"It's dark! A little too dark... Wait! Night time. It's supposed to be dark. But that doesn't explain the silence. It's quiet. A little too quiet..."

Mike's glazed brown eyes darted nervously around his room, trying to find a way to get out of the disturbing place. He stood at the door, his whole body flat against the cold steel. Suddenly, a desperate scream ripped through the halls outside. Mike visibly relaxed, the pitious cry seeming to send calming vibes over him.

"Char-lie!" Mike sang with a grin. "The fires aren't re-al!" He didn't bother to mention it was Daphne that's probably causing Charlie's grief, just like she's causing his. Daphne is always behind something. That's why she must be eliminated. And that's why he must try to sound like one of the others, the non-crazy. He refused to even think the word "sane," for no one is perfectly sane. Not in this place.

"But I'm not crazy ," Mike muttered to himself. "I can think clearer than any of them!" And he'll show them too. Today, he's getting his monthly interview with his psychiatrist. If he can show he's just like her, she'll let him out! And then the fun can begin...

"Bye!" Mike waved to the doctors as he merrily got into Mrs. Purdy's beaten up, old brown car.

"You poor dear," she began as soon as he was inside. "Imagine that. Losing all your dearest friends and then being locked up like an animal..." She continued on, expressing her deepest sympathies for him as she drove them both back to the beach.

He kept a brilliant smile plastered on his face and nodded to everything she asked about his well-bring during his stay at the mental institution, but hardly heard any of it. When they arrived at the pad, he turned to her and grinned even wider, if that were even possible with his small mouth.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, Mrs. Purdy? Since the guys are gone, I'm gonna be awful lonely..."

"Aw, of course, darling," she immediately answered. "I'll keep you company for a while." Mike helped her from the car and into the house, chuckling a bit as he closed the door behind him.

"Rest in peace, Mrs. Purdy," Mike grinned as he shovelled the last of the sand back into the 8 foot deep hole he dug for her. "Hope it didn't hurt too much..."

He closed his eyes and pictured it again. Mrs. Purdy going into the bathroom to wash her hands. Him sneaking up behind her, grabbing her hair. The look of surprise as he rammed her forehead into the faucet. The blood running down the drain with the warm tap water. Beautiful...

"Now that I've practiced, I'm ready for Daphne," he said to himself happily.

Mike once more entered the gloomy house of Daphne Rizzle. It had been well over a year since he'd been here last, but he remembered it well. How those idiotic policemen dragged him away, thinking he was mad. This time, the portraits of the cold, staring people on the walls didn't bother him. He looked forwards to making Daphne just like them- nothing but a memory of someone who once lived. Just another forgotten face.

He came to the end of the long hallway and gazed at the last picture. It was of her. In his mind, he twisted the portrait to his liking. Her bright auburn hair became a halo of fire around her head, burning her, choking her. He grinned and reached for the picture, and promptly slashed his long, broken nails across her snow-white face; and smiled wider at his handiwork. Now to lie in wait for his prey...

Daphne came home from her job in a state of bliss. Her life had been so much better since she had her revenge against Mike. She had pulled her social life back together and gotten a high-paying job as an accountant. Nothing could ruin it now. As she strolled to her room to change, she eyed the portraits of her ancestors on the walls, silently thanking them for their strength. My, wouldn't they be proud of her now? She smiled to herself and walked on.

Mike readied himself when he heard the doorknob rattle. He anticipated the shriek of surprise, the cry of fear, and the dying scream. No music in the world has ever filled him with as much joy and pleasure as these imaginary sounds. But he was doomed to disappointment. Daphne burst in and immediately crushed him behind his hiding place- behind the bedroom door.

"What the hell are you doing out of the crazy house?!" she demanded.

"Out early for good behavior," he grunted back, shoving the door away from him. He grabbed Daphne as she lost her balance and shoved her onto her queen-sized bed. Straddling her stomach, he pinned her down by her shoulders and grinned down at her. A deadly shark's grin. "And now the fun begins...."

"No!" Daphne screeched, tossing her body hard in an attempt to get Mike off of her. Her attack caught him by surprise, and she was able to throw him. Mike glared at the girl with fire in his eyes. He gave an animalistic snarl and grabbed the first thing he saw- a rather large and solid wooden figurine of an upright black bear- and brought it down hard upon her left knee. There was a sharp crack, and Daphne screamed in pain.

"Bitch..." Mike grinned, and swung the statue again, on her other knee. Another crack, another scream. He whacked her two more times, across her arms. Over and over again he assaulted her limbs until they were covered in blood from the harsh claws of the bear and that he was sure her bones had been broken.

"Please," Daphne cried, a wave of dizziness washing over her. "No more...." Mike smiled faintly and once more straddled her. He held up a container about the size of a music box, which he had picked up from her desk of Voodoo items. He reached in and took out a handful of pins, ignoring the pain as some dug into his palms.

"Are these what you used to kill my friends, Witch?" he whispered softly. Daphne nodded, barely able to hear him over her own loud sobs. "Then this is how I will get my revenge...." He grinned widely and released the pins back to their box. With one hand, he grabbed her head to keep her still and with the other he picked up a single pin and, to her growing horror, slowly pushed it into her cheek. She thrashed about fiercely, but he was strong and held her down, not bothering to be the least bit gentle. He took another pin and she screamed in terror. He smirked and shoved the pin into the gums of her upper jaw. Another one went into her tongue, another her nose, one more through her lip, a couple into her cheeks. He kept on slowly and carefully inserting each pin until they were all sticking out of her head. He stuck the last one through her right pupil.

"There. All done," he smiled, but she had stopped caring long ago. Blood streaked down her face and neck, washing her bright red hair and staining her crisp white pillowcase.

He lowered his lips to hers and kissed deep, savoring the salty taste of her blood in his mouth. Then, slowly removing their clothes, he prepared to partake in the pleasure she had never given him the short while they were dating.

Mike sighed as he strolled down Cobbs Street in Massachusetts. They were looking for him. Even after five years, they won't leave him alone.

That's why he had to keep moving across the country. But soon they'll realize he wouldn't be trying to blend in within the big cities. They'll start searching the tiny hick towns like Norton. They won't catch him though, he was sure of that. They haven't yet and they never will.