Obsessed

When Clare Edwards comes across a dead body and a bloodied book beside it, she becomes absolutely enthralled by the unfinished contents of the book and wants nothing more than to read the end of it. But the only way to read the next part is to kill those close to her. How far are you willing to go read the next part of the story?

Based off of a song!

I didn't want to post this as mature so I tried to tone down the gory parts of the story but readers/viewers discretion is advised!

Life for 17 year old Clare Edwards had always been mundane and boring. No one in her entire school was interested in her, not even her step brother Jake who had accidentally walked in on her after she stepped out of the shower. She was, what you could call, unsocial. She was studious for the sake of her future, often rejecting all of the offers to go clubs by her best friend Allie. Maybe introvert was a better word to describe her.

But not like she cared, all the needed was to get to a great college. That's what her life depended on. Yale had been calling her name since she could crawl on all fours.

A cloud of air escaped her lips as she exited the toasty library and into the frigid streets of Canada. It was nearly 10 and the library was closing. She brought her hands towards her mouth and exhaled warm air as an attempt to prevent frost bite. She silently walked down the empty streets, gingerly stepping on the icy floor so she couldn't slip.

Through the smell of car exhaust and other fumes, a sharp iron smell intruded her nose. The smell of rotten eggs was mixed in too. She nearly gagged and quickly brought a hand to her mouth. Turning her head in the direction of the smell, she slowly stepped forward.

"What's that smell…?" She mused softly to herself.

As she stepped into the dimly lit alley, it smelt even more like the iron-egg smell and like rotting garbage. She saw a dark figure on the floor. Holding her breath for dear life, she pulled out her phone to shine light on the unknown figure.

As soon as there was light she took a sharp intake of the sullied air around her. She coughed violently and fell to her knees. With both hands on her mouth she tried her absolutely best not to gag at the sight before.

A dead body with its stomach viciously cut open and its contents spilling onto the cold concrete. The once pure snow was now tainted with blots of angry red. It looked like the body of a young woman. Clare wasn't sure but she wasn't going to get closer to make sure.

"Meow."

Her body jolted as shivers climbed up her spine. Her phone met the floor and it's light continued to illuminate the shadowy alley.

"Phew." She released a sigh of relief. It was just a black cat.

Wait. Weren't black cats an omen for bad luck?

The cat mewed at her again before walking towards her, causing her to balk back onto the icy floor. It walked around her and towards where the light which was shining from her phone. It sat down next to a book soiled by the red of the corpse.

"Is that a book?" She asked to no one in particular. The cat mewed in response before licking one of its paws.

She stared at in disbelief and her arms extended towards it. She wasn't even thinking about reaching for the bloody book but her body just did, as if something was attracting her. She cringed when her hands wrapped around the damp book. She used her phone to read the cover. There was no pictures, just writing carved in with gold ink.

Lady and the Demon

The blood had warped the writing below it making it unreadable.

She looked at it oddly before opening it.

After reading a few pages of the mysterious book, her azure eyes widened and felt tears stream down her pallid cheeks. She was in absolute awe of the book before her, it contained such a horrific yet heartbreaking story. Never had she read a book which moved her so much.

She silently sat on the cold concrete just reading through the short book. She hadn't even realized how much time had passed until she had reached the end of the short chapter book.

"Wait." She mumbled as she flipped through the book. She had reached the last page of the book and there were so many unanswered questions. "This can't be the end of the story."

She kept searching for more words in vain. She had reached the end of the book, 'To be continued.'

There was something boiling within her, she felt so uncomfortable and incomplete because of the abrupt end of the book. She needed to know the ending. She pocketed the book before standing up, wincing at the soreness of her legs.

She took a quick look at the corpse, as if trying to find the next volume of the book. She frowned before stepping out of the alley, not even noticing the black cat had been long gone.

Obsessed

Clare had just gotten out of the shower after hearing a long speech about coming home late from her mother. She had just tuned her out; she couldn't focus on her mother no matter how hard she tried. Her entire mind was focused on Lady and the Demon.

She pulled out the now-dried book out of her bag and looked at it with frustration. She quickly skimmed through the book, not amused. Gold lettering caught her eye and she stopped. She flipped to the back cover of the book and saw a sentence of carved gold writing.

It read: The next part is found in stomach of –

Did she read that correctly?

The next part is found in the stomach of Jake Martin.

She dropped the book in absolute horror.

Does that even make sense?

How can a book be found in the stomach of—

The puzzle pieces began to fit together in Clare's mind, each leaving a click sound.

Back at the alley, the woman's body had her stomach completely torn open and there was a bloody book next to her.

No. That can't be right.

How can one put a book, a book, not a quarter of some sort, but a book in someone's stomach. Is that even possible? Wouldn't that require major surgery? But wouldn't the book just break down from the acids of the stomach?

She threw the book to the wall in disgust. She turned off her lights and headed to bed, trying her best to push the gory thought in the back of her mind. The darkness seemed to last forever and she couldn't get a wink of sleep. She faced the wall and her eyes were completely focused on the book.

Killing Jake wouldn't be that bad. I mean, we're all going to die eventually. If I just kill him now, I saved Mother Nature a lot of time and effort. Besides, I bet I'll just have to kill one body.

NO!

I can't kill him. He's my step brother. We're family. Family…

My family's broken. He's not family…

But he's a human being. I can't kill him but…

After long grueling darkness, the sun had finally decided to peek in. Clare still had her eyes on the book. It was when the birds started singing that Clare decided she would read the next part of the story, no matter what.

To Be Continued

"Jake," Clare said.

"Yeah? Whoa, you have major bags under your eyes." Jake said bluntly as he looked through the refrigerator for milk.

"Thanks." She said tersely. "I was wondering if we could walk to school today instead of driving."

He pulled out the cold milk and stared at her oddly. "Why so sudden?"

"Well I mean, you and Katie are working on the green house, why don't you walk, instead of releasing dangerous fumes into the atmosphere and end up damaging the thin piece of ozone shielding us from the UV rays from the sun." She tried her best to sound as convincing as she could but Jake was looked at her as if she possessed sixteen heads.

"Um…I guess." He answered slowly. He turned to the clock. "Then we have to leave sooner than usual." He grabbed a bowl and began to pour himself some cereal. When he tilted the box, he slowly watched the sweetened oats collect in his bowl, he wanted the perfect amount.

"Sure. Sooner the better." Clare said innocently as she reached for a kitchen knife and held it behind her back.

Obsessed

"You know Clare, I thought it was really weird of you to ask to walk to school. You're usually not a morning person." Jake said as he locked the door of their house.

She smiled. "You never know. Maybe I can be a morning person."

He scoffed. "Well after knowing you for a while, I'm pretty sure I know you're not." He chuckled as the two walked down the street.

Clare silently watched him intently, her fingers constantly twitching towards her shoulder bag which carried the kitchen knife.

Each second just walking seemed like an eternity to Clare.

She just wanted to get it all over with and finish the book.

The moment the two stepped onto the school ground, Clare's heart began to jump. There was no one on school grounds, Jake must've thought it would take longer than they thought.

It was finally time…

"Hold on Clare, I have to go check on the green house." He said before running off.

Clare gasped. "Wait. I'll go with you."

Jake's eyebrows rose but nodded. The entire morning he was just thinking about how weird she was. He even questioned if she found his secret stash of marijuana, as he likes to call it, and took a bit. Ha! As if Saint Clare would do something like that.

The pair walked into the empty green house and he began to water a few of the arid plants. He noted how the leaf of a fern had begun to slightly wilt. He frowned slightly at the sight as he gently assessed it. His hand reached to for the watering can behind him but before he would even reach there was a sharp pain in the back of him. He gasped as he felt the clothes on his back slowly becoming damp and moist as the pain grew. It felt as if he was being shot of some sort. He slowly turned his head, wincing as the pain spread through his back only to see Clare with her head facing the ground and in both of her hands held a kitchen knife.

"Clare" He breathed but quickly spat out blood.

Her face continued to face the ground as she swiftly pulled out the knife out of his back and into his abdomen.

He released an ear piercing scream as the pain over took his body. His arms tried in vain to push his killer away but he was quickly losing his vision. He couldn't see Clare, instead a blur replaced her. His legs gave way and his body met the floor.

Jake squinted his eyes and could see a slightly clear image of Clare. Her usually bright eyes were now replaced with dark murderous orbs. Her lips curved into a malicious smirk. The knife in her hand was dripping of blood, his blood.

Before he could scream for help and beseech her to stop, she impaled his stomach once more. Blood shot out of his mouth and he could barely see. His body felt numb yet it was ringing at the same time. He gasped for air but breathing only pained him more.

Clare slashed his body one last time before his body jolted and he no longer reached for her. His soulless eyes faced the floor next to him and a pool of blood surrounded him. Clare remained silent as her hand reached into his body, in search of the book.

This is stupid. There's probably no book. It's probably all a joke from some—

Clare's breathing hitched as her fingers met a leathery surface. She gripped it through the warmth and liquid around her and pulled it out.

In her sullied hands was the next part of Lady and the Demon.

Obsessed

How stupid could she be?

She just killed her step brother in broad day light.

She quickly ran through the street and to her home, the book held tightly in her hand.

The door swung open and slammed into the wall. Clare recoiled back and gasped before calming her nerves and closing the door. She slowly peeked out the window to see if anyone had seen her, before locking the door and dashing to the nearest restroom.

She swung the faucet and scalding water began to pour into the porcelain bowl. The hot water burned her hands but oddly enough, she couldn't feel anything. The only sound in the house was from the running faucet, Clare had completely stopped breathing.

Facing her reflection, she couldn't see herself. Her beige cardigan had blots of red all over the bottom hem of it. Her fern green skirt was now a dark olive. On her complexion were several blood streaks, it must've gotten on her face when she was wiping her sweat. This wasn't the reflection of Clare Edwards. This was the reflection of a murderer.

A distorted image of Jake's lifeless body taunted her mind and her blue eyes widened before she screeched and gripped her head. She fell to the floor and her body shook. Her eyes averted away from the blood stains of her skirt but to the book which she had unknowingly dropped on the floor.

Her hand reached for it before Clare withdrew it in absolute disgust.

How could she read something which came from the body of her step brother?

The half opened book on the floor began to mock her, taunting her to open it and read its enchanting contents. Clare bit down on her lips and held both of her now-cleaned hands against her chest.

She stood there, watching, waiting.

It wasn't long before the water from the sink had begun to overflow over and onto the tiled floor. The blond gasped before standing up and turning the faucet off. She reached for a towel and kneeled down to wipe up the water.

The house suddenly grew quiet when Clare's eyes locked onto the bloodied book. As if controlled by some unknown force, she snatched the book and began to read it.

Laughter escaped her lips as she turned the pages. Like the previous book, it wasn't long before she reached the last page with an incomplete ending and those three words she had quickly grew to dreaded.

To be continued.

I was planning on making this a one shot but I'm really impatient so I'll just post it in parts. I'll reveal the song in the end and I honestly doubt anyone will be able to guess the song considering its new and not very popular.

Question!

Was it too gory for a teen story? If it was I'll go edit it away. I'm not very good at writing scenes about death and all that stuff, so please excuse my attempt.