(I own absolutely nothing.)
Author's POV
Mara Jaffray watches the housemother as she washes dishes.
Who is Mara?
She is a hard-working, dedicated student, caring and sweet. She loves learning and is very community-spirited. She enjoys every second of learning. But this girl has a deep, dark secret.
She's a murderer.
She stalks people close by, making friends with them. She'd started off easy, with a girl called Willow Jenks.
Willow had been Mara's roommate. Mara hadn't liked Willow. She wrinkles her nose at the memory of the girl.
Mara smiles to herself, thinking of the night Willow died.
She sees the girl's horrified expression in front of her again. Then she burst into tears and tore off the Latex gloves she'd been wearing, hiding them under her pillow.
Now the housemother, Trudy is on Mara's hit list. She's made Mara do the dishes once and Mara isn't happy. The best place to go is revenge.
Mara steps outside the living room and goes to her bedroom. She strokes the dagger she uses to do the murders.
She would have to bide her time, this she knows. She wants it to be quick.
Yet at the same time, she wants to draw it out.
She waits until she sees Trudy getting her night-time cocoa, then slips a sleeping drug into it. Trudy stirs it and takes it to her room. After Willow's death, Trudy hasn't been sleeping well and she is pleased to discover that she feels drowsy almost instantly.
When Mara sees her housemother waking, she goes over.
"Mara, lovely, what's going on?" Trudy asks, surprised.
"I hope you've made the most of the sunlight. Sorry, dearest Trudy. Nobody ever really liked you." Mara hisses.
Trudy blinks in surprise. "OK, my darling. Now, go and get dressed. I'll start breakfast."
Mara shakes her head and smiles. "No. You don't have to. You'll never have to lift a finger again. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, dear, I can hear you. Now, go, get dressed." Trudy points to the door in the dark. "You don't want to see me dress, do you?"
Mara smiles. "You don't have to. You'll never need anything again. No food, no water, no air. You'll only have an eternal sleep."
Trudy winces. "No, sweetie, that's not possible. Go and get dressed."
Mara wishes the woman would just shut up and make this easy. She raises the dagger in the darkness.
"Nobody really likes you. They all wish you dead. You're no good to them, not really. And you've always known my little secret, haven't you? You knew from Willow's death, didn't you?" Mara whispers menacingly.
Trudy whimpers and Mara groans. She hates it if they cry.
"I had my suspicion, Mara, but you never seemed the kind. Don't do this, darling. You may not like me, but darling, I have always loved you." She sobs, softly.
Mara groans and shoves the dagger forcefully into Trudy's heart, then yanks it out. Blood floods out of her and drips off the knife while Mara watches, laughing softly.
The woman dies instantly and Mara is relieved. She hated the woman. She cleans her dagger and hides it, before tearing off her gloves and hiding them. She calls the police, crying.
"Police." A voice says.
Mara sobs "It's my housemother. I went to find her and she's been killed! She was stabbed!"
The police arrive, along with an ambulance. Mara sobs brokenly, glowing inside. The police offer her comfort and Mara sobs more.
She smiles as she ticks off another death on her list.
"Willow Jenks [x] dead. (and thank goodness, I thought I'd never be rid of that "Squee")
Trudy Rehman [x] dead. (and thank God. She was so whiny. I thought we'd never be rid of her.)
Two down. Now for:
Nina Martin [ ] (bratty and self-obsessed American.)
Amber Millington [ ] (Self-obsessed idiot.)
Joy Mercer [ ] (whinging brat.)
KT Rush [ } (pain in the neck)
Patricia Williamson [ ] (vicious and cruel {not much of a reason to kill her, I am too.})
Victor Rodenmaar [ ] (Rude and horrible.)
Eddie Miller. [ ] (Arrogant and lazy.)
Alfie Lewis. [ ] (Greedy and stupid.)
Fabian Rutter [ ] (Goody two shoes and too clever {may pose a threat to my secret, gulp})
Vera Devenish [ ] (Too good at solving pules, may pose threat.)
Jasper Choudhary [ ] (May solve out the killer, want revenge for murder of beloved fiancee. {yuck, BTW})"
She wants to keep Jerome alive until he is of no use to her. She thinks of him as cute and wonderfully good at scamming. He'd be a useful asset in her opinion.
Now to get the others. And she had to find new ways to do it. Or risk getting caught out. She was going shopping that night.