Chapter 4: Voices (Song by Unfinished Thought)

"Xoe! Xoe! Why won't you talk to me?" Anna shouted as Xoe walked by her on the sidewalk.

Xoe's mental unstability was showing in her appearance now. Her hair was flopped up coarsely, her dress was becoming more tattered by the day, and her eyes' blue color was growing larger. She turned around toward Anna and whispered, "You told someone, didn't you?"

"Um... What?"

"You told someone that I'm becoming a serial killer, right?"

"...I didn't say anything." Anna began to sweat. "Honest."

"You damn prep, tell me now."

"I only told my journal..."

Xoe sighed. "Erase it when you get it. Or burn it. Or I'll erase you by burning you, too."

Anna gulped. "Alright, Xoe. Whatever you say."

::Last Chance For Confusion::

::I'm Arming Myself Well::

::I Can Feel Your Intrusion::

Now Xoe was over at Anna's underground house with Anna and Anna's friend Jackie later that night. Anna and Jackie were whispering things to each other and kept looking back at Xoe. Anna was glancing around nervously.

"I don't even know why you got be to come over to this damn place," Xoe complained, "because I've got better things to do if you're not going to include me in your show-and-tell festival."

"Oh yeah, Xoe, you're a serial killer!" Jackie shouted out loud. "Of course! You needed to kill someone, right?"

Anna turned pale. "Take that back...now. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone..."

"...Oops."

Xoe's temperature rose. "Excuse ME? Did you tell her, Anna? I believe you did..."

"SHE ASKED!" Anna screamed.

Xoe stood up from her beanbag chair. "Stand up, Anna."

Anna stood up obediantly. Xoe brought over a wooden chair. "Stand up on this."

Anna stood up without hesitating.

"Good thing you're not hesitating... Otherwise your death would be worse."

"OH MY GOD, XOE'S GOING TO KILL ME!" Anna screamed.

Xoe pulled a pair of handcuffs out of her belt. She strung Anna up on a beam at the ceiling. Anna screamed loudly.

"Shut up!" Xoe demanded.

Anna stopped screaming.

"You know what I'm gonna do to you now?"

"...What?"

Xoe wrapped a cloth around Anna's face. She pulled the chair out from underneath Anna and left her dangling. Xoe brought out her knife.

Jackie was up against the wall with terror in her eyes. She was searching for her cellphone.

Xoe glared over at her. She brought the wooden chair over to Jackie. "Sit down here."

Jackie sat down and flinched. Xoe bound her to the chair with a rope from her belt and gagged her with a strip of cloth. Xoe walked back over to Anna with her knife.

"Ready to feel the worse pain in your life?"

Xoe heard a muffled scream from Anna. She carefully slit open her abdomen. Xoe could hear Anna screaming in wretchedness as she reached inside the slit abdomen. She could also hear Jackie's muffled sobbing as Xoe strung out Anna's intestines. Xoe cut out the intestines and strung them from the beam. She then stabbed Anna in the head.

Blood was everywhere now. Xoe wiped off her knife as she carved her name very small in part of Anna's intestines. She walked over to Jackie who was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. Xoe whispered, "Cry as much as you want, but I have no mercy." She brought out a container of tar and stuffed Jackie's nostrils with it until she could not breathe out them. Xoe duct-taped her mouth perfectly shut as she carved her name into the wood of the chair. She tightened the rope around Jackie so it would take shorter time for her to suffocate.

"Good-bye, enjoy death!" Xoe laughed psychopathically as she walked out.

::I Just Need::

::To Stop The Bleeding::

::From When I Fell::

"This is awkward... All of the people who have been murdered have been involved in your life negatively," Jack, a dark brown hamster, remarked to Xoe as they walked down the sidewalk.

Xoe nodded. "What do you think is happening?"

"I heard a rumor that you were killing them."

Xoe stopped. "Me?"

"Yes, you." Jack stopped in front of her. "Is this the truth, Xoe?"

Xoe looked up into his eyes. "Jack, I've only known you for a while, but if you say a word to anyone else about this, I will kill you, too."

Jack stepped back. "Ouch..."

"Do you hear me? Anna didn't take that warning."

"I hear ya... So they do all of these bad things to you, and it just started with Josh... And it's like a long train: you can't stop until the last car stops. And you know who that last car is?"

"No."

"Yourself."

"So, you're saying, in order for this to stop, I'll have to kill myself?"

"You can't stop until the end, so yes."

"Remind me of what you said when you do something wrong so I kill you." Xoe continued walking.

"Ow..." Jack twitched as he followed her.

"Plus quit acting as if what I say when you say 'ow' is trying to back you off because I have a man, which I don't. It's because I don't like you very much."

"Ouch..."

"See?" Xoe sighed. "I wish all of this would just go away really..."

"Once you pop, you can't stop..."

"That was REALLY random. Remind me you said that when I kill you. And don't act as if I inflicted pain on your heart because I can do that physically."

::How Long Could You Stand There::

::Holding Onto One Dark Thought::

::Holding Onto Your Best Fear::

::That Tonight's The Day::

::My Sad Will Disappear::

Xoe hugged a pillow on her bed. She was hearing the roaring voices in her head again. They told her who all she was going to end up killing, and it was not exactly fun. She had already killed five others.

The screams is what keeps me satisfied... The blood, the horror in their eyes... The voices were listening to her closely as if she was the main central point of the universe.

::Tear Drop Sun Shine::

::Melts Color From Your Eyes::

::Star Scape Shadows::

::Shock Memories From Your Mind::

"So how are you, Xoe?" Jack asked as they walked down the sidewalk again. It was night, and Xoe was walking home. "You haven't been acting yourself... Mysterious and so beautiful..."

"I have a packet of Anthrax with me; don't push me any further now."

"Ow..."

::Sometimes I Remember::

::To Feel The Chemicals::

::But Lately I Can Fake My Own Way Home::

"I will kill you, remember, Jack?"

"Yes, I do..." Jack shivered nervously.

Xoe nodded. "I've killed five people in two weeks, and I will be plaguing more soon most likely. Let's go to your place, why don't we?"

"Alright, sure... You're planning to kill me, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

"Please, Xoe, don't... I haven't done anything to you."

"I recommend quit hitting on me and go for some other girl that likes guys clamping onto her tits and ass." Xoe rolled her eyes as she stomped away.

"Wait, Xoe!" Jack shouted as he ran after her.

::I Can Feel You Shiver::

::I Still Shiver For You::

"You've got me all wrong!" Jack shouted.

"Go away...," Xoe whispered as she walked into a bar. She knew Jack hated alcohol and would not dare step a foot into a bar. He sighed and walked away.

Xoe laughed. "Just what I thought." She walked over to the bar and sat down on a stool. Xoe eyed the bar and looked around for someone to chill with. The voices seemed to keep her company.

Then she saw him. He walked over and sat next to her. A muscular hamster with grey and blue fur was he, yet he was very slim. Xoe blushed a light pink.

"Hello, sir," Xoe whispered.

The guy smiled. "Hello. What's your name, miss?"

"Xoe Revie. Yours?"

"I'm Ben Dock. Nice to meet you." Ben smiled. "How old are you, may I ask?"

"Um, nineteen..."

"No, you're not." Ben laughed.

"Alright, I'm seventeen... And you?"

"Twenty-five."

"Wow." Xoe glanced down at the ground.

"What's wrong, Miss Xoe?"

"I thought you were about nineteen." She laughed. "I'm crazy, I know. I'm a serial k-"

"You are? Uh-huh..." Ben nodded with exaggeration.

Xoe paused. "Um... You can't tell anyone..."

Ben laughed. "Why would I? I don't even have any proof."

"Ha ha, yeah..."

Ben glanced over across the room. "You better get out of here, Miss Xoe, otherwise they're gonna call the cops to get you out of here. Are you carrying a weapon?"

"Many."

"Go! Get out of here before they call you in for killing AND being in a bar underage." Ben grabbed her arm and pulled her to the door. Xoe about asked for him to walk with her home, but she was already out of the door and he was already walking away.

You failed, a voice said. Now you need to kill someone to achieve something.

::Would You Care To Star In My Next Delusion?::

::It Breaks My Heart::

::To See You Turn Around::

::And Walk Away::

"Who am I to blame for everything?" Xoe asked herself as she paced around her little apartment. "Do I have myself, Josh, or the voices to blame? Or maybe someone different? Marie? Charlie? Anna? No... They came after I had made my decision... Then who do I blame?"

I can show you who to blame, a voice told her.

I know who you can blame for everything, another voice told her.

"...It was your fault, you voices. It was you or Josh..."

It was your fault.

Yes, it was your fault.

I can't find anyone else to blame.

"It couldn't have been me... No way..."

Yes way.

Can you find someone else to blame?

You decided to kill them. You decided to make yourself this. No one else.

::Listen Closer::

::They'll Show You::

::Who To Blame::

"I wonder if these voices are right," Xoe whispered as she lied back onto her bed.

We are right.

Trust us.

We're your own self.

You have no one else you can trust or blame.

We're the only ones that care about you.

Don't look for anyone else for help. We're here to help you.

Listen closer to us.

Everyone else will lie to you.

::And When The Time Is Here::

::Your Spark Will Blind Us All::

::And The Ones Who Lost Your Way Will Wish::

::I Can Feel You Shiver::

::I Still Shiver For You::

Xoe sighed as she got up and looked into the mirror in her bathroom. She looked into her eyes. They used to melt with warmth, but now they were harsh as cold metal. She whispered, "I wish I could kill everyone while there would be nothing wrong with it..."

::It's Hard To Be Beautiful::

::When The Whole World Is Watching::