𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕠𝕦𝕣

The floorboards groaned under Billy's feet as the boy paced restlessly up and down the upstairs hallway. There was only a single thin beam of light pouring out from under your doorway at the furthest end—your night light—but the rest of the house was pitch black, braced against the cold autumn winds that whipped through the trees outside.

He knew this house like the back of his hand. He knew every spot on the ceiling where water had pooled and leaked onto the floor. He knew every knot in the wood that weaved along the walls, and he knew exactly how they felt when he ran his hand across them. He could have found his way around even with his eyes closed.

But he also knew that the cabin was a shithole.

His father used to take him down there on weekend getaways during the summers leading up to high school for some good ol' fashioned manly bonding. But Billy had a sneaking suspicion that it was just so they could get away from his mother—who was closer than she'd ever been to learning about the secret affair that his father was having with his secretary at work.

It was his mom who ended up getting the cabin in the divorce settlement, he remembered. The sick irony made him smile in the dark. Sure, the place was a shithole, but it kept you safe. And that was all that truly mattered to him anyway.

The red glowing alarm clock at his bedside told him that it was just three in the morning when he woke up with his face burrowed in his flat pillows, arms outstretched where he'd been dreaming about you cuddled into his side for hours on end.

The dreams were nice. They helped him forget about the nightmares that trickled into his mind long after he woke up, staring at the chipped paint of his ceiling with skin practically itching with need.

Billy's fingers twitched at his sides, forming around the hilt of a knife that wasn't there. He thought that the urges would stop once he had you. That once you were in his arms, his need to kill would finally leave him. But he was wrong. Dead wrong. And his bloodlust had nearly doubled since the plan had finally concluded.

All of a sudden, he paused at the apex of the hallway where the stairs trickled down into the living room. Billy wasn't an idiot. He knew that they'd have to leave eventually and find someplace new to hide you. The cops were dumb, but the clues they left were kind of obvious.

Without meaning to, Billy glared through the shadows at Stu's door down the hall. He must've been watching Jaws again; the soundtrack thundered against the connecting wall.

It was his fault that it took so long to get you out of Windsor, Billy thought to himself while white-knuckling the empty air. He took long strides, passing the room with a sneer. It was Stu's fault that they lost you in the first place.

Billy was jealous of how quickly you eased into Stu in your new environment. It made him unreasonably angry to think about how he would walk into the bedroom to ask him something and see you napping in his friend's unmade bed, only wearing one of his massive crewnecks and a pair of tube socks that were slipping down your ankle.

He was the one who made the plan, not Stu.

He was the one who fabricated this entire thing, not Stu.

So why didn't you love him the way you loved Stu?

And why the fuck hasn't he grown the balls to do something about it?

Billy groaned and ran a hand down his face, unintentionally making a few strands of hair fall out of place. Time was running out before he snapped. He gave it a week tops before the violent urges consumed him and he wouldn't be able to prevent lashing out no matter how hard he tried. 

Back when he first started that composition book with your name plastered across the pages like the fucking scripture, his dad made him go on some whack prescription to make him more malleable. They must've been tranquilizers or something, but they worked during the school year. He had half the mind to take them when they finally booked it—but the pills ran out by the time they tracked you to your campus earlier that semester. 

Go figure. 

The door at the very end of the hall creaked open slowly, painting the carpet in soft, warm orange light. Without thinking twice about it, Billy sauntered over and pressed his hand flat against the door, forcing it to open inwards to expose the interior of your bedroom.

They made sure to model it perfectly after your bedroom back at home. Not the shitty dorm that you shared with that obnoxious girl whose name he'd already forgotten — your real home. Woodsboro. 

It was the one time that Stu's pictures came in handy.

Everything was exactly the same as it was when you left for school, down to the lump in the quilted blankets that was your sleeping figure.

Billy swallowed thickly, not letting his gaze drift away from you as he gingerly closed the door behind him. His steps were careful and calculated as he made his way to your bedside, counting the floorboards to avoid the squeaky ones that surely would have alerted you to his presence.

You slept curled in a sea of pillows, so still so that Billy would have assumed you were dead if it weren't for the short little gasps of breath that escaped from your lips every so often. You had the blankets tucked loosely around your face and the head of your beloved teddy bear made an appearance just under your chin.

He nearly cooed at the sight of you, bending over your mattress to drag a single finger down the side of your face. Billy was careful to skip over the scar that lingered there. It was faded now and nearly invisible in the sallow glow of your nightlight.

You were just as beautiful as the day he lost you, and he would silence anyone stupid enough to disagree with him. But those scars made him sick in the gut, bringing him right back to the day that gave them to you.

Well, one of them anyway.

(A/N: This is delayed and I am so sorry!! I'm away from home right now but I really wanted to update this week. I know I've said this before but Billy's POV is super frustrating to me for some reason. I'm going through your recommendations for the playlist! Thanks to everyone who submitted stuff for me! I'm relying on them to get me through the rest of this book haha. thank you to everyone who waited for this update! I really appreciate the patience! Happy reading!)