The Artist's Killer

Intro

Alice Night: I've been having premonitions since seventh grade, marking me as the local witch. Sometimes, my premonitions are very clear, but other times... not so much. One extremely important thing you should know up front is that my boyfriend and his twin brother broke out of a mental institution.

Another thing you should know is that said boyfriend is a sadistic serial killer. Wish I could've found that out earlier, because now I have to live with them. Before I get too far, let me take you back to when I first met the boys, my sophomore year...

I slammed my hand down on my alarm clock when it went off. Grudgingly, I got out of bed to get ready for school. I showered, brushed my hair and put on my school uniform. It was a long sleeve, white dress-shirt and a frilly, white skirt that went to my knees.

I absolutely refused to wear that ridiculous white and gray plaid tie that went with the uniform.

I examined my small in my door mirror, and frowned. My short, layered hair was extremely disheveled and the color of flame. My eerie, green eyes had slight, purple shadows underneath them. My normally full, red lips were set in a firm line and my eyebrows were drawn forward.

I looked stressed and tired... and I was, and for a good reason. Since the previous week, when the killings first started, I'd been having absurdly gory premonitions. I was used to seeing death, but not like this. NEVER with this much blood.

I stifled a yawn as I headed back to my bathroom, much calmer than I should have been. I ran a brush through my hair, and was about to apply some foundation, when the sight in the mirror made me pause. There, right in the middle of my forehead, was a zit. Disgusted, I put an end to its then applied my make-up.

I stuck my tongue out at my reflection before heading downstairs, popping a mint in my mouth on the way.

"Alice, aren't you going to eat?" My mom asked from the kitchen. She looked a lot like me, but I was much more petite tan her.

"No, I'm not hungry." I told her on my way out the door.

At school, my first class was, blissfully, art.

"Alright class," the teacher, Mrs. Vista, announced. "Since it's the first day of spring, I want you all to draw a picture of your favorite flower. I want color! No white. I will allow an exception for those of you who use a large amount of detail. Begin!"

I pulled out my rather large sketch pad and drew a black and white rose with dew drops sliding off the pedals. I smiled to myself as I looked at my finished work...until my hand started cramping.

I flipped to a blank page, closed my eyes, and let my hand go to work. My stomach flipped when I saw what I had drawn. It was the killer, surrounded by a surprising amount of carnage, with a bloody switch blade in his hand. As usual, he had no face, but I could tell that he was thin and obviously very strong, with a shock of frost white hair.

Swallowing the bile that rose in my throat, I flipped back to my rose and began emphasizing the petals with shaky hands.

The image of the previous picture caused my stomach to churn.

"Mrs. Vista, may I go to the bathroom?" I croaked, raising my hand.

"How far are you on your flower?" asked the teacher.

"I'm done," I choked out. She raised an eyebrow but let me go.

I barely made it to the bathroom before I got sick. Unfortunately for me, the janitor was also in there, so I was sent to the office with my things. The nurse made me call my dad, was happens to be the sheriff.

"Hello?" Dad answered when he picked up.

"Dad? It's Alice; can you come pick me up?" I asked, still nauseous.

"Alice, this is not the time for one of your mint emergencies."

"It isn't," I denied quickly.

"Then what is it?"

"I had another premonition... and I puked." There was silence at the other end of the line.
"Dad?" I asked, concerned.

"I'm on my way," Dad answered and hung up. I sighed, and popped a mint into my mouth...

The next day, I was in my last and most hated class, math.

"Did you hear?" a girl from the back of the class whispered.

"Yeah, I can't believe she actually threw up," snickered some-one else.

"Shouldn't she be used to that already?" some guy piped in.

"*snort* stupid witch. Can't even handle her own visions." replied the first.

I covered my ears, not wanting to hear any more. Thankfully, the teacher, Mr. S-something, started class just then. I wiped unshed tears out of my eyes, angry with myself that I'd let some brats get to me.

The teacher introduced some exchange students from England. They were twins, named Danny and Jordan Frost. They looked somewhat like the killer, but I couldn't be sure, seeing as I had no faces to compare them with.

Through my wet lashes, I could see the most exotic, liquid, crystal blue eyes looking at me.

"Is he seriously checking her out?" a girl, who I guessed to be Tiffany, sneered loudly.

"Well, he won't want anything to do with her, once he finds out what she is," laughed Tiffany's side-kick, Ashlee.

My tears dried as my temper flared.

"Oh will you please just shut up!" I snapped at them, causing the blondes to flinch.

"Alice," Mr. S warned.

"Well if you won't do your job and say something, then I will." I glared at him, making him pale and swallow hard.

I felt eyes on me, so I turned my gaze on the culprit, Danny, I think. Our eyes locked, and he smiled at me. That was the beginning of our close, and trusting friendship... Or so I thought.

Chapter 1

It was the last few weeks of my senior year, and both prom and my birthday were tomorrow. I was outside at lunch, when something landed in my lap, causing me to jump.

Since I was sitting under a tree, I had to crane my neck back to see the person standing in front of me.

It was Danny, of course. He and his brother were the only ones who were willing to have anything to do with me.

I picked up the cherry pie he had thrown in my lap.

"Danny, you really should stop spending money on me," I informed him. Before he got the chance to reply, Tiffany grabbed and hung on his arm.

"Hey, Danny," she greeted, violet eyes glaring at me. "So... Do you have a date for prom yet?"

"Actually, yes," Danny replied, sliding his arm out of Tiffany's grasp.

"What? With who?" She glared at me. I looked at Danny. I was asking myself the exact same question. Danny had spent most of his time at my house, and I didn't remember him asking any-one. Maybe he just said that to get Tiffany of his back.

"Alice, of course."

"What!" Tiffany and I exclaimed simultaneously, staring at Danny.

"Mhmm. Right after dinner."

"And when were you going to inform me about this?" I demanded.

"Tomorrow," Danny replied, almost sheepishly.

"Danny, I don't have a dress."

"Don't worry, I've already got one."

I huffed, "Fine, but I'm going to look at it first."

"That's fine." Danny looked at Tiffany, "Is there something I can help you with?" he said, obviously not wanting her to be here.
"But, but... Why do you wanna take the witch to prom?" Tiffany whined. Danny glared at her. The phrase 'If looks could kill' crossed through my mind.

"Watch it, or I might draw you next," I snarled. The bottle blonde bimbo flinched, then finally getting the message that she wasn't wanted here, stormed off.

I stuck a mint in my mouth and pulled out my sketch pad. I got a cramp in my hand, so I closed my eyes, letting my hand go to work. When I opened my eyes again to look at the picture, I had the wild urge to laugh. It was horrible, because it was a picture of Tiffany's head stuck on a pole.

Why do I always draw death? Why can't I be NORMAL? I thought. It just wasn't fare. Why me.

I heard an intake of breath and looked up to see Danny looking at my picture.

"Still wanna take me to prom?" I questioned. He kissed me.

"Don't cry, Alice. It's oh-kay," Danny murmured soothingly.

I'm crying? I thought distantly, wiping away the tears that had betrayed me.

The next day, I was on the computer, waiting for Danny. I was in the ruby red, sleeveless dress he had gotten me. It clung to my torso, and fell loose from my hips to where it hung just above the ground, with a slit in the side that went just past my knee. I was also in a pair of ruby flats and an expensive, 14 karat gold chain with a large ruby pendant and matching earrings. I had on black mascara and eyeliner, ruby red lipstick, and gold eye shadow.

I heard my dad call and hurried down stairs. When I got to the bottom of the stair case, I saw Danny talking with Dad.

"Hi, Danny," I said, not liking the fact that Dad's face looked all parental, when he usually looked cool and laid back.

"Hey, Al- WOW," Danny breathed, after turning, staring at me for a while.

"It's perfect fit," I stated, uncomfortable under his unwavering gaze. He nodded, seeming to shake himself out of whatever daze he was in.

"Umm... Here" He slid a gold and red rose corsage onto my wrist.

Danny's twin, Jordan, came in then.

"Nice dress, Alice. You look like a flame," he commented.

"Umm… thanks?" I didn't quite know how to respond to that one.

Dinner was great, but prom was better. I had my arms loosely wrapped around Danny's neck, while his hands were placed lightly on my hips. Danny was the only one that could dance, so he had me stand on his feet while he did all the dancing.

"Remind me later to give you dance lessons," Danny mumbled into my hair.

"Good luck with that," I laughed.

"Don't underestimate what I am capable of, Alice," he warned.

"Or you'll do what?"

"This." He picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, and spun. I let out a small squeak, and people looked over at us as if we had three heads.

"Danny, put me down!" I exclaimed, laughing. He did, thankfully, before I got too dizzy. "Whoa," I said, holding my head while the room span.

"You alright," Danny asked.

"I'm fine, just dizzy."

"Good." He cupped my face between his hands and kissed me.

The last part of school went by in a spectacular blur…

It was a week into summer, and Danny had taken me out nearly every night, so when I found myself at home alone, I ended up staring at my ceiling, bored out of my mind.

My hand started to cramp, I dug out my sketch pad and a pencil, closing my eyes and letting my hand go to work. When my hand stilled, I looked down at the picture, and my heart froze.

It was a burning apartment complex, complete with date, time and address. The date was June 21th… today at 8:30 pm.

I looked at my alarm clock. Seeing that it was 7:15, I headed down stairs.

"You going out, Alice?" my mom asked from the kitchen.

"Yeah. I'm just gonna walk around for a bit," I lied smoothly. I lied often to her, mostly about my premonitions. Dad said it would be best if she didn't know about what I drew. I popped a few mints in my mouth while heading out.

When I got to the apartment complex, it was 8:05 pm. I finished checking the first floor at around 8:20, and started on the next floor. I came to a door that was slightly cracked open.

My curiosity got the best of me, plus the fact that some-one might be in there, and I peeked in. I covered my mouth to keep from making any noise, although weather I would have screamed or laughed was beyond me.

What I saw was Danny, standing over the bloody form of Tiffany. I shifted slightly, and to my extreme misfortune, the floor creaked. Danny stilled, and glanced at the door. I took off then, thanking God that he couldn't have been able to see me through the cracks, but cursing myself at how much noise I made. I heard footsteps chasing after me as I rounded a corner, and I was out of sight and out of the building before Danny could so much as get a glimpse of me.

After getting about a mile away, I stopped at a Dairy Queen and bought a vanilla ice cream. I sat in the restaurant, eating the ice cream while digesting what I had just seen, and I had to say, I was both appalled and impressed with myself. Appalled because I knew that I was never going to tell any-one about what I had just saw, not even Danny, and act like nothing had even happened and that I wasn't holding the gruesome secret that my boyfriend was a serial killer. Impressed because I wasn't a hysteric mess at the moment, and knew that I wasn't going to be, even when I was in the safe confinement of my own room.

The next day, I over heard the news my mom was watching… they showed a photo of Tiffany's head on a pole.