Broken Scoreboard
Author: tajn77.tumblr.com
Recipient: drabblesfordaze.tumblr.com
Summary: Ryan and Michael are both serial killers in the same town. But instead of fighting, they like to have friendly games once and a while. But they Ryan meets someone who may screw up the scoreboard.
Warnings: blood, violence, murder
WC: 1,643
“it seems as if I have meet an abnormality,” Ryan huffed into the phone, “that may askew our scoring method.”
“What is that supposed to mean,” Michael said clearly annoyed.
“well~”
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Ryan always thought himself as the suave, gentleman-ly type of serial killer. He would always meet his ‘match’ doing some mundane thing (he had particular luck in the grocery store). After taking them out for a delightful dinner, Ryan would invite the match over to his house for a bit of fun. And boy, did Ryan always have fun.
Tonight’s match followed the pattern. They had meet in the park and Ryan barely had time to flirt before they had agreed on a date later that night and had parted. Ryan quickly walked home to prepare for the lively evening.
Ryan couldn’t help but smile at the lithe man sitting before him. Not only was he British -Ryan had always had a thing for accents. Maybe it was due to his theatre background or it gave the idea that the match was alone. His or her family on the other side of the sea and plenty far away enough to not cause Ryan grief.- but the man was brimming with a life force that Ryan had never encountered before.
His match’s eyes glimmered with excitements and his gestures were always over the top. Ryan couldn’t help but smile at the thought of ripping the life out of the match.
“Unbelievable, right?” the man said finishing the story that Ryan had complexly ignored.
“Yeah,” Ryan said taking a quick bit of pizza and eyeing the button up shirt that was slowly being undone in the match’s excitement over whatever he was saying.
“What about you?” The match’s eyes lighting up. “What do you do for fun,”
“I’m a people person,” Ryan said well rehearsed. It was a question commonly brought up on first dates and he had become a near professional at answering the question right. “After work I have a drink or two at the bar and on the weekends I like to camp,” Ryan said withholding the fact that camping equated hiding dead bodies.
“Really?” the match said quirking an eyebrow. “You seem like the quiet type. And I am usually right about those things… Do you at least like reading?”
“Very much so,” Ryan said smiling softly and earning a triumphant sound from the match.
“I knew it!” the match nearly shouted. “What type of books do you like?”
“At the moment, Shakespeare”
“Nerd,” the match said halfheartedly and shoving the last of the pizza into his house. “Wanna go for a walk?” He slurred walking towards the door.
“A walk?” Ryan asked. “Let me go to my car and get a flashlight,” and a few other things.
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The match was a whirlwind of life. In one moment he was casually walking next to Ryan and the next he was scrambling up a tree.
“I haven’t climbed a tree in at least 50 years,” the match said clinging to one of the lower branches and pulling himself up. “And it looks like I haven’t lost it,” making his way up a couple of more.
“Be careful,” Ryan said following the match with his flashlight.
“I will,” the match said immediately loosing his footing and crashed though the branches into Ryan’s arms. “Whoops,”
“You are a walking disaster,” Ryan huffed.
“And you are a lifesaver,” the match said snuggling into Ryan’s arms.
Ryan felt something click within him. It wasn’t a new feeling but it was stronger and he had less control of it. Unceremoniously, Ryan dropped his match onto the ground with a thud.
“Ow,” The match hissed and rubbed at his tailbone as Ryan fished out a blade from his backpack.
Ryan feverishly scrambles on top of his match and sandwichs his chest between Ryan’s thighs. “My match,” Ryan breathes and grazes the knife along hiscollarbone.
The startled look on the matches face melts into a sad smile. “Oh Ryan,” he quietly scolds.
“You’re not scared.” It isn’t a question.
“Sorry,” the match says his grin turns sly before it morphs into a scream as Ryan plunges the knife into the matches shoulder.
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A few hours later, Ryan is finishing washing the last of the blood off himself in the showering and thinking about the night’s events. The kill he had made tonight was unlike any he had ever made. There was something akin to a flow in the way that the match reacted to Ryan’s knife. It was almost as if it was a rehearsed play and the matches last breath was the ecstasy of the audiences cheers. Ryan would give anything to feel that way again. Ryan’s thought was punctuated with the doorbell ringing several times.
Clad only in a town, Ryan makes his way down the stairs and opens the door. “good evening?” Ryan stutters out.
“Ello!” the match, who is very much alive and uninjured, chirps. “You forgot this after murdering me.” he says lunging the hilt of the knife towards Ryan.
Ryan gawks.
“It seems like a nice knife so I thought I should return it.”
“Thanks.” Ryan says not taking the knife back. “But how do you know where I live?”
“It’s called a phonebook, Ryan Haywood” the match said quirking an eyebrow.
“Just to be clear,” Ryan said looking to see if any of his neighbors were within earshot but the entire street was empty. “You are the match I killed in the woods right.”
“Yep. Dead as a doornail.” The match said and his expression turned annoyed. “And I’m not you’re match. My name is Gavin Free.”
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“So you’re telling me that you murdered this dude a couple hours ago and then he came and returned the knife?” Michael said rubbing at the bridge of his nose as Ryan finished the recap of the night’s events. When Ryan had called saying that their scoring method had been ruined, Michael’s worse case scenario was that another serial killer had moved to town.
“That’s exactly what I am saying.” Ryan nodded taking a long drink of tea.
“Are you stupid?” Michael said turning towards Gavin. “Why the hell didn’t you call the police?”
“No evidence,” Gavin shrugged. “No body, no motive, and the murder weapon doesn’t have a trace of blood on it,” Gavin said examining the knife that Ryan had yet to confiscate.
“You aren’t fucking with me right?” Michael said turning to glare at Ryan.
“Nope. I am just as confused as you are.” Ryan said shaking his head.
“Alright, I will suspend my disbelief for a moment,” Michael said feeling the stress build as well as the familiar tinge in the back of his skull. “What are you then? A vampire, ghost, zombie?”
“Just immortal.”
“Just immortal?” Micheal’s voice breaks from anger. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Well, It’s all because of a bit of a curse”
“How the fuck is being immortal a curse.” Michael interjected watching the way Gavin is playing with the knife between his fingertips.
“And being attracted to serial killers and releasing their ‘tendencies’” Gavin said and making Ryan realize why he had such a strong urge in the woods with Gavin.
“Oh.” Michael said the tinge in the back of his head quickly drifting throughout his brain and making him only able to think of one singular thing.
“So I’m not your first,” Ryan said a bit wistfully.
“Nope,” Gavin chuckled. “I’d say your aren’t even my one thousand and first.”
“Jesus dude.” Michael breaths out and his eyes are entirely focusing in on the knife in Gavin’s hands.
“But is this even possible,” Ryan mused.
Michael snatched the knife out of Gavin’s hand. “There is only one way to figure this out,” Michael said and, with practiced ease, guided the knife between the two ribs that was the highway to the heart and the knife is quickly extracted. Leaving Gavin to gurgle a moment before collapsing onto the floor and Michael flushed with the euphoria of murder.
The two serial killers watched as Gavin choked on his blood until his breath stuttered to a stop and Gavin fell into lifelessness.
“Well, that was anticlimactic.” Michael said losing his high and turning to leave Ryan to deal with the mess. But he froze mid-step when he heard Ryan’s sharp intake of breath. “Holy shit,” Michael said turning around to catch what had roused such a rare reaction from Ryan.
The blood that had sprayed around the room was inching its way back towards Gavin’s wound.
After a few minutes, the blood had entirely made its way back into Gavin’s body and the wound had knitted itself together. All that was left of the fatal stab wound was a small slice where the knife had to cut through the shirt. A few more moments passed before Gavin gasped for his first breath since he died.
“God, I don’t know what’s better,” Michael said a slow grin forming on his face. “Killing him or watching him put himself back together.”
“Glad you could enjoy it,” Gavin said rubbing at his neck miserably.
“So what do you think Michael,” Ryan asked thoughtfully.
“It’s pretty fucking incredible.” Michael said honestly.
“No, about the score.” Ryan said.
“Oh.” Michael said without thought. “Shouldn’t count.”
“Not even as half?”
“Hey!” Gavin interjected. “I’m worth way more that bloody half a point.”
“Nah that’s basically spawn camping. And then you just get to do the fun shit. No need to find, clean up, or put any real effort in killing him.”
“Good point.” Ryan nodded.
“But we could have a most Gavin kills contest next month,” Michael said thoughtfully, which made Ryan’s face light up and Gavin’s face pale.
“Bollocks,” Gavin said. At least the next couple year were going to interesting if not extremely painful.