It's Spooky Season

Confusion and Motivation

Backyard Skulls

February 2007 His blade slices through the fleshy parts with ease. It’s graceful, disgusting but graceful. How he holds that carved handle with equal parts purpose and delicacy, as if he’s painting a rummage sale art piece to hang over a fireplace.

The Poisoner

Assassins have existed since the dawn of time, higher ups in society across the world desire to see those who wronged them dead! So killers are hired to eliminate the targets for wealth, typically money is the reward they seek. Most assassins use hidden blades, carried under their sleeves, quickly slashing their victims before blending in with the crowd again. Others use sniper rifles or other long range guns, shooting from afar or up close. The best assassins are subtle and sneaky, the greatest ones of all have never been caught! There are a disturbing number of ways you can kill a human, I obviously won't share any, not in this story so use your imagination. The point of this tale is to explore the most bizarre assassin to ever walk the planet, a killer who is still unknown but has committed a countless amount of murders across the globe. All of which include spiking or tampering with the victims food or drink. This would poison the target to the point of fatal illness, it happened to the most unlikely of people, as though this assassin had no true targets but simply killed for sport. Perhaps there were reasons he chose to kill these people, but it is a mystery that has been left unanswered for decades. Many believe there to be multiple Poisoner assassins throughout the years, the theory that is it no single man or woman makes a lot of sense. It is a theory many subscribe to. The targets killed range from cute couples, families or lone travellers, who visit exotic restaurants whilst on their holidays around the world. It is always detected to be either rat or ricin poisoning, that kills the victims. There have been numerous cases investigated, where CCTV has spotted strange chefs in kitchens, those who were never officially hired had slipped in a disguise and tampered with the food. They always wear the chef's scarf over their face, to hide their identity. The figure has been described as male, standing tall and athletic. To presume the killer is male, he has been spotted in bars too, a hooded figure with a balaclava, spiking drinks of people who later end up dead. Usually the police don't investigate until the killer has already committed his murder, so it seems they have long vanished before any trail can be found. Not to mention the amount of people who were at first presumed to have been food poisoned, where it was the restaurant or cafe found responsible for not properly serving well cooked food. Only for forensics to later discover the truth, which was far more sinister and purposeful. Nobody knows who this assassin is, or why they do the terrible things they do. They are presumed to be male, but even that is uncertain. The race or gender of the killer is not yet confirmed. No face has ever been identified. A pattern has not been detected either. The Poisoner is a ghost, an assassin so good, they always manage to slip through the cracks, what with their many disguises and hiding spots. One can only assume the assassin seeks out those with bounties upon their heads, do if you've angered the wrong person, someone high up in society, be sure to eat food from the supermarket instead. You'll never know if The Poisoner is after you or not, until it is too late! If you eat or drink anything that tastes off, you should probably bin that item and wash out your mouth, there's a good chance it may be dangerous to consume. Then you'd become another death, on a list of thousands.

A New Beginning

Tony couldn’t sit still, crossing and uncrossing his legs, trying to calm his trembling hands as Clara stood at the office window deep in thought. The airline ticket in his shirt pocket moved to the beat of his heart¬– each beat bringing back the nightmare causing memories of the words he’d spoken over ten years ago. Thanks to Clara he’d finally gained the courage to buy that ticket.