[ Creepfest ] God's Kill List - chapter 1

 
 
In a twisted manner straight
from pages of the scariest
Stephen King novels:  
 
cemetery caretaker
bludgeoned to death with
one of his own shovels
 
Irony perhaps
 
Certainly not poetry;  
obviously poor rhyme
and no reason
for the above
evident
yet
 
Jailed, the assailant -
a mysterious stranger
who turned himself in
after satisfaction derived  
from every deadly strike;
 
an arrested development
further confounding Deputy
and Sheriff alike
 
And as if this
already wasn't enough
madness ...
 
The list
 
retrieved from the
accused's shirt pocket;
 
a single notebook sheet
amongst tattered receipt
assorted paper scraps;
 
handwritten upon it
thirteen familiar names
 
the first of which
belonged to the victim
 
ink scratched through
 
"Why?" simply asked;
Sheriff betting the odds
prisoner wouldn't confess
to such a heinous crime
 
"I killed him
to get your attention."
 
Highly unexpected
 
these calm, collected  
ravings of a lunatic
volunteered with zero
apprehension
 
"God's instructions were concise;
dispense with those others
as a means of prevention."
 
The Sheriff, unamused
played along anyway;  
insanity defense games
before him in the making
 
"I'm listening."
 
The stranger obliged
 
"To keep you from
committing suicide
in anguish over taking
their lives yourself."
 
Leaning forward
cuffed wrists scraping
Interrogation Room table
the man added
 
I will be killing them all
thus saving your soul from
damnation."