“I’ve never murdered anyone with red hair on a Sunday. It’s like you don’t know me at all.”
I cocked the gun.
“Really,” he went on. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“Despite the fact that I don’t have red hair, it’s not Sunday, and you’ve tried to kill me several times?”
“I wish you’d take my words more charitably, in the way they were meant. You’re twisting everything up into trivial questions about the past, horology, and matters that should really be left up to your stylist. Though, if it really bothers you, I’m sure you can find a good wig, but I don’t think red hair would really suit your complexion.”
“Are those your last words?”
“Last words?” he gasped.
Falling to his knees, he lifted his hands in supplication.
“Oh please, no, not that!” Trembling, I thought with fear, he began laughing his terrible laugh.
My voice rose over the rising swell of his hysterics:
“On the subject, I mean.”
“Oh,” he sighed, dropping his arms in utter dejection.
“‘Cause if they are, I’m going to shoot you now.”
A smile, a great, beaming smile, filled his face. I think it was the only genuine smile I’d ever seen on him. You’ve seen the pictures, I’m sure. How he smiled without his eyes and you know it’s a mask. This smile was all in his eyes, like a child’s; innocent, almost. I can’t explain.
“What?” I asked, feeling my hands shake.
“It is you. I’ve been waiting so long.”
“For what?”
“For someone else to get the joke.”
I saw the glint of a knife in his hand, and was pulling the trigger before I even knew what I saw. The terrible sound of an empty chamber clicked. He was rushing me, and I felt like a deer staring into the oncoming headlights, like a lamb unable to comprehend what was happening.
And still I do not understand.
He jumped into the air, flying over me, and slit his own throat. The hot rain of his blood blinded me as his body fell into mine. My knees buckled. My head hit the pavement. Darkness, and as I faded away, the comforting warmth bathed me. I had forgotten my revulsion. I knew nothing but the sweetness of blood.
Tale Told 