Chapter Three:

He could not remember how he had gotten there. James looked around the slaughter room, strewn with shredded skin and freshly spilled blood. Looking above him, he could see bits of skin hanging from the fan as it chugged in a slow circle. The stench of boiling flesh burned his nostrils. He looked over into the life-size pot and, overwhelmed by the sight, threw up. This wasn't real, he couldn't have done this. And yet he had. His fingerprints were embedded all over the room, DNA evidence everywhere. No, no. Someone else must've – he couldn't have. He looked down and saw crimson liquid caked to his palms, and fell over, suddenly faint. Flashbacks pelted him almost instantaneously. With wide eyes, the images of the beast's actions replayed in his mind.

It was wicked. The murder. He could see her pain, hear her cries of terror. Some deep, ingrained piece within him reveled in the memory, prided itself in the victory. He became sick again. No. No. NO! NO! He could not have done that. The worst he had done so far was no where near this horrid – it must have – someone else must have – he was obviously framed! James' mind swirled as it sunk in that there was no one else in the room. That there could not have been anyone else that was capable such damage that he knew of. His mind did a mental loop and he took off away from the house sprinting, streaks of blood still caked onto the grooves of his fingernails. Sorts of stains he knew he would never quite be able to wash away with soap and water. The damp grass and polluted air could not shake the stench of roasting tendons and images of melted skin to leave his mind. He could not live with this. He took a left at the next intersection and threw himself into a dense forest of bright, white lights speedily heading his way.

James jumped as he woke up from the dream reliving what had been the worst day of his life and what he had attempted to make his last night. The dream had him pouring with sweat and left him with a churning feeling erupting in his stomach. This was not the first time he had relived that night his dreams but every time he had the dream it served as just another reminder of why he shouldn't be able to live. Why he should just end himself before he did the same to someone else.

James slipped out of his bed and stumbled into the hallway on his way to the bathroom. He clicked the door shut, flicked on the light and took a good hard look at himself. It wasn't the prettiest sight – actually, he sort of looked like a zombie. Dark shadows circled his eyes and he had recently gotten so skinny his cheeks appeared gaunt and hollow. He figured his look was pretty indicative of how he felt. Hollow. He twisted the metal handle of the water and then splashed his face with it.

James noticed it had just begun to lighten up outside, meaning it was still early in the morning. One of his favorite times, it was so peaceful. He decided that it might be good to get some fresh air in his lungs, and sauntered down the stairs. Once, outside, his mood lightened a bit as his mind found it more difficult to focus on the horrifying images plaguing his mind when such a gorgeous morning was before him.

Locking the door behind him, James set off for his walk, not even caring that he had his pajamas still on and that people might stare. Let them. He was never one to care what people thought of him anyway. In all honesty, he believed he deserved the worst of their thoughts. Especially if they knew what horrors he had done.

James kicked a garden gnome down as he made his way out of the overdone greenery his aunt called a lawn. It clunked as it fell and James felt he could almost smile as he saw a chip in it's red hat. Determined to get away from his house, he kept walking away until he was about half a mile from the property. The atmosphere had quickly changed as he found himself near a trailer park littered with forestry and patches of dirt. He found himself a quiet sector, far enough from any trailers to be comfortable and in enough grass to lie down on. He stretched himself out on the wet grass and sighed, closing his eyes.

He tried not to think. He really did. When that didn't work, he started thinking about other things to get his mind occupied. As much as he hated it, he would have to start school soon. He had lucked out the first few weeks upon moving; his mother was convinced it would be in their best interest to keep low. Now, she thought it was safe to cart him off to school. He wasn't worried, he knew South Carolina had one of the worst education programs in the country so he shouldn't have any difficulty learning the material. As far as people go, he mostly avoided them. Hopefully the lot would be a lot more normal than the ones in Chicago had been.

As he nuzzled into the grass a bit more, he heard the soft scrunch in the grass as someone came over toward him. He gave a rather large sigh before he peeked through one eye to see his visitor.

"Hey. What're you up to down there?"

It was the babysitter lady again. She stood a few feet from him, with her head cocked and a grin splaying across her face. She was panting slightly as if out of breath, and took a sip of a water bottle she had in her right hand.

"Sleeping," James rumbled. "That a problem?"

"Oh no, of course not!" She ratified. "I just don't see many people taking a nap here. Why don't you go sleep in a bed of your own? Oh wait, I know who you are! You are Jonathan's cousin. Hi, again."

"I thought we'd gotten past hello's already," James commented, barely stopping himself from rolling his eyes. "But hi, again."

"Ha, oh right. Sorry. So taking a nap huh? That's cool. I'm jogging, if you are wondering why I'm up so early. Most times I like sleeping in but every other day I like to wake up early and go on a jog. Keeps me in shape and all that good stuff – supposed to make you sleep better too. Ya know if you are having problems sleeping at home and all that might help – care to join me?"

James felt like he was listening to someone talk on fast forward, and it took him a minute to process what she had even said.

"Uh, no thanks." He managed as politely as he could muster. "I'm not very athletic."

"Aw, that's a shame. Well, I can put my jog on hold I guess. I was almost finished anyway." She flashed a warm smile and stooped down beside James.

James' eyes flickered in annoyance. He couldn't even walk out the damn door without someone irritating him. He just wanted a simple morning to himself, but she had to go and ruin things. He could scare her off and be super rude to her, but he figured he shouldn't be so rude to someone he would have to constantly be around. Well, at least not super rude. He sure wasn't going to be as pleasant and peppy as her.

"So, how old are you anyway?" Kate prodded. "I'm sixteen myself, although sometimes I get mistaken for younger if I-"

"I'm seventeen. I'll be eighteen in April."

"Oh yeah? So you must be like a senior then. Awesome! I don't know many people who are much older than me so that's sort of cool. Speaking of cool its sort of chilly out here and all. It gets cold in South Carolina but not too bad, ya know? 'Cause it's like a southern state so most of the time we just have really, really hot summers. Right now you wouldn't be able to tell though, but it is December. Was it cold where you moved from?"

"Yeah." James mumbled back.

"Where were you from?" She questioned.

"Chicago."

"Oh fun! I heard they have really good pizza. Do you think so?"
"I guess. Only kind I ever had."

"Oh, okay... So your name is James, right?"
"Yup."

She clapped her hands together. "Oh! I have a second cousin named James. He's so adorable. One time-"

She was cut off as her cell phone began vibrating in her pocket. Her face become slightly discolored and she apologized before answering. She jumped a little at the loud voice on the other end. James couldn't make out what it said but her reaction made him think she was in some sort of trouble.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. I'm sorry. Be right there."

She slid the phone into her pants and gave James and apologetic smile. "Sorry, I think I have to go. I'll see you later today though. Its a Sunday so I'll be working for your aunt. Bye, James!"

She gave a small wave as she gathered herself up and jogged off. James fell backwards onto the grass, trying to relax now that she was gone. He wriggled as if incapable of getting comfortable. She was really pretty, well, he thought so at least. She wasn't wearing some show-off outfit to work out but a big tee shirt and some shorts. He found her very attractive, though. Until she opened her mouth.

After what seemed to be an hour, James headed back to his Aunt's. He didn't want his mom to wake up and worry about where he was or if the beast was back so he returned home before she would be awake. When he walked inside, he heard his Aunt Lilah in the kitchen blending together a smoothie. He slipped past her, making a beeline for some cereal.

"Good morning," she crowed.

"Morning," James grumbled back, hoping to opt out of conversation with her.

James slid past his aunt and opened the cabinet, looking around for something to eat. You could tell just by looking at the food in their cabinets that the Anderson's were well off. They had fancy, boxed up meals crammed into the cubicle, even though they probably wouldn't throw out half of what was in it. After opening a few cupboards, he found one with cereal and reached out for the lucky charms.

James fixed himself a bowl and sat down at the breakfast bar facing the small flat-screen in the kitchen. By that time, Jonathan had entered the room and while his mother was preparing him for breakfast she flicked on the TV. She had it on the news channel, probably trying to appear like a good mother, not letting her kids watch TV. In reality, James figured it just made her look like more of a bitch than she already was.

Really, James hadn't intended on watching the news with them. Most of the time it was far too depressing, or far too boring to keep his interest. He didn't think many people his age actually paid attention to the stuff on news anyway. His attention was won over, when he briefly heard the word Chicago uttered by the female newscaster. He raised his eyes from his soggy breakfast to listen.

"...The police investigation is still under way. While no one has yet to be accused of the crime, the police claim to have a handful of subjects under investigation. The mother of the victim, Clarice Burton, speaks out about her reaction to her daughter's murder."

The station hesitated momentarily before rolling the clip.
"I've just... I've never thought her end would come like this." The woman bit her lip, eyes watering with pain. "I'd just seen her the day before, she had come home for Thanksgiving and told me about getting a raise. I'd been so proud – you know, she was the most successful of her brothers and sisters. It just... it breaks my heart... I'll never get to see her get married. She had a great boyfriend, a law student. I can't help but wonder why someone would want to be so cruel to my sweet daughter." She busted into a fit of tears.

The station switched back over to the newscaster.

"A truly heart-wrenching story. We hope you keep the victim's family and friends in your thoughts this morning. If you have any information at all about the murder, please call our toll free number listed at the bottom of the screen.

Lovely. Just fucking fantastic.

So not only did James commit a murder, but he had to watch as the families wept and grieved over the woman. Plus, he had completed the murder so cold-heartedly that it had managed to climb its way past local news to national news. He could only hope that they would be unable to link him in any way possible to the case. And yet, another part of him insisted that he should be caught and detained. Perhaps that would be the best way to make sure he never hurt anyone else ever again. Not as if the metallic bars of prison could hold back the beast, but maybe they would put him in an insane asylum where he would be sedated through the spells.

"Wow," Jame's aunt cooed. "Wasn't that close to where you and your mother lived, James?"

"Yeah. Practically across the street."

"How awful. I can't ever imagine living somewhere so dangerous. That is one reason why we still live here in good 'ole South Carolina. It's such a nice little place. We've never heard of anything that horrific happening here, of course. I suppose you and your mother didn't have much of a choice then, though."

James opened his mouth to retaliate but she was interrupted by Jonathan's whine.

"When does Kate get here. I not gonna eat until she gets here."

"You'll be waiting at least an hour then," She warned. "That is if she is even on time."

For some reason, the snide comment about Kate ticked him off. Sure, he wasn't a huge fan of her. Actually, he found her really annoying. But she was harmless, and probably nice enough. He was sure she wasn't in need of his aunt's doubt. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Jonathan's whine.

"When is Kate getting here? She says she commin' today."

"She is Jonny, be patient." She tapped the small boy on the nose. "Anyway, James, I'm leaving here in a minute if, clean up Jonny's mess when he's done."

"Gotcha." James said, voice barely above a whisper.

As she walked out of the house, Jonathan stared up at him expectantly.

"What?"

"You're mean." Jonathan's announcement seemed to fill him with satisfaction.

"Yeah, and?"

The kid glared back. "Kate's not mean."

"Okay."

"My Kate, you stay away." He crossed his little arms, trying to be threatening.

"Trust me kid, I plan on it." James slunk his bowl into the sink and then advanced to his bedroom.

A/N: Sorry the plot hasn't really gone anywhere yet, that's the first few chapters for ya. I promise things will pick up soon though ;) Thanks so much for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated :)