Hello my name is AJ Shupe! As a 7-year-old child I remember peering around the back of the couch to watch Jeepers Creepers after my dad specifically told me it was too scary, which opened my mind to the horror genre. At seven that messed me up, but now that l'm older I have a strong appreciation for the genre.
I've only recently started my journey of writing, and have just started studying Creative Writing and English at Southern New Hampshire University. While I haven't done much on the writing front yet, I'm excited (and nervous) to start putting my work out there. I live in Ohio amongst the mundane fields of corn and soybeans in a tiny studio apartment with my calico cat Callie.
THE CUPID KILLER
by
AJ Shupe
As Violet stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel, she noticed the writing on the mirror. Written in the steam it read: Love U!
She rolled her eyes and used the towel to wipe away the message, along with any feelings she had with it. As if on command, her phone pinged with a text.
Hey cutie, hope he doesn’t keep you for too long. Need some company tonight ;)
Attached was a picture of a man’s torso sitting in bed, the lower half covered by a blanket. A certain part of the blanket peaked like a mountaintop, reaching skyward.
The hot steam of the hotel bathroom gathered on Violet’s cheeks as she blushed. She began thinking of a reply when a light knock on the bathroom door interrupted.
She turned to the door, seeing her husband’s face. “Did you get my message?” he asked, a devious look in his eyes that used to excite her.
Violet gave a thin smile as she glanced at the mirror. Her husband’s gaze followed to the freshly wiped glass, the deviousness replaced with defeat.
“I’ll be out in a sec.” Violet plugged in her curling iron and made her way to the door. She shut it, shutting out the man she once loved out of her life forever.
After getting dressed, she opened the door to the bathroom to find her husband standing right outside with two wine glasses.
“Violet… I’m trying here.” He said, handing her a glass.
“Mark, I know.” Violet began, grabbing the glass, “But booking a crappy motel room for Valentine’s Day hardly makes up for what you did.”
“How long are you going to punish me?” Mark asked, his puppy-dog eyes glimmering over the rim of his glasses. “I made a mistake…”
“No Mark.” Violet felt heat quickly taking over her face. “You don’t get to act like it was just a mistake. Maybe the first time…” Violet felt tears beginning to swell, ready to spill out like her anger.
Now was the moment to finally let him have it. Just as the dam was about to crack and flow, a pounding from the front door put a bandage over the crack.
Both Mark and Violet felt their hearts flutter as the element of surprise danced in their stomachs and a confused glance ran across them. The heat between them extinguished by Mark’s heavy sigh.
At the door, Mark peered out the peephole. A tall figure commanded the frame. A Venetian masquerade mask sat upon their face.
“Who is it?” Mark inquired at the door, confusion in his voice. Eerie silence answered. His heart began pumping faster as a chilling layer of anxiety passed over him. Mark grabbed the doorknob, slowly pulled it open, and stuck his face out.
A low and guttural explosion erupted through the air. The world came to a standstill as Violet witnessed the last few seconds of her husband’s life. The past few minutes of arguing are now but a memory, as she watched Mark’s head shatter into a splattered concoction of flesh and blood. Mark’s knees went weak as his lifeless body crumpled to the floor; the wine glass still clutched in his hand.
As the shock had time to set in, Violet looked at the door. Her eyes widened as a huge figure crossed the threshold and entered the room. The buff physique was visible even underneath the red silk tuxedo that shined in the dingy motel light. As the figure stepped into the room pumping the shotgun, the shell casing clinked to the floor.
The killer lifted the shot gun again and aimed, giving Violet half a second to scream for her life and dart for the bathroom. She heard another explosion as the wall behind her took the buckshot. She heard the shotgun pump again and the casing hit the floor.
Violet threw the bathroom door shut, turning her back against it with her feet on the edge of the bathtub for more support.
She felt the force on the door as the killer pounded on the outside. She reached up to turn the lock as a silence fell over the room. A bead of sweat collected at her scalp as her heart thumped.
She sat up off the door and reached for her phone on the counter. She held the power button and the volume button at the same time for the emergency SOS.
Right as she began to swipe, the bathroom doorknob exploded into a chunk of metal and wood. Violet released a high pitched shout. The abrupt noise made her stomach twist as she dropped her phone. The killer kicked open the now unlocked door and grabbed Violet’s throat, pinning her against the edge of the bathtub.
“No…please!” Violet choked out as she felt the water rising in her eyes. She used all her strength to kick uselessly at the killer as she felt her windpipe crushing.
The killer looked to the left and saw the curling iron plugged in. Violet begged for her life as the tears finally spilled out.
The killer grabbed the curling iron, their other hand still around her throat. Violet howled as loud as she could, feeling the rumble in her lungs. The killer held the iron above their head, and promptly plunged it down Violet’s throat. Her screams became muffled as her esophagus filled with the hot iron. Putting her out of her misery, the killer stood up and stomped her head on the edge of the tub, crushing her skull with a distinct snap.
Finally the howls of pain stopped.
Pleased with their work, the killer reached for the pocket inside their suit jacket and pulled out two of cupid’s arrows, sticking one in Violet’s chest and walking out to stick one in Mark. Then, walked out of the hotel room pulling the door closed with a sign on the doorknob that read: Do not Disturb-Getting Lucky with a smiley face. ☺