These men are learning nothing.

Nothing!

It doesn't matter how many of them I remove from this earth, how many of them suffer the same fate and meet their maker, they fail to learn. They must all learn their lesson. They must all pay for their continuous abuses and actions.

I stalked the night looking for my next victim. My ability to watch them during the day has been hampered, but I can still own the night. The night is mine to do with what I wish. They are my shadows to hide in; it is my darkness to command how I see fit. No one can take that from me, no matter how hard they might try.

Mr David Hutchinson was a man who never listened. He did as he pleased, cared for no one other than himself, and would not allow fear to claim him the way it had claimed the other men. Although he thought of himself above the rest of us, he was sorely mistaken.

No man is superior.

He too owned a factory, he too treated his workers like dirt on the bottom of his shoe. Little did he know that he was the dirt on the bottom of the shoe. The scum of the earth. The thing no one would miss if it were removed. He was the only disposable one.

I had to act quickly.

The officers were everywhere. They search the shadows and enter my domain to try to find me, but they never look in the right place. I will always be one step ahead of them, aware of their movements before they even make them. Try all they might, they will never catch me.

Still, it would do me no good to be caught and imprisoned. How would I succeed in clearing these men from the earth if I were trapped behind bars? No one else will finish what I started, no one else would dare. This is a task I must see through to completion, and the officers will not deter me from that.

I darted through the streets, clinging to the darkness as the pigeons pecked at the ground and scattered from me. At least they had the decency to avoid me. Mr Hutchinson moved at the same speed as me. He slithered through the streets like the serpent I knew him to be, desperate to get home, although he had no one there to greet him.

The man lived alone and would die alone with no one to miss him.

My footsteps were silent in the night air, the wind whistling past us both. With the sun having set, the cold of winter creeped its way out of every crack. Mr Hutchinson pulled his jacket across his chest to fight the cold, but it did no good. Nothing would be able to protect him, no matter how hard he tried.

I moved faster than he did, my feet almost floating over the cobbles towards him. With the hammer in hand, I snuck up behind him. Mr Hutchinson stopped. He whipped around, his eyes widening upon seeing the hammer in my hand. The whites of his eyes were a stark contrast to the darkness I had come to enjoy.

He reached towards me, his hand outstretched to challenge me for the hammer.

I swung.

He dodged.

I swung again.

The hammer connected with his hand, smashing into his fingers. Mr Hutchinson yelled, cradling his hand with his fingers looking misshapen from the collision. I seized my opportunity. With another swing of the hammer, the end connected with the side of his head and he stumbled to the ground.

He yelled once more; the sound echoing through the night and sending pigeons scattering into the dark sky.

I knew the officers would be there soon.

I stuffed the hammer into my waistband and took off, melting back into the darkness and leaving Mr Hutchinson on the floor, his body still twitching in the night.

~~~

First Published - February 11th, 2023