Revenge After Death

I sat in the bathtub, clutching my phone with trembling hands.

Howard and Peter's schemes had kept me housebound for a long time. Yet, I feared that Steven might fall prey to Yasmin's deception, leaving me alone and unresolved about my murderer. Suddenly, my phone buzzed. It was Steven.

I breathed a sigh of relief and answered the call in panic, but it wasn't Steven's voice on the other end.

"Stephanie Carlson... " a strange, distorted voice came through, courtesy of a voice changer.

My nerves instantly tightened upon hearing the mention of "Stephanie Carlson".

"I heard you haven't given up on finding out the serial killer," the voice said with sinister amusement.

I gripped my phone nervously, my body trembling uncontrollably. "Who are you? Where's Steve? Why do you have his phone?"

"I'm the serial killer, I'm God... " the voice lowered, then suddenly laughed. "You can call me 'the Juricator'."

I stood up abruptly, my vision darkening. "Steve... Where's Steve?"

"Because of you, he tried to hunt me down... What a pity. Even 'God' shows weakness when it possesses feelings." The voice's laugh grew eerier. "He was too eager to prove himself, too eager to catch me." "What do you want?" I asked, quivering, "Please, don't hurt Steve."

anyone, or else... he dies," the voice

bathtub, limping quickly toward the door, ignoring

unfortunately, it isn't complete." The voice chuckled. "He's very smart, but...

fingertips turned cold. "What have you done

you want to know how he fell into my hands?" The eerie voice continued to laugh over the phone. "It was because

the killer... the one I had been searching for, the one who had killed

walking, or else I'll kill him." The person on the other end of the line

neighborhood; you'll see a minivan within

won't comply unless you let me speak to Steve first," I stated

The voice

you think I would allow him to remain conscious, knowing he's a genius who can escape as

frowned, my fingers

message popped up on

of Steven lying unconscious, an IV drip attached to his

panic seized me, my entire body

confined Steven in a glass cabinet resembling a fish