Crack in the Doors

Riley John stood at his dresser, smelling each of the socks he had on top, trying to find the one that didn't smell. It had been a while since he made his way to his apartment's laundry room and his dirty clothes were piling up. He knew he should've done his laundry when he came home from work today, but he was tired. And not just from his job as a chiropractor. Riley had a secret no one, not even his closest friends, knew and he intended on keeping it a secret for as long as possible.

"Dirty. Dirty. Dirty." He kept tossing the socks back into his drawer. One of the pairs of socks had to be decent, but it wasn't looking hopeful.

"Let me out of here!" A voice from the closet in his room. "HELP! HELP! LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Riley slammed the door to his dresser shut and stormed to the closet. He opened the door and glared at the guy who was sitting on the closet floor, bound and blindfolded.

"What did I tell you about talking while I have you in here?" Riley snarled.

"I don't care what you said. I can't stay here another minute. I…I…I don't know who you are or where I am, but it's smelling like a dead body in here with me. I'm going to be sick," the guy tried to contain the contents of his stomach.

Oh! That's where the smell is coming from. Not my clothes, Riley breathed a sigh of relief. He had forgotten that before he brought this man back to his apartment and hid him in the closet that there was another man he left there months ago.

What was his name again? Riley tried to remember. Tony? Tommy? Timmy? It didn't matter. The guy was dead and now it was time for him to go out and find his next victim. The one screaming for help wasn't going to last long. Unlike the first guy, who kept quiet and died from lack of food and oxygen, Riley felt like he was going to have to move the process along with this guy on his own if he didn't shut up soon.

"AREN'T YOU LISTENING TO ME? I SAID IT SMELLS LIKE SOMEONE DIED IN HERE!" The man yelled. He felt around the closet when he felt the arm of the corpse. "THERE IS A DEAD BODY IN HERE! GET ME OUT! HELP! CAN ANYONE OUT THERE HEAR ME? HELP!"

"SHUT UP!" Riley kicked the man and shut the closet door. "The more you scream for help, the more painful it's going to be for you in the end," he said, heading out of his bedroom.

The guy in the closet was looking through the cracks in the door. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING? YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME IN HERE WITH A DEAD PERSON!"

"I know you didn't just tell me what I can or can't do," Riley turned around, a sinister smile on his face as he walked back to the closet. "You see, this is my apartment and I can do whatever I want. Now, unless you want to end up like the person next to you in there sooner than planned, I would advise you to keep your mouth shut. And don't think about trying to find help while I'm gone. No one will hear you and you need to save all the oxygen you can get for the time being."

Riley left his apartment, ignoring the cries for help coming from the closet in his room. Tonight, he was going out on the town to find his next victim. He didn't know where he was going or what kind of person he was looking for today, but someone was going to have to replace the victim who died. He may even look for two victims tonight because he didn't know how much more he could take of the loud mouth he brought home last night. If that man was going to keep screaming for help at all hours of the day, Riley would have to put an end to it.

Not that he was afraid of anyone finding out his secret of kidnapping people, tying them up, and blindfolding them before bringing them to his apartment where he threw them into his closet and left them to die. Everyone in his apartment thought he was the nicest resident they had there, being that he was a chiropractor who was tall and handsome with brown hair and blue eyes. The look of the classic boy next door. No one would ever expect him to be a murderer.

Riley didn't know why he chose to follow this path in life, but it was the most exciting thing he'd ever done. After spending hours in the office, he needed something to take off the edge. Others in the office picked up normal hobbies, such as golfing or sailing. Not Riley. He got a kick out of people's misfortunes and that was when he began this double life.

He got into his car and drove into the center of town where the nightlife was kicking. He drove around until he found a space in front of a bar, the same bar where he found all of his victims. He started doing this two years ago and lost count of how many had died in his closet, and that number was going to continue growing.

Riley got out of his car and headed into the bar, checking his pocket to make sure he had the pills he needed to drug his victim. Confirming he had what he needed, he stepped into the bar and looked at the crowd of people enjoying their night, none knowing that for some, this was going to be their last night alive.