The Killing of My Killer

Nathan

The last thing I remember from my short lived life were bright headlights hurtling towards me as I was running and white pieces of metal flying everywhere. The next minute, pure darkness.

I finally found her after a few days scouring the Earth. I wanted to give her the biggest hug ever but I didn't want to spook her so I kept still. Emily looked so at peace driving a shiny new Mustang along Foothill Boulevard. She was belting her favorite song "Highway to Hell" while tapping rapidly on her steering wheel. Emily looked so beautiful and angelic as the rays of the sun were beaming down on her tanned olive skin and the smoke from her cigarette was billowing around her. I floated down into the empty passenger seat beside her where I fit perfectly. Emily was the only person who had ever made me happy. My dad had been in prison since I was five and my mom had devoted her life to her new husband, so Emily was the only one who stuck by my side.

 

Emily

I screeched "Highway to Hell" on the top of my lungs as I sped down Foothill Boulevard. I loved driving with the top of the car down, the wind blowing the hair away from my face. I felt so carefree and reckless. Nathan would never let me do that. I'm cold Emily! Slow down Emily! My eyes are getting dry Emily! He would always nag. Whine, whine, whine. But, from time to time, I sometimes missed his whining and nagging. He was a good guy and for the most part of our relationship, he had made me happy. I knew that I was his only support system, since his parents abandoned him and he never bothered making friends, so I always had to be there for him. 

 

Nathan

Every time Emily and I would drive down Foothill Boulevard we would stop by our local coffee shop for a quick cup of java. Today, Emily hardly turned her head to glance at it and then zoomed past it. Hm, odd, I thought. There was never a time where she didn't stop by to grab a cold brew, it was our tradition and I thought she would keep it going. Maybe it pained her too much to go in without me? She continued driving and made a sharp left into an unfamiliar cul-de-sac. She pulled into what seemed like a mile long driveway and parked her car in front of an enormous two story mansion. I followed her to the door of the house as she unlocked it and waltzed in. Where am I? Whose house is this? Why does she have a key? My questions were soon to be answered by a guy who looked pretty tall, about 6'2, muscular, and a little too friendly for my liking. 

 

Emily

"Hi Mark!" I exclaimed as I sprinted towards him. Mark picked me up and spun me around a few times just like they did in Dirty Dancing, our favorite movie to watch together. After Nathan died I moved into Mark's house two days after because I couldn't bear to live in our old home anymore. It felt like it was haunted by his spirit lurking around. At first I did feel guilty about leaving the house and his belongings so abruptly, but Mark was kind enough to offer me a nice place to live without having to pay a dime so I couldn't resist his offer. I was also the type of person who couldn't live alone. I was never independent and always relied on someone to be by my side. 

Mark and I had met about a year ago when I first began my new job. He was the assistant vice president of Brighton Management and was really helpful in getting me settled in. During my breaks he would join me because I haven't really met anyone else. Nathan never got a chance to meet Mark because he was the jealous type and I knew he would've gotten angry if I told him I was friends with a guy. If Nathan saw me with another guy right now, he would lose his mind. 

The more time I had spent with Mark, the more I was falling for him. To be completely honest, my chemistry with Mark was a whole lot better than it was with Nathan, even though we were together for about five and a half years. Mark and I shared the same music taste, rock music, while Nathan enjoyed listening to sappy pop music like Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift. He had always said that "opposites attract" but with Mark, I didn't find that to be true. Mark made me laugh the same way that Nathan made me bored. Mark made me happy the same way that Nathan made me cry. 

 

Nathan

"Who the fuck are you?" Shit did I just say that out loud? Wait, it doesn't matter, she can't hear me. I refused to believe she had moved on that fast, and some part of me knew that she was still in love with me. All I wanted for the past few months was to see her face again but it wasn't enough for me. I needed to be with her. As I continued to watch Emily and Mark get closer as the days continued on, I felt some boiling feeling start to form inside of me. I didn't know if it stemmed from sadness or anger but it was definitely something I've never felt before. Out of spite, I decided to fuck around with Mark.

 

Mark

As I was sitting on the couch with Ems, I felt a tap on my shoulder and abruptly turned around. There was no one behind me. "Ems, did you touch me?" I asked. She stared at me with a puzzled expression. "Mark what the fuck are you talking about, I've been laying here for the past hour." I thought nothing of it afterwards, maybe I was imagining things, I was really sleep deprived. There was so much on my mind, and I had been really stressed lately. 

I ended up falling asleep on the couch and was woken up by my body hitting the floor. "Mark!" Emily exclaimed. "What the hell. Ow. What the fuck", I muttered. As I walked towards the kitchen rubbing my elbow, I suddenly got a raging, throbbing headache. I had no idea what was going on with me. I went to the bathroom to go splash myself with cold water because my mind felt so groggy and hazy. I thought this was because of all the stress I was under, due to all the guilt, fear, and regret I was feeling. 

 

Nathan

I knew that it was unhealthy for me to continue watching their relationship blossom, knowing that there was nothing I could do about it, but on the other hand I couldn't seem to take my eyes off of Emily, she was so mesmerizing and alluring. Maybe I need to bring Emily into the afterlife with me, I thought to myself, I just needed to figure out a way to go about it. For days, I was planning Emily's death, which sounds really selfish of me but I couldn't shake the feeling that she wanted nothing more than to be with me again. 

A few days into planning Emily's death, Mark desperately needed to show Emily something in his garage because he claimed, and I quote, "my guilt is messing with my head". (It was actually me, fool). As he opened the door, I saw Emily's face scrunch up. I had lost my sense of smell but I could tell that there was a really unpleasant odor wafting through. He gestured towards an oddly shaped figure under a dusty gray piece of tarp as Emily stood completely still and speechless as if she had seen a ghost. I couldn't tell if she was in shock or in fear. Mark took a deep breath and with trembling hands, he unveiled what was underneath. What. The. Fuck. The car. The fucking white car. The same fucking white car I saw right before I died.

 

Emily

After Mark had told me that he needed to show me something in the garage, I was on edge. As he opened the door, a breeze of musty air hit my face and I could tell that the garage had not been opened in a while. I kind of knew what it was going to be but I didn't want to make any assumptions. As he lifted the tarp inch by inch, I started to feel faint. I saw dark red, I saw white. "Mark… what the hell…," I mumbled underneath my breath, "why … is … it … here…?" Mark palmed his face with both of his hands while shaking his head and pacing back and forth along the side of the white car, painted dark red in some areas. "I tried to take it to the junkyard but then I got scared someone would see me and so I panicked and drove it back home as fast as I could and now, and now I have no idea what to do with it. Please help me. Please," he begged frantically. "Okay Mark, just breathe. No one knows okay? And no one has to know, we'll figure something out" I said trying to comfort him, but I was just as terrified. The car was from the day Nathan died. 

I am not a murderer. I am not a murderer. I am not a murderer. In fact, right before Nathan died, he had just left home to run some errands. Mark is not a murderer. Mark is not a murderer. Mark is not a murderer. From anyone else's perspective, it looked horrible, I was dating the guy that murdered my late boyfriend. However, it was an accident. Mark swore. I knew that Mark always wanted to be with me, but he would never actually kill someone to be with me, that's psychotic. A few days ago, Mark and I went to a bar after a stressful day at work to let loose. I had one too many drinks so Mark offered to take me home. After he had dropped me off, he said he saw Nathan on his nightly jog and tried to pull over to say hi. Because he had also been drinking, he swerved too fast to the side of the curb and hit Nathan. He didn't want to get a DUI so he fled the scene and promptly called 911 as soon as he got home. Obviously, I wouldn't date a murderer, but I trusted Mark's story.

 

Mark

I didn't kill Nathan on purpose. Or at least I don't think I did. I have definitely heard the phrase, "Your drunk actions are your sober thoughts". Honestly, I was really drunk so I don't remember much from that night. Do I regret hitting him? Yes, but I think the regret is more from being scared of getting caught than actually killing Nathan. Am I upset that he's dead? Eh, I guess. I love Emily so I'm just happy I get to be with her. I know I sound like a crazy person, but I promise I'm not. I'm not. 

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Nathan

How dare Emily date my murderer. The nerve. I didn't know who I was more angry at, Emily or Mark. Maybe Emily was a part of my death, I thought to myself. I was now planning revenge for both of them. Killing Emily would let her off too easily, death was too easy. I wanted to see her suffer the way I had been suffering. I decided I was going to leave Emily by herself in this lonely world and end Mark's life, the way he did mine.

A week later, I followed Mark out onto the street. Emily had taken his car to get some groceries so Mark went for a quick jog around the neighborhood. As he was jogging in place at a red light, I saw a white car coming towards his direction, going way above the speed limit. The timing couldn't be better. Right before the car passed the crosswalk, Mark was shoved into the street by a powerful gust of wind.