1

When the night wandered on, Valerie sat pensive on the bed, for some reason this night was not as usual. Valerie was horrified, this horror was almost the same as the horror that always attacked her in the old nights. The birds in the leafy front trees made terrifying noises, squeaking as if for omen.

But what omens?

Valerie checked back and forth for the door alarm, and took a deep breath. The alarm is set perfectly, the door is tightly closed with the lock and latch attached. Why does she keep feeling scared?

Valerie went back into the room, locked her door and lay down, pulling the blanket up to her back. She should have felt free, she should not have been wracked with fear anymore. But why is this feeling the same? It was the same as before... far back in the past, where bad memories surfaced, memories she wanted to forget.

Suddenly there was a loud voice at the back door of her house. Valerie was so shocked that she jumped out of bed. Her heart pounding violently, she stared at the door and grimaced.

Did she lock the door to her room earlier? Did someone break through the back door? What if that person walks into her room?

Those questions prompted Valerie to jump up in panic, and then check the lock of her bedroom door.

Locked, of course.

Valerie took a deep breath and leaned her body against the door. For a long time she waited, maybe there would be more voices outside while maintaining her beating heart which made her even more short of breath. However, the atmosphere was very quiet, there was no sound. Valerie even felt that she almost heard the pounding of her own heart racing so hard.

Was the sound at the back door just a hallucination?

After taking a deep breath, Valerie unlocked the door. She knew that she had done something stupid like in the horror films she often saw; heard a strange sound and then, instead of running and hiding, she coming like a moth drawn towards the fire that was going to kill her.

Valerie's house is small so the room leads directly to the living room which doubles as a family room with a large TV dominating the center, then there is a small hallway to the kitchen area... the kitchen where the voice came from.

Valerie turned on the living room light and took a deep breath when she realized that no one was there. Her heart pounded even more as she waited to step into the kitchen. It was dark and dense. Valerie cautiously turned on the light switch but immediately frowned in fear when it broke. The kitchen lights did not come on and Valerie winced at the darkness ahead. Her hand groped for the handphone that she had put in her pajama pocket.

With minimal handphone lighting, Valerie stepped forward into the kitchen area. The light was dark and dim, making Valerie feel the hairs on her neck stand on end. It seemed that there was no one in the kitchen. But then Valerie's eyes fixed on something in the kitchen. Something that made her heart run fast and her face turned white. Something that gave off a soft, faint yellow light was shrouded in a blue candle.

The quiet period of her life is over. The dream of living her days like an ordinary person has vanished.

Valerie held onto the wall to support her trembling legs, her eyes fixed on it. A sign… a mark that had faintly burst into her subconscious, tugging at Valerie's long lost memory and alerting her. Instantly deep knowledge came to Valerie's mind, causing her to feel immense horror. The burning blue candle was a mark, a mark left by the cruelest killer she knew for some reason.

The killer has found her.

It's game over. Valerie's life may only be a few moments away. Her eyes glanced fearfully at the mark on her kitchen table.

The blue candles, there were nine of them neatly placed and arranged beautifully in a semicircle on the kitchen table, the dim light contrasting against the pitch black kitchen room.

Then as if suddenly emerging from the dark shadow behind her, strong fingers suddenly touched her neck from behind, soft and calm. Valerie choked up, but couldn't revolt, in the end all she could do was close her eyes.

***

Without any resistance which meant that Valerie's body was limp in his arms, there was intense pain and shock there. Valerie's wide eyes said so. Until a few seconds later, Valerie's eyes lost their light, closed weakly, leaving a dark, moaning spot there.

The killer instead of rushing away, calmly lifted the fainted body of Valerie with both hands, to the corner of the room, into the living room of the smooth lacquered wooden-floored house. He sat there and held Valerie's limp body helplessly, stroked her long black hair, smelled the scent of her victim's neck. Truly he treated Valerie like a sleeping lover who would be left quietly. The look in the eyes of the murderer is that of a lover, full of love and overflowing hope.

Not once or twice this time he took care of someone weak like Valerie, he often called it 'small order'. Fast, easy and often the victims are incredibly beautiful, just like what they see now. Strangely the killer always charges very, very high prices for small orders like this.

For no apparent reason, he always said that to his clients, because there was no way for them to know that the murderer was a female cult, it took a great sacrifice of conscience to kill someone, but even he would sacrifice even more to kill Valerie, the only woman who has touched her heart.

The lips of the killer touched Valerie's, crushed them softly with love. Before finally getting dark and dense the night, engulfing them both.