Helpless Calm
Paul sat slumped towards his computer. He stared blankly at the news reports and sipped occasionally at the soda in front of him. The last few months had been eventful- and not in a good way. He had a new enemy. One which he could not kill. An Angel.
The last time he had actually killed someone was four months back. Most of the time, he got there too late. Paul always did his research, going to their houses the night before to confirm that they were guilty. After that, he would spend his day looking up everything about his victims. He did not want to kill someone, for example, who was going to be convicted anyways. The Boogieman was for those who got away, those who had slipped through the loose net of the law. The Boogieman was for those who, for one reason or another, cannot be convicted.
For the most part due to his inability, the Boogieman had been largely forgotten by the media. The Angel of Death, they were calling it, was much more ruthless. Paul suspected they had pretty similar philosophies and methods. There were only three main differences. First, the Angel killed during the day. He had not heard of a murder at night. Second, the Angel killed without research- as far as Paul could tell. When a new development occurred in their small town, there was no delay. Punishment came swift and merciless. Third, the Angel killed differently. Victims would be burned alive- either from holes bored through their flesh or fried whole, depending the severity of their crimes. The only recurring theme was the use of heat and that the eyes were always fried.
Of all of these, it was the first difference which caused Paul the most trouble. Important things always took place during the day. As such, the Angel would always be a leg up. Paul was not even sure if the victims were guilty, as he never got the same opportunities to converse with them in their dreams.
The second issue with this difference was that they would never meet. For some reason, the Angel did not appear during the night. Witnesses described Angel as a bright flash of light, so blinding that nothing else was visible. It was like staring into the sun. There were thus two possibilities: either the Angel is limited, as the Boogieman is, by the time or the Angel of Death merely chose attacking during the day to remain inconspicuous. During the night, a sun-like form of light would not be easily ignored.
Paul scrolled through the news articles while pondering to himself how he could confront the Angel. While their views on justice were similar, the Angel’s methods were too much. It had to be stopped. While his victims were not innocent, Paul believed the Angel to be worse.
While Paul was frustrated with what was happening, he sighed as he forced himself to think of the good which has happened over the last few months as well. For one, Evelyn has moved in. Her company was the only thing which kept him from thinking about the Angel.
“What are you doing, Paul? Are we gunna watch this movie, or what?” Evelyn poked her head through the door.
“Yep. Lets start.” Paul closed his tabs and walked over to her.
“Reading Reddit again?” Evelyn hugged Paul.
“Yeah… it’s really interesting. You really should create an account,” Paul said as he kissed her forehead.
“I’ll get a Reddit account when you make a Tumblr one.” Evelyn smiled. “Anyways, I’ll be late for work if we don’t start soon.”
“Alright, lets go. I’m done.”
Paul sat down as Evelyn moved her laptop into the living room. He watched as she fidgeted with her computers and connected a series of wires behind the television. He was always jealous of how much better she was at computers. She works night shifts in IT, so Paul could not really complain. At least that meant that they could live together without her finding out about Paul’s secret identity as the Boogieman. While he was supposedly sleeping, she was working.
The drawback of their arrangement was that they really did not have much time together. When Evelyn got back from work, Paul would have just woken. They would chat for a few hours before Paul went to work and Evelyn got her sleep. Vice versa, when Paul came back Evelyn had a few hours before she would go to work. So far, they seemed to have it worked out. It was only the weekends where Paul and Evelyn would have more time.
“Alright Paul, do the thing.” Evelyn looked back from the television.
“The… thing?” Paul scanned through her computer for what she had meant.
“Ah, nevermind,” Evelyn sighed. “Move back a little. Let me get the lights, then I’ll start the movie.”
Tags: Angel, boogieman, Evelyn, Paul, short story