TW: swearing, murder
Lucy stared at her phone, next to her brother, Josef. "Are you scrolling through challenges again?" He asked, an annoyed tone present in his voice. Lucy sighed. "I hear they give money now. Rewards." Josef groaned. "Yeah, like I'd put my foot in my mouth for four dollars. Or climb to the highest branch on a 30 foot tall tree and jump down for fifty." Lucy continued to scroll. Collect all the minis, win 40$. Steal 10 backpacks, win 30$.
"We need the money, Josef. Mom's been out of her job for almost a month. She's interviewed four different businesses! Maybe it's not much, but it's money." Josef got up, scanning the street. "I'm gonna head back in. But just remember, your time and legal protection is worth more than 60 dollars." Lucy nodded, her eyes glued to her phone screen. She numbly scrolled down, looking at every option. She saw ones that were worth over 1000$. But then, she saw the jackpot: 1 million dollars. But the price was extreme: Kill one person. Contact when done and send only their head to the address I give. When I receive it, you will receive the reward. Lucy's eyes widened. 1 million dollars. They would never have to worry about financials for the rest of their lives. Lucy panicked for a moment when Josef walked outside again, yelling at her to get in for dinner. She nodded diligantly and walked into their cramped home. The floorboards were beggining to crack, and the once vibrant colors on the tablecloth were becoming mute. Lucy imagined for a moment, a newly decorated house. Scrap that. A mansion fit for kings. A long, sturdy dining room table. A video game room. An indoor playground. A large bedroom for Lucy to have all to herself.
She sat down on the creeky chairs, patiently waiting for her hot mac and cheese to be served. Then, she imagined one head. Where could she hide it? How could she kill the person? How could she trust this random guy online? But something still felt uncomfortable. She didn't want to kill anyone. She didn't want to imagine any corpses. But she didn't want to live in a run-down house, either.
"What are you looking at?" Josef's voice made Lucy tremble for a moment. He was always the domineering older brother. He always told her what she should want and what he wanted from her. Like a mini-parent, ever since Dad left the house. But she still loved him. He was her brother, after all. "Nothing." Lucy attempted to say calmly. She wasn't looking at serial killers. Totally not. She didn't find them the slightest bit intriguing. She wasn't trying to see what it felt like to murder. She wasn't trying to see how they did it. It's so easy. Lucy thought.
There's gotta be another way. Maybe I can go to the morge, and steal one head. I don't have to kill anyone. But how am I supposed to do that? "No one would do that." Lucy covered her mouth. She didn't mean to say anything. "Lucy?" Josef called. He ran to her room. Lucy almost ran and shoved the door, but she knew it would look suspicious. "Hey." Josef gave an obviously fake smile. "You didn't shut the door on me. Weird." Lucy almost gave a deep frown. She did exactly what her brother expected her to do. He knew her too well. "I'm not doing anything you should be worried about. No serial killing sisters here." He grinned. "Even if you were a serial killer, it wouldn't surprise me." She gave a chuckle back, although it was fake. With that, Josef closed the door, and Lucy could plan.
She stayed up late that night, looking for the best ways to steal from a morge. It was closed at 9, but she doubted there were security guards. You're just stealing one head. It's forgivable. Maybe I could get help. She told herself. But then she groaned. This is idiotic. I'm not stealing anybody's head. No, this is insane.
She called her friend, Debby, hoping that her nervous energy could be gotten rid of by a long conversation. "Do you ever have bad thoughts?" She asked.
"Uh, sure. We all do. But don't act on them and don't hurt yourself, and you'd be fine." Debby's voice started to turn static, the cheap wi-fi acting up again. Lucy groaned. "The world hasn't done enough for people like us. We have to fend for ourselves." Lucy complained.
"Lucy?" Debby asked in a concerned voice. "Do you want to talk about something?" Lucy let out a sigh. "I've been seeing those contests online, y'know, with a money prize. My Mom won't let me do any of them. I mean, jesus, I should be able to do them. Especially if I make 20 dollars for licking my elbow. And there's one with a really high price, and if I got it then we wouldn't have to worry about money for basically forever."
"What's the price?" Debby asked in a more calm voice. "1 million." Debby stayed quiet. "Debby, they have to pay the money within 2 days after you complete the challenge. Otherwise they get sued and they have to pay up the money anyway." Lucy explained, hoping it would sound more trustworthy. She was pretty sure that was how it worked. She picked a new position on her bed, silently hoping that it wouldn't break under her weight. "And what's the challenge?" Lucy didn't hesitate to lie.
"It's skydiving...without a parachute." Debby went immediately crazy. "Lucy! Are you crazy?! Lucy as long as I live you're never going to skydive without a parachute, even for a million dollars. Lucy do you need to talk to someone? I'm serious. It's okay to speak to a therapist...." She continue to babble, but Lucy ignored it. For a moment, she imagined free college tuition, a new house, a better life. Better cell phone service. More than the occasional fast food for a treat. Entire luxurious meals at a steak house. Lucy grinned at the thought of it.
"I'm gonna hang up now. My mom's calling."
"Lucy!" Debby shouted. "Please don't hang up-" Beep beep. The call was over. Debby sent a gargantuan about of texts, but Lucy turned off notifications. She spent most of the night formulating a plan. She looked at obituaries and murders. 150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0Rd73Ki8h
Lucy didn't understand why, but she was so drawn to it. To the process. To the person crying out in pain and shaking violently as the knife went deeper into their chest.
She rolled into bed and turned off the lights, constantly thinking. I'm a psychopath. Jesus, I'm such a horrible person. I'm Lucy Loris Skinhart, I shouldn't be thinking this way. I'm not a murderer. I wouldn't even murder, I would just be stealing a head from the morge. Why am I thinking this? Why do I want this? Why do I care so much about money, when-
Her train of thought was stopped when she heard someone crying. She frowned, and got out of bed. She traced the sound back to her mother, who normally slept on the living room couch so that Josef could have a bedroom to himself. "Mom?" Her eyes widened. Her lovely hero who helped with everything had her eyes red and puffy, with tears sliding down her skin. "Sweetie, go to bed."
"Mom, it's okay. " Lucy insisted. She couldn't see her mom this way. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, I was just thinking about college." She brushed a tear. "I really wanted to go, believe me. But my parents were poor. While most of the people I knew went to college, I couldn't afford even a year. I didn't know what I wanted to be, even. And I was thinking, because I never went to college, I ended up meeting your father..." She started sobbing, now. Lucy sighed. Whenever they mentioned her father, the atmosphere went cold. "But I don't want you to think that I don't love you. Lucy, I'd do anything in the world for you. For us." Lucy brought some tissues for her mom.
When her mother was over with the crying, she looked into Lucy's eyes thoughtfully. "Why were you up so late?" Lucy smiled, a real smile, but she gave a fake chuckle. "Oh, y'know, instagram sometimes keeps me up at night." Her mother nodded. "I'd get off social media if I were you." Lucy laughed.
"Alright. Go to sleep, Mom." Her mother gave one last smile and a goodnight kiss, before Lucy went off to bed. She had decided it their and then: she would get that money, no matter what it took.
Wind whipped in her face. The middle of the night, the moon still shining bright. Lucy smiled, certainty within herself. She whistled, the sound getting dispersed as quickly as it formed. She had called her mom to say that she had been going to Debby's house. Debby kept calling, but Lucy kept ignoring it. It was so easy to just forget that some people didn't actually want her to succeed in life and for her family to be happy. Heck, she didn't even have to speak to Debby again. Debby could tell some dopey lie about how Lucy was insane, but Lucy still wouldn't care. It didn't matter anymore. She had won.
She was armed with her intentions and wit, as well as a knife she kept in her pocket. She also kept her backpack to hide the head in, and a flashlight for the darkness. She even kept a rope just incase, and gloves so that nobody knew it was her. She figured that no one would be here at night. 150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLvRhCSCw2
She knew of a murder of a man called Damien Corsa, a despised drunk who had no family. He had been murdered only 2 days ago. Nobody would care if his head was taken. Lucy grinned, adrenaline rushing up her veins.
She got off her bike when she arrived into the morge. Like she thought, no security. The lights were dark. She would have to find Damien's body on her own, searching through several rooms. She graciously looked around. The morge was on a dead end, nobody would see her. She climbed up the window and into a vent. Carefully, she opened it and went in.
She was light-weight, so no creaks or sounds were made as she climbed through. The ventilation in the morge was top notch so that no bodies reeked and were preserved well. When she found one of the rooms under her, she took off the mesh and jumped down onto the floor.
She made a loud sound and winced, but she wasn't hurt. Nobody's here. She thought to herself. She looked through each of the cupboards where they kept the bodies. The door to the room was locked, so she couldn't check any of the other rooms. Carefully, she looked. Gradually, as she saw all the heads, her disgust dissintigrated. The people looked almost at peace. But no matter where she looked, she couldn't find Damien. She cursed to herself before choosing the head of a young woman. She took the knife and cut it off, before tossing it into the vent. She stood on an operating table, trying to get her muscles to work so she could get back into the vent.
Suddenly, the door opened. Lucy turned around to see an old woman with a white suit, like a scientist in a lab. The woman screamed, her bright blue eyes still visable in the dark.
Lucy's eyes widened, and she got off the table. She couldn't see the woman scream. She would get caught. Her whole life would be a prison sentence. How could she possibly live with that?
Quickly, Lucy brought the knife out. "Be quiet." She demanded. The woman took a few steps back before lunging to open the door, but Lucy was faster. She stabbed the woman several times, twice in the stomach and once in the head. Blood splattered on the floor, the woman's body shaking for several moments before falling down, limp. Lucy felt a feeling she had never felt before. The adrenaline had just spiked to a thousand. She felt invincible, yet so terrified. She was a murderer now.
She got back into the vent and quickly made her escape. When she got home, she threw out her soiled clothes and got into her pajamas. No one ever suspected a thing.
The next day, she found herself weirdly agitated. Every small moment seemed to annoy her. Debby kept calling her, and for some reason it hurt even more. Even worse was the words she saw on her screen: Contest Ended. She hadn't been crazy enough or strong enough to finish the job. She would never get the money, but she would always have the blood on her hands. She mainly hanged out in her room, ignoring everyone. She kept scrolling for other murder related contests, even those with relatively low prizes. But she found nothing. Her once in a lifetime chance was gone. She even ignored her mother and her brother. She couldn't understand. Sure, she had every reason to be upset, but she felt like her life had turned upside down in only 24 hours, and that nobody knew. She also kept finding the murder on local news. Her fingerprints weren't found anywhere, which was relieving. But she secretly felt this nagging feeling to just turn herself in. There was a deep pain inside of her, that only kept growing second by second after she had killed the woman. She figured out later that that woman's name was Beatrice Beekly, and she had a husband and four children, and even one beautiful baby granddaughter. This wasn't a drunkard's head, but it was an innocent person who was now dead.
Suddenly, her door opened. Debby and Josef.
"What is it?" Lucy demanded. "I thought I made it clear that I wanted to see no one. I would've locked my damn door if this house wasn't too crappy to even have those."
Debby sighed. "It wasn't a skydiving contest, was it."
"Shut the fuck up, Debby. It's not like you would care. Your lawyer parents gave you everything. You've never known what it's like to be the little guy, where being given 10 dollars for a birthday is practically a gift from god." Lucy sneered. "I want you all to leave."
"I found the clothes, Lucy." Josef spoke this time. "Lucy, if you hurt yourself-"
"I DID NOT HURT MYSELF, JOSEF." The room went silent. Lucy looked around for the knife. She had a feeling it was in her dresser. She rose, collecting herself. "We just want to help you, Lucy." Debby insisted.
"This is my room, Debby. I can speak to Josef, but you should go and fucking die in hole. Hell, I'd gladly dig your grave so you can get into it and I would never have to see your face again."
"Lucy-"
"One last time, you little bitch. Leave." Debby acted offended, like for once in her life she realized that she wasn't wanted. "Lucy, I won't leave. I care about you. Don't you understand?"
Lucy didn't hesitate. She grabbed the knife in her dresser, and stabbed Debby in the leg. Debby screamed in pain. Josef tried to grab Lucy and tackle her, but Lucy brought the knife to his throat instead. "Quiet." She insisted, grabbing Josef's throat so that he wouldn't try to leave. "I wouldn't want to use the second knife."
Josef's eyes were wide. "Mom! Call 911! Mom!" Lucy grabbed her brother's mouth instead, still keeping him close where the knife was. She forced him to sit on her bed. Meanwhile, Debby was bleeding out in the corner.
"What? Honey? Are you alright?" Mom called from the opposite side of the house. "We're fine, we just were rough housing a bit too much."
"Okay, sweetie." Lucy grinned. Her mother wouldn't do anything now. Josef's eyes were still wide. He didn't scream or even attempt to. He just sat their, as if contemplating his life. Lucy didn't loosen her grip on his mouth. Several moments passed in silence.
"You really are a serial killer." Debby said, her weak and cloudy eyes watching Lucy. "You get what you deserve." Lucy responded.
Debby gave her last smile. "What's up you little bitch?" Lucy asked, trying to sound intimidating. "I just heard your mother call the police. They're coming anytime. You're gonna live the rest of your life in a cage, regretting not jumping out of an airplane without a parachute." With that, Debby's body slumped. She had bled out, the blood leaking into the basement below them.
Lucy sat up. "Josef. Stay here unless you plan on dying today." Josef remained still. But Lucy wouldn't take any chances. She got a baseball bat and quickly wacked him, before he had a chance to respond. He was out cold. With that, Lucy ran to her mother.
"Mom! It's not what you think! It was just a little fighting!" When she found her mother, she was once again crying on the sofa. "Mom..." Lucy sat down next to her. "I knew something was wrong, the second you came home without saying a word. Something's happened, Lucy. You're not the same sweet, little girl from yesterday."
"Mom...of course I'm the same. I don't need help. Sure, I need a little guidance, but so does everyone." Mom started to sob even harder. "You hijacked her sweet voice, and her careful words. You hijacked my daughter. I know I can never have her back."
"Mom! It's still me, I'm still Lucy." Lucy insisted. Her mother put a hand on her shoulder. "You killed more than one person last night." The words of a police officer filled the air.
She stood up, whipping her head around. 3 officers. Her mother had betrayed her. Lucy screamed with pure rage. "How could you do this, you bitch! I'm your daughter! I swear, I'll come back, and when I do, I'm coming for you-"
Suddenly, Lucy felt her arm grabbed. "You're under arrest, Miss Skinhart." Lucy didn't hesitate. She knew she would be quick enough to get one last stab at the policemen. She hit him once, before a bullet went straight to her stomach.
As the blood drained, as pain destroyed her body, she got her last words spoken: "You'll find me again, and this time, you won't be able to hide."
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