Curiosity Killed The Cat

Colton pedaled his bike, sweat dripping down his forehead from under his helmet as he struggled to keep up with the sleek black sedan. His next door neighbor and then best friend, Dave was inside; but why was he being shuttled in a suspicious black sedan in so much secrecy, and at this late hour. Every night at that?

Colton’s curiosity had been stirred by these regular pick ups and drop offs at the same time every night. The same black sedan pulls up at the gate and drives away with Dave. It brings him back at the same time after 3 hours then it disappears into the road ahead. None of his parents owned a sedan and that made his suspicions grow stronger. He had this strong urge to find out what was going on.

Keeping up with the sedan seemed to be difficult for him. Its been a long time since he pedaled on his bike. He had surely outgrown it after being away from home for college for 2 years. His breathing was unsteady and he slowed down a lot. He almost lost the car once, when he slowed down to drink some water. After that encounter, he hadn’t stopped at all, trying his best to keep a safe following distance. He also made sure to be discrete. If he blew his cover, that’d be the end of the investigation.

Colton has always been an adventurous young man. As a kid there’s nothing more he loved than solving mysteries or watching murder documentaries on the television. Popcorn and a glass of soda drink on the side. The television and remote were his favorite. Every weekend when he was free, curtains in the living room were closed, the front and back door were locked. With his own company, he was never bored. He binge watched one documentary after the next. His parents were always away especially on weekends so the house was practically his own on weekends.

He’s had this unhealthy passion for solving mysteries. Even at school, if anything of his got lost and the teachers never cared for the issue, he would solve it himself. He’d also help any of his friends too whenever they needed help. He even turned it into a business. He earned a couple of bucks here and there by helping other learners get back their stolen items from a common thief at school. His next door neighbor and childhood best friend, David; but everyone calls him Dave.

It was because of this obsession that Colton had, their friendship ended. Colton started binge watching everyday after school and had less or no time at all for his best friend. Dave eventually found new friends. Friends that had his time. He found himself friends that were mischievous as he was; pulling pranks on people and getting into a whole lot of trouble. “Harmless fun.” That’s what they’d refer it to.

Colton was a bit heartbroken by the ending of the relationship. It was their final year together at school as they were preparing to graduate from high school. Losing his best friend on their final school year broke his heart but having crime documentaries for company, he didn’t really feel the effect. Exams kept him busy, if he wanted to get into law school then there wasn’t any time to be distracted. At school he had other friends whom he spent time with so loneliness never had any space in his busy life, even though he missed his best friend from time to time.

After solving a countless number of lost items/ belongings in the school, Dave was the main culprit of all the crimes. The school had no choice but to expel him. Colton being the reason behind all of it. That made their relationship go from bad to worse. When they saw each other Dave looked the other way. Dave’s parents were furious at Colton. They tried pleading with the school to let him have a suspension at least; that way he could write final exams and graduate from high school. How can any school accept a student at such a time of the year, especially an expelled student? Dave’s family was poor and they depended on him to get the life they’ve always wanted.

…

The car finally came to a stop. Colton makes sure to be discrete. He hides away behind a bush, close enough to see Dave step out of the car. The mysterious driver also exits, it’s dark so Colton couldn’t really make out who the person was. They dressed themselves in a long coat. It covered their whole body structure. Under the coat, they wore a black hoodie which they covered their head with. They made their way down the trail that they’d been following. Colton decided to leave his bike and follow them quietly on foot.

The five minute walk landed them at an abounded cabin. The windows were covered and nailed down with wooden planks. Nobody seemed to live in there. Colton had thought to himself. The wood of the whole structure was rotting from the bottom going up. Mold was devouring the structure but it stood firm on the ground.

The mysterious driver reached for what looked like a key from their pocket. The front door had a padlock which they used to open the door. After they entered, Dave followed, but before closing the door shut, he checked to see if they were not being followed. His head turned left, it turned right and straight ahead,

the direction of the bush that Colton hid himself. Colton froze that whole moment, staring back without a blink. His heart pounded out his throat. His breathing got heavier and heavier every second that Dave stared at the spot he hid himself in.

Finally the door closed shut. “Pew” A huge sigh escaped from his mouth. His tense body moved to sit up straight. For a second he thought of going back home but his curiosity was too fond for him to do so. He was this far into finding out what he came to investigate, there was no need to give in now. He tricked himself into going forward with the investigation. He got up from his spot and headed for the cabin door. Upon arrival at the front door, he decided to peek inside to get a glimpse of what could be going on in there. He peeked through the crack of the rusted wood. He mistakenly pricked his finger. “Ouch.” He whispered in pain, trying to be as silent as possible.

He continued to look around through the crack, it was too dark for him to see anything clearly. He tried to squint his eyes to see better until he ran into an eye looking straight into the crack he was looking in. He gasped. His heart stopped. He stepped away slowly from the door. His eyes were wide open, his breath was heavy, his fingers trembled vigorously. The door creaked, and it swung slowly till it was wide open. The mysterious person in the coat, Dave’s mother appeared. She wiped what seemed to have been blood from her mouth. She smiled at Colton and smirked at his frightened face. She licked the blood off the knife that she kept swinging around her finger. Colton tried to scream, but it seemed as though his voice was stuck somewhere in his mouth. He tripped over a branch and fell on the blanket of leaves.

Just as he was about to get up, as soon as he snapped back to his senses, he felt his body being dragged. They were headed towards the cabin door. At the door step, he felt the hand of Dave’s mother holding his hand, assisting him to get up. She put her hand across his neck. The other hand held the knife that pushed him towards the dark alleyway. A bare room with creaking floors every step they took. Colton’s heart beating out of his chest. He was sweating involuntarily. His breathing was unsteady and his feet trembled helplessly.

After going through the alleyway, they came across a door that led to the basement of the cabin. Dave’s mother kicked it slightly and it swung open. She led Colton slowly down the stairs. A bright light was visible from afar. A foul smell approached him. It got worse as they got closer to the basement. Upon arrival, Colton saw the most terrifying thing he’d ever seen in his life. Nothing like the documentaries he’s ever watched. Dead bodies of the many reported missing kids from around their town for the past 2 years. They were stacked on top of each other like meat from the butchery. Some of the corpses hung from the ceiling like a cow ready to be butchered.

A countless number of water dispensers lined the left side of the wall. Stacked up to the ceiling. How many kids were there? Every missing kid lay here? How did they even pull this off? Why would Dave and his mom do this? Parents of kids whom they knew cry everyday, cry with them also. They were the ones behind the crimes? So many questions spun in Colton’s head. His head felt heavy for him at this point. It made him feel sick. The smell that lingered in the room made it worse. His eyes fell into surprise when Dave spun around holding a glass of red liquid in his hands. He drank it like a thirsty person would on a typical hot summer’s day. He seemed to enjoy it. He licked his lips in amusement and gave out a loud sigh of relief.

Dave’s mother pushed Colton towards Dave. He fell on his knees. A large gulp of vomit exited from his mouth. He coughed painfully so. Dave lifted his head with his foot from his chin. Colton looked at him in disgust. Dave starred at him in amusement and glimmering eyes. He reached out his hand, offering him a glass of the red liquid. Colton was surprised and disgusted by that so-called gesture. He couldn’t take the smell of it and his body couldn’t take any of this site in front of his eyes. He vomited again but this time Dave gave him a kick in the stomach. Colton cried in agony, crouching in pain in his own vomit. Dave’s mother joined in and they made him a punching bag.

When they felt they were tired, they let off some steam with a glass of red liquid. Colton tried pleading with them to stop. His face was scared so badly, it was black and blue. His body ached so much, he failed to move even his fingers. He lay there helplessly while watching Dave and his mother enjoy drinking the red liquid like it was a glass of sparkling champagne. After watching them down 3 glasses each, they approached him with intent; with knives in their hands, they took turns to stab him a countless number of times. Satisfaction ran through their eyes. They felt amused by the sight of Colton’s death. The sound of the knives in and out of Colton’s flesh made them hungrier. It splattered on their faces. It splattered on the walls. They stabbed him until blood overflowed on his flesh.

After they fed their hunger to kill, they retrieved clean glasses from the counter. Each one of them scooped blood from the pool of blood that they swam in. Colton was more than life-less. He was dead beyond recognition, just a pool of blood fallen victim to the Robin’s.

Dave raised his glass, he scratched his throat in preparation for a toast. He lifted his head high. His mother listened in amusement and satisfaction. “To getting richer.” His mom raised her glass. “Cling.” the sound of their clashing glasses echoed in the room. “That was for ruining my life buddy.” He smiled at Colton’s life-less face. With his other hand he shut Colton’s eyes. They then sat around his corpse and sipped away their victory. Colton Johns!