Jeff the Killer Remake

*"So when you find yourself locked onto an unpleasant train of thought, heading for the places in your past where the screaming is unbearable, remember there's always madness. Madness is the emergency exit. You can just step outside, and close the door on all those dreadful things that happened. You can lock them away…forever.”*

*~Alan Moore*

In his dreadful nightmares, he still hears the screams of his brother; the agony of losing your sanity. In a sense, sanity is something you are born with, but like they say, nothing lasts forever. For Jeffery Hall, his sanity only lasted fifteen years. There's a reason for that, of course; something that had deprived him of his sanity.

At this time, on a dark December night, Jeff sits on the edge of an abandoned apartment building, snow falling gracefully to the pavement five-hundred feet below. This is something Jeff does every night; staring at the stars and listening to the city as it falls asleep. It's the only place he feels sane and the only place he would ever call home.

It had been six months now since he had last seen his parents, but he knows he can't go back. He'd earned a place on the list of America's Most Wanted and is regarded as the most dangerous person in the country. He is known famously as "Jeff the Killer," but in his mind, however, he is not a killer, but more like a savior. Every life he'd taken, in his mind, had been set free, to a place of peace where the madness of the world can't reach. Jeff may be a madman, but at least he isn't lonely. It is possible that you could be so far from reality that you're never alone. You always have those thoughts and within those thoughts will always be someone or something to talk to.

"Do you ever miss home?" He asks the girl leaning on his shoulder. Her name is Hailey.

"Sometimes, I guess," she replies, staring at the stars along with him. "You can always go back, ya know."

"I will, one day." Jeff says. "I promised my mother, I would return."

"How did this happen, Jeff? How did it get so bad?" He takes a look off in the distance; over the buildings and over the trees, he notices the lake. He thinks that's where his mother is, waiting for him. Or maybe even his brother, who seems to always be there. Jeff thinks hard about what Hailey had asked; how it got so bad. His mind slips back into the past, as it does so often.

***

The stream of blood never stopped chasing him. He knew the corpses that swam within would soon pull him under and he'd drown in the blood of his victims. But, before that could happen, he woke up.

"Now I know you're still new here, Jeff, but I will not tolerate you sleeping in class," Mrs. Ryans said. "I'll let you off with a warning, but next time, it'll be detention." Mrs. Ryans had just explained a project to the class, one that would require a partner to work with outside of school. Jeff looked around the room, his classmates trying their best not to laugh. He looked at the girl in the back of the room, the girl who always seems to be looking at him as well. She smiled and he smiled back.

Jeff and his family were new to the town after previously resigning in Pittsburgh. There was something about the town that his parents couldn't resist. Maybe it was the lake.

In his previous school, Jeff was victim to bullying. He hoped his new school would be different, but there's a few kids in the school that had given him a hard time since the first day. His most feared was a kid name Troy Dawson, also known as the fattest kid in school who could out eat a whale anyday of the week. With Jeff's liking towards reading stories about blood and gore, a few kids in the school would refer to him as Jesse Pomeroy. Being that Pomeroy was known as a teenage serial killer, Jeff didn't like that at all. But, Jeff read about the boy a lot; how such a young kid could lose control of a rational mind, or where his madness had derived from. There's always a source, a foundation, if you will; where your madness begins and what keeps it going. Truth is, the gates were beginning to close on Jeff's sanity and he knew it. But, when he met the girl who sat in the back of the classroom, his life had changed.

She always smiled at him and one day, she finally decided to speak to him. "I'm Hailey," she said. "Do you have a partner for the project?" Jeff shook his head no. "Would you like to be my partner?" He shook his head yes. It wasn't until they got together after school that he had actually spoken to her.

Hailey wasn't the most popular in high school herself, but there was no doubt she was the most beautiful. She was a member of the cheerleading squad and with her long brown hair and pale blue eyes, she was much like a dream come true for Jeff. As time went on and even after the project had been completed, the two would continue to spend a lot of time together. Maybe it was due to the lack of attention at home. Jeff's parents were both workaholics and rarely had time for Jeff and his brother. Even when they did have time, they either spent that time sleeping or catering to their bosses in hope for a promotion or raise. Hailey's father died when she was six years old, killed in a car accident on New Years day and her mother had been addicted to drugs ever since. Rather they were too young for love or not, they fell in love and for a while, it kept Jeff's sanity afloat. Every void in his life was filled by her. He no longer felt lonely and no longer did he have those horrifying nightmares of blood and corpses.

To Jeff, his life was changing and changing for the better, but the moment their lips met in the basement of his home is the moment his life began to sink. In his eyes, he had the most amazing girlfriend a sixteen year old kid could ask for. Hailey was smart, beautiful and kind hearted. The only problem was that she was loved by somebody else as well.

Jeff wasn't a big kid. He was less than average in height and was very slim.  If it wasn't for his brother, Liu, the bullying would have been much worse. Jeff meant everything in the world to Liu and he'd do anything to protect him, even if that meant taking the beatings himself.

Both Jeff and Liu walked to school together and because the school was about two miles away and because the buses didn't run where they lived, they had to leave home at five in the morning. It was dark out as they'd walk and not many cars would drive by the area they'd be walking. One day, their route from home to the school was cut off in an alley by a run-down 1987 Honda Accord. The two stopped without any intentions on going any further. The only thing they could ask themselves was who is in there? Another good question would be why were they watching them.

The engine had turned on abruptly and the headlights had shun upon the two. After a few seconds, the car began driving toward them, leaving them no choice but to run. As though in a nightmare, they found themselves being chased by some maniac in a car. The thought of their lives ending in that way had kicked in and motivated them to run faster than they ever had before. But, as fast as they were running, it was not fast enough. The car was getting closer.

They knew they couldn't run any longer and for a while, they thought that was it; the end of their lives. The car was just inches behind them. They felt the bumper of the car as it pressed against their legs. They felt the heat of the engine and they were spotlighted by the headlights. But, before the car could actually hit them, possibly ending their lives, it drove in front of them and stopped.

They knew right then who it was, four members of the troubled Dawson family. Randy, along with his younger brother, Rick and cousins Keith and Troy, laughed their way out of the vehicle. With Randy's six-four frame and all two hundred eighty pounds of Troy, Jeff and Liu knew they didn't stand a chance. They had run-ins with those guys before, mostly when they first moved to the town; it never ended well for the two. But, they were so out of breath, they couldn't run any longer and running had never worked for them before. Out running Troy may very well be something anybody could do, but the two could never outrun the other three.

Randy approached them in his black jeans and leather jacket, his long dark hair flowing consistently with the wind. He bent down to Jeff, who sat almost breathless on the ground and pulled a knife to his neck. "You best stay away from Hailey," he said. "Or next time, I'll kill you."

"We're just friends," Jeff lied.

"I'd been trying my best to avoid you, you little shit, but, you're really starting to test my patience." It was true, for a few weeks Randy and his crew had left Jeff alone, but that was only due to the fact that Randy had no reason to bother him. Usually when he would have problems at home with his abusive old man, he'd take it out on Jeff and the others would join him just for the laughs. But, his father had been missing for the past few weeks, everyone in the town knew about it. "You stay away from my girl," Randy said as he walked back toward the car. "I'll end your pathetic life." Neither Jeff nor Liu said anything else as Randy and his crew gathered back into the car and drove away.

Randy Dawson was a sixteen year old, three-time sophomore who was previously in a one month relationship with Hailey the year before. He was an avid hunter with a collection of rifles and knives. He did time in juvi many times throughout his "I'm such a badass, so I'm gonna fuck shit up" life. When he noticed how much time Jeff and Hailey were spending with each other, he had to intervene.

Jeff didn't understand just how serious the situation was. He didn't understand how obsessed Randy was with Hailey, mostly because he was obsessed himself. But, there's a difference between being obsessed and completely latching yourself onto another human being and that's what Randy did. His mind was latched onto Hailey. In his mind, Hailey was still "his girl" and nothing would change that. He'd kill anyone who'd get in the way of them being together, and that would prove to be his downfall.

With every intention of avoiding Hailey, for the sake of his life, Jeff didn't attend school that day. Instead, he kept himself in the safety of his home. He thought about going to the police, but with no proof that Randy had chased him and his brother down with his car, there would be nothing they could do. Even if he had proof, Jeff knew about the town's sheriff and he knew he'd let anyone in the Dawson family get away with anything. There was only one thing he could do and that was to avoid Hailey. Most things are easier said than done and avoiding Hailey was one of them.

Later that day, just before five in the evening, there was a knock at the door of his home. The first thought that came to his mind was Randy. It couldn't have been Hailey, he thought because she had cheer practice that day. It couldn't have been his parents, he thought, because they were both at work and Liu, was at a friend's house. Besides, other than Hailey, they each had a key to the house.

Leaving his bedroom, Jeff made his way into the kitchen and pulled out a drawer which contained his mother's knives. He made his choice; didn't really matter which one, as long as it could keep him safe if anything were to happen. He didn't plan on using it, he just wanted to scare them away. Even though it was something he had fantasized about many times before, the thought of having to use it and possibly killing a living person, made him tremble.

The knocking continued as he reached the door. He could've asked who was there, but he didn't want to speak. He wanted whoever it was to believe that nobody was home. The knocking stopped shortly after and Jeff thought they had finally left, but the knocking continued, this time, in the basement. He thought about it; why somebody would be knocking so desperately. He thought that maybe it was Liu and he had lost his key. To Jeff, that was the most reasonable explanation. He walked down to the basement door and took a deep breath before opening.

"Thank God, you're okay," a female voice said. It was Hailey.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jeff asked as he took a deep breath in relief. All of that anxiety for nothing, he thought.

"Liu told me about what happened this morning," she explained. "I am so sorry I didn't warn you about him...I was worried he had done something to you."

Jeff made his way to the other side of the room. "You shouldn't be here," he said, peeking through the small basement window. "He could be out there."

She took his hand in an attempt to calm him down. Looking through those pale blue eyes of hers, she was able to do so. "We can't let him scare us," she said. "He's just one person."

Jeff laughed, but it wasn't any laugh of joy, more like a laugh of fear. "That's easy for you to say," he said. "He didn't try to run you down with his car and he didn't put a knife to your neck or threaten your life. Besides, he's never just one person. That brother Rick of his and those other goons are always by his side."

Hailey took a seat on the sofa. "I need to tell you something, but you have to keep it a secret," she said. "You know how his father had been missing?" She asked and Jeff nodded. "Randy killed him," she said. "He killed his father."

Jeff was suddenly still, no longer peeking through the windows. "How do you know that?" He asked.

"He told me. He thought that it would get us back together, said he did it for me, but he only did it for himself."

"Why didn't you tell the police? This is serious, Hailey."

"Do you really think they'd believe me? He's just gonna get away with it like he does with everything. The Dawson family are nothing but criminals, Jeff and they can kill and get away with it. It's happened before." Just then, she had pulled up her sleeve, revealing a large scar upon her arm. "He did this to me," she said. She pulled up her skirt, revealing a large scar upon her thigh. In the previous year, she and Randy had only been dating for a month. The pain she endured in that month was unspeakable and she regretted not ever telling anybody about it.

Seeing that, what Randy had scarred upon Hailey had closed the door in the fragile mind of Jeff. The anger pervaded him like never before and the words he spoke afterwards, he never thought he'd ever say. "I have to kill him," he said, calmly, but sincerely. "What if he comes after me next?"

Hearing that had struck fear in her eyes. Hailey knew, just by the tone of his voice that he meant every word of it. "He's not going to kill you, Jeff. His father was abusive and that's the only reason he killed him."

"Don't you want him dead? Don't you want to be free of him?" Jeff asked. "Look at what he did to you. He could've killed you."

Hailey thought about it. She thought about the scars, she thought about her screams and how nobody came to help, not even her drug addicted mother. "I'll help you," she said. "We can do it together."

For the next two weeks, Jeff and Hailey would get together in the basement of his home and decide on rather or not they'd actually be going through with the plan and if so, how they'd carry it out. In their minds, it was quite easy; to kill him in the most gruesome way possible. The hardest part of it all would be how to get away with it. The hard part is not how to murder, that can be quite easy, but how to get away with murder is completely different.

Shall they lure Randy into the arms of Hailey? Bash his head in as he'd sleep in her bed? Carry his body out onto an open field and bury it as deep into the ground as possible? Could they do that and get away with it? Those were the questions they'd ask themselves.

Little did they know, while they were plotting to kill Randy, he was locked up in a jail cell where he was to be for two months. Apparently, he was caught attempting to steal alcohol from a liquor store. The idiot could've had one of his family members from his family of delinquents to purchase it for him, but with his "I'm a badass" attitude, he thought that he could get away with it. But, he didn't that time. Maybe it was due to the fact that his father was no longer alive to pay off the sheriff. The sheriff of the town had always been crooked, always about the money and never about justice.

With Randy behind bars, Hailey and Jeff were finally free to be together. Their plot to kill Randy was momentarily put on hold and there was nobody to question their relationship. A few stares here and there by the members of Randy's crew, but the two didn't worry about them. They probably should've, however, because those guys would report back to Randy and let him know about how "ongoing" their relationship was. Somebody would die soon and it wouldn't be Randy as originally planned.

They had gone down to the lake, Jeff and Liu, as they had many times before. Lake Erie had always been a place where they could talk. A dark conversation took place there, between the two brothers. Liu was already worried about his brother, even more so when, as they were standing there in the shallow areas of the lake, Jeff had asked an unusual question. "Do you ever wonder what it would feel like to kill somebody?" He asked.

It hit him unexpectedly. "I can't say that I have, Jeff." It was that moment he knew something was up. It didn't help that the two days before, Liu had found a few books that had everything to do with murder in the basement of their home.

"If I'm being honest," Jeff said. "I think about it everyday." Liu said no word, but had given Jeff a look of dissatisfaction.

"To tell you the truth, I've envisioned killing Mom and Dad many times."

Another look of dissatisfaction.

Jeff laughed. "It was a joke, Liu. I only ever thought about it once," he joked. Rather it was true or not, it still made Liu feel a bit uncomfortable. It also brought up a question he always wanted to ask somebody.

"What do you think happens when you die?" He asked. "Do you think there really is a better place?" Like a lot of people, Liu's number one fear was dying. It was mostly because he wasn't sure what would come after death. Would it be darkness? Light? Fire? Or, could it be nothing at all?

Jeff was different. He wasn't afraid to die and he was almost sure he knew what happens in the afterlife. "If there's a better place out there, then why are we all wasting our time in a world of madness?" He said and Liu thought about that. "I think there's an eternal darkness, where the only thing you can do is sleep. Sleep forever." That didn't sound too bad, Liu thought. To sleep forever...

The two brothers split up that evening, Jeff walking home while Liu remained at the lake. It's just too bad for Liu that trouble would soon find him as he walked home later in the night. He fell victim to the late-night rain, which came vigorously, but the rain was nothing to worry about. The run-down 1987 Honda Accord that pulled up beside him was his biggest concern; his only concern. The first name that came to mind was Randy. But, it wasn't Randy, however, it was Rick, along with Keith and Troy. They had gotten out of the car and all at once, Liu became silent and motionless.

The three boys surrounded him, blocking off his ability to run. "I've done nothing to you," Liu said. "Just let me be." Trying to talk it out never worked before, and it didn't work then.

"We just want you to give your brother, Jeff, a little message," said Rick. Before Liu could say anything else, he was tackled to the ground by Troy; a feeling similar to getting run over by an elephant. They kicked and punched, spat on his face, then punched some more. "You make sure he gets the message," Rick said before the boys drove off. Those boys would do anything Randy told them to, but of course, like most of what goes on in the Dawson family, it was all for the money.

Liu staggered his way home that night with no broken bones, but with obvious bruises and a swollen lip. It was a good thing that home was only five more minutes away, but it was a much longer walk for poor Liu.

When Jeff found out about what had happened to his brother, there was really one thing that was going through his mind and that was vengeance. He couldn't just let it go. He vowed he'd get them back for what they've done to his brother. Not just for Liu, but mostly for himself. He wanted a reason to inflict pain on somebody, the same pain he'd endured all those years and they had given him a reason. Randy was no longer in the picture, therefor, he needed somebody else to release his anger on.

He knew what to do, he knew how he'd carry it out. It wouldn't be murder, he thought. It would only be torture and nothing else. Jeff was confident he'd get away with it. He thought about maybe cutting out his tongue so that he could no longer speak, cutting off his fingers and maybe carving off his skin. It was an excellent plan, Jeff thought. He snuck out of his home that night, a baseball bat in his hand and a knife hidden in his hoodie.

***

For Rick Dawson, that Thursday night was just like any other. He was home alone as usual, playing video games when he heard his dog barking in the backyard. *That damn dog*, he thought. *Shut the fuck up, Rocky!* He ignored it for a while afterwards, but when the dog let out a loud screech, he realized something was wrong. He abandoned the video game and made his way through the kitchen and to the back door. "Rocky?" He called out as he exited the home. It was pitch black out there, quiet as well. If it wasn't for the sound of crickets and owls, it would have been completely silent.

Rick walked onto the lawn, toward the dog house in the back of the yard. He'd never tell anybody this, but as he walked into the darkness, he felt a feeling that he rarely ever felt. That feeling was fear and what he feared was not the darkness, but what existed within it. Nevertheless, he continued walking, not aware of the eyes that were watching him. When he reached the dog, he noticed that it was completely motionless. He lifted the dog from the ground and out poured the blood from the opening of its gut. It was then that Rick dreaded the fact that he walked within the darkness, without any light or weapon to protect himself. He was helpless and he knew that. As he stood there in shock, the eyes that watched him had moved in closer and Rick Dawson was struck in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious instantly.

He woke up in the woods to two blue eyes watching him. Those eyes belonged to Jeff. He was tied to a tree, blood covering his clothes. If somebody were to walk by and notice him, they would probably mistake him for a Halloween prop. He was almost silent as it was obvious he had suffered a concussion. He was weeping, quietly calling for his brother who would never come. Jeff remembered the plan. He had the knife out and ready, but the hesitation he had expected had come. This was not a dog, but a human being. Killing that innocent dog did not make him feel good, but it didn't make him feel bad either. To Jeff, it was something that had to be done, and so was this.

*You gotta do this Jeff*, he thought. *You've come too far. It's too late to turn around...it must be done. But what if I get caught? What if he comes back for me? Maybe I should kill him. If I kill him, nobody can find out and he can't come after me. Get your life together, Jeff. You're talking to yourself again. You're not...you're not a killer.*

Jeff kneeled down to his victim, a feeling of agony had overcome him. As he looked into the fading eyes of Rick, all that he could see was Randy. For a second he thought that Rick had spoke, but in Randy's voice. *Don't be such a wuss, Jeff*, he heard. *Go on and do it. Kill me*. There was nobody talking. Other than the cries of Rick and the sounds of nature, it was silent. By this time, Jeff had the knife to Rick's neck. *Do it, Jeff! Just do it!*

"Shut up!" Jeff screamed.

*Do it! Kill me!*

"Just shut up!" Just then, the knife had penetrated through Rick's neck. He continued with force, bringing the knife in and out of Rick's chest. He was oblivious to the blood that stained his skin and clothes as he continued. All around him, he could see nothing but darkness as the sharp blade of the knife ripped through the gut of the young teen's body. Finally, after his mind had fallen back to earth, Jeff had stopped and fifteen year old Rick Dawson was no more.

As if it were all a dream, Jeff woke up the next morning in his bedroom. He might have been convinced for a while that it indeed was a dream, but after two days, Rick Dawson was reported missing. It was then that he realized what he had done. He cried about it, but not for the reason that he had killed Rick, but for the reason that it didn't phase him. He felt no sympathy and as the memories of that night flashed through his head, he remembered something. He remembered how good it felt. It felt good to have somebody else's life in his hands. It felt good to release all of the anger and it felt good to free Rick from the madness of the world. In Jeff's mind, he did Rick a favor. He allowed him to sleep, forever.

Life went on without Rick and after only a few days of searching, his body was found in the woods behind his home, still tied to that tree with over seventy stab wounds to count. His murder took the town by surprise, but it wasn't over. Death would again fill the air of the town soon.

Nobody had suspected Jeff of the murder. Most people assumed it was done by an enemy of the family, which could mean dozens of people. However, everyone did notice the change in Jeff. He had always been a quiet person, but even more so after the murder. His relationship with Hailey was quickly deteriorating, though they still saw each other on many occasions. Jeff noticed a change as well; not just in his mind, but in his appearance as well. For some reason, rather his mind was deceiving him or not, every time he'd look in the mirror or see his reflection in the waters of the lake, he'd see somebody he didn't recognize. He didn't see himself and at first, he was afraid, but he got used to it. He got used to seeing what his madness had painted in his mind; a pale face of pure madness and a devilish smile.

To get Jeff out of the state he was in, Hailey had invited him to a friend's party and he regretfully agreed to go. He threw on a pair of black jeans and a white pullover hoodie, though the weather was quite warm that evening in Spring. At the party, Jeff had found himself being dragged by Hailey to the center of the room. Jeff was not much of a dancer and he proved that to everybody that night. Nevertheless, they were all having fun, but that fun didn't last long, it was stopped short by an unexpected visit from Randy and his cousins.

The avid hunter walked indignantly and confidently with a rifle in his hands and an irate look upon his face. The guests, who when noticed the rifle had stopped dancing and attempted to run out of the home, but was threatened by Randy to stay put.

As Jeff and Hailey stood spineless near the center of the room, Randy approached them. "Get on your knees," he commanded, pointing the gun at Hailey. "Get on your fucking knees!" He screamed. She did just that and he then pointed the gun at Jeff. He too dropped to his knees. Keith was commanded to tie their arms behind their backs. Jeff thought that somehow Randy had suspected he had killed his brother, but that wasn't the case. Randy would never suspect Jeff simply because, to him, Jeff didn't have it in him. Randy's anger was not only fueled by the death of his brother, but the fact that Jeff was still hanging around Hailey. He wanted to put an end to it once and for all.

"Please don't do this," Hailey cried.

Randy kneeled down to Hailey. "I love you," he said. "I love you with every second I fucking breathe. But, you're gonna die tonight and I'll tell you why." He took his rifle and struck Jeff in the head. "That's why." Liu tried to step in, but was held back by Troy, all while thoughts were wandering through Jeff's mind. Not thoughts of a sane person, but thoughts of a madman. Thoughts of Randy's brains being splattered all over the ceiling while his severed body parts lay neatly on the floor; one, by one. The sound of Randy's screams, he could hear them. The taste of his blood, he could taste it. The feeling of murder, he could feel it. He wasn't very conscious of what was going on, in fact, he was oblivious to the rifle that was pointed to the head of Hailey.

"I love you, Hailey and I always will," Randy said. "I'll see you again, I'll see you...soon." It was never clear what was going on in Randy's mind. It was frightening how obsessed he was with her; to take her along with him in an afterlife that will forever be unknown. Before anything else was done, Troy interrupted.

"I think we've gone far enough," he said. "Let's just go."

"You shut the hell up," Randy snapped back. "If you wanna leave, then get the hell out of here."

"I thought we were just gonna scare them," Keith said. "You're going way too far, Randy."

"I said get the hell out of here!"

Troy released Liu from his grip. "Let's get out of here," he said to his brother. "Don't do anything stupid, Randy." Liu had ran to Jeff, but was threatened by Randy not to go any further. He leaned in to Hailey and kissed her on the cheek. "I love you," he whispered in her ear before pulling the trigger, and the lifeless body of Hailey fell to the floor.

Shaking heavily, back and forth, blood streaming from his head and down his face, Jeff hummed to a tune that he created within his mind. Randy kneeled down to him, holding the gun to his head. "I told you I'd kill you," he said. "You should've listened to me."

Randy put his finger on the trigger and just before he could pull it, Liu had pushed the gun from Jeff's direction. He then pulled the gun, trying desperately to get it out of Randy's hands, but as he did so, a loud gunshot had echoed through the room. Just like that, a life that had so much promise was hanging only by a thread.

Randy stood in shock, looking down at Liu. "I'm sorry," he said, but Liu could only scream. "I didn't mean to. I swear, I didn't mean for any of this." He probably hadn't been more sorry in his life. Not when he killed his father and not when he killed Hailey either.

Jeff looked upon his brother who lay on the floor, bleeding and just slightly hanging on to life. The gates were officially closed on his sanity and they would never open again, not even slightly. His mind was filled with a sense of emptiness that not many people could feel. There are many different stages of madness or of insanity and Jeff was in a stage of his own. All around the world, there are mentally deranged people, but some are good at hiding it and those are the most dangerous of them all. Jeff was one of those people.

"I'm sorry," Randy continued. "I only wanted to scare them." Just then, Randy had put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

***

The morning after, Jeff woke up in the hospital with a bandage wrapped around his head, covering the large scar that was given to him by Randy. He heard a woman sobbing and it sounded quite familiar. He heard those cries before, but not since his grandmother had died. He looked over to his left to see his mother being consoled by his father. She rushed to him, holding him tightly when she noticed he had awoken. "He's gone," She cried. "Liu is gone."

Though he wasn't quite aware as to what was happening after he was struck by Randy, he knew that Liu had died. Not because, of his mother, but because he could hear Liu as the screams echoed through his head. Liu was talking to him, but not really. It was just the beginning of the life of a madman. As his mother cried amongst him, his eyes were fixed to the ceiling with an empty expression upon his face. He was listening to the voice in his head as it spoke.

"You gotta do it," the voice had said. "You gotta kill him."

The mind of a madman doesn't just consist of hearing voices, but seeing things as well. Things that aren't really there. Later that night, as Jeff lay awake in bed, he heard footsteps from outside his room. He could see the shadow of somebody there, standing just in front of the door. "Jeff..." A voiced echoed from beyond. The door creaked open and out of darkness appeared Liu. Unless his corpse had walked all the way from the morgue, it wasn't really him. This Liu was met with desiccated skin and a head of hair that was home to maggots.

"I had a dream of you, Liu," Jeff said, not phased by what his mind was deceiving him to see. He met that Liu once before, only then, it was in a dream.

"Imagine being in a darkness where it didn't matter rather or not your eyes were open. I've dreamed of that darkness. It's what you see, when you die." Jeff didn't even realize that the thing had already disappeared. With his eyes fixed to the ceiling, he continued. "I thought that I was buried in the ground, but I realized I could breathe. I opened the coffin and the only thing I could see was another coffin on the other side of the room. Something told me that it wasn't empty. There was somebody or something in there.

I walked toward it and I was yelling at myself not to go anywhere near it. But, I didn't stop. I kept walking until I was close enough to hear whatever it was in there breathing. I opened the coffin and I saw you. Your eyes were closed, but you weren't dead. You weren't asleep either. But, your eyes opened, Liu, only they weren't your eyes. Those eyes that haunt my nightmares, belongs to the devil. He's haunting me, Liu."

The light of the full moon shun quite bright that night, but the only thing that Jeff could see was darkness. Darkness surrounded his every thought. The blood that would pour from a human body, to Jeff was no longer red, but black. His eyes were no longer blue, but black. The world around him no longer had life, it was all black.

Jeff stood from the bed and made his way to the bathroom. He looked through the mirror as he unwrapped the bandage from his head. The scar ran down from the top right of his head, down to his right eyebrow. A patch of hair was missing as it was replaced with the stitches. He didn't see that, however. He saw the face he had grown to love, the face that nobody else could see but him. As he stood in that mirror, he saw a pale white face with two eyes that were bordered in black. He saw a huge smile that was carved into his cheeks; a smile that could never leave such a devastating face. It wasn't the smile of a happy person, but the smile of a madman. What he saw, however, was not what he appeared to be. He saw a face of insanity, murder, the face of a killer.

Jeff left that room and walked down the hall without alerting the few nurses who were working on that floor. He then entered the room where Randy was being kept. Randy was strapped to the bed, making it very easy for Jeff. He stood over Randy and watched him as he slept. Somehow, he was still alive and breathing. He wanted Randy dead and he wanted to kill him. That's what he did and it was only just the beginning of that life he'd live; the life of pure, cold blooded murder.

He sat on top of Randy holding a pillow; placing that pillow over Randy's face and pressing down as hard as he could. It wasn't the way he always imagined he'd do it. He always imagined killing Randy in the most gruesome way possible. But, every second, every breath of air that could not reach Randy had filled Jeff with a sense of satisfaction and pleasure that only a madman could feel. As the moans and muffled screams of Randy continued, the words left Jeff's lips.

"Shhhh. Go to sleep."

***

Jeff was free to go home just a day before his brother's funeral, despite Randy's death. It was reported that Randy had succumbed to the injuries he'd sustained in his suicide attempt. Nobody knew what was going on in Jeff's mind as he sat at the funeral and as he watched his brother being laid to rest, slowly descending into the ground. He wasn't thinking about Liu, or Hailey, he was thinking about what the voices in his head were telling him. They were screaming murder and murder was all he could think about.

Later on that day, Jeff's mother was in the bathroom of their home getting ready for bed when she heard the scream of her husband. She didn't think much of it. She just assumed maybe he had awaken from a nightmare, which had plagued the both of them ever since the death of their son. She exited the bathroom and to her right, down the dark hallway, she heard footsteps coming toward her. She couldn't see anybody and the light switch was down the hall.

"Who's there?" She asked.

"What are you doing, Ma?" A voice replied.

"Jeff," she said, sighing in relief. "You scared the hell out of me. I'm just going to bed. You should be asleep, the doctor said you need to rest."

"I'm scared, Ma."

"What are you scared of, Jeff?"

"I'm scared of Liu," he said, moving in closer. "He keeps watching me."

"Jeff, that isn't funny. You're scaring me, now you need to sleep."

"I can't sleep, Ma. He keeps watching me. It scares me."

"Okay, let me check on your father," she said. "Just stay right there."

"He's asleep, Ma. Nothing can hurt him now." Jeff moved closer to his mother, one hand behind his back. As he got closer into the light of the bathroom, his mother noticed the dripping blood from behind him. She thought about the scream that she had heard and then instantly, like a loving wife would, she ran into her bedroom to check on her husband. Jeff followed her, the blood still dripping from the knife.

"What did you do?" She cried, holding her lifeless husband who lay in sheets of blood on the bed. "What the hell have you done?"

"I freed him, Ma," he explained. "He's sleeping now, with Liu." Jeff moved in closer.

"Jeff, please," his mother cried. "Put the knife down, Honey."

"I can't Ma. I have to free you. I have to free the entire world of this madness."

"Jeff, that isn't the way. Please, put down the knife."

"It isn't so bad, Ma. You won't have to work so hard anymore and you can finally sleep. You can sleep forever, Ma. Do you not want that?"

"I do. But, not right now. I need a little more time, so can you just put the knife down?"

Jeff lowered the knife, but he didn't drop it. "I guess I can give you a little more time," he said, walking toward the door. "I have to go now, Ma. But, I'll come back for you. You can't live in this mad world for too long." Jeff walked out of the room and out of the home, running off into the town that would soon drown in terror.

***

The blood is now surrounding him as he tries to swim back up to the surface. Just behind him, the corpses of his victims are grabbing at his ankles, trying to pull him back down. "Come sleep with us," their muffled voices yell. "Come sleep forever."

Jeff awakens from the nightmare, on the rooftop of the abandoned building and looks around for Hailey who is no longer there. He sometimes forgets that the Hailey he talks to on a daily basis is not real, despite her pale skin and the bullet hole on the side of her head. Sometimes when he'd see Liu, he'd forget as well. Just last night, he had an hour long conversation with him at the lake; they were speaking of their childhood memories as they were skipping rocks. He even gets visits from Randy from time to time, only in the moments before he'd hunt his next victim.

As the night grows colder, Jeff finds himself alone. But, as he stands on the rooftop of the abandoned building, he hears footsteps echoing from down the road and to the right of Jeff, appears a black eyed, pale faced figure.

"Come on, Jeff," the figure speaks. "Go get her, you wuss." Jeff ignores. "Come on! Rip out her eyes! Slice her throat, the way you did my brother! Free her!"

Jeff takes a deep breath and draws out his knife. "You know, Randy, I liked you better when you were alive," he said.

Jeff flees from the rooftop of the building and he walks behind the woman who is oblivious to the madman that follows her. He has his hoodie up over his head as he silently walks through the snow that would soon be contaminated with her blood.  The woman never sees it coming; the cold hand that clutches her neck and the knife that penetrates through her chest. Her screams fill the tired city in horror, but Jeff makes sure to keep her quiet. One more strike across her neck, will allow her to sleep. Sleep, forever.