#Thursdaydoors – the mark of mystery.

📸|Dan Antion.

The mark of mystery; dominating the world of murder.

It’s been no longer than two months since James and Mandy have relocated to a new neighborhood. A woman named Patience – the creepy weirdo that everyone talks about – is their closest next door neighbor. She lives alone and doesn’t interact with anyone in the neighborhood; no “bonjour” in the morning nor “hi” even when she meets her new neighbors face-to-face. She doesn’t greet nor respond to them. Mandy had asked James to let them interact with Patience to know what she’s been up to. James couldn’t be more bothered by her since she has always been like that with everyone else in the neighborhood but Mandy wouldn’t let him stay in peace *that’s how Mandy is, she has always been nosy*. They tried getting attached to her a couple of times but she’s always been a loner and a busy woman. They had asked around about Patience and the type of work she does – of course, nobody knows – the interesting part is that she goes to this her *God knows work* from Monday and only come back home on Friday evening.
Several months had passed and Patience had not been any different with her neighbors. They didn’t like her appearance either, especially when she got back home from work every Friday evening; she looked ugly and creepy with her frightening handbag. Every time she comes home, she always makes a count of something no one knows, people must have guessed that it was the money she made that week. Sometimes she smelled like dung and many times smelled more awfully, almost with the scent of animal blood *that is what they had all thought*. Knowing for sure that Patience wasn’t always around, Mandy had planned to break-in to her house and asked James to help her. He felt uncomfortable by doing such a criminal thing with his sister and since he was curious too he had to do it anyway. Her house looks very old, when you get closer to it you sure would feel the energy of a haunted house. Mandy asked James to look around and alert her if anyone was approaching, he obliged and helped her to fetch some tools to break-in to the house using the backdoor. The door is very old and its paint is gone, it looked creepy too but as old as it was, they were unable to break-in no matter how much they tried. They left leaving the door with marks, Patience will find out for sure that someone had tried to break-in to her house.
On Saturday morning, James and Mandy woke up to a mark on their front door. The door was chiseled and the mark appeared like *a falling star*. A new mystery had woken up to them, maybe it’s what they had sought. The mark was a big one identical to the style a rather popular but unknown killer used around the countryside. James was troubled and irritated by the mark, he remembered the evil that befell people who had the marks on their front door. He knew what it means exactly, he remembered there’s been a house that the same mark appeared on their door and a girl at around twenty years of age went missing for a week, she was later found dead and packed in a carton around the corner of her house, the body was found already rotten in the carton. The same had happened in the countryside and has reigned for a long time under a series of unfortunate events, the victims of the case however have a thing in common as they were all found with their fingers and toes nails missing.

Mandy, however, was not bothered but rather looked straight to Patience’s house. She saw Patience polishing her fingernails and staring at her through the window, she smirked and left knowing for sure that Mandy saw her. James had to explain his common knowledge of what was coming their way to his sister, Mandy. She felt terrified and hopeless by hearing such an awful story. For the first time in years, he saw fear dominating his sister’s face.
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He worried if it was Patience playing prank on them because she suspected them for trying to break-in to her house or *could she have been the person instigating the popular mark for murder?* *Alone?* he had the second thought in his mind. He would not let his guard down, his mission was to protect his sister from any danger coming their way.
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There’s been reports on murder cases two weeks after the mark appeared on their front door. It was reported that the killer was an amateur according to how he killed his victims but he had turned professional since he started killing, skillfully and more than he used to. The serial killer has no exception or specific target, he kills anyone who crosses his path. The boiling point is that he only kills in Mandy’s neighborhood. People were frightened and moving away, the police can’t seem to solve the mystery behind the murder case. Almost all the residents of the neighborhood have moved out and those who are still around lived in fear and planning to move out except two people – that was Patience – the second person was probably James, his sister wasn’t okay so she couldn’t decide for herself. Since they have nowhere to go, James has to be all out and protect his sister from the threats.
Mandy is forever frightened by things around her, she couldn’t stop thinking about the threats and danger coming to them. Days are like nights and she keeps up all night waiting to see the mystery promised by the mark on their door. James wondered when she would conquer this horrible feeling of horror.

He had adopted a new habit since the mark appeared on their door. He no longer sleeps at night and moves around the house in an attempt to secure his sister’s safety. He had purchased a sledgehammer, an axe and a freaky knife rather than a usual one; he carried all the tools with him whenever he patrolled around their home. He suspects almost everybody who passes and always follows them to confirm if they’re posing no threats. Most people that he followed never made it to another day.

Patience has been watching their house from her window, he seemed to notice her since she has stopped going to work right after they attempted to break-in to her house. He noticed she had been monitoring his movements and had to do the same so he started watching Patience’s house too.
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James had been securing his house for months, the serial killing had not stopped and it seemed the old serial killer had joined the game too. The *falling star* mark has started appearing on people’s doors again and their female children have met the evil fates. The mystery had become the hunter’s game as the police strived day and night to solve the case but hadn’t gotten anything. James couldn’t afford to be simple-minded so taking a closer look at Patience’s house has become his compulsory routine. Every time he passed by her backdoor, scouting around, he heard her counting in numbers and always wondered if it had really been money she’s been counting.
James has been on guard scouting any threats that may come to their house outside as usual, he has forgotten to check his sister inside. Mandy got kidnapped and has been missing for three good days and so was Patience, she was too deep so James couldn’t have suspected her getting out of her house and entering their house to kidnap his sister. Since he had not seen Patience for four hell days he thought she must have been up to something no good. This time he had confirmed his curiosity, he knew for sure that Patience was the one behind his sister’s missing. He couldn’t contain the anger and terror he felt inside him. He broke into Patience’s house, it was all awful there, nothing was in place. He didn’t need to mind all of that and continued to the basement. He heard Patience counting in numbers and laughing from the distance and went hurriedly to see what she’s been doing all this while.
He entered the basement with so much horror and met different chopped up bodies along with his sister’s, still intact but lying down there lifeless. The spirits of satan can wait no more, they must begin what they were assigned to do – this wench has been killing and wasting human lives just for count – she has been counting her victims’ nails just to be satisfied with the count. Since she’s a serial killer she must have tools and seriously – her tools are no jokes – but James spare no one whose name is written on his axe either, no one escape the frightful taste of his axe alive, Patience was the next on his axe list even before she kidnapped his sister. Two murders face the underworld, one must dominate the serial killer title, who will walk out of that door alive?

📸|Dan Antion.

I don’t know if the above images are best fitted for the story, I’ve been looking for a more creepy door on @Dan Antion blog 😅.

Written in response to Dan Antion’s #Thursdaydoors, Thursday doors – writing challenge, 2023.