By Mike C.

"...I never thought it would end. The love, the friendship, what we had for each other."

To think, something such as love making a mortal go mad.

All the years with the interest in serial killers.

Why such interest he wondered? But he was soon to know.

Was it love or neglect? No matter! All that mattered is now gone, his conscience, his love for life, his whole existence......

"I wonder what he’s doing tonight." She always thought before going to bed.

Curiosity, I suppose.

Will he move on, I wonder? I must move on. A whole new life is ahead for me now. The past is past.".....watching her undress, getting ready for bed. All the nights of passion they shared with each other.

"Was I not good enough for her?!"

Always screaming inside his mind as he watched her through the crack in the blinds of her bedroom window.

Day after day and night after night, the insanity inside his head grew.

So cold, so alone.

Pacing back and forth, thinking and thinking

The thoughts he wasn’t fond of.

(Time passes)

The following winter, nothing had changed. He grew tired, so tired.

Losing almost 30 lbs. from not caring about his health, his state of mind.

"What now?" He asked himself. A question that always lingered in his head.

Night after night he’d return to that old same place. Looking inside, watching, and dreaming of old times, an obsession if you please. An obsession that would soon take its toll.

One cold night, after waiting for her to come home, she finally arrived.

Her car pulled up and from a distance he saw another shadow. For shadows is what he called people.

Either for souls from the past or memories that lurked in darkness.

Two shadows side by side. One he wanted with heart and soul, the other....

Burning deep inside the never ending flames, the demons that always dwelled in his head.

Jealousy, Insanity, and Despair.

The hideous demons that always brought forth the anguish of being alone.

"Why must I see this shadow that does not belong?!" I must bring forth light!"

"Would you like to come in for awhile?" Tammy asked this newly found companion. A strong built man, brown eyes, dark brown hair, well mannered and oh so kind.

"I’d like that." replied Michael.

They went inside and sat beside the fire place.

Gazing through the blinds, he couldn’t believe his eyes....

"Sitting side by side, showing and appreciating our love, the love that would never die, the love that would never die?

Never die?

Oh, the lie of a love that would never die!

She lied.....SHE LIED TO ME!!!"

His mind began to wonder, his tears began to grow cold. His cries of anguish were no more. Almost as if the cold wintry chill had frozen them inside to where he would never see them again.

He had seen enough!!!

"If these shadows are to be happy while my existence is to be nothing but misery, I must bring forth the light!!"

He wrapped an old scarf around his face covering all but his eyes.

"The madness must end!"

Over and over....yelling, tearing at his heart, his bitter soul.

Walking towards his car, all he could vision was bloodshed. Out of the trunk he pulls out a tire-iron.

Walking back to the house, slow at pace, he just wants to shed the light, destroy the anguish, the sadness. It must all come to an end.

"Would you like some more coffee?" Tammy asked. "Please."

Such a quiet night. So peaceful.

Out of nowhere, not expecting a nightmare of reality to end the quiet and peaceful evening the two so-called shadows were sharing, a dark and overpowering shadow suddenly crashes through the door. A blast almost like the sound of a hurricane destroying a city.

With all the hatred inside, all the demons, a blow to the head of the male shadow was soon to fall with a puddle of blood at her feet. Paralyzed by the confusion, the insanity, she just sat there and gazed into his eyes.

They stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity, but were really just a few brief seconds that brought forth even more confusion to them both.

The demons, the dark hideous beings, were crawling inside his very head, while the angels of true light were hovering over her body preparing for her souls departure.

With a last tear of relief, such an insane little tear, he started to remove his scarf.

Not knowing what to do, she just sat there and cried. The agony. The pain. She couldn’t believe the nightmare that was to end her life and the ending of his inner demons....

The lifeless bodies. The cold, cold bodies. Hung from the post, a lifeless corpse. The demons were released, off to find a new host for them to feast upon.

Three shadows, two lost in a mad mans world. The other shadow? Freed from a world that only brought forth the demons they create.