Murder Never Wrote

“How difficult do you think it’d be to actually snap someone’s neck?” She asked semi quietly leaning over her computer. I realized quickly this sort of questioning must be normal from her since her friend showed no visible reaction or concern from the question at all. Instead, she didn’t even look up from her book before replying:

“I don’t know. Movies make it look pretty simple,” the friend answered with a sip of her coffee. The girl rolled her eyes.

“Movies also make decapitating someone look easy and dragons look real,” she muttered more to herself. I swallowed down the rest of my tea and muscled up my courage before walking over to their table.

“Sorry, miss, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but I couldn’t help hearing your question,” I started, pulling up a chair momentarily. She looked at me with intrigued interest. “It wouldn’t be as simple as it happens in the movies, normally they display someone standing over and behind someone else to twist the neck around but the body would follow and it would hurt like hell but mostly likely not snap the neck completely. You’d need to isolate the body, keep it still and then twisting should be fairly simple.”

Something glinted in her eye as a small smirk formed across her face.

“Thank you. I’m Sofia, by the way. What’s your name?” She asked. A small smile spread quickly on my face without my permission.

“Donnie,” I said reaching out a hand. I glanced over at her friend but her eyes remained glued to the novel. “Are you working on a paper or something?”

“No I’m, it’s kind of embarrassing, I’m writing a novel about a serial killer,” she admitted with a sheepish smile. I could almost feel my heart shouting with excitement.

“That’s not embarrassing, that’s awesome. You know I’m majoring in criminology. I might be able to help you with more of these details, if you’d like.”

“Yeah, that’d be great, maybe if you’re free tomorrow you could take me to dinner and we could talk more about it?” Sofia suggested with a wink in her eye.

“Yeah, I’d love to,” I answered, pulling out my phone and opening up a blank contact form. “Just type in your number and I'll call you. Sofia eagerly took my phone, typed in her information and then reached out to take a selfie to save as her contact photo. I chuckled a little at her.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said with a wink as I got up, pushed back the chair and slowly meandered out of the coffee shop. I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked with an extra jump in my step back onto campus. Tomorrow night couldn’t come soon enough.

* * *

As I sat in class, I found myself half listening to the lecture and half thinking about the intensity in Sofia’s deep brown sugar eyes. I reached for my phone and as discreetly as I could, placed it on the desk behind my books.

Hey Sofia, it’s Donnie.

Hey, you didn’t waste any time. When and where did you want to take me tomorrow?

She added a wink face and I smirked. I switched over to google and started to look up nicer restaurants near campus.

Do you prefer Mexican or Chinese food? I asked after finding two likely restaurants I could take her to.

Surprise me!

Can I pick you up at 7pm?

Perfect!

I smugly smiled to myself as I shoved my phone back in my pocket.

* * *

I knocked lightly on her dorm room door only to be greeted by her nameless friend from the coffee shop.

“Hey I’m Donnie, I sort of met you yesterday. I’m here for Sofia?” I started, but the girl once again didn’t even acknowledge me as she kept her face buried in her phone. She just opened the door a little wider and walked back off into the room, never removing her eyes from the screen. I peered in around the corner of the room to check for Sofia. I didn’t want to just walk in, in case Sofia wasn’t decent.

“Sorry, Donnie, one second!” I heard her cry from what I assumed was the bathroom. A moment later Sofia appeared at the door and I held out the flowers in my hand for her.

“Aww you’re so sweet! Calla Lilies! How did you know?” She asked, taking them from me and moving to put them on her bed.

“Know what?”

“That those were my favorite!” She replied as she walked back to me.

“I didn’t, but they were almost black so I thought you’d like them,” I answered with a smirk. She smiled back and took my arm as we walked back out of the dorm.

I tried to keep the anxiety out of my voice as she peppered me with small-talk questions on the way to the car. My arm felt overheated wrapped up in her and I was very aware of her thumb slowly petting part of my arm. I let go of her momentarily to open the car door.

“Your carriage, ma’am,” I said in my best cockney accent and doing a dramatic bow. She laughed under her breath and stepped inside.

“So what did you decide?” She asked as I started driving along the dimly lit road. I always thought it was careless that campus streets weren’t better lit.

“What?”

“What did you decide to eat?” She asked again with clarification.

“I thought you wanted it to be a surprise?” I said glancing at her with a wink. I saw a small smirk rise in the corner of her mouth. She began again asking me questions about my schooling and all I had learned. She seemed truly fascinated with serial killers and murderers and I couldn’t help but imagine I might have found my dream girl.

I pulled up to the busy Mexican restaurant and parked the car. I hurried to her side to open the door before she had time to do it herself.

“Nice choice,” She complimented as I took her arm and we walked inside. I was surprised, given how busy it was how quickly we were seated at a small booth in the back.

“So any more deaths that need clarification?” I asked, unable to hide my small laugh. I picked up the menu and started to glance around the regular choices of food items. They had a lot of pictures with their meals, which I always took to mean the restaurant was going to be delicious.

“Actually, yes, I do. How long do you think it would take a man of average height and build to die from a stabbing?”

“That depends? How many times are they stabbed? Where are they stabbed?” I replied, noticing a man of that description headed towards the bathroom.

“Let’s say it has to be quick, just a couple of times in the stomach.” Before I could reply the waiter came and placed two waters in front of us.

“Good evening, my name is Marco and I’ll be your server this evening. Do you two know what you’d like or would you like another minute with the menu?” He gave us a complementary smile but his tone was flat.

“I think I need another minute, if that’s alright,” Sofia requested. Marco nodded and scampered off to his next table. I glanced quickly at the time on my phone.

“I’ll be right back,” I said before quickly getting up and heading towards the restroom.

As soon as I entered I broke the normal code of “men’s bathroom rules” and stood right next to the man I had watched walk in earlier. He looked at me awkwardly. When he finished, I tucked myself away and finished as well. As he moved to the sink I slowly moved up behind him and pulled him around to face me before abruptly stabbing him in the abdomen several times. As he lay on the floor dying I washed my hunter’s knife off in the sink and quickly stashed it away. I studied the man on the floor: reaching up to me as if somehow now that I stabbed him I’d offer some sort of help to save his life. I could tell from the amount of blood and the placing of the knife in him that I had hit a major artery. I glanced down at the time on my phone and then back at the man.

I stepped away quickly as the blood started to spread closer to my shoes. Five minutes and he was dead. Faster than I thought, but good to know for future reference. It wasn’t my preferred method of killing but now another tool in my belt.

I quickly walked back out to join Sofia at the table, just in time for Marco to come back with his blank expression and monotone voice.

“Have you two decided yet?”

“Yes I think I’ll have a margarita and a number 17 if that’s alright but could I please have the sourcream on the side?” Sofia asked, handing him the menu.

“Yes of course, and for you, Sir?”

“I think I’ll have a margarita as well and I’ll have a number 10 with an extra crunchy taco on the side,” I answered, also handing him my menu. I smiled widely at him but he didn’t seem to notice.

As soon as Marco wandered off I turned back to Sofia.

“Normally, it would take a few hours for someone to bleed out if you stab them in the abdomen, but if you hit a major artery it can apparently speed it up to a matter of minutes,” I replied, taking a sip of water. Sofia smiled at me and I could feel myself falling in love.