Last year I lost everything on Valentine’s Day. I know it was my fault. I pray no one ever makes the same mistake I did.
A week before the big day I found myself trying to think of the perfect gift for my girlfriend Cassy. All the good restaurants had already been booked. I hated going out on Valentine’s Day, so I didn’t care too much. To be honest, our relationship was on a bit of a right patch. I still loved my girlfriend, but I found myself wondering if she felt the same.
She had started to go through my things. I caught her with my phone a few times as well as seeing her digging in my coat pockets. I wasn’t cheating and I didn’t know why she would ever assume I would do such a thing. I’ve heard cheaters act paranoid. But this was Cassy we were talking about. She couldn’t do such a thing. If she fell out of love with me, she was too kind-hearted to break it off. Instead, she might start looking for reasons to get me to get fed up with her. Like that would ever happen.
It was unseasonably warm. I had gone to an outdoor market to buy her some fresh flowers. It was a few days early, but the market would be closed on the 13th. I picked up a pricey dozen roses and then started looking around for another gift for her. Nothing spoke to me. I was about to give up when a small booth tucked to the side caught my eye. The simple display was crammed with handmade jewelry. Cassy didn’t like big expensive gifts. Maybe a cheap but nice-looking ring would win me some favors.
“See anything you like?”
I turned to see a tall thin man behind me. He held a brown paper bag filled with assorted fruits. He went behind the table to place the bag on the empty chair showing he was the seller.
He gave me a weird vibe. Dark bags were under his lazy eyes and for some odd reason. He reminded me of a snake.
“Just looking, thank you.” I said as politely as I could.
I made a show out of glancing over the table. A few more seconds then I would leave. He reached down to pick up a necklace from the pile and tossed it. I caught it on reflex. It was a simple silver-colored chain with a small heart pendant.
“You seem like the type to have a girlfriend you love to pieces, but she might not be on the same level. Relationship a bit rocky and you’re unsure of how to save it. You might think things will work out if she loves you as much as you love her and all that.” He spoke as he picked up an apple.
He polished the fruit on his shirt as I stayed silent. Was kind of trick is this? Were my problems so common that any grifter could use what bothered me as a script to scam poor guys this time of the year?
“It’s really not like that.” I said, trying to dismiss his words.
“Oh? Well, either way, the necklace will be a nice gift to go along with the roses. Don’t worry, I’m not begging for money here. I’ll make you a deal, if the necklace works and she starts loving you more than anyone else I’ll accept payment later. If it doesn’t work, it’s free.”
I let him take a few bites of the apple as I looked over the silver chain. It was pretty and the offer was oddly tempting.
“So, you’re saying I can just take this right now? And if it all works out, I come back here and pay you for it?” I asked.
He shrugged, almost bored.
“Or I find you.”
I looked over the small pendant. There was no way he hid a tracker inside it. This entire situation was weird. Really weird. Still, for some odd reason, I went with it. I had no taste when it came to jewelry. This random guy might have just picked out the perfect gift for me. Who cares if he was acting a bit creepy about it?
“Alright, thanks I guess.”
I started walking away expecting him to start shouting that I stole from him. Instead, he watched me leave with an odd expression on his face. It was as if he knew something I didn’t.
The roses went over very well. I had planned on giving Cassy the necklace in a few days. But she found it going through my coat pockets. She claimed to have misplaced her Chapstick and didn’t listen to me when I said it wasn’t in my pockets. I should have been upset with her, but I couldn’t after I saw her bright expression. She squealed in delight. Within seconds she asked me to help her put on the thin silver chain. That night she acted exactly how I hoped. All her attention was focused on us. No more snooping. No more stiff movements or stumbling on her words as if she was hiding something. Our Valentine’s Day came early.
And then everything fell apart.
I should have noticed something was off based on how clingy she got after that day. I barely had enough time alone to go to the bathroom. Cassy woke me up with breakfast in bed, which was new. She saw me off at the door when I went to work, and she was waiting when I came home. Our dog didn’t even wait by the door like this. I wondered just how long she would act like this and how long until it started to become annoying.
“Hey, I know tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, but I need to drop by my brother’s place after work. Is that alright?” I asked her right before we started getting ready for bed.
I expected her to be upset but she just smiled brightly and nodded. Yeah, all of this was getting weird.
“No problem. Say hello to Angie for me when you go.”
I found myself crossing my arms to look her over. She hated Angie. She never approved of my brother dating a girl who cheated on her last boyfriend. Did that necklace have some sort of weird drug on it? No, that didn’t make any sense. I touched it with my bare hands. I would have been affected by anything that had been put on the chain. Plus, I didn’t think there was anything that could be absorbed into the skin that made people act like this. Was this a prank she somehow set up? No, that wasn’t like her.
“Hey, the chain of the necklace keeps getting caught in your hair when you sleep. It looks painful. Why don’t you take it off and only wear it when you have your hair up?” I asked.
If this whole thing was because of a weird cursed necklace then taking it off would solve everything, right? I held my breath as Cassy agreed. She carefully took off her gift and placed it on the bedside table. My hope was she would go back to normal now that she wasn’t wearing that thing.
I woke up on the big day a bit early. I wanted to repay Cassy for how thoughtful she had been lately. I made her breakfast, but she was too tired to get up right away to eat it. I kissed her goodbye and headed off to a boring day at work.
She sent a few texts saying how excited she was to spend the night with me, but when lunch hit, nothing. At least her flurry of texts had stopped. Maybe taking off the necklace did solve my problems.
I packed up a few minutes early and left work. It was a small office so no one really cared about staying the full eight hours if you finished what you had to do. I drove to my brother’s place to drop off some stuff I put aside for him that had been sitting in my trunk for weeks. I should have done this way sooner. I just kept forgetting about it.
When I arrived, I noticed his door was slightly open. That was odd. I knocked once calling out for the two of them. It wasn’t like him to keep his door unlocked, let alone open.
I smelled something coming from the house. Carefully, I put down the small box in my arms and fully opened the door. I kept calling out their names as I went inside. What I saw still haunted my every waking moment.
Blood. So much blood. It started in the front hallway and then trailed into the living room. My heart raced but I couldn’t control my body. I moved slowly trying not to step into the mess. My mind simply refused to believe what I was seeing.
At first, I didn’t recognize the body through the blood. When he coughed and let out a raspy noise, I knew it was my brother. I raced over to him to take his hand, not caring about preserving the scene.
“Go… mom… dad.” He said through a ruined mouth.
Then he was gone.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. I didn’t understand what was happening. Then all at once, I went into action. I called 911 and stayed on the line as I looked through the house for Angie. The operator told me to go outside in case the person who hurt them was still inside the house. I ignored the advice until I found out it was too late for my brother’s girlfriend. I begged them to send the police over to my parents’ place. My brother wouldn’t have mentioned my parents if it wasn’t important.
Soon the scene was swarming with cops. I was taken away to be interviewed. At least they brought me a change of clothing and shoes and let me wash my hands.
After the longest three hours of my life, an officer came into the interview room with a grim expression.
“I’m sorry to tell you this, but your parents are gone. We assume it was the same person who killed your brother and his girlfriend.” He said in a careful tone.
I kept shaking my head. My entire body felt numb. I wanted to run away but I knew no matter what I did, it didn’t change the fact I’d lost my entire family in a few short hours.
“I need to call my girlfriend.” I said in a small voice as I tried to keep my hands from shaking.
“It is possible she has something to do with all this?” He asked.
I knew it was a question he needed to ask but I felt offended he would ever think such a thing.
“No! She could never do something like this. She loves me! She can’t even kill a spider. So please, let me call her and see if she’s safe.” I begged.
He nodded and moved to get my phone. The door opened and a pale-faced officer nodded to his co-worker. They told me to wait inside the interview room. Something was happening. Something they didn’t want me to know about just yet. I felt like I was going to pass out or puke from the stress. Without realizing it, I’d gotten up to start pacing around the room.
When they came back, both officers looked as if they had seen a ghost.
“Do you have any enemies?” The younger one asked.
My stomach flipped. Had Cassy been hurt? I didn’t have much else to lose at that point. I braced myself for whatever news they were going to give me. I never would have been ready for what they said.
There had been a fire at my office just after I left for the day. My co-workers and boss had been inside. None of them made it. Six people in total died.
I sank to my knees. My vision grew hazy. I felt my body get lifted back to my feet. The shock had finally set in, and I couldn’t say a word. Knowing I was useless, the cops asked a few yes or no questions I could answer by nodding.
They said no one had been in contact with Cassy all day. They kept trying her cell phone but hadn’t had any luck. Since I was useless at the station, they let me go home. Two officers were going to sit in front of my house all night just in case. Considering what already happened, I didn’t have much faith in them to stop anything else my life had planned for me.
I kept trying to call Cassy. I needed to hear her voice and to know she was alright. I paced around my house unable to do anything else. I simply couldn’t stay still. Our dog, Jose followed me around the house. When I found myself in the living room, I finally noticed he stopped following me. I paused long enough to listen expecting to hear him bark.
Had someone broken in? Or did he just see a stray cat outside? There was no barking and no sounds of someone trying to force open the door. Of course, there wouldn’t be. She already had a key.
“Cassy…?” I asked when I saw her figure in the dark hallway.
I quickly turned on the light and took a step back when I fully saw her. Her clothing was soaked in blood. Some dry, some fresh. Her arms had long scratches down them. Her hair was a tangled mess. But the look on her face was what sent chills down my spine. She was smiling.
“You… you’re bleeding.” I choked out but I didn’t move closer to her. “We should ask the police by the door for some help.”
“They’re not available right now.” She said in a cheery voice that made me take a step back.
Jose went right up to her, tail wagging and tongue out. My heart nearly stopped when she bent down to pet his white fur, a dirty knife I hadn’t noticed sooner so close to his face.
“Did you…?” I was unable to finish the terrible question.
“Yes. And don’t worry. I won’t hurt Jose. He’s not a person after all.”
Nothing made sense. How had the entire world gone so wrong so fast?
“I don’t understand.” I said, my chest hurt so much it was as if it started to cave into itself.
“It’s easy. I love you. I love you so much. I realized that you only need me, no one else in this world. If I could, I would make it so there are only the two of us on this planet. But I’m only human. Just being the last person you’ll ever love has to be good enough.”
She straightened up, knife in hand. Jose was stressed out and he started to move around unsure of what was happening. I should have moved. Instead, I just watched as she flung herself at me, that crazed expression on her face. I wanted to die then. With her on Valentine’s Day. The blade sunk deep just below my collarbone. I collapsed with her on top as she withdrew the knife only to bring it down once more.
For some odd reason, it didn’t hurt. It was as if I was watching the entire thing from a distance. I saw a beaten and bloody cop burst through the door. His words were drowned out by Jose’s barking. He fired twice, and then all the sound around us stopped.
Cassy still had that smile on her face. Not even death stopped her from loving me.
If that cop hadn’t shown up when he did, I wouldn’t still be alive. I spent a week in the hospital comatose from shock. My body slowly recovered as my mind started to work again. The nurses were good to me. The police never told them who I was, but the office fire and the murders were on the local news. The hospital staff were able to put the clues together. They gave me a private room away from any reporters. My bedside table was always filled with flowers, or a fruit basket despite the fact I no longer had any loved ones who would have sent such a thing.
Two weeks after being admitted to the hospital I woke up with another person in my room. Not a nurse or a doctor. Someone who made my entire body turn cold, then red hot with anger.
The man with the lazy eyes sat next to me helping himself to the fruit basket.
“Why?” I asked him my voice shaking.
“Because you wanted her to love you.” He answered as he chewed away on an apple without a care in the world.
“That wasn’t love. It was madness.”
“Isn’t that what love is sometimes? A little bit of madness? And each person acts differently while they’re in love. How can we judge them for their feelings?”
I’ve never hated a person more in my life. I wanted to strangle him with my bare hands.
“What are you even doing here?” I demanded.
His dark eyes finally fell on me. I asked the question he had been waiting for. He carefully set down the half-eaten apple, his movements swift and almost inhuman. I found myself unable to move. I became frozen in the hospital bed as he slowly started to crawl next to me. His face dropped in shadow, his hands becoming like claws and dark eyes now shining in amusement.
“I’ve come to accept my payment.” He hissed, his voice growing low and raspy.
I was able to slightly shake my head.
“I told you, she didn’t-” My words were cut off by a low laughter.
“She loved you so much she couldn’t bear the thought of you caring for another person.” As he spoke the room grew distorted. Soon all I could see was his glowing eyes in the darkness. “She even sacrificed herself so you would never be blamed for the murders. Why else do you think you’re still alive?”
I would much rather be dead. No matter how he twisted his words, I would never accept Cassy did what she did out of love.
“She won’t be the last person I’ll ever love. I’ll move on from this.” I said but my heart wasn’t in it.
And an explosion of laughter came. It shook me down to my bones.
“No, you won’t. Because that will be my payment. I want to watch you squirm. To hate yourself. To be distant and have your heart closed off for the rest of your life. Whenever you start getting close to another person, you’ll think back on what you wished for. If anyone ever loves you, they’ll show it in the same way little Cassy did. I’ll make certain of it.”
My vision started to spin. His cackling voice echoed through my brain until I couldn’t think of anything else. I screamed then threw my hands out expecting to hit something. They met empty air. When I opened my eyes again, he was gone. A nurse came inside my room asking if I was alright. She had heard me scream and I weakly said I had a nightmare. Glancing over, I saw a half-eaten apple on the bedside table proving my lie.
It’s been a year since that day, and I can’t stop thinking about what happened. I regret meeting that monster. I regret not just talking to Cassy when I had the chance, I regret so many things.
However, I’m positive that the monster was lying to me. That Cassy didn’t love me like he claimed. Because if she truly did, she would have killed me.