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Killing Icons & Legendary Sinners

นักเขียน: whos_that

บท 1: The End Is The Beginning

"Charlie Johnston the notorious serial killer who began his reign of terror in a small city outside of Springville MA has finally been stopped. Charlie Johnston more popularly known as Sleepless was killed when Federal agents in conjunction with local police surrounded his home. It was due to an anonymous tip that Federal and local law enforcement were able to locate and surround Charlie Johnston...."

It was on every news station, every T.V., every radio and on the tongues of old men and young women, Sleepless had been gunned down. There probably wasn't a person in the country who didn't already know of this matter and wasn't discussing it fervently.

For most this news was worthy of a celebration, accommodations would be handed out to law enforcement and everyone would be patting themselves on the back for months and years to come. Books would be written and movies would air edifying the agents who led the charge and put down an unholy and evil Sleepless.

Would those who had lost loved ones finally feel a sense of vindication, a feeling of relief? Maybe they would feel betrayed at the quick death Sleepless received, upset that he wasn't tortured over time, dying a slow death as they reveled in his every agony?

Who knows exactly the emotions they would feel today, but for certain today for them would be emotional and memorable.

Sleepless who was dubbed with the nickname seventeen years ago received the name because when he started killing in a town no one would be able to rest until he moved on.

Even to this day they never could figure out a pattern to his madness. His victims would vary like the sands of the earth, there was no rhyme or reason, his motivations seemed to be like a flag in the wind. His method of killing would change with each murder, one day it would be bloody and gruesome and the next day would be poison and clean.

They say that a serial killer would live in infamy after they had killed ten. At fifteen the serial killer would be listed as villain that would have no comparison through history and would be remembered in time.

History remembers the villains:

Jeffrey Dahmer 11

Jack The Ripper 19

Ted Bundy 30

Andrei Chikatilo 54

So how would the books and history remember Sleepless?

Charlie Johnston 4,156

Sleepless redefined what it meant to be a serial killer as he moved from city to city leaving only the cries and wailing of those left behind, a path of destruction more inline with the atrocities of a vile king or a nation on a war path.

It was ten years ago that Thomas Stone read his first article about Sleepless for a school project.

Initially reading about Sleepless, Thomas found himself disgusted and appalled wondering 'how could there be such an evil human in the world?'

This question led Thomas to research more and more, to look over pictures, scour the internet, to join forums, chat groups and eventually even lurk in underground dark websites to get new information.

The more Thomas dug into Sleepless, the more intrigued he found himself, the more he dug into him. This cycle delved Thomas deeper and deeper into a dangerous world, a world that began to consume his every thought, his every action.

It didn't take long for Thomas to begin to understand the reasons behind Sleepless's actions. The media, the unknowing masses, everyone speculated and tried to guess.....they desperately wanted to know what drove him to become the scourge of the earth, the devil incarnate?

Thomas, however long ago discovered the reason that Sleepless had become the definition of death, the reaper of souls....to sum it up in one word, freedom.

Sleepless would defy a society and world that would put boundaries on him, rules were for the masses and Sleepless was above the masses. His life was his and for those poor pathetic beings, those animals that followed the rule of law they were nothing more than sheep and cattle to be butchered.

Thomas knew this was the right answer, there was no doubt in his mind because this was the same thoughts he had running through his head when he killed his first person. Thomas could still remember the disgust he had for that woeful excuse for life when he ended it.

For Thomas, today was a day of mourning, he wouldn't shed any tears in memory of Sleepless as he understood that Sleepless died exactly the way he lived, the way he wanted too, but that didn't change the fact that the man that he idolized, the man he strove to be was no longer.

For Thomas and that small group of underground people Sleepless was a killing icon but for the rest of the world he was a legendary sinner. His crimes had rewritten laws, caused the masses to live in panic giving up the freedoms and rights they once used to enjoy for that ever so faint hope of security.

Little did they know that with each law passed and each right given up they became more like the sheep that Sleepless considered them to be thus reinforcing his belief that they should all be slaughtered. Each time the crowds clamored together begging for protection he laughed wryly and butchered freely. Every time they begged for mercy behind the pseudo protections they would enact he would wash away their beliefs in blood.

Thomas who was lost in thought and wondering to himself what came next was surprised at the knock on his door.

"Go away!" Thomas who was still in mourning had no desire to put up with anyone today.

Not understanding or simply not caring the beating on the door continued forcing Thomas up. As he moved towards the door his thoughts were clear 'I don't care who you are, you shouldn't have messed with me today of all days.'

As Thomas opened the door, he was met with exactly nobody, the hallway was clear in the small apartment building he lived in. Living on the third floor the person who had been pounding away at his door couldn't have gotten far so he stepped out and looked around and down the stairs.

After a few seconds of scanning with his eyes Thomas could only give up pissed off and irritated. As he turned to walk back into his room, he caught site of a small white envelope laid out in front of his door, it was clearly visible but easily missed.

Thomas again quickly looked around to see if anyone had dropped it, after ascertaining that no one was around Thomas bent over and picked it up.

On the front of the letter in handwritten cursive was his name "THOMAS" beautifully written, it was done as if a professional writer had spent their entire life to write out his name on this envelope.

Walking back into his apartment Thomas opened the letter:

"Today our brother was slain, he died a glorious death and will live on forever in the nightmares of humanity. It is with a joyous heart that I invite you to become his successor, to join the trial to become the new face of our society.

We, the Society for Killing & Slaughter have existed for hundreds of years. We operate out of the shadows while creating new icons that are worshiped and feared for eternity. Each of our faces have lived on as gods of killing, their deeds forever recorded in the tears of the countless masses.

Our previous faces have had a multitude of studies and books written about them, names that include Jack the Ripper, Harold Shipman, and Vera Renczi to just name a few.

Our current face Charlie Johnston also known as Sleepless was our secret societies greatest success, raised up by hundreds of killers as they moved across this continent successfully killing in the name of Sleepless, with no one any the wiser.

Our society works as a form of protection and edification for our face and our face works as a form of distraction and misdirection for the society.

You along with nineteen other candidates have been selected to compete for the role of face, to become the harbinger of fear if selected to live as the next nightmare, the next demon or devil that walks the earth.

Should you choose to compete understand this is a game of life and death, only the face is allowed to live, all others will merely become statistics in their great endeavor.

To live quietly, to kill quietly, and try and stay under the radar of the law and society or to live grandly, slaughter freely and die an ICON.....

Do you wish to become a killing icon & legendary sinner?"

Thomas who finished reading the note was visibly shaking, his mind was racing at the moment.

How did these people know about him? What is this society? How did they know about the term killing icon and legendary sinner?

Thomas had been in a dark web chat and one of the chat members would refer to Sleepless as a killing icon and legendary sinner whenever he mentioned him. Since then Thomas had used the term himself when thinking on these matters. He would sign every dark web chat with the (KILS) moniker, it had become his signature.

Was it possible that they had found him through the dark web?

'Does it even matter how they found me; the point is they did. Assuming this isn't a trap then what should I do? There's an address with a time listed on the letter, I'm assuming they want me to meet there at that time.'