Jeff The Killer: Shattered Memory

Jeff The Killer: Shattered Memory

She just couldn't fall asleep…

As the cool November evening slowly flowed into the morning dead time hours, a young girl tossed and turned in her small yet comfortable bed, thick turquoise colored blankets covering her small form. Soft moonlight splashed across her blind-shut window, revealing a small, two roomed apartment that seemed more like a dorm suite for a college residence building.  Plainly decorated, only a few posters and pictures here and there on the sea foam painted wall, a small TV in the farthest corner with a midnight blue bean bag chair right in front of it to represent a "couch". Near that, a medium-sized coffee table was present, a cute looking tea pot with two porcelain tea cups resting on the surface.

That was what the girl concentrated on; the entirety of her room…that was all the girl could concentrate on. Sleep…was out of the question.

A long and bare pale arm reached out from under the comforter, groping about to find her dresser and letting out a soft sigh of relief when her fingertips grazed across the smooth glossy cover of her cellphone. Making a grab for it, she dragged the helpless device underneath her little hideaway and flipped it open.

4:44 AM

Comforting.

It didn't help that the teenager was also feeling very…anxious, she would describe it as possibly?

Yes, anxious would be the correct word for how she felt. She couldn't help but blame her fellow classmates for this though, they just had to keep yapping away about what was happening in the world. Now, granted the girl shouldn't be irritated about that, everyone was free to talk when they wished. But…it was what they were talking about that truly bothered her:

"I heard he was nearby…"

"You….You mean that killer?"

"Yeah, I saw it on the news! And it's all over the internet! Turns out he's near Janesville. That's where he supposedly lived."

"But that's OUR town! You're just screwing with us now!"

"No…No I heard about that too, she isn't fucking around. A lot of people on message boards and chat rooms like to talk about him. Not to mention all of those newspaper articles…and the media in general. He's practically everywhere these days."

"But…there ARE survivors, right? There was that little boy who survived. And that little girl! They were part of an interview story, remember?"

"That's the thing…rumor has it…that around a week or so after they were interviewed…they went missing."

"What!? …No way…"

"Yup. It looks like Jeff refuses to leave any survivors…"

… Jeff….

Jeff the Killer…that's what he was titled. A rather silly name, not very creative…but it got the point across, most definitely.

Janesville…Janesville, Wisconsin.

Where he was rumored  to live before he lost his mind…and where he supposedly was, at this exact moment.  ….But wait.

'Why does that name…sound so familiar to me…' the girl thought, despite her nervousness. Jeff wasn't exactly an uncommon name, so feeling that the name was familiar wasn't a huge climactic surprise for her. No, it was just…there was something about that name that struck a chord with her. Almost as if…she KNEW someone by that name.

Why couldn't she remember…?

….Right. Because she was completely exhausted.  So, why didn't she just go to—

The girl froze underneath her blankets as she heard a soft 'creaaaak' echo throughout her once dead silent apartment.

….What was that?

It wasn't like she had any pets, and it couldn't have been somebody in the hallway. No…No, it definitely wasn't anybody in the hallway. It sounded like the creak came from HER floorboard, nothing else. But…that was impossible. She was obviously the only one inside the room, and she hadn't moved a muscle. Nothing seemed to have fallen over, her door was-

….Her…door was…

The girl's eyes suddenly widened in realization. She….

She didn't lock her front door before she went to bed.

As soon as this dawned on her, a heavy pressure could be felt pushing into her knees from on top of her comforter, and a  smooth, cold metallic sensation was suddenly against the bare nape of her exposed neck….

The girl whipped around with a start…and the width of her orbs only increased.

There, sitting on top of her, his long blade pressed against her throat…was a male, not much older than she was by the looks of his body build. His long and black shaggy hair fell against his shoulders, greasy bangs splashing against his forehead. His skin….His skin was as white as the alabaster stone, almost as if he had been dunked into paint…or bleach. He wore a rather dirty hoodie, the same color as his skin, with faded blue jeans and worn, soiled black sneakers.

His face, however.... It was almost as if his eyelids had been burnt off by something, or just so severely damaged that the eyes themselves were forced to stay open, his pupils…black; a deep, piercing ebony hue that seemed to penetrate your very soul, your core.  He seemed to have a nose, but judging by the damage of his skin, it had nearly been destroyed. The stare-worthy feature…was that smile.

It stretched from ear to ear, scarred over at the seams. It appeared that whatever caused that never-ending smile had been a long while ago. The girl could only stare silently..she did not scream, she did not cry out…she did not even tear up from the sheer fright of the moment. All she could do…was stare. The man seemed amused by this, despite the fact that he was unable to see her full features…just the outline of her face.

"You're so quiet….." he lightly chuckled, though that disturbing laughter was anything but filled with 'light', "Are you already asleep…?"

"……N-No…." The girl managed to speak up, kicking herself mentally for doing so. The man, hearing this, threw his deformed head back and laughed loudly, hysterically…psychotically.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! SO SHE SPEAKS!!! Quite a brave little girl, you are….most would be screaming by now…or sobbing…at least a little whimper would come out from their poor, unbeautiful lips~" he almost seemed to coo, teasing the young girl.

Regardless, she held firm…

"….Who are you…?" she softly asked, trying her best not to let her body start to shake in fear. It wasn't really the face that scared her (though she felt a bit deranged for knowing that fact), it was more of the tip of the knife that was slowly, painfully pressing into her neck, right near her jugular vein. No…the face didn't scare her. As a matter of fact, it seemed…nearly familiar to her. Maybe she saw a picture of it on the computer…?

The infamous serial killer, hearing her puzzled tone, just grinned even wider…if that was even possible.

"Oh…I think you know who I am…don't you…"

"…..That….serial killer?" she softly questioned. The man almost bounced on her legs in mock joy.

"DING DING DING! Why, it seems we have a winner!" he exclaimed, and the girl questioned why nobody was trying to break her door down as of yet…or call the police. She at least wanted to know that somebody was concerned about her, especially if she died in the gruesome and brutal fashion that she only heard about in the internet forums and whispering voices.  "And it seems…." The man continued, slowly running the knife down her throat and across her collarbone, heading down towards her breast and over her heart. "That I will need to give you a prize…"

"….A…prize…?"

"Why yes~ Don't you watch game shows, or have ever been to a carnival? And I know the perfect prize for you...an exclusive, one-way trip…."

Here it comes…..

"After all….you must be so tired…."

The girl's eyes widened once again, knowing what was about to happen. She silently whispered "goodbye" to her mother, her father….her friends…convinced she would never see them again.  But…at least, to her benefit…she will get to see the face of the man who killed her. Watch how he murdered her defenseless body…she will at least know how and when she died. Like his unblinking eyes….the girl would watch the entire thing.

"Now…." Her future killer drawled, pulling the knife away for only a moment as he raised it up in the air, high above his head as his smile increased into a full maniacal grin, one that did not even need the carved monstrosity to do it.

"GO…..TO….SLE-"

Before he could finish, the once closed blinds to the girl's apartment blew upward, the full extent of the moon's gentle rays blanketing over them both…revealing the girl's face to him.

….His smile disappeared. Even with the permanent grin, he seemed to frown in almost a shock…a bewildered, confused shock…..and recognition.

"….Y-You……." He managed to choke out in surprise, the knife only centimeters from cutting into her flesh as he slowly pulled his weapon of choice away, pushing away from where he once comfortably sat.  The girl could only watch, her own puzzlement matching his own as he slowly backed away, slid towards her window and leaped out of it.  The girl almost let out a loud gasp before she remembered that she lived on the first floor of the apartment…only a five foot drop.

The way he said that simple word, that one phrase of acknowledgement…it was spoken like someone who had not seen somebody in a very long time, someone they were sure they would never meet again. Nothing like a long-lost lover or anything stupid like that…but like an old friend. And from the uncharacteristic expression on the famed "leave no survivors"  serial killer…he definitely showed the physical reaction behind what he practically choked out.

…He knew her? But…But how, exactly?

…At that moment, she really didn't care.

Only at that moment, when she heard her door being smacked down by another apartment neighbor, the sound of belated sirens echoing loudly outside of her apartment complex, when she was able to feel the "pins and needles" of her formerly sat on legs begin to fade…did the girl allow herself to cry.

-Around a few miles away from the apartment complex-

Far enough and hidden in the thick darkness of an alley way, the deformed murderer known simply as "Jeff" paused to catch his breath, his rusted over knife now hidden away in one of his pockets.

"F-Fuck....FUCKING SHIT!!!" He let out a loud snarl, and a pale fist collided with the brick wall, stone still moist from a night before's thunderstorm, "Her....it had to be FUCKING. HER."

Oh, he knew the girl. Not in an intimate way, but damn did he know her....

She was the only one from his past left that even reminded him of...

"Liu...." He mumbled softly, glancing towards the wall where it and his hand met violently. Shit...looked like there was a small dent, and his hand looked like it might be broken.

Liu was always the friendliest of the two, if a bit stand-offish at times. He made acquaintances with practically everyone they had ever met....and...that girl was included.

She was a neighbor that lived a few blocks away from their new house, maybe a little younger than Liu and definitely younger than him. She had really long hair that got knotted a lot, and she loved to play pretend. Yeah....he didn't remember her name for crap, but he remembered how much she loved to play pretend.

She was one of the only kids, aside from Liu, that was genuinely nice to him.

...Maybe that was why, on that night that changed him both for better and for worse...did he break into her house and lay low.

He WAS planning to kill off her parents- they were those annoying hippy-like people-, but saw the car was gone when he ran by. Huh, even better...nobody was there.

....He was wrong.

"They went to this festival for the weekend..." The nine year old girl said in her same happy tone of voice, staring up at the confused Jeff (who still was practically covered in the blood of his parents and little brother), her pink nightgown with pastel-colored stars and moons being the only physical thing he could remember about her....that and she was hungry for a midnight snack.

They fucking LEFT their kid ALONE? What was she, barely nine or ten or- SHIT, Dad was actually RIGHT about careless they were. If he was still here when they got home, oh....did THEY have a surprise waiting for them...

The then twelve year old Jeff wasn't sure why logic mixed with madness at that point, but...fuck it all, he wasn't going to keep questioning it.

Hell, he wasn't even going to question why he didn't fucking gut this kid yet!

....But he didn't. He just....couldn't do it. The son of a bitch who murdered his family without even a SECOND thought, who just had joyful mental images of killing some more unsuspecting people...couldn't hurt this girl.

"....Jeff?" she asked, tilting her little head to the side.

"....What?" He replied numbly.

"...Are you feeling better? I wrote you a 'Get Well' card at school today, but Liu had said to give it to you tomorrow. Did he tell you that? Is that why you're here?"

....She really was a naive kid.

"Uh....yeah, that's why."

"Oh, okay! I mean, I can go get it-"

"Nah....it's late. You need to go back to bed." What the FUCK was he saying?

"But...I'm hungry..."

"Don't worry about it. Just go to bed."

"....Kay...." She was unsure, that was apparent, but she did as she was told and walked back to her room, glancing back for a moment and giving a little smile, "Tell Liu I said hi! I'll give you your card tomorrow, I promise!"

Jeff gave a nod, curt but visible. And when her little form disappeared, he wanted to almost scream. Why was she not questioning ANYTHING that was happening right now!? He was soaked in blood, there was a fucking KNIFE in his hands, his face...as 'beautiful' as it was, wasn't looking like the last time she saw it!

...Just...fuck it!

And now....it didn't do any better.

Jeff couldn't kill her AGAIN. It's been....fuck, ten years at this point, and the moment he knew it was her, he couldn't finish the hunt!

But WHY? Just....why!?

....The sounds of police sirens growing louder echoed, and Jeff slid deeper into the alley crack, pressing his back against the wall.

Whatever....he could find out another time. ...No, he WOULD. But...in the mean time...

The sounds of laughter coming from behind him made him glance slightly, eyes grazing over another apartment complex and a lone light on the first floor. His grin increased.

Looks like...letting loose some steam would do him some good. It was WAY past someone's bedtime.


(I do not own this story credit goes to the writer)