Insomniac

The year was 1993.
It was dinner time and everybody on the table was hooked more to the tv than the food lying in plates.
It was the age of Doordarshan and the program running was none other than prime time news.
Aarav could see his dad swing his head in disgust and his mother making sound like "tch-tch-tch"
Honestly, those expressions were as watered down as can be from a troubled guardian. A serial killer was on a spree, murdering 4 people in the past month and these numbers were the confirmed cases; a dozen more were in the investigation phase.
The mode of killing was brutal in each case. Police suspected a sharp weapon had been used and the victims were all random, innocent people - teenagers, men-women in their middle or old age.
To make matters worse, these murders were happening in the city Aarav's family was.
Dad, as usual, was playing cool yet authoritatively protective. He asked everyone to lock all windows and made sure himself that entry as well as back doors were properly locked.
They all wished good night to each other and headed towards their respective rooms.
It was 1 am when Aarav woke up. Actually, he wasn't even sleeping this whole time. He heard some rattling sound coming from the kitchen area. He went there, and switched on the light; only to found that a kitten had found it's way in and making utensils fall. He shooed it away, but sensed an odour coming from the dustbin and opened the kitchen window before going back to his room. It was 1:15 AM by then.
He locked the door from inside, opened his closet and took an old suitcase out of it. There was a big plastic bag inside it, which he unzipped, wore the track suit, cap, gloves and sport shoes, then headed straight towards the window of his room. He opened it, walked on the windowsill that was protruding outside and grabbed the septic tank pipe which had always helped him to skid to the ground.
He walked a couple of blocks before fading into a dark alley. He was continuously checking every other house for open windows or unlocked doors till he found one! There was an open window.
Aarav peeped into to see what was looking like a living room. He entered as silent as shadow. He was finding his way when he saw a staircase at the end of the hall that was leading to the first floor. He took it. The floor had only two rooms, one on the left and one on the right. He tried to open the right one, but couldn't - it was probably locked from inside. He tried the left one- it got open. There was a girl lying on that bed - may be in early twenties. Aarav sat on the side of the bed for a couple of mins. He was staring at her face. He then smiled, took a deep breath, took out a meat cleaver from his jacket, grabbed the mouth of the girl and within a split second made a precision cut on Adam's apple. He had severed her voice box- all audible sound she made while gaping was like 'hiss'. Blood spurting from the wound like a fountain with every systolic movement.
He jumped upon the bed, sat on her chest, grabbed both her hands and started mumbling slowly while looking right in her eyes.
"Don't fight it or it will be prolonged and painful, stay calm, it will be all over soon..and no it's not your fault, neither mine. You're just the chosen one...shhh....shhh...". Her fight till then had been reduced to occasional body thrusts as her eyes rolled back before drooling finally. Aarav kissed her forehead, went back downstairs to find the master bedroom and the girl's parents sleep in peace. He repeated the ghastly act, entered the bathroom, cleansed himself and walked out from where he came from.
He went back to his home, packed his things back in the plastic bag and then in the suitcase before keeping it back into the closet. He took a bath, then his sleeping pill- Alprax, which he wasn't taking for the past three nights. He was insomniac and hadn't blinked an eye since he took the medicine last time.He went to bed then quickly to sleep.
He woke up to a strange noises. Someone was shaking him vigorously. He could barely open his eyes. He gathered his senses to see that it was a policeman. His face turned pale, he thought he got caught. He wanted to say something but couldn't find any words. He could also see some more cops surrounding him and some outside his room.
Then someone said - are you alright? How long have you been sleeping? Did you hear any strange noice? Why didn't you opened the door?
Aarav couldn't understand a bit!
All he could say was- What happened? Why are you here? I didn't do anything?
A cop sat beside him while another one comforted his shoulder- Beta, some serial killer killed all your family last night, he couldn't get to you as your room was locked from inside. I'm sorry. We got a call from your milkman. We had to break open the front door. It was too late by then. I'm sorry!