Ghost

I chuckled to myself as the orange cat leaped from the window sill to the bed, fitted with silk linens and smelled of pine from the furniture. I hear her conversing angrily on the phone in the kitchen, yelling at someone for something unbeknownst to me. I'm simply a ghost in our home, because she never sees me. I hear the front door slam loudly, as the windows rattled. I looked at the silk linens one more time then told myself, tonight is the night. I chuckle to myself once more before I leave the bedroom while the orange cat disappears to the kitchen to inspect its owner's abrupt leave. I noticed that she left her unpacked suitcases in the kitchen. She left a week ago to spend time with her girlfriends on a trip in Florida, meanwhile I took the liberty of adjusting the place to give her a nice welcome. She sees through me but not through the particular way I do things. I double checked the lock then proceeded to make a sandwich to appease my growing appetite. My appetite seems to surpass the anxiety I feel for tonight's performance. The last performance?well?I sighed to myself. I am disappointed the last performance was sub-par. I should have cleaned up better, and did more thorough research. This time was going to be different, I can feel it. I cleaned up the sandwich then put on a standard pair of cleaning gloves to begin scrubbing the place down. I scrubbed the dishes I used, then replaced the sandwich items and condiments carefully back into the fridge. I then re-scrubbed the brass knob from the main entrance to avoid any germs polluting it from daily use. Followed by a thorough scrub down of every door handle in the house. Then I re-checked all of the windows I installed last year when she moved in, and started removing the locks. I went back to the room I hid in. She rarely comes into the nice room with silk linens, so much so it's become my temporary stay. To avoid dust, grime and germs on my hands I changed my basic kitchen gloves to a nice pair of black, elastic gloves. I always keep gloves on me for work so it's nothing new for me to have multiple kinds. I shoved the kitchen gloves into my pocket as the black, elastic glove stretched over my hands. I smiled to myself that I should have brought white instead, since I am the Ghost after-all. I changed all the window locks to a new, secured lock. The original window locks were a simple hinged wedge lock but a safer way to keep people in or out are the new revolutionary locks. I equipped all 10 windows with a hasp lock with a catch and a key; perfect for tonight's performance. I added all 10 keys to a carbineer then safely tucked the carbineer in my other pocket. The time on the oven read that it was a quarter past eight so I used my phone to check her location. She was still at his house, which is what I wanted. I needed all the time to prepare for the special night I planned for us. I did another comb-over on the house to ensure it was spotless. The smell of the homemade vodka sauce he made earlier before she got home started to linger in the house. I went to the bathroom then took her bottle of temazepam out of the medicine cabinet. Thanks to me, she's been having restless nights for the past year; which is why she has been going over to his house and on girls' trips. Of course, since she was coming back tonight they planned on having a nice dinner together by eating his family's pasta sauce. I crushed a few temazepam then added more vodka to the sauce. I then dropped a few temazepam into the bottle, gave it a good shake as I watched the pills dissolve in the vodka. I placed it back on the counter as I walked towards the bathroom to add the medicine back. I checked her location to see she was almost home, right on time for dinner. I went back to the room with the silk linens then patiently waited for their entrance. I positioned myself in the closet so they wouldn't see me and disturb their evening so soon. I heard them shuffle and then I heard her yell, " What the hell?" Her confusion brought me joy, and her lack of self-awareness. Two years ago she called for a maintenance man to fix her leaking faucet in the spare bathroom. I showed up courteously whereas she took one look at my scruffy shoes first then scoffed as she went back to gossiping with her girlfriends. I looked down at my shoes to see my perfectly, new work boots. I then sat in the closet, ensuring that I was hidden by the coats neither of them ever wore. Some still had price tags for upwards of thousands of dollars since they were ski jackets. They planned for a ski trip in a few months, but well after our evening that will never happen. I heard them giggling over the vodka and pasta that they ate while in high spirits. He claimed he didn't put that much vodka in but maybe the week was making them exhausted. All of this running, flying everywhere, working 9-5's blah blah he went on and on again trying to cover up he wasn't feeling like his normal self. She claimed he was trying to get her drunk as an apology for not cleaning up after himself. Silly man, I cleaned up after myself and had enough time to change the locks. You'll never have to worry about cleaning up ever again. I heard them laughing hysterically as cutlery clanked into the empty, polished silver sink. Then it turned into both of them complaining they can't breathe as I suffocated patiently in the closet to join them for a fun night. I took a big inhale as they both began to argue because they didn't feel so good anymore. She complained he got her drunk on purpose, yet he denied and denied. Just like when he denied leaving scandalous photos of his ex in his phone. Naturally, as the Ghost; I unlocked his phone while he was asleep to un-delete those favorite photos of his. I took another inhale, then exhaled. I heard a crashing sound into their glass coffee table, followed by him shouting but it was futile. His words were slowing down like his body. Inhale, exhale...count to 500. I got to 367 when I heard them yelling at each other more and more over the lack of control in their own body. How thrilling this is working out for me. The last one took more work, plus a few mishaps. I won't let that happen again. Then I heard footsteps outside of the closet door. I stood up quietly then slunk further into the corner. The door opened hazily but the individual grabbed onto the door frame. They slurred some words but I couldn't hear over my own heart pounding. There he is. Right in front of me. The man who laughed alongside his girlfriend when they saw my scuffed workbooks. How they view ME as lowly. Pft. Says the dead people with expensive ski jackets they will never get to wear. He fumbled for the light switch, just barely grazing my left bicep. I controlled my breathing as the black latex gloves clung to my hands. I was sweating, my heart was pounding and I saw my first kill. Well, for this entitled couple at least. The others were messy. They didn't feel like a prize. This couple....oh this couple....my heart kept racing. I could feel my hands twitching as I wanted to end this now but I couldn't. The anticipation of the kill was far too great. He finally reached the light switch. It flicked on as he blinked a few times to adjust his blurry vision from the assumable alcohol. He looked to his left then blinked a few times when he saw me standing in the corner. For being the Ghost, I was wearing all black. The ski-mask on my face was drenched in sweat, but I was ready. His face twitched a few times but before he could open his mouth I rushed forward. I looped a belt around his neck then shoved him towards the back of the closet wall. I covered his mouth with my hand then leaned into his back as he tirelessly fought me. He was too weak to overpower me. " Listen carefully, don't do anything you will regret. Want to save your life? Do what I say." I whispered hoarsely behind him. He nodded then swayed towards the door frame where he just braced himself. I led him out of the closet then placed a gun behind his back. He was shaking all over from terror. My heart raced even faster. I made him walk to the living room where she was fast asleep, soon to not wake up. I made him sit on the couch as she remained unmovable. I stood behind the couch as he sat next to her. He couldn't sit up straight as the drugs took over him. I loosened the belt from his neck, careful to not leave any marks. " Write a suicide note. You made the sauce, put her medicine in it and took your own life." He loosely shook his head then tried to lean on her. She wasn't moving. I walked over to her then placed the gun on her head. He started crying. He was shaking all over then kept rolling his eyes back when he kept trying to sit up. " Do it." I said. I was in control. My body felt natural. This is the prize. I felt calm. I felt like I could do anything. He grabbed the pen and paper that was conveniently placed on their end table while they were out. The coffee table had a crack in it from where she fell earlier. I noticed her head was stained with blood from the crack. Perfect. Everything is going well. He finished the note as it fell to the floor. I picked it up, gun trained on him. I read the note. He wrote it how I asked with crude handwriting. The drugs in his system will explain the sloppy handwriting. All of the small arguments they had over the two years, the ex on his phone, her losing her job because of an "accidental overdose" well I mean, only they did that. Wasn't me. I'm just the Ghost. I pushed him to the closet where we came from, checking once more that she was unmoving on the couch. I wrapped the belt around him once more as he could barely stand up. He was sobbing as he proceeded to vomit on himself. I then made him stand on a stool that I grabbed from the spare bathroom. The closet had a bike bar for the bike that he crashed and never replaced last year. It sat there, collecting dust. I wrapped the belt around the bar, told him to stand on the stool and walk off. He looked up at me before he did so. " Can I - Can I - Can I-" He slurred. My adrenaline was spiking from the anticipation of someone's life being in my hands. " Pray." He finally said at last. I nodded, and like an executioner I let him bow his head as he said his final prayer. He looked up at me once more then I walked towards him. He walked over the stool as his neck snapped over the leather belt. He kicked a few times but then he stopped. I checked my watch then announced his time of death as a proper executioner would. I then checked over his pockets to make sure nothing tricky happened when he wrote his suicide note. The last couple that did that almost exposed me, too bad for them I moved like a Ghost traveling between walls. I walked back to the living room to see her still unmoving as the wound in her head bled. I checked her pulse. She was dead. I checked the note. It was written just like how I asked. I then walked to the kitchen to get a towel with hot water and soap. I walked back to him in the closet. I wiped the closet down where I stood then double checked I left nothing behind. I put the towel in my pocket then went back to the kitchen. I looked over the scene once more. Cutlery left over from dinner, a dead girlfriend with an open wound on the couch and a dead boyfriend hanging in the closet from his murder-suicide. Such a shame. I liked their cat but I have to say goodbye to him too. I filled up his bowl with more food to last him a couple days then filled his water. He meowed as he rubbed against my leg. I'd love to keep him as a trophy, but the towel is enough. Besides, how could I explain an orange cat to anyone who came over to my place? As the Ghost, you leave nothing behind except animals. They didn't scoff at my work boots or put their noses so high up in the air that they could smell their entitlement. I looked at the scene once more then grabbed my tool bag. I walked out of the apartment, then into the streets. After five days a tragic murder-suicide that happened in a few states over was all over the news. Tragic.