The Carnival Killer

There Goes the Madness

There Goes the Madness

"No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness" - Aristotle

A few hours later and about five hundred miles from the carnival I found an abandoned house with a brick fireplace. I took out the small strip of golden hair and driver's license I took from Kristen Morris. Her hair still smelled of green apples. I sat on the cold floor completely naked admiring my trophies. My clothes were folded neatly by the fireplace. I placed the hair and I.D. on my clothes. Troy sat on a nearby couch that looked like it was older than the house and it was probably home to a family of rats.

"You know you can't keep them brother," he said.

"I know Troy, you don't have to remind me of my own rules," I snapped.

He didn't reply, he just sat on the couch with his gaze on me. I poured some gasoline on my trophies and clothes. I looked at my dead brother and he smiled back at me. I tossed it all in the fire and watched all the evidence burn to ash.

"Where to now big brother?" Troy asked.

"California is a large state but I probably should wait until I get to Nevada before I kill again." I replied.

He smiled and said, "I hear theirs a carnival near Reno."

A few weeks have passed since my kill and according to the news the police have no leads. I took my rental car back and got a new one from a different company. It was a different make, model and color. Never use the same car twice. License plates are to easy to switch, cops know that and if they recognize a car they might recognize the same person in the car. Stay away from people with cameras. Pictures have to be avoided at all times. I made an entire list of rules to live by so I won't get caught.

Reno was colorful, almost like Vegas but with more motels and less chapels. I don't care for gambling and prostitution so I'm thinking only of my next kill. First was a female, I stabbed her to death. Perhaps this time I'll use my pistol or strangle my victim with my belt. I will most likely pick out a male this time. I don't want the news labeling me as a sexist killer.

The sun was falling behind the casino's and the distant desert. The natural beauty of a night sky was hidden behind the fake lights of the casino's and the carnival close by. It was a large one, hundreds of people. If someone goes missing no one will notice right away. Now all I have to do is pick one.

As I walked around eating a hot dog that I got from a food stand. I could hear laughter as families enjoy their time together, teenage boys wining their girlfriends prizes from the game booths and screams from people on the rides that spin around and around. No one was sticking out of the crowd, no one drew me in with my animal instincts. I couldn't decide. I walked over to a corner near some tree's to watch the crowd from a private distance.

My mother waited for me there. She sat on a nearby log, she continued to work on her blanket she spent years sewing together. "What's troubling you Murphy?" She asked.

"Nothing, I'm just waiting for the right moment." I answered honestly.

"You could let your brother help you decide. He's always been good at picking people out of crowds." She suggested with a smile.

"No mother! If I listened to him I would have been caught by now with a dozen dead truckers in my trunk. I will pick this one and every other one." I had to control the volume of my voice so as not to draw any attention to me.

She looked upset, her smile quickly turned to a frown and she simply stared at her blanket. It was very large, it covered most of the log she sat on and some of the ground around her. It was made of scrap shirts and jeans of mine and Troy's throughout the years.

"Ever since you went to college you have lost all respect for me. You should be ashamed for talking to your mother like that." She said coldly.

Nearby I suddenly heard a voice of a man yelling at someone. Far away from everyone a young man stood talking on his phone. "Stop giving me the third degree all the time mom. I'll be home later, just take some sleeping pills and go to bed," he snapped then ended the call.

"You hear how he talks to his mother? Remind you of anyone?" My mother's voice rang in my ears.

"I'm sorry mother, your right I was being a jerk," I replied.

"Grab him before he returns to his friends," she ordered.

I instantly obeyed her like a puppet and ran after him. I knocked him out and dragged him deep into the forest. I decided to strangle him with my belt, it will be quiet and exhilarating. I pulled my belt off and wrapped it tightly around his neck.

"Wait!" My mother snapped under her breathe. "I want this one to suffer. I want you to be more creative with this one, show him to have some respect for his elders, especially his mother."

I nodded and took my time with my second kill. First I tied him up, then I tortured him, finally I killed him after he begged me to.