Im a senior at St Peter High School. I like to write in the form of short stories usually about couples and something happening between them.
Killer Love
He observed her from the other side of the street, merging into the shadows as he typically did. Ezra was his name, yet in Minneapolis’s shadowy, cramped alleys, he was recognized solely by the hushed murmurs of dread that accompanied the path of corpses he had created. His mind was sharp and analytical, an expert in observing human behavior-their fears, vulnerabilities, and habits. It was the reason he excelled in his pursuits.
Tonight, he had chosen her: Karsyn. She wasn’t the kind of girl he typically went for. She was too confident, too vibrant. She navigated the world with an air of belonging, her presence both unsettling and attractive, pulling him closer than he was willing to acknowledge. However, he preferred to avoid the complications, so he felt it was necessary to see it through. Now, she had made it onto his list.
For weeks, he observed her closely, taking in every aspect of her daily routine. He was well aware of her schedule right to the last detail. Starting from the Cafe she visited every day, her evening walks in the park with her dog, and the apartment she arrived at shortly after midnight. Tonight, he was ready to make his move.
He trailed behind her as she walked out of the cafe, maintaining a respectful distance between them. She appeared distracted, her head tilting upwards looking at the night sky. Her calm demeanor seemed to annoy him. She ought to feel fear. She ought to sense his presence nearby.
As they stepped into the park, the moment arrived, The blade he held was a comforting weight in his hand, the cold steel poised to kill her lively, radiant existence. He emerged from the darkness, narrowing the distance between them, but then… She stopped and looked right at him.
Her gaze met his, and he became motionless. Not out of fear or doubt, but because in that moment a change occurred. Karsyn remained silent. She chose not to run. Instead, she smiled a gentle, understanding smile that appeared to break through his tough facade. It wasn’t a smile born from fear or acceptance; it was a smile that showed understanding.
“So, you’ve been watching me for weeks, right?” She said with a calm demeanor, her voice tinged with creepy assurance.
He tightened his grip on the knife’s handle, his muscles becoming tense. This is not how things were meant to unfold. Individuals hurried, They shouted, they pleaded. Yet this girl stood there, unafraid, almost entertained.
“Do you really believe you can take my life, Ezra?” She spoke his name, like they grew up together, and were childhood best friends. Ezra’s heart started to race. What made her aware of his name?
As she moved closer, her smell of vanilla surrounded the air. “I’ve known about you for weeks.” She continued, her voice now softer, almost tender. “Initially, I felt a sense of fear. However, I came to understand, that there’s more to you than simple shadows, am I right?”
Ezra relaxed his muscles, the knife feeling foreign in his hand. How could she perceive him in this nice way, as something beyond the craziness he is?
Karsyn took another step, her fingers grazing softly against his arm. “You don’t have to be this way. You can be such a great person.”
His thoughts scattered in his head, but the main one was to kill her. Finish the job he had set. Her words broke him, for the first time in his life he cried, feeling so open and defenseless. Not because she had uncovered his secrets, but because she saw someone other than a bad man.
Defying all that he understood, he released the knife—hitting the ground. He had never experienced this before, this warmth, this unexplainable attraction to someone he was destined to kill. He thought to have made a run for it. He thought to have taken her out and exited the park as he usually did.
He chose to stay.
In that moment, amidst the refreshing breeze of the park, Ezra sensed the barriers he had constructed around himself beginning to fall apart. For the first time ever, he let someone feel his emotions beyond the hate.
It was terrifying.
It was love.
In the following months, they got together, forming an amazing duo. Ezra, who used to be like a shadow in the darkness, slowly came into light under Karsyns’s steady and bright stare. She looked past the layers of pain and violence, trying to find the man hidden beneath the monster he had turned into. To his surprise, he allowed her to enter. She didn’t push or demand anything, but her presence was like sunlight on the coldest day: warm, constant, and impossible to not feel.
They hurried along. What started as a simple friendship evolved into a deep and passionate love. Karsyn had a talent for making everything feel straightforward, Ezra believed that the most. He attempted to leave his dark past behind him. The whispers around town saying how they don’t feel the dark mysterious figure anymore, and eventually Ezra, proposed to her.
The wedding was a small and intimate affair. They didn’t require extravagant displays of affection. Ezra believed that the only decision to choose one another was enough. For a short time, he thought he had been rescued, that love had really changed him. However, he would eventually realize that shadows are not so quick to vanish.
After they got married, Ezra started to see changes in Karsyn. He didnt see her the same
The room was dark, but the shadows moved like they used too. Her heart was still racing from the nightmare that was still in her mind. While she dreamed, Ezra stood over her, just like the first time they met in the park. Things were different this time. The warmth she had grown to love in his eyes was gone. In its place was the cold, calculating look that used to make him a feared figure in Minneapolis.
The two of them were in their small apartment, laughing, drinking wine, and enjoying being with each other. However, something changed. After Ezras laughter stopped, there was a deep quiet that sounded scary in the room. His eyes became far away and strange. Karsyn could feel a chill going through her body. This was a feeling that had always meant danger. She reached out to him and tried to change him back into the man she had him become over time. But when she brought her hand closer, he pulled away leaving his face empty of the love they had shared. When he turned toward the kitchen, she saw the knife in his hand- the same knife he had planned to kill her with before.
“Ezra?” Her voice shook, and the words were hard to say becaue they were so strange to her. He didnt say anything though. As he got closer, the light caught on the blade, and she realized how terrible things were. They were no longer with the man she thought she had saved and could help turn around. It was the monster again.
He got down on his knees next to her, just like she had done in the park months before, and whispered, “you thought you could save me, right Karsyn?” with a cold smile “But you forgot… i was never meant to be saved.”
She woke up. She knew it was a bad sign. She knew she had to be weary
The lightness she once carried became eerie, and even though she smiled, there was a deeper, darker feeling beneath her facade. Initially, he brushed it off and didn’t worry about it, he thought it could’ve just been the stress or pressure of their romance, but before long, he came to understand it wasn’t that.
One evening, as they sat together in their small apartment, Karsyn looked at him, her eyes filled with a sense of distance between them. “Have you ever thought that maybe were both trying to escape something?”
Ezra felt a tightness in his chest. “I no longer run from my problems?”
She smiled, yet her eyes remained scarce of warmth. “Perhaps that’s the issue.” Ezra added “Why have you been acting so strange lately. Your presence doesnt feel the same” Karsyn looked surprised at this comment. She thought that he hadnt notice but want to come clean.
“Im having nightmares. Nightmares that make me think that you still have that evil in you.”
That night, Ezra feeling the chill of cold metal pressing against his skin. He blinked into the darkness of his room, his heart racing as he struggled to understand what was happening. As his eyes focused, he noticed Karsyn hovering over him, gripping the snake knife he had intended to kill her.
“Karsyn?” his voice broke with heavy disbelief. He attempted to rise, but she pushed the blade firmly against his throat.
“Shhh…” she whispered her eyes glaring with an emotion that he couldn’t describe. “It’s alright Ezra” I get it now. “You cannot escape your true self.”
A wave of panic hit over him as he came to understand the reality of the situation. Karsyn had never rescued him; instead, she had been dragging him further into a darkness he couldn’t understand. “Why?” he asked, his voice shaking.
She bent down, her lips lightly touching his ear. “It’s because you didn’t pick me, Ezra. You selected the concept of me.” and now… her voice becoming firm. “You will come to realize what it feels like to be out of control.”
Before he had a chance to respond, she drove the knife forcefully into his chest. The pain was intense, blood gushing out, but it wasn’t only about the physical aspect. It became clear that it wasn’t his past that had led him to his death. It was the future he had always wanted. The love he believed had rescued him.
As he laid there, feeling life fade from him, Karsyn knelt beside him, gently cradling his head in her lap. “I really didn’t want to do this.” She said softly. “But you showed that to me, Ezra. You showed me the importance of taking charge.”
His vision came to a blur, the world slipping away, as the woman he thought he loved, who had once pulled him from his suffering, Transformed into the very thing that led to his downfall. The last thing he felt was her soft lips on his own.
The Last Summer
Bryson always understood that life didn't come with any guarantees, but at 17, he never thought he would face the terrifying fact of its conclusion. The discomfort began subtly. Just a little ache in one spot, a slight cough in another. He figured it was probably just the stress from exams or maybe the summer heat affecting him, but the doctors had confirmed it : a rare type of leukemia, one that showed no mercy. Time was slipping away from him.
He wasn't only concerned about his own life. It was definitely her. Mia, his closest friend, the girl he had been familiar with for as long as he could recall. They had spent their childhood together, Swinging on the same swings at the park, building forts with blankets and pillows, and sharing books and secrets. Mia had always stood by him, no matter what happened. During his awkward teenage years, amidst family fights and the challenges faced at school. She was always there for him.
Recently, he found himself questioning whether she had started to see him in a new light. Not exactly the best friend he had always been to her, but something different. He noticed it in the way her eyes stayed on him just a bit longer during their conversations. She would blush whenever their hands accidentally touched. In the gentle, affectionate way she said “Brys” when no one else did.
He felt a wave of fear wash over him. He was scared at the idea that Mia might possibly love him back, just like he secretly loved her. If she knew, it would mean he had to cause her pain. He couldn't stand to watch her heart shatter while he was already drifting away.
It was a late summer afternoon when he realized it was time to take action. They sat on the weathered dock by the lake, letting their feet dangle above the water. The sun hung low in the sky, spreading a warm golden light across the landscape. The warm breeze did nothing to ease the tight knot in Brysons stomach.
“You're really quiet today.”
Mia remarked, giving him a gentle nudge with her elbow. Her smile was gentle, slightly hesitant, as if she could feel that something wasn't quite right.
“Im fine.”
Bryson said, attempting to keep his voice relaxed.
“Im just feeling really tired.”
Mia made a face of discontent. She understood him too well to buy into that.
“Bryson.”
She whispered gently
“You seem a bit pale lately. Are you really okay?”
His heart fe;t heavy. She had no idea. She had no way of knowing. He wanted to avoid causing her any concern. This isn't how it should be.
“Im fine,”
He said again, this time with more conviction, even though his voice shook a bit. He glanced at her, trying to muster a smile that seemed on the verge of breaking apart at any moment.
“You always have my back.”
Mia Smiled, her face lighting up with warmth. She glanced at their feet, letting her toes touch the water.
“Honestly, I wouldn't be a good best friend if i didn't.”
Bryson gulped. He was on the verge of destroying it all.
“Mia,”
He began, his voice low and hesitant
“I have to tell you something that..”
She took a glance at him
“You’re gay. I already know dont worry.”
“No Mia Im not.”
“Then what is it? You're really freaking me out now.”
He paused, struggling to hold the words back for just a moment more. But there wasnt any time left to lose. He just couldn't keep up the act anymore. Not when every part of him wanted to speak the truth. He took a deep breath, unsteady breath.
“I'm running out of time. The doctors can't help me anymore. Im dying Mia.”
The words lingered in the space between them, hitting both of their hearts hard. Mia stood still for a moment. Did not say anything, she looked at him, her mouth a bit open, as if she was trying to understand what was said.
“No. No. No way.”
“I wish it weren't.”
Staring at his hands. He felt the tears about to spill, but he held them back. This was no longer about him. It was all about her.
“I'm sorry Mia.”
His voice was shaky. He never wanted her to find out, but he knew he had to say something. She frowned slightly then grasped his hand, her touch feeling warm and reassuring.
“Mia, also… I love you, I've been loving you forever now.”
He said nervously but had to let her know. She frowned slightly and grasped his hand, her touch feeling warm and reassuring. “Bryson. I-I… I love you too.’
‘No, Mia”
He shook his head, feeling a tightness in his chest from a pain he couldn't hold back any longer.
“I cant allow you to love me.”
“What why?”
“Mia you just can't.”
“Well if i'm not allowed to, am I allowed to know when you're supposed to go?”
He shook his head no, but wanted to tell her. He wanted to trust her. He really wanted to. Yet, the way she held his hand-her thumb softly gliding over the back of his palm, the way her gaze lingered on him as if he were something invaluable. When he realized that this needed to end this love, he thought of something that will get the harm out of the way.
“Mia I do love you, but lets talk about this tomorrow. I promise ill give you more details.”
She nods with disappointment, but she didn't care as long as she gotta see her best friend the next day.
Bryson went home, didn't even say bye to Mia, just walked out. He was quiet the whole way home, Only bad thoughts lingered in his head, like how hes going to do it, how bad its going to hurt, who it will all affect. He got home and instantly went to the cabinet where all the meds his doctors gave him. He grabbed all the bottles. Opened all the bottles, contemplated if this was the right thing. He didn't even give himself the chance to think about it, like his body just started to do all the actions he's wanted to do for the past years. He swallowed pill after pill.
Bryson can't believe what he just did, but the damage is done now. He took over 20 pills. He didn't want to live anymore, but more regret hit him after taking all those pills. He wanted it all to end at that moment. He went to his closet. Grabbed his first gun he was given when he was a small child. He put it to his chin.
“I'm sorry Mia. This is for the better, I swear.”
He pulled the trigger.
Mia has no idea.
She never found out why he didn't show up the next day.