HOLLOW NIGHT

...Author's note/Trigger*********Warning*********...

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...This chapter contains graphic violence, sexual assault, death, and trauma. It includes depictions of extreme physical harm, gore, and situations that may be disturbing to some readers. Reader discretion is strongly advised....

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It was a typical night for Rachael Gilmore. She worked at a corporate firm. The evening was usual as she was talking to her co-workers and getting ready to go home. When her boss came and asked her to stay late for a project that she was working on.

"Ahh. This is so annoying." said Rachael with a smile on her face. "You look happy Rachael. What's going on?" one of her co-worker Jenny asked. "Well, You know Allen and I have been trying for a baby." She smiled and said "I'm pregnant. Today I went to see a doctor. She said the baby was healthy." Jenny gave Rachael a bare hug. She was happy and excited for her. Even the whole office celebrated her pregnancy.

However, when her extra work was done it was way too late to go home. It was 11 PM. The road was quiet, the streetlights were flickering, sometimes howlers were howling. Rachael went to the parking lot. She noticed a shadow was standing in the distance. She was scared but didn't think about it.

She got in her car and started driving. She noticed how dark and quiet the road was, yet it screamed danger when her phone rang. Furthermore, she startled for a second but relieved seeing it was Allen, her husband.

...She picked up the phone...

"Hey babe, my work is done here. Now I'm on my way. You don't have to come. I'll be at home in no time. Be ready for the surprise." Rachael said with enthusiasm in her voice.

After hanging up the phone, she sensed it before she fully noticed it.A car was following her. The road was quiet, almost deserted, yet the vehicle moved with deliberate slowness, leaving Rachael uneasy

She stopped at the STOP sign. The car slowed and came to a halt beside her. The timing felt wrong and unsettling. She glanced over and saw a black sedan with tinted windows.

The window rolled down, revealing a man alone in The driver’s seat. She swallowed and tried not to panic as she looked at him. He was smiling.

Her gut twisted.

Moments passed before she pressed The accelerator, trying to drive away,, but she couldn’t.

...She realized one of Her tires had gone flat....

Rachael stepped out and inspected the tire. When she straightened, the man was already walking toward Her.

"Looks like this tire’s gone flat, miss," he said calmly after getting out of his car.

Rachael looked at him and smiled politely, but the unsettling feeling didn't go away. "I think so." she said but mostly ignored his existence at that time.

"I can help you with that miss." The unknown guy insisted. However Rachael replied,"No. I'll be fine. It's okay. You don't have to worry about this." He stood there and asked Rachael over and over, but Rachael refused.

...After a brief moment the guy left but didn't go so far from Rachael....

Rachael couldn’t figure out how she would change the tire. She checked the trunk and saw there was nothing. That felt unusually weird. Rachael knew she has a spare tire in the trunk. She shook off that feelings and went o see if a car would pass her. She noticed a car parked on the distance. She went to check if there was someone in the car.

...She noticed a man was sitting the car...

"Hey. Can you help....." she couldn't finish her sentence when she saw he was the same man who insisted on helping her few minutes ago? She started to laugh awkwardly and said, "Ohhh..... it's you… I'm sorry. I actually don't have a spare tire, so can you give me a lift? My home is one hours distance from here".

...The man agreed to drop her to the house....

She took her bag and got into the car. She unlocked her phone and called her husband Allen to notify him about her whereabouts.

After a few moments, she opened her eyes. It felt like she dosed of for few seconds. " I'm sorry. DId i fall asleep?" The man told her "Yes. You sure did" with a sly grin she couldn’t ignore.

She noticed it was late. She had been on the highway longer than she planned. The lights blurred past the cars' windshield in the steady intervals and the radio hummed softly. She was falling into the silence she didn't want to think about. She was making small talked with The guy. He was calm, polite. The kind that didn't demand attention.

Rachael noticed he was taking an unknown road. She panicked,"Where are you taking me?" He replied with a calm demeanor, "It's a shortcut way to your area. I've gone there for few times." He added with a sly grin,"Don't worry miss. I'm not a serial killer."

...Rachael felt a heavy weight on her chest. Her gut twisted after hearing him....

After a while, Rachael noticed the road narrowed, Streetlights thinned. The city dissolved into open dark. She noticed how deliberate his turns were. When he stopped the car, the silence pressed in. no traffic, no lights. There was only an old, abandoned house that looked it would fall anytime.

She stepped out first, unhurried, as if this was planned down to the second. She gulped, realizing what she had stepped into.

Unknown guy stepped outside and went closer to Rachael. He put his hand on her shoulder and said with a scary look on his face, "You looked like you needed help."

Her instinct kicked, and she tried her best to leave. But he was already close. He wasn't frantic or aggressive, just precise. His grip wasn't wild, it was practiced and controlled. Like someone who knew how much force was enough.

Rachael's thoughts was scattering all over the place. She tried to break loose from his grip. However, she noticed strange details instead; how careful his movement seemed, how he avoided leaving marks that would draw attention. She realized she wasn't being attacked in angered. She was being handled.

The unknown man took her in the abandoned house. He locked her up with a chain. Rachael was crying while being locked. She begged him to let her go. She brought up her pregnancy to melt his heart, and maybe he would spare her some mercy. But alas! It didn't work on that monster. He even laughed at her misery.

Time stretched. Fear became dull and heavy. She understood then that wasn't impulsive. This place has been chosen. The steps had been rehearsed. Even her reaction seemed expected.

...After a while, she saw his coming....

The unknown guy started ripping off her clothes. It wasn't deliberate, rather intentional. Rachael started screaming her lungs out when he slapped her. It was so painful that she noticed she started bleeding from her mouth.

He then started his nasty works with her body. He raped her over and over till it was night. Rachael was in agonizing pain. She cried every time in pain, but he responded with nothing but cruelty.

She wanted to live. She thought he would let her go after he was satisfied. He proved her wrong again when he brought a knife and a bunch of weapons with him.

He would beat her to the point she would break her bones. Rachael held onto life throughout the whole time.

The last thing she understood that this was a ritual. Not rage, not a desire. A Process.

 After doing unspeakable things to her, she noticed him taking a big butchering knife. He looked at her with a grin on his face that would send a shiver through her spine. She knew she couldn't make it. She knew she couldn’t tell Allen about her pregnancy. She knew her baby would die with her. She realized her life had taken a nasty turn she never thought would happen to her. Rachael closed her eyes. A drop of tears fell on the floor. She realized the butchering knife was half across her body.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for the last time.

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...After a few days...

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Allen Gilmore came back from the police station. His face was pale and tired. He cried every time he saw Rachael's photo. He felt a crushing pain thinking Rachael might be dead like those three women. But he held onto that last hope she would be okay, and he would find her someday.

He took off his coat and sat on the sofa. He turned on the television. News channels were all over a new dead body that had been found near a dumpster.

Allen's heart started pounding when the camera focused on the body. His last hope was crushed.

Allen saw Rachael’s body was cut in half. It was naked, bruised, and the eyes were missing. It was a horror scene he could never have imagined.

He started crying hysterically, holding onto the photo he had of Rachael. He realized he couldn’t let the killer go on any longer. Furthermore, he took a brief moment to cry and then called the police.

He was determined to find the killer. But was that determination enough to hunt down a merciless monster?

Written by: TWILIGHT RAVEN

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