• It was dark, droll and damp. The swift breezes were frigid and nipped my skin as they passed. I pulled my coat tighter around me to fight off the biting winds. My hair was being blown astray from my head like wild brown tendrils. I knew I had to hurry home before the freezing rain started.

    I marched double-quick on the pavement, my dress shoes clicked and clacked with each step on the concrete. There was no other soul outside that night. It was strange to not even see a young couple on a night out or a drunk who had lost his way.
    My hands roamed in the deep pockets of the my coat until one hand grasped the block of plastic I was searching for, my phone. As I lifted it out and pressed the center button to check the time, the light spewed from the screen, nearly blinding me after my eyes had adjusted to the dim town lighting. I blinked away the hot tears my eyes had formed and read the numbers at the top of the screen. 2:01am. I was surprised. I did not realize I had stayed out that late.

    As my mind worked to try and recall the events of the day, they could not. I couldn’t even remember anything before that moment only blackness. Panic bubbled in my chest. It began to rise in my throat as my mind frantically began to search for any information. I did not even have a name! Who was I? Where was I? Where had I been? It was at that moment I took a moment to look at my hands. They were sticky with a semi-dry liquid. I wriggled my fingers and squeezed my palm and tested the fluid out. I brought them to my face and sniffed. My fears were realized. It was blood. The panic in my chest turned to fear and my heart became a thudding drum.

    My head was getting hot and despite the cold night air, I felt like I was standing in fire. I threw my coat off attempting to let the cold air in, but I should have kept it on. The white button up shirt I wore was coated with more blood. A scream escaped my lips. In shock, I tried rubbing it off. Then I saw a hatchet fall from my belt and clatter on the stone below. Without reason, I jumped for it as if it were dear. I examined the red blade. I wished it was naturally red, but as I could see through gaps of the blood, it was not.

    I remembered my phone, so I grabbed for it out of the jacket. I opened the contact list, and no names appeared. There were no recent calls. Only one text message was in the message center. It was 666-614-0698. I should have known what the triple letters were but in a fit of rage I threw the phone against the ground. As it shattered, sirens filled the street and red and blue lights blinked on and off against the surfaces of the buildings that surrounded me. I grabbed by head as white and black cars skidded to halts around me. Doors opened, but didn’t close. The chic-chick noise of shotguns and handguns chambering rounds filled my ears.

    “Hands up, or I’ll blow you into a meat stain on the side walk you sonufabitch!” a voice shouted out at me from the bright headlights. Who had I killed? Now the question comes. Who I was, or rather the care of who I was slowly slipped away into nothing. The panic and fear slowly turned to a tickle on my insides. The cold air started seeping into my skin providing sweet relief. Now I was at peace. The voice told me it would all be okay.

    “Just kill them all.” It crooned.