The Friendly Neighbor

Joe didn't want to come off like a stalker to his new neighbor. She was a beautiful woman, and had moved into the area a couple of months ago. They had never formally met until several days ago, during a get together at the park. Joe lived in a close-knit community, and it was wonderful. 

Well, it was to a point. He had seen Mrs. Bradley pestering the sheriff once again, waving around a missing poster in his direction. Multiple photos of her son were plastered all over the town, and it was kind of sad to see. Her son had always been a troublemaker for years, and ever since he graduated high school, things only got worse from there. 

He began to damage property, bully children at playgrounds, or go around making women uncomfortable. He also disappeared for days, and would return to his mother whenever he felt like it, not caring that she worried about him constantly. No one would ever tell Mrs. Bradley this, but it was her fault for the way he turned out. She always doted on him, and never let him take on the consequences for his actions. 

In other words, he was a mama's boy. 

Joe could hear the sheriff reassuring Mrs. Bradley that her son was going to return home, but she claimed that something wasn't right. Every single time, it was always this way. And at some point, he would return. 

Despite this sad outcome, at least Cassandra was a great addition to the town, and when she brought her own homemade blueberry muffins to the event, Joe knew that he had to ask her out. Like his mother always said, the kind ones are hard to find. When he had seen Cassandra walking in the rain with only a raincoat, Joe knew that this was his chance. He grabbed his umbrella, and ran outside to greet her. 

Cassandra had her arms crossed over her chest, her raincoat obscuring her face. He knew it was her, because she was the only one that wore your typical yellow raincoat. He opened up the umbrella, and walked next to her, offering her protection from the rain. She looked up in confusion, and then gave Joe a smile. It was the beautiful smile he had ever seen.

"Hi. I uh, know how weird this is, but I thought you would like some, you know, protection from the rain," Joe rambled without realizing. He thought his first words to her would be smooth, but in the moment, it was a complete disaster. 

Then he only felt relief when she laughed. "I do love the rain, but thank you. It's much appreciated."

"Oh. That's good. Yeah. I'm glad." Joe felt like slapping himself across the face, but Cassandra's smile never wavered, which he felt was a good sign. He was about to attempt to ask her out, but he was caught off guard by the next thing that left her lips. 

"Did you hear about that poor guy who has gone missing? It's so sad. I can't imagine how his mother is feeling."

"Um, this might sound kind of messed up to say, but I don't think you should worry about it. Eric a bit of a dick to the town. No one is going to tell you this out loud, but it's always a relief when he leaves the town for a bit. It's a phase. And then at some point, he will come back home. And continue his reign of terror."

"That last statement is quite the exaggeration."

"Trust me. He's that bad," he replied.

Cassandra bumped her shoulder against Joe's. Whether it was intentional or not, it made his heart flutter. 

"Well, thank you for the heads up. Is that all you wanted to tell me? I feel like you didn't come out here to shield me from the rain."

Joe felt his heart start to pound, and even though he felt like he was going to die, he forced himself to let the words flow from him. "I uh, wanted to ask you out."

Cassandra bumped her shoulder against him again, and this time, Joe knew it was intentional. 

"I was hoping you were going to ask me that," she whispered in his ear. 

"Oh, uh, yeah. Cool. Yeah," Joe rambled again, feeling like his chest was going to explode. 

"I need to get going back home. I'm planning to attend one of my online college courses. See you around? Maybe for a date sometime this week?"

"Sure! That sounds great."

"I'd give you my number, but since we are neighbors, you could stop by, and let me know when you want to set up our date. I have been wanting to try out the new restaurant down the street from the park. It sounds lovely," Cassandra said with a smile. 

Joe blushed. "Yeah. I will be sure to stop by. When I can. Of course."

Cassandra waved, and began to walk away. "Wait!"

Joe offered his umbrella. "Take it. Please. To shield yourself from the rain."

Cassandra laughed, and took the umbrella, her smile now even more wonderful. 

"Thank you! See you around, Joe."

Joe did a salute without even thinking about it, and Cassandra burst out laughing. She looked back at him over her shoulder, walking away, her laughter sounding like a melody that Joe thought was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard in his life. 

Not caring that he was getting soaked to the bone, he walked back to his house, feeling like he was on top of the world. 

Joe didn't notice Cassandra watching him go inside of his house, her smile frozen in place. It never changed as she entered her own home, or when she tossed the wet umbrella onto the carpet, not caring about bothering to clean up the mess. Her smile continued to remain, as she headed to the basement. 

She could hear the crying coming from the cage, and she wasn't surprised to see that Eric refused to eat the homemade meal she had left for him in the plastic bowl. She had even left him plastic silverware to make it easier for him. When he spotted her, he lunged at her, the handcuff biting into his wrist, drawing blood. At this point, he was going to end up chopping off his own hand, doing the job for her. 

She waved a finger in his direction. 

"Oh Eric, you ungrateful piece of trash. Why are you this way? You're old enough to know to know the difference between right and wrong. But again, your whore of a mother is the reason why you're like this. Don't you know it's rude to grab a woman's ass while she is going for a morning jog?"

Cassandra thought back to that morning with distaste, when Eric would not stop harassing her. She wasn't remotely interested, and he still thought it was a good idea to grope her ass. She had pushed him away, and he took off running down the street, mimicking a disgusting gesture in her direction. 

Eric was easy to lure back to her place, and now he was paying the price. 

He let out another scream, and Cassandra screamed with him. 

"No one can hear you, remember? God, you're stupid."

She started to pace back and forth, the smile still on her face. 

"You know, I met someone so much better than you. He's kind. Sweet. And stupid. But not the kind of stupid that you are."

Cassandra pulled out a mini axe that she had kept hidden in her raincoat. She had stolen it from someone's backyard, and was grateful that the community trusted one another without having to install cameras. 

Well, enough to the point in the case of Eric. 

"Everyone here is going to be happy that you never return. No one will miss you. You made sure of that. Except for your mom, of course. I hope she's the first one to find your body. A piece of you, at least."

Eric yelled again, tears streaking down his cheeks. She walked away, axe in hand, as she was preparing to inject him again. She had to retrieve it from the kitchen, and this time, Eric would never wake. As much as she would enjoy listening to his screams of agony, it would be easier for her to chop his body into pieces. 

She held the axe to her chest, thinking of Joe. He wasn't a danger. She knew that. She only killed if they fell under a certain category, and she was sure Joe wasn't on that list. Her smile got wider, as she imagined how their first date was going to be like. It was going to be perfect. 

And with Eric out of the picture, it was going to work out. 

She hummed to herself, as she prepared the syringe, listening happily to Eric's screams. 

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Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn