Echoes of The Abyss : Another Victim

Trevor is a bit of a thrill seeker, anything that gets his heart pumping excites him. He doesn’t feel alive unless he is risking his life. Whether it’s bungee jumping, free climbing, or having sex without a condom. He has to risk it all, at all times. Maybe because of his exciting lifestyle he really values his alone time and meditation. Causing him to move in the middle of the woods, he fell in love with the quiet nights. Often he goes for a jog in the middle of the night through the forest, not as dangerous as the other’s, but just enough to make his heart pump a bit. The heavy breathing from the run and the anxiety from the dark forest. Not knowing what’s behind the next tree, an animal, maybe a person, just the wind blowing. The constant guessing in his head, gives him a bit of euphoria. Perhaps this was the wrong night to go on a run however. His run was coming to an end for the night. He tends to run for two miles and circle around and run two miles back home. A light run to end the day. He noticed that he has been running for longer than usual on the path back home. He looked down at his smart watch and looked at the path he has run so far, and it showed that he has just been running in circles for the last 15 minutes. Though as far as Trevor is concerned he’s been running straight down the path the entire time. Maybe because of his thrill seeker lifestyle he was able to remain calm and began to walk the path paying attention to his surroundings. “Did i take a turn and not pay attention maybe?” “Maybe my watch is just broken”, “Even if I’m lost I can just wait until morning, this forest has no animals in it anyway.” All of these thoughts ran through his head as he continued to walk. Finally he came to a cross road, it confused him, but peaked his intrigued at the same time. He definitely didn’t cross this path before the job, yet now there’s a fork in the road that just appeared. Could he had just missed it, no, although he had only moved in the past year. He has already jogged this path almost 100 times, there’s no way, he wouldn’t have noticed, even though he only runs at night. Something’s up and he’s going to find out what’s going on. He took the path on the right, though not like it mattered, both path’s lead to the same thing.

Trevor ran down the path, smiling, this is the kind of rush he is looking for, the jog was almost a sprint. He finally slowed down when he came up to a house. A house similar to his own, he crept up to it and looked around, he didn’t see anyone. He looked through the windows but still no one was in the house either. Trevor knocked on the door a couple times and waited, no one came. He saw a doorbell and rung it as well. Still no answer, so he tried turning the handle to the door and to his surprise the door was unlocked. He opened it wide, yelling, “excuse me”, but there was nothing, no sound at all. Even if a person was sleeping you think, they would have at least turned a couple times, if not wake up from all the commotion he was making. Trevor confused, simply sat on the couch, he was extremely nervous. In a strangers house, with no one home. What if they just stepped out for a moment and he just allowed himself in. What if they think he is a thief or a murderer, at the very least they will think of him as a really weird guy. Maybe he should go outside and just wait by the house, but it is the middle of the night and he could still startle them. Should he hide behind a tree and wait for them to arrive and then come up and knock. What if they see him behind the tree and they have a gun will they shoot, maybe they will hear him out. After all it’s not uncommon to get lost in the woods, but why be in the woods at night anyway if your not some weird murderer. Cause he wanted to have a jog. At this point Trevor began to regret his extreme lifestyle. All these thoughts ran through his head and still he was just sitting inside the house. Finally, he decided he was going to go outside and he will just wait for whoever lived here at a safe distance just in case he had to run away. Hopefully they are good people and will hear him out.

Right as Trevor opened the door to wait outside, he saw a figure in the distance. It looked like a person, Trevor yelled out, “Hello”, but there was no response. Trevor became nervous, “Umm, sorry about letting myself in, the door was unlocked. I was out for a jog and got lost, I swear I’m not some weird guy. I just enjoy the night wind.” Trevor said as he chuckled nervously to himself. Slowly the figure got closer and closer, then Trevor noticed that was dragging something. The man still said nothing to Trevor, which began to make his skin crawl. A feeling of doom began to come over him, Trevor broke out in a cold sweat as the man was finally close enough to make out his face. He was dragging an axe across the ground. Then the man was almost right in front of him, so Trevor began small talk, out of pure fear and anxiety hoping the man’s response would ease him.

…”Hi, I’m Trevor, we must be neighbors. I came across your house and the door was unlocked, i let myself in. But i swear I didn’t take anything, I just got lost looking for my home. But well I guess this is as good a time as any to meet each other right haha”

…”Trevor, is it”

… “Yes”

… “I’m Terrence”

… “Good to meet you Terrence, were you out chopping fire wood”

… “NO”

… “Umm Ok”, Trevor said under his breath.

… “Well come in, the forest becomes a maze at night”

Terrence walked into the house first axe still in hand and Trevor followed behind him, closing the door. Trevor heart still pounding, began to speak, but every word sounded as if he was trying to catch his breath in between sentences.

… “Sorry, I hope I'm not intruding too much. At the break of dawn I will be gone.”

… “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on letting the night drag on too long.”

Something about what he said or how he said it, began to make Trevor rethink staying in the house. Trevor slowly began to back away from Robert.

… “What are you doing Trevor, even if you go outside, all paths will just lead you back to here.”

Trevor hands shaking turned around and tried to unlock the door, to run out of the house. He didn’t know why, he just felt he had to get out of there. It was too late, as he began to turn the knob to leave, he felt a axe in the back. He fell to the floor, and Terrence came over him and pulled the axe out. Trevor began to scream in pain.

…”Sorry, to be a bad neighbor Trevor. I would rather do this quick, but I don’t own a gun you see.”

… “Why, why, what did I do, I’m sorry for turning up unannounced, please don’t kill me”

… “That’s what you don’t understand Trevor, I have to kill you or it won’t be satisfied.”

… “What? Who?”

… “The abyss, what the abyss gives, must be given back”

Then Terrence stopped speaking and took the axe driving it into Trevor’s body, again and again and again, blood began to splatter everywhere. Robert’s entire body was covered in Trevor’s blood, he as dead long ago, yet he kept hacking away. As if he was in a trance. He then looked over at a mirror and saw himself drenched. He walked upstairs, undressed and wiped the blood off his body. Then looked in the close and proceeded to get dressed. Walked back down and dragged Trevor’s body away, hiding it in a closet, before wiping the blood off the floor. Just two more now, he thought to himself, but no time for self reflection, as there was a knock on the door.