I knew the old road well.  I had travelled it a million times.  For some reason, this road was a bit different than all of the others.  Each time I walked it, an unwanted, yet devious feeling would transcend me.  As much as I despised the state of my being, I loved it just as much.  No- I loved it more.  Was this who I truly was?

A dream of mine had always been meeting the residents of old Bonds Mill, but not at a time of their choosing.  For they had never done me no harm, or at least none that I can recall.  This state of mischievous ecstasy was overwhelming though.  It would fill my bones, my skin, every part of my being.  This brain could think of nothing more.  I felt like a young lad in school, with information absorbing into my brain quicker than I could learn.  My mind burns now at the thoughts.  'Overwhelmed' is a word that only starts to describe the feelings.    

I had previously thought of plans to begin my reckoning, but that's all they were, just plans, nothing more.  Following through on what others would call madness was only at its genesis.  A production like this doesn't happen spontaneously.  Precision it requires, the same precision as if going into battle.  This would be no battle though, this would be something that hell would be proud of.  Hell, hell would probably not be able to comprehend what I was about to do.  Hark! Lucifer, if you think this is wrong, then maybe we should swap places for the evening!  Pansy!  Nothing about this would be acceptable, but it was to me, and that was all that mattered.  Every single thing about it was right.  I needed it.  Explain?  I'll save that for later.

Knowing that nightfall only holds a few precious hours, I devised the grandest scheme.  Oh- it was grand alright!  Totally brilliant!  Only this mind, in this particular state, was able to devise this.  Even the most insane individual wouldn't comprehend what was about to happen.  You see, normality walked from my world long ago, never to return.  Perhaps it got lost along its way.  Perhaps it felt abused and ran away screaming in the middle of the night.  Either way, I don't hold a grudge.  I'm just glad that the bastard is gone.  For now, I can finally be me.  The me that feels more alive than the day I was born, and yet here in front of me is this road that will present me my life's greatest challenge, albeit my greatest accomplishment.

As darkness now encompasses this winding road through the woods, a gentle rain starts to fall.  It's as if the skies above can read my mind, shedding a tear already, aware of the upcoming delirium.  Soon, chaos will join the rain in chorus, but first I fade back into the shadows of the trees.  For this will be my starting point.  My starting point for the evenings diabolic journey.  A campaign that will forever change myself, change everyone involved, and maim the whole damn world. In the process, would it give me what I've craved for?  I can only hope.  

Trying to control my excitement, I fall to my knees, shivering in anticipation, whispering to myself, "please help me"!  "Please help me for what I need to do".  As I slowly make my way back to my feet, I feel an incredible source of power fall upon my body.  Yes, yes, a strength of invincibility!  Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, can stop this irresistible force that has overcome the lunatic standing here.

Setting off on my nights journey, I must choose.  I must choose my homes like a boy on Halloween, trick or treating for sweets.  Knowing each house, and where trouble may lurch, while at the same time knowing that on this maniacal evening, I cannot pay everyone a visit.  To those, I'm so sorry.  Ah- and just like All Hallows Eve, the treats will be all mine.

As I begin, I casually stroll up to the first home, my heart races, almost uncontrollably.  It pounds with such ferocity, that I'm sure a bruise it will leave upon my chest.  Stepping upon the front porch, a quick peak I take at the house numbers, nailed crookedly to the side of the wall.  Thinking to myself, I wonder which looks worse, the half-assed job of hanging the numbers, or the wall itself, long overdue for a coat of paint.  Dammit- such foolishness of me to think of mundane detail in a time like this!  Suddenly a voice- "Keep it together you bumbling idiot, our night has yet to begin!"  Panicked, my body goes numb!  I immediately then realize that its just my conscious talking to me.  An occasional friend, that's here now, to comfort me on this spectacular evening.  Once again, a quick stare at the numbers- "1013" it says.  1013 Bonds Mill Road- how fitting that my night should begin here.  Perfection!  Fate, and nothing more has led me to this place and time.  Taking one last deep breath in an attempt to bottle the exuberation, I place a few soft knocks upon the door.  

After a brief pause, I hear footsteps from with inside the house- shuffling across a creaky hardwood floor nonetheless.  My senses on overload, I could have heard a ghost, if it were so brave to answer this door.  Soon, the knob starts turning slowly.  Slower than a setting sun, I tell you!  My patience already running thin, I whisper to myself "Hurry, you damn fool"!  As the door creaks opens, and without hesitation, my arm extends inside, clutching the owner- a handful of what appears to be grey sweater- and whatever else I can get my fingers onto.  With absolutely no effort, I force myself the rest of the way into the home, knocking him to the ground.  All while watching the dust rise as his body falls.  An elderly gentlemen this is, in a fight for his life that's not even close to being fair.  Caring less, I know tonight I'm playing by my own rules.  Still lying on the ground, I place one foot upon the old man's frail chest, almost crushing it in the process.  I then pull my knife from my coat pocket, and proceed with what I came here for.  I slice his throat.  Ear to ear, I tell you!  Such a simple act, but all that is required to release the poor mans soul.  As for his suffering- well that started long before my visit.  Now looking across the littered room of a dusty fog and beaten furniture, I notice his wife.  Helpless, she sits with eye's wide open, at least for now, unable to utter a single word.  "Quick, this will be my dear", I tell her, "Death will no longer be something about which you must worry".  

Soon thereafter, I gather a black sack from the other coat pocket and then proceed to remove their hearts.  Yes, their hearts, the only thing that still bears some sort of life.  Tonight, I will amass a collection of hearts.  This, I have been waiting!  A collection of life that I remove from the dead!  All, heed!  There is a tornado wrapped in terror, and it's slowly making its way down old Bonds Mill, tonight. Completely aware that the night has yet to provide me any challenge, my enthusiasm should be diminished.  The night still holds many hours though, so all hope is not lost.  No- not yet.  A test of Herculean proportion my core is craving!  Knowing that I'm absolutely up for this venture.  The next door awaits, as it's calling me now.  

Crossing across what seems to be ten acres, a steadier rain starts to pour as I see the home within sight.  A pinpoint of light in the distance.  Just like the mail carrier, I travel from one house to the other.  My sack over my shoulder, walking proud.  My head held high.  I'm not delivering mail this evening though, only collecting treasures.  Collecting heart after heart.  My route tonight, so divine, so right I repeat.

The final light in the next home goes dark, just as I'm about to arrive.  Ah- In bed early for a tranquil nights sleep already, are we?  With this being the case, the back door I will seek.  It would be so rude of me to ring the front bell, now wouldn't it?  A longstanding reputation Bonds Mill has always had- oh, such a safe and friendly place, so trusting.  It comes as no surprise then that the door I was seeking is completely unlocked.  An unlocked door welcoming me inside.  The only thing that could have made my visit more pleasing would have been a warm apple pie, sitting in the window seal.  I swear, I can practically smell it anyway, my imagination running rampant.  I grab another knife off of the kitchen counter- the polished steel gleaming so bright.  One in each hand now, I quietly step through the kitchen and down the hallway, even a mouse would have been so jealous of my tranquil gate.  Oh, and here we are, the bedroom I finally spot, and there they rest, sound asleep, another easy task this will be.  The room only lit by a candle's light, seeping in from behind the bathroom door.  Perfect silhouettes for me it allows- a spectacular site it beholds.  A view so exquisite, that I have to pause for a second to take it all in.  Beautiful, simply and utterly beautiful!  Finally, two more hearts I shall have now... 

My sack of hearts, ever so majestic they are- bursting to life!  They all belong to me, feeding my soul, my being.  Glory, hallelujah!  This is what it feels like to be alive!  Never, ever, have I felt this satisfied!  An addiction is growing and I now let myself be weak to accept it.  A high I'm on, not anytime time soon will my feet walk the ground.  

With the rain growing stronger, or should I say the sobbing getting heavier, the nights hour grows older.  Lightning like I have never witnessed, followed by thunder never-ending, roar across the black skies of the night.  Deafening to the ears it is.  Finally, a sound that can drown out the thumping of my own beating heart.  Or at least it seems.

The next home awaits, and so does its owner.  Apologizing already, as I reach the door.  For what, I have no idea- it just feels right.  I'm not here to do any wrong though, I'm only here to do what needs to be done.  An "I'm sorry", my conscious tells me, doesn't mean a damn thing.  With no lights on in the house, I purposely await a crash of thunder.  Soon, the skies brightens like the daytime, immediately followed by a tremendous boom.  With all of my energy, and adrenaline literally sweating through my pores, my foot plows through the side door, sending it halfway across the room.  Clearing a path for me, even though it was something I didn't plan.  Maybe it was unlocked also?  I didn't care, some destruction seemed pleasing to me at the moment.  Oh- how upset the owner of this place would be, to wake up tomorrow and to see the mess I've made.  I gradually make my way from room to room.  Only the flashes of light making their way through the windows provide me the ability to see.  Briefly, I seem to catch a faint glimpse of someone that appears to be asleep on the couch.  As the room is lit once more, the body that I had noticed just seconds before, is gone.  Losing my mind, am I?  Another crash of lightning and I see a middle-aged man standing just 6 feet in front of me.  We briefly get a view of each other.  At this point, we're both terrified at what has just transpired.  Is this the fight that I've been longing for all night?  Every few seconds, as the room lights up, we witness each other standing in a spot that we weren't seconds before.  Soon, a fatal mistake- we're two feet apart.  He doesn't see me, but this time I'm looking directly at his back side.  Letting out a scream that would wake the dead, he immediately knows the dire situation.  Lunging forward, at the speed of the lightning that has provided us this dance, I clutch his neck and bury my knife into the back of it.  So strange this feeling was.  It was almost as if I were burying my knife into a bag of ice.  Crunching and tearing its way in, spurting blood back onto my face.  We both go to our knees, one of us no longer breathing, the other taking enough breath for ten people.  I leave with my bag, one heart heavier, and the stimulation that I had been coveting.  

For the next three hours, I make my way from house to home.  Out of control, while relieving pain along the way.  Whose pain, you ask?  I'll leave that up to you.  All is quiet now though.  The storms of earlier have passed, and the only sound audible to these ears are the occasional crickets in the distance.  The crickets that have braved the night, totally clueless as to what just happened.  My, the havoc as I think back…

Twenty-two hearts.  Twenty-two hearts, and they all belong to me on this early morning.  Most taken with little altercation, yet a few, a battle royal.  The victor standing here and now.  I begin crying uncontrollably, so proud of what I've done.  The life I've brought back into my own home, in each of these hearts comforts me.  It eases my mind, eases my anxiety.  A stranger in my own home, I am no longer.  This is what I have always been after- I'm just now able to understand it.  Everything makes sense.  The universe, at least for me, is now in order.

Carefully placing each heart in a jar, and sealing it tight, I'll always have the companionship of the residents of Bonds Mill waiting at home for me each day.  Always there when I need to talk, or need a friend.  Each room filled with life now, the void of darkness long gone.  My own misery cursed no more.  Thanks to each and every one of you, a merry life we'll now live.  Good night.