Psychopath has a minion!

let me tell you the Love Story

We were all graduating from college when one of my friends had a brilliant idea: let's explore another country, all of us together. As always I got nervous with the idea but everybody's excitement just convinced me.

We planned the trip like many we have before, as we were quite used to exploring our country, visiting little villages and exploring abandoned places.

When the day came we all pilled up on my friend's car and away we went. Many stops around gas stations later and we finally decided to settle on a small hostel on a town that bordered our country and the other one.

Apparently we weren't the only ones that decided to travel around that time, as the hostel was filled with lots of people around my age. Me and my friends managed to get a room with just three more strangers to share with.

Two guys were eyeing us up and down with frowns. I understand as I also didn't really want to share a room with strangers. The third guy on the other hand seemed to be very happy with it all, chatting away with my friends.

As my friends all leave to do their own stuff, this guy approaches me, a friendly smile on his face, his cheeks slightly flushed.Even though he seemed extremely comfortable talking to the others, his face was getting more and more flushed the more we spoke to each other. He would giggle and look deep in my eyes, making me blush as well.

When my friends came back, we decided to go out for some food and drinks. They invited the guy to tag along. He looked at me, smiled and said that he was too tired to go out.

As we sat down on a bar, my friends made me aware that the entire time that the guy was talking to them, he was asking about me. They teased me about already getting someone to have a crush on me. I waved them off and looked at the night sky, the events of that day playing in my head. A crush on me? That's just stupid!

It was past midnight when we made our ways back to the hostel. Our room was dark, with none of the three guys in sight. We slept like logs.

Around noon most of us were already awake so we decided to have some breakfast and hit the road. As we reach the communal kitchen I spot the guy from yesterday sitting by a window, silently sipping coffee. My friends all nudge me and point towards him. I sigh and approach him.

I let out a sleepy "good morning" mid a yawn. He looks surprised for some seconds, but then smiles brightly and greets me back. He gestures for me to sit down at his table, but I tell him that me and my friends are just grabbing a quick bite and leaving. His expression shifts quickly to sadness and he nods solemnly. "Have a safe trip..." he says, avoiding my gaze and looking outside.

After breakfast we all jump back on the car. There are two hours left until we arrive at the town that we planned to stay at. It had everything my friends love: cheap bars, cute stores and most importantly, abandoned buildings. Apparently that town was built by miners that worked on a nearby coal mine. Nowadays both the mine and many of the houses are empty. My friend shakes his spray paint cans and shoots me a wink. I nod back at him.

Thanks to a quick stop on a gas station for lunch, we arrive around 4 PM. The streets are narrow and barely paved. The town is quiet. We park in front of the hotel we'll be staying. An old woman greets us and checks our reservation. We dump our bags on the room and grab a map at the hotel's reception desk.

Where do we go first?

Many of us wanted to check what downtown had to offer before starting the in depth exploration of the outskirts. As we were leaving, the old lady stopped us by the door. She had a warning to give. "Careful out there kids, there has been some disappearances happening lately. Don't stay out too late"

My friends just wave her off, apparently according to one of them, locals love to scare tourists. Still, I couldn't shake that feeling.

Something... Was not good...

I buy some souvenirs. I love this tourist trap towns, even though most of them are designed to get money from outsiders, I just love buying little knick-knacks and memorabilia. Learning about the history of the place. My friends all enjoy different aspects of this trips, but we all really love them.

As the night falls, my friend suggests a late night exploration of one of the abandoned neighborhoods in town. I protest, reminding them of the warning the old lady gave to us, but they laugh at me for believing in that.

They plan on the map where they are going, pointing the closest places. I still refuse to go with them, so they tell me to just go back to the hotel then. I look at each one of them, trying a last time to convince them, but they just ignore me.

I sigh in defeat and make my way back to the hotel. As I'm walking closer to it, I spot a familiar person by the door. It's the guy from the hostel! He sees me coming and waves happily, a huge smile on his face.

I ask what he was doing here and he says that hearing me talk about this town back at the hostel convinced him into coming for a visit. We sit at the front hall and I show him the stuff I bought. We talked for hours. He listened to everything that I had to say, never taking his eyes away from my face.

I glance towards a clock in the wall and jolt up from the couch, it's so late! Shouldn't my friends be back by now?

I tell him my worries and he gets up as well, placing his hand on my shoulder, a concerned look on his face. He tells me that I should not leave the hotel, as people in town warned him of danger. I confirm that the old lady at the front desk told me the same thing.

I look at my feet, but he quickly lifts my head, hand on my chin and another on my cheek. He smiles reassuringly, saying that my friends are adults and will find their ways back here. I nod slowly, eyes locked with his. As his face approaches mine, I pull away quickly.

Waaaaay too fast! Or is it...?

I tell him that I'm going to bed, as the trip was quite exhausting. He smiles and reaches out for me, petting my head and softly saying that I don't have to worry. I smile back, face slightly flushed, and wave him good night. As I step inside the elevator, I can see him standing at the front hall, hands in his pockets and eyes fixed at me, a warm smile on his face.

I wake up in a cold sweat. Inspecting the alarm clock I notice that it's 4 AM. Looking around the room, none of my friends have come back yet. Concern once again fills my heart and step outside the room.

The night is chilly and cloudy. It's probably going to rain tomorrow. I stand in front of the hotel, considering if I should search for them. A light coming from the street caught my attention. Someone is walking around with a flashlight. As they approach me, I realized that it's two people. I can't see their faces due to the darkness. One of them asks me what am I doing out at that time. I inform them that my friends left quite a while ago and that I was concerned about them. The two guys stay in silent for some seconds, flashlight pointed at me. One of them steps closer "your friends? We saw them!".

I smile and step closer to them, asking eagerly for them to tell me when and where they saw them. They stay quiet for some seconds again until the second guy speaks up "we saw them by the old town entrance. It's a part of this town that got abandoned."

Makes sense, they did say that that was where they wanted to explore. The two guys must have seen the expression on my face, as one of them gets closer to me "you don't plan on going there at this hour, right? Haven't you heard about the disappearances?"

I tell them that those disappearances are the main reason why I'm so worried about my friends. They whisper among themselves. I can't hear what they are saying. They point the flashlight away from my face "you really shouldn't go by yourself. We gonna go with you."

They get closer and I can finally see their faces. they tell me their names and say that they are locals. I feel reassured to have some locals with me and slowly but steadily we make our way towards the old town.

Arriving in there, no lights can be seen, so my stomach fills with anxiety. I saw them packing their flashlights. The guys reassure me that they probably set camp somewhere around there and are sleeping, which I guess makes sense.

We walk on a narrow gravel road among the empty houses. One of the guys is in front of me, shining his flashlight around the houses while the other is by my side, illuminating the way. My eyes dart all around, trying to pick up any signs of people, but it's so dark and only our footsteps can be heard.

A large building lies ahead of us, with broken windows and parts of it's roof missing. A faint glow can be seen on one of the windows. I point it out excitedly and run towards the building, shouting the names of my friends. Reaching the front door I remember how dark it is and look behind me at the guys.

They are no longer behind, and if they are, I can't see them, since they turned off their flashlights. I shout their names, but can't hear anything. No footsteps, nothing. Only the sound of my heavy breathing and my heart beat.Turning back at the building, I slowly step inside, walking towards the source of the light.

The ground is wet and I stumble on some rocks and holes before reaching the light. It's a small oil lamp sitting on top of a box. I gulp and motion to pick it up, but footsteps get my attention. Someone is walking around in the dark. I ask who is there but get no response. I say some of my friend's names, but that gets no reaction. Unconsciously I reach for the lamp and grab it's handle, my hand almost slipping as it was also wet. I bring it closer to my face and notice the liquid around it is red. As realization hits me, I slowly crouch and shine some light on the area around my feet. I left red foot-marks from where I came from. The puddles in the middle of the room.

My body is frozen in fear. I sob quietly.

Suddenly I can hear someone running towards me. I scream and run the opposite direction. The lamp barely illuminating my path. As I looked behind me trying to see who it was, I trip on something and fall. I bring the lamp closer to my feet, trying to see what I tripped on. The light faintly shines in the face of one of my friends, her face distorted in fear and agony, her eyes empty. I muffle a scream and try to get on my feet, but someone kicks me in the back, making me tumble back down. As I'm about to look up, something hits me in the face and everything goes black.

I wake up and realize that I'm tied to a chair. There is two flashlights in the distance pointed at me. I watch as one of the guys comes into the light. He has a crooked smile on his face and a machete in his hand. He circles around me "didn't the people on town tell you about the disappearances?" I gulp and whimper.

The other guy suddenly shows up, dragging one of my friends by their collar. He drops his dead body on the ground and looks at the other "yo, I heard some weird noises coming from outside" .

The first doesn't seem to listen, dragging the machete close to my face, whispering something that I can't hear. His friend closes the distance between them and violently taps him on the shoulder "YO! Did you hear me!?" .

The other looks at him "yeah yeah, I heard ya!" And his friend looks at me, a baseball bat in hand "DID YOU HAVE MORE FRIENDS WITH YOU!?" . I shake my head violently in fear, tears streaming down my face and mixing with the blood coming from my mouth and nose. Everything starts to spin after he hits me in the face with the bat, knocking one of my teeth out. I spit some blood and beg for mercy.

I did nothing wrong. I don't deserve this. Everything hurts...

The first guy grabs me by the hair and lifts my head up, slowly dragging the machete on my face and cutting one of my cheeks. The other guy begins to circle me. Looking at their faces, I realize something: they are the two guys who were sharing the hostel room with us. They've probably been plotting this for a while. A sudden noise outside gets both of their attentions. They look at one of the windows, but it's too dark to see outside. Exchanging glances, the guy with the baseball bat walks into the darkness.

Seconds feel like hours, but suddenly a loud scream makes us jump. The machete guys shouts the name of his friend and run towards the way he went, leaving me alone.

I try to wiggle free, but only manage to tip the chair down. My face hits the cold floor. My body hurts so much. I can hear struggling coming from the darkness, but can barely see silhouettes. I strain the rope binding my hands but it doesn't seem like it's going to give up. As I lay down breathing heavily and crying, I hear another scream, some obscenities and then sounds of something being hit multiples times. When its finally silent, I decide to try rolling around, maybe I can ditch the chair?

As I have my back turned to the lights, I never notice the footsteps approaching me. Someone taps my back with their foot. I freeze.

I'm going to die, just like all my friends. I close my eyes and brace myself to be hit again. The person is... Untying my hands? When they are free, I use them to turn around.

It's... The guy from the hotel? He has a concerned look on his face and reaches to untie the rope bounding me to the chair. I sigh and cry in relief. When I'm finally free I hug him tightly "thank you! Thank you so much! I was so scared! I thought I was going to die!" He hugs me back, stroking my head and back "it's okay, I got ya. I'm here. You're safe now" I look at his face and lock lips with him, his arms wrapping around my waist.

As we walk outside the building, the sun was rising slowly in the horizon. I look at him and smile but something catches my attention. He is covered in blood. His clothes, his face. He smiles warmly at me, a smudge of blood over one of his eyes.

"How did you find me?" I ask, stepping a little away from him. "I figured that you would go after your friends" . I tilt my head and look at him. He steps closer and places his hand on my shoulder "don't worry about it. The important thing is that you are safe." .

I nod and hug him.

He convinced me that telling the police would make no difference, since people in town already knew about the disappearances and would chuck it as just some tourists not heeding warnings. He came back home with me and we became a couple. Aside from his weird work hours, he is a great boyfriend, completely devoted to me.

One day while traveling on vacation, he suggests we stay in a hostel. I shake my head no "what if we share a room with a psychopath again?"

He smiles at me and pats my head "don't worry about that. Besides, what are the odds of two psychopaths meeting each other like that?" .

I look at his face and as always he presents his warm smile. The image of that night, him covered in blood, comes to my mind.

He catches me staring at him and quickly gives me a peck on the lips "haha, don't worry! I'm not gonna make you do it! Let's go to a hotel and have a good night of sleep!" He grabs my hand and we walk around town.

I do feel very safe around him, but still, that image of him coming from the shadows covered in blood...