Psycho: A Not So Short Story

I

     The elevator chimed softly as the door creaked open, snapping Cain back to reality. He blinked twice, pushed the midnight-black and gold glasses up his nose, and licked his cracked lips. He swallowed the taste of iron and blood, not giving it a second thought as he'd been doing it for months now. He exhaled once as he looked up at the gaping elevator. There was a young couple, scantily clad, making out intensely in the corner, completely oblivious to Cain's existence. Cain scratched the back of his neck where that damn gash was still bleeding a little beneath the athletic tape. Shouldering the large duffel bag on the ground, he willed his body to move. He stepped into the elevator.

     The ancient wooden doors closed and the elevator hummed unevenly, rumbling softly as it began its descension. Cain stared blankly at the floor, the tap tap tap of his foot against the frayed carpet, a soft metronome for those disgusting wet kissing noises. Cain couldn't stop side-eyeing them, he detested them. He couldn't stand them being there. Their very existence disgusted him. He bit his lip softly, 'Not here. Not here. Not here.' he repeated over and over in his head. A mantra. A half-baked promise. It would be so...messy. So...inconvenient. Cain hated couples. Or...maybe just PDA. Or maybe just them specifically. Cain didn't know. Cain didn't really care why either. He just knew he did. 

     The woman started moaning softly as the guy started groping her. Cain's breathing slowed and his body froze. He slowly put the duffel bag on the ground. His foot stopped tapping while his eyes slowly began to drift around the tiny cabin. 'Elevator's pretty sparse. Gold railings. Peeling wood walls. Not really any viable weapons. The woman's torso is completely exposed, while the man is wearing a very thin tank top. Too bad I had to get rid of that switchblade in the river yesterday. Hm.'

     In a single swift motion, Cain spun on the ball of his left foot, propelling his open right hand into the man's skull. Cain gripped the man's hair and pushed down. Hard. He smashed the man's forehead down onto the grimy, gold guardrail, a sickening (pleasurable?) crack following. As the man slowly slumped to the ground, hands curling around his bloodied forehead, Cain spun on the woman in the corner. He elbowed her in the gut with his left arm, doubling her over. He then grabbed the back of her now exposed neck and threw her crumpled body into the man who was still on all fours. The two collided and hit the far wall. Cain looked at them, his expression emotionless and blank. His eyes were cold and dark as the thing inside him grinned with malice. 'What a drag,' Cain thought. 'This really is getting messy and inconvenient.' Cain glanced at the elevator doors, they were two floors away from opening. He turned his attention back to the couple, the woman was still wheezing on the floor and the man was starting to get up. Cain sighed. In relief or boredom, he didn't know. Relief that his wide-eyed jumpiness inside  could get a little more out of this elevator or just boredom and annoyance that he had to put the guy down again. The man charged him, shoulder first and low. Cain licked his lips. The man's shoulder connected with Cain's abdomen, sending the two into the wood-paneled wall. Cain elbowed swiftly down onto the man's exposed neck, and followed by grabbing the man's hair again and smashing the man's nose onto Cain's knee. The man crumpled after that, falling to the floor bloodied and bruised. Cain licked his lips. Chapped. He strolled over to the woman who was now starting to get up, he kicked her in the solar plexus, instantly dropping her.

     The elevator chimed and the doors squeaked open, revealing a grungy looking hotel lobby. Cain peaked his head out of the doors, seeing the desk empty. He shrugged and smiled to himself. Lucky lucky. Cain shouldered the duffel bag again and strolled happily out the front door of the hotel lobby into a fresh snow. 'Where to now huh?'