December 11th, 2023 11:42 AM
He never called this late. Something had to be wrong.
Kat snatched up her handbag and rushed out the door, her heart pounding.
When someone needed help, she always answered. Her moral compass wouldn't allow otherwise. She always followed her heart. She always believed kindness was a virtue.
But that night, it led her straight into a trap.
The local park was deathly quiet, a soft blanket of undisturbed snow covering the ground. The only sound was the rhythmic tap, tap, tap of her block heels echoing against the pavement.
A lone figure stood near a bench tucked away in a corner of the park, the overhead streetlight casting long, eerie shadows around him.
"David?" Kat called out, her breath fogging in the cold. "Is everything alright?"
The truth was darker than anything she could have imagined.
David turned his head slowly, his voice unnervingly steady. "I knew you'd come."
Kat froze. There was something off about his voice. Too calm. Too rehearsed.
He offered no further explanation. The silence stretched into uncomfortable territory as he stared at her with an undiscernible look in his eyes.
"What is this about? I thought you were in trouble – I rushed straight over, I—"
"You wouldn't be here if you didn't feel something."
"We've been through this before. You're my friend, David. Nothing more."
His eyes narrowed as he stepped forward, closing the gap between them.
"Then why did you come?"
"You vanished for weeks, then suddenly call me from an unknown number, sounding like you're in pain! Of course I would come!"
The sound of a train passing nearby sliced through the air like a knife, nearly cutting off the words he spoke next.
"I am in pain."
"Talk to me, David. Tell me what's wrong. What happened? How can I help you?"
Snow began to fall again as Kat's heartbeat quickened. A sudden unexplainable wave of suffocation gripped her chest.
In all the years they had known one another, she had never seen him like this. He was always composed and in control of his emotions. But not now.
Something was very wrong. And she was determined to help him.
David didn't answer. Instead, he stepped even closer.
Too close.
Before Kat could react, his gloved hand shot out and grabbed her wrist in a vice grip.
"David!" she gasped, trying to pull away. "Let go! This isn't funny!"
"You always cared," he murmured, voice low, almost dreamy. "No one else did. Only you. And you still do. I knew it."
Her heart hammered in her chest. The streetlight flickered above them, casting shadows across his hooded face that made him look even less like the David she knew.
"This isn't you," she said, voice trembling. "Please stop. You're scaring me."
He didn't seem to hear her. His eyes widened unnaturally as his fingers dug deeper into her skin.
"We can be happy, Kat. I just need you to stop pretending. I know you feel it too. I don't have anyone else. Only you. It was always you. We wasted too much time, but there's still time."
She shook her head. "No, David. You need help. We can get you help. This isn't love. This is obsession!"
Something in his face snapped. The softness drained. His grip tightened even more.
"This is your last chance, Kat. I've waited too long, and I'm running out of patience now."
A cold shiver slid down her spine, icy and sharp.
This wasn't David.
Not the David who used to lend her all his favorite books. Who bandaged her scraped knee in seventh grade. Who smiled and supported her as she walked down the aisle on the happiest day of her life.
This man wasn't asking for love. He was demanding possession.
"What do you mean, David? You're not making any sense!"
"What doesn't make sense, Kat? That I've loved you for years, and you knew it, but still strung me along? You paraded others in front of me. Expected me to watch. Smile. Wait. Like a fool."
"David, please! Stop this!"
"You're an evil woman, Kat. Do you have any idea how much it hurt to watch you marry that imbecile? You tortured me for decades. But I won't tolerate it anymore. Our time is finally here, just stop being stubborn!"
Kat's eyes darted around the park. Empty. No witnesses, no headlights, no footsteps. Just them. His delusion... and her growing fear.
She yanked her arm, pulling with all her strength. "Let. Me. Go. I already told you, I can never see you as a lover! You're like my brother!"
His jaw clenched. For a moment, she thought he might hit her.
Then, he smiled.
A terrifying, hollow smile.
Without warning, he yanked her into a crushing embrace. Her body slammed into his, arms pinned, breath caught in her throat.
"David—stop—"
He leaned in, his breath warm and sour against her cheek, his gloved fingers trembling as they caressed her face, planting an open-mouthed kiss in the crevice of her neck.
"If I can't have you," he whispered, "then nobody else will, either."
There was no time to process his words.
A burning jolt punched through her middle, too fast to stop.
Kat choked on a cry, staggered by the shock. The pain bloomed slowly. Dull at first. Then sharper.
It burned against the cold night, a fire in the midst of ice.
She looked down, blinking in confusion.
The snow at her feet was turning red.
Not slowly – violently.
Like the ground itself had opened a wound.
She couldn't understand. Nothing made sense. David was her childhood friend. A safe place for her. This wasn't happening.
It couldn't be.
Surely, she was having a nightmare.
She squeezed her eyes shut, as if blocking the sight would somehow make it disappear.
They say your life flashes before your eyes in your final moments.
For Kat, it was true.
Random memories surfaced like a reel playing across her eyelids.
Hunter stumbling toward her, arms outstretched, giggling as she cheered him on. His little feet pattering across the hardwood floor, wobbly but determined.
"Come on, baby," she had said, crouched with open arms. When he collapsed into her chest, they both laughed.
Then Liam. The love of her life.
His crooked grin that always made her forget all her worries. He was standing in the kitchen, flour on his shirt, holding out a burnt pancake like it was a prize.
"Don't laugh," he'd said, pretending to pout.
"It's perfect," she'd teased, wrapping her arms around him.
And then... something smaller.
A memory so old and faded, it barely had color anymore.
She was eleven. Her nose red from the cold, laughter rising into frosted air as she tore the wrapping paper from a small box.
Inside was a snow globe. It was delicate, the glass lightly frosted, with a tiny village scene inside. A frozen world, serene and untouched.
"I saw it in the window and thought of you," David had said, maybe twelve at the time, shuffling his feet and not quite meeting her eye. "You like little worlds, right? Where everything's magical and nothing bad ever happens."
Kat had smiled. She remembered that. She'd even hugged him.
"I'll keep it forever," she'd said. "It's beautiful."
"Now you'll always have a safe place," he told her. "One no one else can touch."
Her knees buckled.
David caught her before she hit the ground, lowering her gently onto the bench like a lover laying his beloved to sleep.
"I told you," he murmured, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. "You were always mine. Always meant to stay safe. With me."
Her mouth moved. But no sound came. Just the rattle of her final breath.
He waited. As if expecting another.
But none came.
Leaning over her body, he watched with cold eyes as he tucked the knife away in a cloth.
Reaching for her handbag, he emptied it. The contents held the faintest remnants of her perfume. Her phone, a lipstick, a crumpled receipt. Everything that once held the essence of her, now scattered like discarded debris.
Taking her phone, he switched it off before quickly pocketing it.
His fingers found her purse next, holding it up for a moment as if admiring it.
Then he walked away. Slow. Steady. With purpose.
The crunch of his boots faded, swallowed by thickening snowfall.
He didn't care about the tracks he left behind. The snow was falling harder now. Soon, it would cover everything.
He passed by an alley, where a pile of blankets and old bags sat slumped against a wall. The man who lived there was still around. Somewhere close.
But David didn't bat an eye.
No one saw him as he knelt, pulled out her purse, and placed it near the heap. Quiet. Precise.
Like it belonged there all along.
By morning, they'd find her body beneath a fresh white blanket.
A tragic scene, misread. Misunderstood.
The police found all the evidence they needed. The case was closed within days. An easy conviction.
No one questioned or looked twice.
Not even the man who killed her.
He thought it was over.
How mistaken he was.
This story had just begun.