Office Murders

He held his head up with his hand, resting his weight on his elbow. Calvin stared blankly at the screen in front of him, the only light in the room. Nothing more coming from his mind, he hit the print button and exited the program.1

"Way to go Calvin. You idiot," Calvin said out loud to himself. "Another worthless start."2

Calvin always stayed after work during the weekdays, working on his book that he planned to have published one day. But he was currently stumped by writer's block, unable to write much of anything. He sighed and moved his hand to grab the pathetically small, typed paragraph out of the printer. He felt a cold, wet drop of liquid fall on his hand. He looked down.3

Blood?4

That thought raced through Calvin's mind. He looked up at the ceiling and gasped out in horror. Spreading slowly across the already soaked ceiling, a puddle of blood was forming. He went to get out of his chair to investigate, but he slipped and fell backwards against his desk.5

His pants soaked through immediately with the liquid. He ran a finger through it and brought it to his nose. The strong, tangy scent of iron overtook his senses. He closed his eyes and gagged, wiping his finger on his suit. What did it matter? He had to buy a new one anyway.6

He got up, holding onto the desk so he didn't fall again. He ran from his office, throwing open the door, leaving it to bang against the wall. He took the elevator up a floor and sprinted to the office that he knew was located above his own.7

The secretary's desk sat just outside the office door. Salene's jacket hung on the back of the chair. But the chair was empty.8

Where was Salene?9

Calvin inhaled a deep breath before approaching the office.10

"Please don't let it be Salene. Oh please, oh please oh please, don't let it be her," Calvin whispered to himself.11

He flung open the office door, swallowing his fear in one huge gulp of air through his mouth.12

Found her.13

Salene lay in the middle of the pool of blood. She lay face down, her neck, from what Calvin could see, slashed open at the jugular. Her arms were laying at her sides, wrists up, also slashed open. Calvin gagged again, feeling the bile rising quickly to the back of his throat. He turned his head and proceeded to vomit.14

When he had composed himself, still inhaling deeply through his nostrils, he stood straight.15

Don't touch her. Just call the police.16

He glanced around the office quickly. The desk. The wall. The filing cabinet.17

No phone. Krap.18

He turned around, prepared to use the phone on Salene's desk, when he came face to face with the barrel of a pistol.19

A man, from his body structure, was holding a gun to Calvin's head. His head was covered by a ski mask. A maniacal laugh escaped his lips.20

"No. No. This can't be happening," Calvin uttered, his voice a mere whisper.21

"Oh, but it is," the man behind the mask stated.22

The trigger was pulled.23

One shot to knock him down. Two to kill him. Three shots just for the fun of it.24

"That'll teach you to fire me," Calvin heard the man say as his world went permanently black.25

The man stood above him, continuing to laugh. Then the man put the gun to his own head.26

I have nothing to live for. No family. No job. No money.27

The trigger was pulled once more. The final shot rang out in the office of murders.