The car spluttered and gave out, heaving to a shuddering halt.

"No, no, no!" The green hedgehog in the driver's 座位 slapped the steering wheel repeatedly and urgently, looking fearfully between the instrument panel and the blacktop stretched out before the stalled vehicle. Whimpering, she attempted cranking the white Impala several times, all of which resulting in only gagging from the engine.

"…What's wrong?" I turned my gaze from the darkness outside to her quizzically, barely stopping the bemused smirk from appearing.

"The car's dead!" She answered, punching the steering wheel again and igniting a foghorn of a beep. Startled, she jumped halfway into my lap.

"No big deal." I replied reassuringly. "We can just call an auto service to come and pick us up." I felt awkward- she was touching me… I pushed her back to her side.

"Don't 你 get it?" She half-shrieked. I merely gazed back, indicating that I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about…

Right…

"There have been at least fifteen deaths on this road this month! Girls found pulled from their cars, mangled in heaps and broken on the roadside 由 morning… I don't want to die!" She choked, about to sob in terror of just a few stories. I mentally slapped myself before I could grin.

"I could check it out for you, if you'd like." I suggested gently, placing an ample hand on the door-handle. Her expression immediately changed.

"Would you? Oh, thank you!" She beamed, wiping at her eyes, cerulean pools of relief.

"Of course." Sliding the car door open, I climbed out and slammed the door back, then went around to the front of the car. She popped the 兜帽, 罩, 发动机罩 obligingly and I bent down to take a look. The battery still functioned, as the radio was blaring "Party in the U.S.A.", but the engine was fried.

Just as I intended.

Reaching a gray-turned-black hand into the bowels of the crippled vehicle, I yanked hard on a few wires.

Snap.

And just like that, the interior of the car was plunged into darkness. A short scream from the hedgehog danced in my eardrums and I finally allowed the smirk to seep through my guise.

I was rewarded rather quickly, as the girl spent no time pulling herself from the car to look for me. Since I had not 给 her a name, she had nothing to do but call "Hey!" and "Guy, where are you?"

This eventually faded to whimpering as she clicked a small flashlight on and strode hesitantly around to the hood. Peering emptily at the inner workings of her busted vehicle, she reached a tiny hand into the dark space, bent over, and began to fumble about for something.

I merely glared as I looked on, taking a step 前锋, 期待 so that I was directly behind her. I observed with amusement as her expression transformed, contorting into an absolutely horrified stare as her hand closed around the disconnected wiring.

Within the 分裂, 拆分 秒 that her brain told the rest of her body to turn and that her body actually began the turn, I broke from my stealthily position, reached up, and, with a deadly smirk, ripped the safety bar to the side and slammed the 兜帽, 罩, 发动机罩 down on her head.

As I pulled it back up, a wheezing gasp came from the female as she staggered back. I only grinned 更多 and, placing one hand gently against the back of her head, pressed down with all my force, smashing her nose against the battery.

"Wha-what are y-you doing?" She shrieked, placing her hands on her broken nose and attempting to draw herself back up as blood began to seep down her face.

I only smiled sweetly in answer, roughly shoving her back down and digging one knee into her spinal cord to keep her there. Screaming muffled 由 the components I had her smothering against, she struggled hard.

However, I only rolled my eyes and nudged her head over so her neck lay against the locking mechanism.

"H-how-? Wh-why?" She began to bawl, wracking sobs felt between her body and my own. The only answer I gave was releasing the bonnet.

I kept her in my grip as the latch sliced through her neck, her windpipe collapsing on a desperate scream as blood poured from her massacred jugular. Her body convulsed below me as I added pressure to the hood, 识骨寻踪 crunching under the weight until her head hung limply against the interior of the 兜帽, 罩, 发动机罩 while the rest of her shook like a poorly conducted puppet.

Smirking as she went still, I stepped back to watch some of the liquid seep down to the bumper of the vehicle, staining it with crimson, then dribble onto the pavement. Laughing maniacally, I slunk back into the shadows and moved on.

--

Moving seamlessly through the apartment complex, I hung my head and allowed tears to seep forth, racing in rivers down my cheeks. To complete the guise, I had previously changed into a hoodie 运动衫 and jeans, creating a younger, 更多 innocent impression that I was so far from, it was no longer amusing.

Just as planned, I swept past the resident eight-year old Labrador pup. She cocked her golden-furred head at me curiously as I passed, then after a brief two-second pause…

"Hey, Mister!"

Perfect.

I stopped, but turned my face away, putting my heads in my hands and releasing a sob. She raced up and stopped before me, green pleated dress settling just at her knees.

"Hey… What's wrong?" Keeping that naïve little tilt to her head, she looked up at me with deep jade irises filled with a complete misunderstanding of the world.

The universe is 浓情巧克力 and 糖果 corn.

"N-nothing." I shook with another sob, keeping my face turned away.

"…Want to come and I'll make some warm milk? Mommy always says it makes people feel better." The girl looked at me, her forehead wrinkled in concern and confusion.

"…R-really? 你 w-would do th-that for m-me?"

"Uh-huh." She answered proudly, grinning happily.

"A-alright…" I agreed shakily, allowing her to worm her hand into my grasp.

由 the time she led me back to her apartment, her parents were home.

"Isabelle, who's that?" The mother, a particularly beautiful icy-furred lupine questioned, locking her sapphire eyes onto me.

"My new friend. His name is…"

"S-Seth… My n-name's Seth." I answered.

"Seth… What a peculiar name… Hmm… Well, do come in." She smiled amiably and stepped back from the doorway to allow us in. Isabelle led me gently and almost excitedly to the mahogany 厨房 表 and motioned for me to take a seat. I obliged and sat down, peering at my surroundings with some air of nervousness.

"Honey! Who's that?" The husband called from the living room.

"Isabelle and her new friend." Isabelle dashed into the 巢穴, den, 书房 and announced her intentions.

"I'll be right back! Gotta take a bath!" The thud of her feet against the tiled floor reached my ears, flicking as they analyzed distance from the mere reverberation of the sound waves.

"So, Seth…" The husband stalked into the room, massive and black-furred with the very same eyes as Isabelle's. "You from around here?" He asked in an accusing manner.

"Y-yes, sir." Not particularly threatened, I met his gaze, though sniffled a little to stay in character.

"Randy! Leave the poor boy alone!" Just as the wife 说 this, a tan coffee mug was placed before me on the table. "Here, Seth. Drink up; I'm sure it'll make 你 feel better." The ashen dog smiled gently as she released the handle of the mug.

"Th-thank you." I gave her a solemn simper through the 鳄鱼 tears. Something about me, probably that I kept the man's stare, set him off.

As he removed his eyes from me to cast a glare at his wife, I smoothly slipped my hand up and took a dull 刀 from the table, then slid it back beneath and into my left sleeve. Within the 下一个 second, I performed the action of drinking from the cup, though I did not allow the liquid to pass behind my lips.

Within literally a few minutes, the couple was arguing, driven 由 a small bit of mental manipulation on my end. However, all I did was give them both a little tweak.

After sitting for a few moments in silence, I fell to temptation; the desperate need to get a little murderous overtaking my will to resist any longer. Standing from my seat, I immediately caught both of their attentions.

"…Didn't anyone tell 你 to never let a stranger within your doors? For every good person there is out there… There are always the intelligent ones too.” A sinister smile spread, my lips curling in anticipation as I allowed the 刀 to slip into my awaiting palm.

All was silent. Until the world exploded in violent fury.

"GO!" The ebon dog shouted at his wife, who, with a shrill screech, dashed into the living room.

"Randy!"

"GO!" He bellowed, charging at me.

With a sigh, I flitted out of the way and watched with a bored stare as he passed and flung himself into the 厨房 table, which gave a shuddering crack on impact. I yawned, casually raising the 刀 into a 更多 ready position.

When he came for me once more, I merely held my hand out and caught him 由 the throat before he could strike me. Clenching my fist closed, his 青柠, 石灰 eyes bulged from lack of air and he attempted to gasp, drawing his hands to his throat and feebly trying to pry himself from my grip.

I only tightened my hold in response, throwing him against the 厨房 island and descending on him.

"Wh-what's wrong with you?" Randy coughed, leering up at me, horrified.

"It's always the same questions." I 说 simply, bending down beside him on one knee, my other digging into his chest. "Who are you? What are you? What's wrong with you?" I listed nonchalantly, lowering the 刀 and placing it against his stomach. "How are 你 doing this? Why are 你 doing this? Why did 你 pick me?"

I pressed down on the knife, slowly and agonizingly working the dull blade through his skin. Randy howled and writhed in pain, struggling to get his hands on me, but I kept brushing them away.

"How could you? Don't 你 feel any mercy?" I broke through the membrane and plunged the 刀 deeper into him, carving down from his rib cage.

Randy screamed and thrashed wildly to get away, but I refused to release him. "How? Why? What? Who?" I dragged on, cutting along deliberately to each word.

At that exact instant, the wife came back in, screaming, swinging a baseball bat with every intention on smashing my head into mere brain matter.

With a sigh, I took a step back, allowing her fell blow to fall on her husband rather than me. Laughing, I grinned at the look of horror on her face as Randy's features exploded in bright scarlet and blood began to flow through the wound she had delivered him.

Randy shouted her name over and over while I, within the blink of an eye, ripped his stomach open to expose his organs. Blood fountained up in a pool and began running down the sides of his chest cavity.

"Oh my God!" The wife, Ariel, shrieked and backed away into the 墙 behind her.

"God cannot save 你 now." I stated simply, grabbing her 由 the hair and yanking her to the floor.

Cackling somewhat loudly, I glared down at her with contempt as she scrabbled to get back to her feet, slipping on the blood all over the floor. With a backhanded slap, I sent her sprawling on the tile, and then pulled her head back up with a vicious jerk.

Dragging her over to her husband's twitching body; I knelt once more, digging my knee into his arm to prevent him from resisting anything 更多 I could do. Readjusting my grip so that I had a handful of hair 魔发奇缘 up in my fingers, I shoved her head downward, into Randy's stomach.

Stupidly, she gasped, sucking in a lungful of blood. Obligingly, I pulled her back up, letting her choke, coughing on Randy's blood that she'd no doubt swallowed.

"R-Randy! Randy!" Ariel blubbered, tears mingling with the blood on her face. However, Randy had gone stark white, his own death being brought on 由 her struggling.

They were too stupid to realize this and, as 动物 usually do, kept on with their pathetic attempts to save themselves, in turn, killing each other.

My own dark laughter, disturbing gurgling from Ariel, and choked wheezing from Randy created melody 音乐 to my ears.

Ah, the sound of murder.

How quaint.

Ariel's body finally stopped twitching. Dripping blood, I rose from my knees, releasing her limp corpse to float in the lake created in the pit of her husband's cadaver.

Armed with nothing now but my bare hands, I padded to the bathroom and, after turning the knob and finding it locked, kicked the door in.

Isabelle stood in the center of the bathroom, expression contorting in shock and fear as I strode through the doorway, grabbed her 由 the neck, and slung her into the sliding glass door to the bathtub.

Blood painted the translucent glass with delicate liquid rubies as I allowed her head to slide to the side after the blow.

"Wh-what have 你 done? Where are Mum and Dad?" She screamed shrilly, stinging my sensitive ears. Angered 由 the high-pitched wail, I repeated the action, her skull giving a resounding crack as it impacted and shattered the glass.

Head lolling, her eyes rolled up in her head briefly as I stepped on her feet with one of my own and shoved her backwards.

She came to just as I roughly grabbed her arms once the upper half of her body was parallel to the ground. I pulled her hands towards me, in effect forcing her back into a 更多 acute angle, yanking until her back almost touched the back of her thighs.

Isabelle screeched the whole time in pain, up until something snapped, a disk dislocating in her spine, backbone snapping quite literally in half, blood beginning to leak from her mouth, splattering the white tile below.

Immediately, the howling ceased and she collapse uselessly under the pressure of gravity. I simply shoved her into the bathtub and, after pushing her head below water, took hold of her throat and tore, blood spilling into the water like 食物 dye.

Bubbles ceased rising after a small amount of time, 由 which the water had become opaque, a red sheet of ice as I slowly pulled my hand from the depths. Nothing rose to the surface.

--

"It's my birthday." The young boy announced proudly, placing his hands on his hips and puffing his chest up proudly.

"Really?" I asked. "Happy Birthday." Silvery metal flashed before my eyes in an arc. His head hit the hardwood floor first, followed 由 his body.

--

"Wh-what are you?" She shrieked, eyes cloudy with tears and drunken fear.

"Your worst nightmare." My answer came with a snarl and, claws extended to their fullest, stabbed through her rib cage and tore out her heart.

--

A glimpse of a neon green shoe, part of a 青柠, 石灰 leg. Reached up and grabbed him 由 the ankles.

Dumb animal was below water before he knew what hit him.

--

Screams, howls in agony, fearful cries, desperate sobs for someone, something to save them. But in the dog days of summer, as they wait for September, no one will… no one ever will. Because I am the monster that will ensure their painful, gruesome, horrifying deaths.

Think 你 can escape?

…You can run, but not hide…

So run for your life.