The Poison Morality Read Free

seconds or minutes, yet sleep came swiftly.  Images of her dark eyes and frightened look woke him over and over.  The face of the man was already forgotten but hers stayed in his mind forever.  His subconscious played it over and over again as if his mind was trying to investigate for answers and just taking him along for the ride.

Chapter 2: Christmas Eve
    Sophie sat in front of the window, her chin propped up in her hand, staring out over London’s Southbank. The crackle of the fireplace was cosy despite the fall of snow outside.  Something about the snow made everything hushed and quiet, peaceful, even if her mind wasn’t.  It’s Christmas Eve and Sophie was restlessly watching people gliding through the streets with their last minute shopping.  Those gifts would make someone happy.  She couldn’t remember the last gift she received that she didn’t give to herself.
    It had been years since Christmas provided any kind of good memories or any memories at all really.  Sophie wasn’t bitter though.  She had her turkey entrée and Christmas movies shown on the telly all month so she had already reached her limit of holiday frivolity anyway, still sometimes she felt as if she was missing out on something everyone else understood, a secret no one let her in on.
    A few weeks, at least, had passed since the incident at the train station.  Cabin fever was settling in, she hadn’t been out other than a few trips to the market on the corner, but she returned to the window at any siren or strange noise, waiting for the police to arrive, but they never did.  Painting supplies were dwindling after she relentlessly painted canvas after canvas to keep busy between spells of staring out the window.  The library books were read and past due.
    Occasionally, the handsome man popped into her mind, overshadowed by John Brinkman’s red face and panting, no better to think about the other man now, the poison had done its trick, money already deposited. 
    She wondered if the man who had given aid suspected and couldn’t or wouldn’t tell.  If she had any idea where he was she could watch him, see what he was doing for her own peace of mind but she didn’t.   There was a hospital close to where he found her, it would be logical that he worked there but something held her back, fear she supposed.   The ordeal best left alone as long as no one came looking for her.
    Her mind, however, put him in different contexts that she never actually saw him in.  She dreamt of him at a hospital, maybe because he performed CPR, she reasoned but a restaurant also, maybe because he has to eat being human and all.  The subconscious blends things together like a giant melting pot of information and memories.  The temptation to go back to that station was almost overwhelming.
    She had to admit, she was fascinated by him.  Did she find him attractive?  She wasn’t sure what that felt like anyway.  In fact, now that she thought about it, she hadn’t felt that way about a man ever.  Not since school and her first crush on, she didn’t even remember his name now, but he was a boy not a man and he had eyes for her best friend and Sophie’s life, well, took a turn anyway.
    It was time to get back to work.  The envelope had sat unopened for a week and the moment she decided to open it, the snow now came down wet and heavy.  It accumulated quickly, therefore she left it unopened and the man would be able to spend time with his family for Christmas, lucky him, she thought.
    Her breath fogged the windows, blocking her own view of the outside; the snow softened the hard edges of the city.  Steam drifted silently into the cold night, filling the skyline.  Sophie sighed and opened the envelope, taking out only the photo, leaving the other contents until she was ready.  This was the beginning of the ritual.  The first envelope she ever received was shrouded in mystery, its contents made her nervous and excited. 
    Maybe, in its own way,