panicked, and grabbed a pillow and shoved it over her face. There was a brief struggle. The voice inside of his head screamed, “Smother her, or go to jail.” After a few minutes, her muffled voice was quiet. Her body was lifeless. He glanced at the clock, twenty after ten.

He slipped out of the house, through the yard, and down the street, into his car and back to his apartment. The rest of the weekend he was edgy. The crime scene played over in his head. Monday morning, he called in sick. All he needed was another day to get it together. Around seven Monday evening, he sat in his recliner, and realized he might get a way with the crime. It was like a perverse peace had settled over him. Stay away from Christians, and he would be okay. He laid his head back in the chair. Mark chapter five, he had an old Bible in the bottom of his closet. He dug it out and was captured by the demon-possessed man at the tombs.

Tuesday morning he reported to work. He began to fall into a groove. The days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. No one had an idea of what he had gotten away with. It had been months since he had clicked onto NetTown. Christmas time rolled around again. Dale peeked at the calendar and gave a weak smile. It was one year since he had killed Kathy. He took a deep breath, he was okay now. He had control of the hatred.

Time to visit NetTown, there was a nice memorial to Kathy. He checked a few other pages, and then decided to play chess. Flashing blue and red lights splattered across his darkened apartment. Some poor soul busted for drugs. There was a knock on the door. When he opened the door, two cops were at the door. They asked him his name. The eerie sense of peace left him, and was replaced by deep despair. They led him down the stairs in silence, he thought again of Mark chapter five. Maybe one of the demons had escaped the swine. Maybe he was kin to Legion. An evil smile crept across his lip. He laughed the hopeless laugh that only those doomed to hell can laugh. He looked at two cops, and could only imagine sirens screaming and one thousand police cars going off a cliff. For the last time he had rejected Christ. There was no turning back. He was persona non grata.

Copyright Danny Woodall