Body Count - 5

Patience, it would seem, is not one of my virtues. Left the office early yesterday. Told the Corporate Muppet I was sick, which was very true. Being around all the cattle was beginning to make my flesh crawl. It started flapping it's head about some kind of deadline or some such nonsense. I responded with some sort of bullshit answer that seemed to appease it, I suppose. I really didn't care. I just had to get out of the building. The train ride home didn't help matters. Apparently mid day is the prime traveling time for the parasites of society. After refusing several offers of intercourse from disease spreading whores and drugs from junk pedaling criminals I finally arrived at my stop. My "human mask" maintained long enough to exit the car and promptly vomit in a nearby garbage can. I heard some faint murmurs from the surrounding cattle, but I ignored them and pressed home. I collapsed on the floor of the kitchen after safely locking them on the other side of my front door. After several minutes I collected myself and ran some cool water over my face. I resolved myself to what I knew must be done. After changing clothes and gathering my tools from my workshop I made my way to my test subjects apartment. The late lunch crowd was dying but there were still enough cattle roaming on the streets that it was easy enough to pass by inconspicuously. Her building was old, probably pre-WWII. Narrow staircases, poor lighting and wall to wall tile and paneling in the foyer. Mentally picturing the outside of the building I was able to ascertain which second floor unit was hers. With only 4 units per floor it really wasn't that difficult. To my surprise her door was unlocked, indicating that she is either absentminded or careless. Either way it saved me from having to pick the lock. The inside of her apartment could have easily doubled as a library. Books were piled floor to ceiling, some in cases and some just stacked on the floor. Every room was like a different section of a bookstore. It was a very extensive collection, everything from Faust and The Canterbury Tales to the latest trashy romance novels. It was staggering to think of how much time had been poured over these volumes. I sorted through her tomes and came across Paradise Lost in her bedroom. The title intrigued me. It's one of those titles that academia tries to force feed you, but nobody pays attention to it and certainly no one reads it for leisure. Yet I found myself flipping through the pages, gleaning words from it. I became so entranced in it I barely heard her opening her front door. To my good fortune she was on a cell phone and distracted when she entered. I had just enough time to quietly slip into the bathroom adjacent to her room. I stepped into the shower and readied the paralytic. She talked on her phone for what seemed like hours. I was becoming increasingly aggravated with her delay. My hands were beginning to tremble with anticipation. Finally I finally heard her give her farewells and make her way towards me. When she entered and turned to close the door I sprang out at her. The lip of the tub made it a clumsy effort on my part. My momentum carried me into her and she rocked back against the mirror above the sink, breaking it in the process. She blindly swung on instinct and caught me in the ear before I was able to regain my balance. Reflexively I jabbed her in the midsection and brought her gasping to her knees. I pushed her to floor and held her in a choke hold while I administered the paralytic. Her eyes were an ocean of panic. I suppose with her head always in a book she never thought something like this would happen to her. Satisfied in her paralysis I began to cut off her clothing, revealing a young body that was beginning to show signs of neglect. Too many nights reading books and eating junk food. When I plunged the knife into her abdomen, it was almost like cutting into warm dough. The blade cut easily up to her sternum just below her throat. The incision from each palm to the center cut went just as easily. I watched the fear in her eyes elevate as the realization that she was going to die hit her in full force. Her eyes weren't anything special. Just brown and plain, not worth the effort of removing. After she bled out I did the usual clean up efforts and grabbed the copy of Paradise Lost on my way out the door. I was able to slip out of her building and into rush hour traffic unnoticed. It was a pleasant walk home. I could actually feel myself smiling from ear to ear. My only nagging thought was that I'm going to have to find a new use for the sodium hydroxide.