I finished this chapter just before I head off to camp. I'm sure 12 year olds will feel safe to know that their camp counsellor writes about serial killers in their spare time~
reviews, always appreciated.
Darkness. It always came.
To finalise the ending of another day. To help prove you really are alone.
Jeremiah hated the dark. He hated dark eyes, dark expressions and dark hair. He tried his hardest not to be one of those close minded people who judged people on the colour of their face, but he never felt truely safe around those with dark skin. It was just the fear he had had since he was very young. Even now, at nearly 30 years old, Jeremiah Wilson still slept with the hall light on. He avoided dark coloured clothing, was thankful for his light hair and eyes. He never dated a man with brown eyes or hair. He just said that the blonde headed beach boy was his type. No one knew of his irrational fear of dark.
So no one would of known how much Jeremiah was truely scared that very night.
Walking alone, and in the wake of rain, along the long black road of the highway. Tall green oaks lined either side of the road, thick forests of shrub stretching out in every direction. This was as isolated as Jeremiah had ever been. The heavy rain clouds had formed a dark canopy above his blonde head, daring to break open at any second. His pace quickened, even though he had no real reason to hurry. He would surely be stuck out in the open when the rain came, and when the nighttime darkness properly set in. His left thumb remained pernamently out as he trudged onwards, body twisted slightly sideways, as his head turned and searched desperately for any sign of a car.
That's when the clouds broke. The darkness of the storm clouds exploded in heavy drops of rain, beating down hard and only too fast. Jeremiah let of a little yelp of shock as his arms came above his head to shelter himself somewhat. Tears stung at his grey eyes, and he let them fall. No one was here to see him cry anyway, and he didn't care if they were. He'd say it was the rain, which it was in a way. The cause of the tears, not why his face was wet with tiny droplets.
Jeremiah continued his attempt of hitch hiking, his thumb stretched out and his right arm sheltering his drenched hair. He stumbled onwards, scared and shivering, as the rain had only darkened the scene ahead of him. He lost count of the seconds, the minutes, before his eyes suddenly squinted at the sight of a pair of bright yellow head lights coming towards him.
Pure instinct. He needed to be rescued. He flung himself into the car's coming path shouting and waving his hands wildly, forcing the silver landrover to pull over. Out stepped a man in a dark coat and a checkered umbrella that matched the sandy colouring of the coat's trim, the dome of material protecting his light brown hair. Jeremiah was at the point where he didn't care about his silly superstition of dark clothing, this man had actually stopped for him. He moved towards the unknown man, a smile of relief on his lips.
'Oh my god, thankyou, thankyou for stopping! I've been walking out here all day, and you're pretty much the only car I've seen...' Jeremiah stammered breathlessly. The man's eyes were a crystal blue from what he could tell, which only reassured him.
'Oh, it's fine really. It's a pretty big coincidence I even drove past this way actually. I don't usually head up here.' The man half smiled, scanning Jeremiah up and down.
'Well, I'm so glad you did. I didn't really want to try and make my way into town through this rain anyway.' Jeremiah laughed stiff and nervous as this man continued to inspect him. 'Uhh.. I'm Jeremiah,' he said holding out a rough hand for the man to shake. His crystal eyes stared into Jeremiah's palm for a long second before stretching out a long pale hand to grip the offered one. The other man shook firm and solid despite the soft texture of his skin and dainty appearance.
'Kurt.'
Jeremiah released his hand from the shake after the appropriate legnth of time before glancing at his own feet and that of the stranger known now as Kurt. 'Say, listen since you're heading into town, surely you wouldn't mind givin' me a lift eh? Seeing as you stopped, I just presumed you would...'
Kurt's eyes brightened and flickered with an emotion that Jeremiah couldn't name. 'Not at all! It would be heartless to leave you out here alone. What kind of person would I be if I left you out here like an abandoned puppy!'
Jeremiah smiled. He was getting a ride from a guy who seemed friendly enough. Kurt showed him to the passenger side of the car, before climbing into the driver's side. The cab was warm with the fresh heat of the engine, as Kurt twisted at the ignition and let the car roar to life. Jeremiah's hands fumbled at the vents in the dashboard, pointing the two closest to face him in an attempt to warm himself up. He was drenched through to the bone and with a hard shiver from Jeremiah's thin frame, Kurt started off on his way into town.
'Thankyou again Kurt,' Jeremiah smiled already warming up. Kurt returned his smile with a dimpled one of his own, and Jeremiah felt a sharp stab in his stomach, realising that Kurt was actually very attractive in the dim glow from the dashboard lights.
'It's fine, really.' Jeremiah's eyes focused on the redundant swipe of the windscreen wipers as they pushed away walls of water again and again and again. 'So,' Kurt continued after a minute, trying to strike up a conversation. 'Why is a fine man like yourself up here, alone in the wilderness?'
'Oh. Well, it's a long story.'
'Well it's a long car trip into town. We have the time.'
Jeremiah sighed, not knowing where to begin his recount of events. 'Well, I was orignally travelling with my boyfriend. We were out on this big road trip adventure thing, and then we were going to go back to Ohio for a few months. We had a fight about 20 miles back. So, during this 'fantastic adventure' I got pissy with his whole 'yes of course I don't need a map, I know which way is north, I'm an awesome hiker, blah blah blah,' crap, and I told him to get over himself and admit we were lost. Sam got equally as angry and actually did manage to find his way back to our car, and I was following him, not far behind. He got in that piece of rusty tin of his and drove off on me, leaving me stranded!' Jeremiah's arms were crossed and his eyes narrowed, reliving the irritation towards his boyfriend.
'Tough break man. He sounds like a bit of a drama queen.'
'Tell me about it. He's absolutely gorgeous, he's the sweetest little nerd of a thing I've ever met. But he just gets these crazy ideas, and if you tell him 'no' he just flips.'
Kurt stayed quiet for a moment. 'You said you were from Ohio?'
'Yeah, I'm from Westerville. Sam's from Lima.'
'Sam Evans?'
Jeremiah turned to study Kurt's expression, a little confused. 'How did you know?'
To Jeremiah's surprise, Kurt let of a chuckle. 'I actually grew up in Lima. If it's the same Sam Evans we are talking about, we actually went to high school together. We were friends.'
Jeremiah said nothing. The silence was piercing for no less then 5 minutes before Kurt opened his mouth to speak again. 'But it was years ago. I haven't spoken to him since graduation... Besides, its probably a different Sam. Its a common name I guess.'
'Yeah. I guess it is.'
'So whereabouts in town did you say you wanted to be dropped off?' Kurt finally asked, trying to change the subject to something less awkward.
'Umm, I'm not sure. Know any motels?'
'You don't have a place to stay?'
'Not anymore,' Jeremiah sighed. 'Sam would of checked into the hotel room by now, and its booked under his name so I couldn't get in there even if he wasn't. So I guess I'll go find the cheapest room in this town I can get.'
'Well the cheapest one you can get is a free one. Tell you what, come back and stay at my place tonight. My boyfriend will be more then happy to have company, and we have a guest bedroom you can use. Save you a couple of bucks and possible contraction of rare jungle diseases from unhygenic motel rooms.'
Slightly lost for words, Jeremiah stared at the other man as his head was turned straight ahead and watching the road. 'Really?'
'Sure, why not? Its no big deal. Just helping out.'
'Wow... Really, thankyou Kurt, that'd be so helpful! You sure are great. Your boyfriend is lucky to have you.' Jeremiah reddened with the words. Kurt shot him another dimpled grin.
'He's luckier then he'll ever imagine.'
Kurt's words were delivered with that dark twang that Kurt was implying more then he was actually saying. Concern should of flooded over Jeremiah, but he was too thankful for Kurt's helpful ways to comment or take any real notice.
Kurt drove on towards the little secluded house on the outskirts of town as fast as the limit would allow, exchanging petty small talk with Jeremiah all the way.
Jeremiah felt safe. He honestly thought there was nothing to worry about. A nice man, with a nice car, a nice smile. As Kurt pulled up into the drive, Jeremiah saw the nice house which Kurt stated was where he lived. Stepping out of the car, and hurrying into the warmth of the foyer, Jeremiah saw who must of been Kurt's boyfriend. Despite his dark hair and eyes, he too appeared nice enough to reassure Jeremiah.
This was Jeremiah Wilson's first mistake.
Bingo.
As soon as Kurt had spotted that dripping mess of a hitch hiker he knew he had found the perfect toy.
He was quite obviously scared. Kurt could tell from his body language. His nervous banter.
Kurt was intimidating. He'd known it for years. But the hitch hiker was sitting on a new level of fear.
Kurt knew that this was going to be fun on that basis alone.
On inviting the drenched man into his car, Kurt was able to sneak a better glance. He seemed... familiar. That name... Jeremiah. It was familiar. But he couldn't place it.
But when Kurt had quizzed him innocently about his life. That's when the dark flame of a candle flared awake in the back of his mind. Kurt knew exactly who this man was.
It had been 10 or so years ago. In a GAP store in Ohio. Not long after he and Blaine had met. Blaine had tried to serenade a Jeremiah. And Kurt could feel the raging jealousy spring to life in his gut.
Jeremiah. The apple of Blaine's eye before Kurt had become the focus.
Something that in his childish mind had always angered him.
Even though Jeremiah had straight out rejected Blaine, Kurt still thought in green toward the man.
Revenge would really be as sweet as they say.
'Do you take tea or coffee Jeremiah? White or black?' Kurt's voice called from the kitchen. Jeremiah sat snug in a squishy leather arm chair in Kurt and Blaine's living room. Blaine sat in the chair across from him, flicking through television channels with the sound on mute, completely mindlessly.
'Uh, tea thanks Kurt. And yeah, white.' Jeremiah called back and a whistle from a kettle sounded the making of caffienated drinks. Jeremiah sat a little uncomfortable now that he was away from Kurt in the house, as Blaine had made no real attempt at conversation, or even acknowledging Jeremiah post the initial greeting. Maybe Blaine was just a quiet man, though his face wasn't shy. He merely seemed completely uninterested. As if Jeremiah were some kind of relative you tried your best to avoid at Christmas or someone else's pet when you yourself could not tolerate animals. So Jeremiah just sat, glancing about the elegant decor of the house. From it's walls to its rugs, everything was perfect.
Kurt bobbed his way back into the room, carrying a tray of three steaming mugs. Blaine took his first, no word of thankyou, silently going back to the television. Kurt offered Jeremiah his drink, and he took it with a smile, before gulping down the tea fast and tasted bitter. Kurt must of made it without any sugar. Jeremiah was sure he could survive.
That was Jeremiah's second mistake.
'So Jeremiah, since you're staying here with us tonight, how about we make this a little fun for us. I've got a game I'd like to play in mind if you're willing.' Kurt smiled devilishly, eyes sparkling with childish delight.
Jeremiah hesitated. 'Are we talking like Cluedo-board game type game, or some kind of kinky adult type game?' To his surprise both Blaine and Kurt laughed. Jeremiah wasn't even aware that Blaine had been listening, his eyes focused on the screen where he had found a hockey game, the sound still turned off.
'Are you opposed to either?' Kurt asked. Jeremiah mistook his tone for flirting. He smiled and shook his head, causing another giggle from a caffienated Kurt.
'Good, because we're already playing.'
Jeremiah was confused, when it hit him. The sudden pang of droziness. Eyelids drooping, neck becoming loose and flopping. He couldn't stop himself. The hot tea fell from his hand, spilling over his trouser leg, soaking through and burning the skin. He'd been drugged.
Jeremiah could no longer see. Feel. Think. He was physically numb, limp. Fear twisted like a deadly serpent in his stomach, ready to bite and inject a dosage of fear induced panic into his blood stream like venom. He heard only the echoed mumbling voices of the strangers he had carelessly trusted.
He slipped into true unconciousness only moments later, the true darkness he feared setting in all around him.
Actually no.
Jeremiah Wilson's first mistake was not trusting Kurt and Blaine. It was made many hours before he even met the couple.
He should of never let that outburst bewteen him and Sam occur. If he had not gotten angry at his boyfriend's wild ideas of adventure, he could of been snuggling into him in a lush hotel room right now. The perfect evening on such a stormy night.
Instead, he wouldn't survive until morning.
But Jeremiah cannot be blamed for this entire mess.
To make mistakes, is only human.
