It Ends Tonight
by Daniel Beadle - Sunday, November 25, 2007
Stalker kneels down next to the cot. Tears form in his eyes as he slowly brushes the hair out of Jennifer’s face, and tucks it behind her right ear. As his teeth clench, he begins to shiver with a maelstrom of emotions fighting for expression.Her voice echoes through his memory: “I love you,” she says. “You didn’t do anything wrong…”
Stalker looks into her lifeless eyes, and it feels as though grief has wrapped its fingers around his throat. The sudden ring of his cell phone shatters his attention. He regains his composure and stands to answer. “Phelps?” he whispers.
“Everything Mr. Dark told you checks out. It all connects back to Thorne Enterprises. Did you find Jennifer?”
Stalker closes his eyes. “Yes.”
“Good. Tell me where you are, and I’ll be right over.”
“No. It’s too late for her. They…” Stalker pauses. “He got to her.”
“Wait, what? Graham, what happened? Is she okay?”
“I have to go.”
“Wait, Graham! Where are you going? What are you going to do?”
Stalker rests his phone on the nightstand, and then leans down and softy kisses Jennifer’s forehead. He stands and walks toward the door. The light from the dorm hallway silhouettes him perfectly in the doorframe. He turns slightly as he grasps the doorknob.
“I’m going to kill Dylan Thorne.”
Stalker shuts the door as he leaves.
* * *
Dylan stares into his computer screen, reading multiple articles on causality, chaos theory, determinism, and the butterfly effect.
Mr. Gray enters: “Sir?”
Dylan looks up.
“He’s found the body.”
Dylan allows himself a reserved smile. “Thank you, Mr. Gray.”
Mr. Gray nods and exits.
Dylan casually opens a file marked “The Stalker Imperative.” He scrolls to the bottom and types “all stated objectives met.” He saves and closes the file.
“Good. Now we can get started.”
“"Paranoia is just… reality on a finer scale."—Philo Grant
