Chapters

Silent Oak

He slumped against the hard oak tree, slowly sliding his back down the rough bark until his bottom touched ground. He drew out his cigarette pack from his right jacket pocket and perched one between his lips as he fumbled with his lighter, the flame danced in front of him as he lit the stick and drew in a deep breath, slowly letting it out with an exaggerated satisfaction only a nicotine addict could understand.

“Mary, Mary, had her barely…”

he sang in a low droll as he pocketed his lighter and pulled out a switch blade

“Barely, Mary had herself”

He finished his song and turned, blade in hand as he carefully etched an ‘M’ into the bottom of the oak tree. His blade splitting the bark aside as the pale flesh revealed itself, he smiled as he finished: ‘M.L.’ 

He marveled at the sight, a sea of initials carved into the base of this majestic oak. He knew he could always come here, tell his story with his blade and trust that she would never betray his secrets. 

He ran his fingers over each of them, reminiscing of each  memory they held. Each women they represented, all the way back to his first. Like losing your virginity, a man never forgets his first kill. He stroked the letters, letting his mind flow back to that very day, to that very woman. 

‘S.R.’ Susan Reinheart.

His first love. His first kill.

Funny, he thought, how he had to lose something he held so dear to find his true passion.