The Harmony Slasher

Murder, she committed murder, cold-blooded serial murder. No one could understand why Primrose had done such gruesome things? Looking back now, I can’t believe everything had changed because of me.

I grew up right across the street from Primrose. We did almost everything together, but I absolutely hated going to her house. In retrospect, she had what the average person would call the perfect family. They went to church every Sunday, had the nicest house on the block, and appeared relatively normal to the naked eye. You never would have guessed it was anything but that.

When we were growing up, I would, on the rare occasion stay the night a Primrose’s house. The house was filled with so many religious things, the walls, the countertops, every room had something, even the bathrooms. I just found it to be almost an overkill. Primrose would always tell me, “unless you're spoken to just try not to say anything to my father.” It was so awkward. I was, in a sense, scared of her father.

It wasn’t until years later I fully grasped how traumatizing her father was. Primrose hid it so well, and to this day, I regret letting her go to that family church retreat without me. She begged and begged for me to go with her. It was almost as if she knew what was going to happen. I will also always wonder, if I had decided to go that weekend, would I still be alive?

Primrose’s father was what you would call a religious man. He composed himself very well in the eyes of the public, but on the inside, he was a full-blown psychotic maniac. He took being a man of God to a sadistic and cruel level, and Primrose had to pay the price.

Some of the details leading up to that horrific weekend are still unclear to me. People were so quick to place all the blame on Primrose. The news stations claimed they had all the facts and information. It wasn’t until weeks later the whole truth came out.

The day Primrose and her family left for the church retreat, I remember the scared look on her face. I didn’t understand why at the time, but when I heard what happened, all that begging and pleading to go with her made me feel uneasy. I fell to the floor in utter shock, disbelief, and heartbreak. I recall thinking to myself, ‘This can’t be happening! My best friend couldn’t have murdered all those girls.’

The news crew said, “What we’re about to talk about is not suitable for young viewers. Over the weekend, a teenage girl named Primrose Winslow committed heinous acts of violence and murder. This all took place at a family church retreat. The location and the name is being withheld at this time. We have never seen so much blood and gore. It was like it came out of a horror story. Ten girls ranging in age from 14 to 17 were brutally sliced open with a large kitchen knife and left for dead. Primrose then collected blood from every victim and brought it into the sanctuary to replace the communion wine. She then decided to take her own life by cutting open her own throat. One victim is still alive but is unresponsive and in critical condition in the I.C.U of a nearby hospital. The immediate family of Primrose had no comment at this time. We will continue to follow the story and release any breaking news to our audience.”

I laid in bed for days crying, crying for all those innocent girls, crying for the death of my best friend. I just wasn’t able to fathom how Primrose could have done all of this. She was the sweetest person. She couldn’t even kill a bug without feeling bad. In science class, she wasn’t able to dissect the frog because she thought it was inhuman. The pieces didn’t add up.

When I finally got enough courage, I came out of my room to face the world again. I looked out the window to see the Winslow family had a for-sale sign in their yard. I was relieved and saddened when I noticed this, knowing then I couldn't face them again. I remember my parents peering at me with concern and the grief they had on their faces. This went on for a few minutes, just awkwardly starring at me. They eventually said, “Sweetheart, a letter came for you. You don’t have to open it now if you don’t want to. It’s from Primrose.”

I held that letter for what seemed like an eternity. After that, I opened it up and scanned it over and over. The contents of that letter completely changed the mindset I had at the time. All the confusion and doubts I had about Primrose were right. She was innocent. In the last excruciating hours of her life, she managed to write me and set the truth free. She explained everything, how her father needed her help to do God’s work, everything he wished to be done, every innocent girl he wanted to kill, how she must be made to take all the blame. He had to continue on to fulfill his plan and kill her in the process.

Mr.Winslow was the mastermind behind all of it. I vowed that day I would do anything and everything to clear my best friend's name. The first thing I did was show my parents that letter. They were shocked after they had read it. We called the police, and before the police arrived, I made multiple copies of Primrose’s letter. The new evidence dumbfounded the police. It was unclear to me at the time what the police would do. So I decided to send a copy to all the nearest news stations.

Almost a week went by, and nothing had happened. I hadn’t heard anything new from the police, and none of the news stations responded to me. I felt so hopeless, trying very hard to turn Primrose back into the sweet girl I knew. Everyone just made her out to be an evil sadistic monster. I had to keep fighting.

That next day I woke up to the sound of police sirens. I leaped from my bed to look out my window. To my surprise, I watched as the police broke down Mr.Winslow’s door and brought him out in handcuffs. Those new crews I tried to contact were everywhere.

I turned on my tv to hear, “The father of Primrose Winslow was arrested today. After new evidence showed, he was the man behind the mass-murdering. A letter written by Primrose and mailed to friend was submitted into evidence. The information in the letter was so detailed. It explained everything Mr.Winslow had done. The one surviving victim has since woken up and confirmed in fact that Mr. Winslow was the attacker.”

I sat back in relief that day, and I knew from that moment on Primrose would be at peace. To this day, I still miss my best friend, but I knew if I hadn’t cleared her name and fought so hard, I would have forever lived to regret it. The world is a much safer place without Mr. Winslow doing his work of God.

Years went, on and I was flipping through the tv channel's when a breaking news announcement came across the screen.

“This just in, The man called The Harmony Slasher responsible for the nine appalling murders of the teenage girls, and the murder of his daughter at the Harmony church retreat has escaped. He managed to break out of his maximum-security prison cell. It is unclear how he escaped, but we urge the public to be on high alert. The only thing they found that Mr.Winslow left behind was a note. The note stated I must leave this place now. The world is filled with unclean people. I need to finish God's work to purify and cleanse everyone who is a sinner.”