Its dark and my hands sweat, i've planned it. I've waited and watched. His evening walk will not be the same as it usually goes, he will see the girl he's been watching when he goes for a run. She will smile and they will talk. And I will be there, having known. Having waited and plotted to conspire for the mans demise. Like a ghost I follow behind, trailing in long shadows. Can't let him spook. If he suspects anything then it'll be for nothing. He's coming to a decision as I pass him by, he's turned into the park. I continued the sidewalk, his eyes gauge for moments. And when he's confident he goes his own way. My feet pivot, and I follow once more.

There is no lights in the park, She wears a small light on her forehead. Her surprise is full of aprehension as the conversation goes as I knew it would. He doesnt let her cry out. My feet are silent on the grass, and then i'm on him. Instantly the woman has fled past us, for the road. She'll make it.

But his lesson hasn't drilled in. Blood pumps from his side, my knife has bit deep. We wrestle for a long time. My teeth tear his ear, when his hand grabs my face I take his pinky too. Spitting them to the gravel path, the blood is tinny and warm. He's screaming and the sounds is growing to be too much. I fist his hair and pull his head back. My knife parts the skin of his neck. I let him fall, he's more comfortable to sit on then a bench. I take a moment to catch my breath. My body humms with adrenaline and a surge of feelings.

When I blink i'm holding my coffee again, and the thought is over.

------

I hear it for the hundreth time. And i'm tired of it. I hear her scream and beg or plead. The floor shakes. Its been months. No one will do anything. And I am fuckign tired. When I wake up at 3am hearing her scream. So I dress. I take my favorite knife and wait. I wait for her to escape another time. Its infrequent. But I hear it sometimes. The door opening, her soft feet on concrete. The following pleading and the distinct thud of a heavy appartment door slamming into place. Then heavy heavy weighed silence. I am so tired. No one does anything about it. My calls to the police mean little. I am no Rorscach. But when the door opens to spill the cold led light into the hall, I move. I lunge faster then him. She falls forward in her escape. My knife slices straight down. I take his grasping fingers. Will they finally hear these screams? Are the apartments empty? The woman is gone, fleeing as I take on the man. Keeping my knife between us. Waiting for him to bring his drunken flesh closer for me. Tonight I will sleep. Tonight there will be no screaming. And i will finally rest.