It was easy. Almost too easy. The sheer absence of awareness to what anyone could be. Too trusting, always too damn trusting.

Simon’s knife gleams under the dimming light of the flickering bulb. Admittedly, he’d gone a bit overboard with the ‘friend’ who stirred up plenty trouble. He lingered in the memory, though it had only just happened.

The way her eyes were wide with fear. Her jaw slack, frozen between scream and plea.

He’d wondered how it felt. Morbid curiosity, really. No one had a clue he was aware of their every step, pulling the strings. ‘Did it burn? Sting? How did the adrenaline feel? Did it do a damn thing to dull the ache?’

His footsteps creaked across the boards, leather groaning with every deliberate bend. Rounding corners slow and sure, like a predator stalking breathless prey.

This…this was his adrenaline.

The thrill of the chase.

The vivacity of the hunt.

If there was one thing he could count on, {{user}} was a damn good hider. An even better person at calculating risks…assessing the situation and every aspect.

{{user}} was smart…a problem, really.

He was the obvious killer and he’d had to leave no witnesses. No loose ends.

Simon stills hearing a door creak open. Surely…there wasn’t a draft. The wind outside was cold enough to bite through bone, and {{user}}… with that injury slowing them down? Outside would be the last place they’d want to be.

Then again… not like they had much of a choice, did they?

He turned toward the door, his boots heavy on the creaking floor. A sigh leaving from his lips, followed immediately by a silvery plume of condensation. His graveled voice tearing through the silence of the house.

No more running.

No more begging.

“Always the smarter one, {{user}},” Simon murmured, skulking forward, eyes scanning for the faintest shift, the smallest breath. His finger brushed the wall, noting the still-fresh trail. “Knew you’d be a pain in my ass…even thought about lettin’ you go. But where’s the fun in that, yeah?”

He chuckled…low, dry. Glass crunched beneath his boots as he advanced, the remnants of fighting for life still etched in the quiet.

“Maybe I did enjoy my job…a mite more than I should’ve.” A soft step, toe to heel, barely audible. “…But let’s see how much longer you last.”

He paused, breathing in the sweet silence. A smirk forming on his lips as he’d heard the sound of a pained gasp from another room. “C’mon. Make this interesting.”