Arthur drove the truck back on the road. It had started to drizzle a bit. Arthur stopped the truck beneath a tree and got out. He opened the passenger sides door and tied up the girl's feet and her hands with the rope Brian had kept in his bag. When the girl was tied, Brian let his grip away.
Brian came out too. He and Arthur carried the girl on the side of the road. The girl screamed, "Help! Help! Somebody help me! Don't do this to me! Let me go! Somebody help me! Arthur wore his apron and protective glass. Brian handed him the scalpel. Few rain drops flowed down from the leaves and fell on the girl's face.
Today Arthur needed no push from Brian, He was angry at the girl for calling him a loser. The Girl screamed but he paid no attention to her. "Help me! They are going to kill me! Help!" screamed the girl. Arthur placed the sharp edge of the scalpel on her neck, the skin stretched back as it could and then torn up as Arthur kept pushing. A thin river of blood flowed from her neck.
The girl was still screaming, now with pain added to her voice, "Help!!!"
The noise of water drops falling on leaves created a barrier for her voice. Even if someone was nearby, they could not hear her.
Arthur pulled the knife in one swift motion to her belly. The organs popped up. Some blood flew over the apron and glasses of Arthur. The girl was all covered in blood. Rain fell and drops turned red mixing with the blood.
The girl was still screaming, now with agony, almost losing consciousness, voice lower but with more desperate efforts than before, "Help!"
Brian took the knife and plucked out the heart from the girl. The heart kept beating in his hand.
The girl didn't scream anymore.
Brian put the heart inside a jar and closed it tight, "Open-air is bad for the heart."
It started to pour heavily now. Arthur and Brian rushed into the truck. Arthur drove the truck. The tires threw up some sludge before moving. The tires created impressions on the wet mud, which were soon filled by the red blood.
Arthur dropped Brian and parked the truck among the barrels. He disposed of the apron, the gloves, and the glasses. Then Brian and Arthur hide the truck with barrels and Plastic.
"Care for some coffee," Brian asked. "I think I'll leave," replied Arthur. Arthur got in his car and left.
The sun was on the horizon when Arthur reached the motel. The owner had not woken up yet. Arthur took a shower, got the coffee from the machine. He drank his coffee peacefully watching the sunrise and then brought his laptop from his car and went into his room.
There was no chair or table to work on. So, Arthur got in his bed and started to write. He kept writing till noon. Then, the owner knocked on his door and asked, "Sorry to disturb you, sir! But would like to eat something. You have been writing for quite a long time". Sir, Arthur found it strange to be called as Sir. But then the owner had liked his first novel.
Arthur checked his watch it was almost one o clock. "Yes, I'm hungry," Arthur replied. He went with the owner to eat some sandwiches that the old man had prepared. Arthur ate a lot of them and then went into his room and slept.
He woke up back in the evening, the sun was going down. He checked his phone there was a news link from a local news website. The body had been found in the morning. There was a picture of Officer Margaret she looked defeated. Her checkpoints and fiery interviews did nothing for her.
This time there was no picture of the victim. Maybe the victim's family had something to do with this or maybe it was some new tactic from Officer Margaret. Till now she had failed in both mind games and physical tactics. Maybe now she thought, she can tease the killer by not showcasing his work in the newspaper.
Brian looked at his laptop he had written enough for one day. He thought of going out today. It's been days since he had gone out, just to roam around, last few days had just been always escaping, following, killing, or being dragged about by that Brian.
Arthur thought he would just roam around the town and come back to the motel. But when he went out, he felt an urge to go back to the woods. Maybe Margaret was right, the killer, Arthur did want to see his work again. He realized it was dangerous but it was thrilling too. Nobody can arrest you just because you are passing through a murder scene.
Arthur turned his car towards the wood's road. As he drove by, the scenes from last night came alive again. Here the girl had pulled the steering. Here Brian had held her. And then came the tree under which Arthur had opened her up. But the road was blocked by tapes and barricades. From the distance, Arthur could see the mud which had soaked so much blood that it appeared red.
But there was something white too on the mud. Arthur looked around first. No there was no one. No cops waiting for the serial killer to return to the murder site. Arthur then opened the door and walked out. He walked till the barricades. If someone came, he will say he is just curious.
But what he saw when he reached the barricades shook him. There was a tire mark of Bryan's truck in the mud. Arthur cursed, "Of course, it was raining, why did they not think about it." And then there was white liquid around the marks. "The police have Brian's tire prints," Arthur gasped. He did not stop for even a second more.
He rushed to his car and drove straight to the pharmacy. On the way Arthur thought, he should have got Brian's contact number. But then there was no need for contact earlier. But today contact was really important. Arthur googled Brian's pharmacy contact but that number was out of service.
Arthur drove as fast as he could but maybe he was late when he reached the pharmacy parking lot. A police car was already there.