{"id":7015,"date":"2014-06-10T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T04:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gadflyonline.com\/home\/?p=7015"},"modified":"2014-06-13T09:26:13","modified_gmt":"2014-06-13T13:26:13","slug":"you-killed-me-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/you-killed-me-before\/","title":{"rendered":"You Killed Me Before"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Before_585x585\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The darkness was welcoming.\u00a0 A finger lingered over the light switch, begging to drop away into the abyss.\u00a0 Light trickled in under the door.\u00a0 Eyes closed, and he savored the quiet.\u00a0 This was his sanctuary.\u00a0 This was home.<\/p>\n

\u201cNice apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eyes snapped open.\u00a0 A finger stabbed at the light switch.\u00a0 Metal flashed, and the gun was ready.\u00a0 But an empty room now met his gaze.\u00a0 Still, he knew.\u00a0 He knew that someone was there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this how a killer lives?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

The apartment was small.\u00a0 The living room connected to the kitchen, and the bedroom was a few paces away.\u00a0 As he surveyed his home, his sanctuary, he slid against the wall, pressing his back into the hollow, painted wood, and scanned for his target.\u00a0 The bedroom door was closed, so he moved toward it, ready to kick in the door.\u00a0 And after doing so, he found the intruder waiting inside.\u00a0 All he had to do was shoot him and claim self-defense.\u00a0 Instead, he froze.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello, Davis.\u201d\u00a0 The man was a shadow against the dark.\u00a0 \u201cNice to see you again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain?\u201d\u00a0 Davis tried to steady his hand.\u00a0 \u201cDo I know you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho are you?\u201d\u00a0 The man walked past him and out into the living room.\u00a0 \u201cI asked you a question.\u00a0 Who are you?\u201d\u00a0 Davis followed him.\u00a0 \u201cAnswer me!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t open this.\u201d\u00a0 The man now pointed at a large manila envelope on the living room table.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s your next assignment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you know about me?\u201d\u00a0 Davis wanted to kill him.\u00a0 He used to be good at his job, never felt an ounce of fear, but now he was shaken to his core.\u00a0 \u201cWhy are you here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI like you, Davis.\u201d\u00a0 The man turned toward him, and another notch of fear climbed up his spine.\u00a0 \u201cYou cut right to it.\u00a0 No bullshit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo bullshit.\u00a0 So, why don\u2019t you tell me why you are here?\u201d\u00a0 He positioned his gun at him, but his hand still shook.<\/p>\n

\u201cNervous?\u00a0 You should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd why is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause you are going to kill me.\u201d\u00a0 Davis laughed.\u00a0 \u201cTomorrow.\u201d\u00a0 The man inched forward.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you will kill me.\u201d\u00a0 Davis froze.\u00a0 \u201cAll because they paid you to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is this?\u00a0 Some kind of joke?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t believe me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I believe that I will kill you, but it won\u2019t be tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it will.\u201d<\/p>\n

An echo thundered into the apartment.\u00a0 Something struck the hollow, painted wood.\u00a0 A moment later, the gun fell hard to the floor, and Davis stumbled back.\u00a0 His mouth hung open, and his hand shook more.\u00a0 The bullet went right through the intruder as if he weren\u2019t even standing before him, and Davis went cold.<\/p>\n

\u201cOpen it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0 Davis swallowed hard.\u00a0 \u201cOpen what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe manila envelope.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2026\u00a0 I don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI said,\u201d and he inched closer to Davis.\u00a0 \u201cOpen it.\u00a0 Open it,\u201d and Davis flinched in response.<\/p>\n

The envelope felt like a weight in his hands.\u00a0 Without wasting any more time, it was ripped open, and a picture slipped out.\u00a0 It fell down against the floor, and Davis did not want to touch it.\u00a0 Then, a piece of paper also drifted downward, but that Davis was able to snap up into his hand.\u00a0 It was a name, but he still refused to touch the photo on the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you want to see the picture of your next victim?\u201d\u00a0 Davis shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cTell me his name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u00a0 Please, leave me be.\u00a0 Get out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy so-called best friend is banging my wife.\u00a0 They\u2019re in my bed right now not expecting me until tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you want to live?\u201d\u00a0 Davis did not like his tone.\u00a0 \u201cDo you want to live?\u201d\u00a0 Davis nodded.\u00a0 \u201cBurn the photo.\u00a0 Now!\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis did as he was told.\u00a0 He walked into the kitchen and turned on the stovetop.\u00a0 Small flames trickled upward, and he dropped the photo into the fiery embrace.\u00a0 When the task was done, the ghost still remained.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo to my house,\u201d he whispered into Davis\u2019s ear.\u00a0 \u201cKill them both.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that what it would take to get rid of you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Davis followed his gaze over to the large, glass window.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a long way down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou killed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d but then Davis thought of something.\u00a0 \u201cIf this happens and I kill them, then what happens tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean if I don\u2019t kill you tomorrow, then how can you still be here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2026\u201d That worried him, and a moment later, he was gone.<\/p>\n

The train had just pulled into the station.\u00a0 He exited, pulling his coat closer as if to fight off a chill.\u00a0 He sprinted across to the next track, where he would catch his ride home.\u00a0 He checked his watch and heard the train coming.\u00a0 He tilted forward to catch a glimpse of it, and just as he did, a kid on a skateboard flew by.\u00a0 And then he too was flying.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d but he could not turn away.\u00a0 As the ghost watched on in horror, a newspaper drifted past him.\u00a0 The front page screamed of betrayal and murder, his wife and friend, but that still did not save him.\u00a0 He was still dead.\u00a0 Yet, he was still here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The apartment was small. The living room connected to the kitchen, and the bedroom was a few paces away. As he surveyed his home, his sanctuary, he slid against the wall, pressing his back into the hollow, painted wood, and scanned for his target. The bedroom door was closed, so he moved toward it, ready to kick in the door. And after doing so, he found the intruder waiting inside. All he had to do was shoot him and claim self-defense. Instead, he froze.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello, Davis.\u201d The man was a shadow against the dark. \u201cNice to see you again.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":7190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,200,219,217],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7015"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7015"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7194,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7015\/revisions\/7194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}