Chapter 1
-Introduce the Character– Introduce the Event
Erik stood in the darkness, his Ford Escort sat idling beside him. A storm was brewing in the East which Erik thought was completely appropriate. The thunder was quiet but would soon crash over the small house he stood in front of. It helped to motivate him but dread still slowed him a great deal. This dread was encased on small optimistic hopes that everything will be Ok. It’s just a dream he would often think but… it wasn’t a dream. His wife of ten years, Erin, was cheating on him with some part-time cop. Erik knew whatever was happening, was happening right now. In front of him, within his driveway a strange car sat. It was a dark color, as dark as the evil that was its driver. The light in the second-story window, her bedroom, illuminated the shadows that moved within it.
Erik stood, as rain began to fall lightly, and rehearsed his plan. It was a simple plan really. Rush into the house and stab everyone within it. He knew it was first degree murder and God would frown upon him till the day he died but the anger he felt could not be contained. He had to act before the rage went away. A crack of thunder struck him into action and he moved toward the house. The garage would be unlock so he entered slowly. Her car sat in the garage. The car Erik bought her. The red paint on the outside with the dark maroon interior that she wanted. Erik spent years paying that off. She took it from him, like she took everything else. Erik carried a large carving knife in his right hand. He put the tip of the blade against the red paint and walked along it. It didn’t make a loud scrapping sound but it was loud enough to contain the rage for moments.
“Ok, you wrecked her car. Isn’t that good enough,” said a small voice inside his head the dread had creeped back within his mind. Erik still had some remnants of a soul within him. Something that she had not ripped from him.. but unfortunately it was only a small remnant. The rage was too great. The wrong that had been thrust upon him was too great. He would see this done no matter the consequences. The inside door to the kitchen was open slightly. Erik opened the screen door slowly, to minimize the noise. He pushed in the door to the kitchen. Through the dark, he could make out the tall shape of the refrigerator and cabinets. The bar, stood waist high, stretched from his right across half of the room. Erin liked to keep all her important dishes in the cabinets above that bar. Erik grinned as he imagined trashing this kitchen but then stopped when he recalled all the work that he had put into this kitchen. The rage within him throttled him and he tightened the grip on the knife. He pressed forward passed the kitchen bar and toward the stairs to the upstairs room. This is where she was. This is where, Mr. Right was. The man that help to destroy his life one date at a time. Erik wanted to run up the stairs screaming but didn’t. “Everything had to be done perfectly,” he thought.
Erik approached the first step when the phone rang. It’s noise drilled through his head like a surgeon. Suddenly, within seconds he was struck with several emotions at once. He thought of running through the house and out the door. His car was still running. He could leave and no one would know or he could hide in the house till she answered the phone and then pounce. Finally, he could run up the stairs and finish the job quickly and be done with it… but
“Honey, is that the phone,” she said. When Erin spoke Erik’s heart sank, his rage cooled. Her sweet melodic tone soothed him. That was until he realized what she said. She called him “honey”! The rage screamed back through him. He stepped forward and missed the first step. The knife fell from his hand and hit the stairs with a clang. It then spun from the steps toward him and he leapt away from it. It fell loudly upon the wooded floor of a small dining room.
“That was the phone, Where is it? What was that?” a voice, heavy in testosterone spoke from the stairs above. It felt like Erik’s heart was beating outside his chest. The rage dictated that he grab the knife and rush forward. Her boyfriend, or “Honey” will have a standard issue hand gun and know how to use it. The element of surprise will be his best option. Erik grabbed the knife from the floor and rushed up the stairs. He met the boyfriend at the top of the stairs and sank the kitchen knife into his left shoulder. The boyfriend fell backward taking the knife with him. Erik tried to pull it from the man’s shoulder as he fell but it wouldn’t budge. Erik stood over him as he screamed. The words from the injured boyfriend were not understandable and Erik’s original purpose was lost. Erik watched as blood filled the wound around the knife. Tears traced rivers of saline down his face. It was almost like he got what he wanted but now he didn’t want it anymore. Was this man his target or was it Erin?
“Where was Erin?” Erik caught sight of the small thin woman seconds before she hit him hard, like a college offensive lineman, and forced him to trip over the top of the stairs. He swung his arms wildly as he fell downward.
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