CHAINSAW

Trigger warning:

This story contains mature themes and triggering events. You are suggested not to read if you get easily triggered.

I

He was finally conscious after spending half of the night snoring under the air conditioner. Phoenix blinked his heavy eyes a few times to the ray of sunlight that was waking him up from slumber. From lying down, Phoenix changed his position to sitting in the comforting bed. His eyes were like a predator's eyes- scanning every corner of the unknown room. His confused mind pondered where on Earth he was. After minutes of solving the puzzles, Phoenix finally remembered what happened last night. Getting drunk in the nightclub for the seventh time in the month was not the brightest idea. Ever since he received a letter of divorce from Caitlyn, his life turned upside down that dancing under the disco ball had become his night routine. Losing a soul that he thought would forever beg on her knees for him crashed Phoenix's pride. He would never predict to be left alone after never giving her former wife even a bit of tolerance nor fondness. He should have had the clue; a self-sufficient businesswoman like Caitlyn would not waste her time for nothingness.

Phoenix's thoughts stopped after an atrocious odour sharply traveled to his nostril. The smell was overly horrendous to the point where Phoenix's head was dizzy and spinning. He searched the source of the odour using his using his third sense until he finally noticed the comforter on his naked body also covered half of the queen-sized bed. The comforter showed a shape of a man which lead to Phoenix's anxiety remembering he spent the night with a woman instead of a man. To Phoenix's curiosity, he swiftly moved the comforter to uncover the truth.

His jaw dropped to witness a man who was covered with dark shade of red blood all over his face and body laid next to him. The man was painted too much blood that Phoenix saw no skin left. Phoenix startled for awhile and tried to figure out what was happening. After a few seconds of considering the right act to do, he reached for the man's pocket, expecting he had a wallet with him. Phoenix let out a huge sigh of relief to feel his hands touching a leather surface inside the pocket. Phoenix's relief feeling transferred to agitation when he read the name written in the identity document. Zach Arden Fredman; the name of a man Phoenix spent his adulthood with. The man who lent his money to Phoenix due to his pettiness after he threw half of his pocket money to half-naked strippers in the club. The man who kindly preached Phoenix to get his life together he swallowed several sleeping pills in the middle of the night. The man was currently lying in front of him, painted with thick blood, and no longer breathing. He turned his head to the right side of the bed. There laid a grubby chainsaw stained by cold blood. He solved the riddles; Zach must had been cruelly murdered using the chainsaw.

Phoenix aggressively shook his head while breathing heavily. Reaching out to the police would be the death of him. "What if the police suspected that I killed him?", Phoenix thought to himself after analysing that the chainsaw that was put beside his legs and his blurry memory of last night's incident could be the police's strong reasons to arrest him. Without thinking twice, Phoenix wore the pants he found on the ground. His left hand grabbed Zach's unattached head by the hair. Then he let his right hand dragged Zach's dead body out of the bed. Now that he found the backyard of the anonymous' house, Phoenix continued carrying Zach's head-without-body and body-without-head to the green ground. The standing shovel by the wall was quickly grabbed. His bloody hands wiped the sweat on his forehead which spread the blood to his face- but it did not disturb Phoenix's attention on his plan. He took a few deep breaths to gain energy and started digging the soil.

II

The hot coffee mug on the table was being taken. Phoenix took a few sips and slowly placed the mug back on the table. The bright screen in front of his face was being ignored. Phoenix could not pay the attention that he needed on the work. His chaos mind was too unsettled over the recent incident. Phoenix had to take sleeping pills again last night, considering his eyes were wide opened until 2 in the morning. His condition was worsen by the fact that he did not take a morning shower like he always did. Only putting his suit on without brushing his teeth nor checking his appearance on the mirror was enough for him.

Though he could not think straight, Phoenix fiercely forced his brain to think like a detective to find a way of exposing the murderer. Letting his best friend's soul go without solving the mystery was like a sin to him. Hence, he was mostly certain he was innocent. Why would he split the man that he loved's head away from his body using a chainsaw, in the first place? It must not be his unconscious mind who did it, right? No, it must not.

Phoenix's back pushed the chair he was sitting on while his foot stepped on the floor. He quickly stood up as he was aware that he needed fresh air. The opened window with a flapping curtain was his destination. As Phoenix paced slowly like a zombie, he came across his carefree boss, Keith. "Phoenix! You look dead! You fine, mate?" Keith firmly held both of Phoenix's shoulders and wiggled them two to three times. Like he was awaken from sleep, Phoenix blinked rapidly. "I- I don't feel well," Phoenix's dead eyes stared blankly at Keith's. "You seem disturbed these past weeks," he stopped for a second and continued. "You know what? I give you a permission to leave early. Go home and get the rest you deserve, pal!" hearing that made Phoenix gave a genuine bright smile. "This is why you're our favourite boss," Phoenix said in a low tone. Keith let out a big giggle and tapped Phoenix's back.

Instead of heading home, Phoenix took this opportunity to drive to the house of yesterday. Fortunately, he had not lost his memory of the address yet. As soon as he pulled his car over, Phoenix stepped out and made a little run at the steps way to the door. He rang the bell, prepared to talk to the house's owner. First rang, quiet. Second rang, silence. Third rang, still no response. As Phoenix nearly called it a day, his ears sensed a voice coming from the right. Phoenix's neck made a 90 degree turn to see a dark skin woman next door. She was about five foot seven with an hourglass body and silky black hair past her shoulders. "Phoenix...?" She looked concerned. Phoenix was agitated over the fact that the obscure woman acknowledged his first name. He walked towards her. "Do we know each other?" Phoenix asked the woman with an astonished expression. "Are you kidding me? You slept with me last night after buying me two shots of vodka. I guess you left after getting what you want," Phoenix kept quiet as he was pressuring himself to gather his memory back to his brain all together. He did remember sleeping with a woman- only the entity of the woman that slipped his mind. "Come in. I'll make you drinks," the woman unlocked the door which Phoenix assumed, the door of her property.

"My name is Adley, in case if you forgot. Have a sit," Adley threw herself to the couch as she offered Phoenix to rest himself on the opposite couch in front of her. "What would you like to drink?" Adley asked. "No, thank you. I just want to meet you," said Phoenix. "How come you wanna meet me if you forgot about me?" Phoenix concurred with the question which made him went silent while he gawked at the marble floor. "Don't you live next door?" Phoenix broke the silence with a question that had been vexing his mind ever since. "What? No! I live here. Good God, you're so different when you aren't drunk. You gotta see how seducing you are when you're drunk!" Adley made a tiny scream, expressing how shocked she was. "Then who live next door?" Phoenix was still puzzled. "Nobody," Adley shrugged. "The house was abandoned for two weeks now 'cause the owner passed away. She didn't write a will and didn't have a family. So her furniture were left untouched," Phoenix's heart felt like bulging out of his chest. He startled to process that he abided the night in a forsaken place.

Without hesitating nor squandering time, Phoenix precisely explained every detail of what he experienced yesterday morning. Adley was frightened to receive the bombshell. She stole a moment before she could respond to Phoenix. "This is so bad," she paused then continued. "You shouldn't be alone. Copy my number and call me anytime you need help," surprisingly, Adley showed her empathetic side and obliged to lend a hand.

III

Phoenix was home in the evening. He fancied a prolonged, warm bath after a fatiguing day. The fetid suit he was wearing all day long needed to be washed off and his restless body deserved a break. Before spoiling himself, Phoenix let his footsteps bring him to the kitchen, where he had the urge to greet his pet rabbit, Cinnabun. Heaven knows the last time they bonded and how he missed Cinnabun to transfer her love to Phoenix's dead heart.

As soon as he reached the dining room to get to the kitchen, Phoenix stopped. His eyes enlarged and his hands shivered to see Cinnabun's separated body parts on the dining table. Her head was amidst the the table while her legs and body were surrounding and accessorizing it. Her intestines were spilled out of her body like she was eaten by a predator. She was drowning in her own gore that it rivered to the floor drop by drop. Next to her was a bloody chainsaw, sitting on the table. Red. Everything was red. Phoenix screamed in terror as his legs kneeled down on the floor. It was redundant for him to weigh. Though his hands still shuddered, Phoenix took his phone out of his pocket and dialed Adley's number.

Later then, Phoenix heard a roar of a engine car in front of his terrace house. He opened the door and welcomed Adley. She had the same aghast when she spotted the table. Adley's partly covered her face from the overwhelming, staggering smell. "How did this happen?!" Asked Adley by his covered mouth. "I don't know. I came home to this," Adley grabbed Phoenix by the hand and brought him to the sitting room while her other hand still covering her nose and mouth. Then he finally put her hands down. "You need to call the police. This is getting out of hand," Adley's eyebrows wrinkled just as she ordered Phoenix something so crucial. "But what if they suspected me?" Phoenix questioned the same thought when he saw his pal's body once again. "You wanna live like this forever, Phoenix? I'm sure someone is messing with you. You wouldn't do such things," Adley stroked Phoenix's hands and hugged him on the chest. She knew Phoenix needed that. Adley's hug transferred a huge warmth on Phoenix's body. He copied the hug and said; "Maybe this is it. The authorities is the answer."

IV

"Do you have any chance of feeling depressed past these weeks? Yes or no?" The police officer looked at Phoenix straight in the eyes. Phoenix slightly fixed his seat to the most pleasant position. Now that he thought about it, the moments he wasted on non-worthy things was done by his depressed mind. "...Yes," he admitted. The police officer wrote on his paper as soon as Phoenix responded. "You see, Mr Ross. The chainsaw that was left on both of the scenes contains your fingerprints on it," Phoenix lost his breath. How could it happen if he did not even touch the chainsaw? "I am convinced you were telling the truth based on the lie detector's result. However, the questioning we done just now resulted that you're the one who murdered them," His body leaned on to focus on Phoenix. "What do you mean?" Phoenix was extremely anxious to know the truth.

"Considering on your current state of mental health, it is highly possible that you are likely to harm your surrounding during the time you are unconscious. Both of these incidents happened by the time you woke up from sleep-"

"But I found my dead hare after I got home from work," Phoenix cut the policeman's lines. "You didn't go to the dining room before going to work. You left after putting on your suit and only realised what you've done when you got home," His theory shut Phoenix up. The cop continued again; "We had a similar case like yours. The guilty was severely lack of dopamine and setoronin that he harmed his loved ones unconsciously," The policeman's explanation was an eye-opener to Phoenix. It all made sense now. Since he went through the divorce, Phoenix could not see straight like a normal human being. This violence of his might be the result of his unstable mind.

"This case is still in investigation but we will have to put you in jail in the meantime as you are the main suspect. We may refer you to a psychiatrist after that," Receiving the information, Phoenix felt like he would willingly arrest himself. Perhaps it would be a great pleasure to be fed, and sleep without lessen his financial. He was not scared of anything anymore. Phoenix lost his hope.

V

A month had passed. Phoenix had sat the trial for his horrifying case but luck did not attend it. He now was called a prisoner with an orange uniform and balded head. Phoenix sat himself on the bench while watching his cellmates chatted among themselves. Suddenly, he saw two guards walking towards their cell. They stopped in front of the bars and gazed at him. "Phoenix Ross, you have a visitor," one of them unlocked the bar with one of the bunch of keys in his hand. Phoenix came out of the tiny cell after the bars were opened. "Follow me," said the first guard as he paced upfront. The other one guarded him from behind. At the time they were on their way, Phoenix wondered who with the kind heart would be present to see him. "Maybe it's Adley. She didn't visit me for a week already," Phoenix whispered to himself.

Phoenix reached the section where the transparent glass divided the inmates and the visitors, and cabled phones were put by each seat. There, he saw Caitlyn sitting down behind the glass. Her expression told Phoenix that she was eager to see him. "You have five minutes," stated the guard before firmly standing by the end of the room, doing his guarding work. Phoenix sat on the aged chair, slowly laid hold of the phone and put it on his ear. He was appalled to see Caitlyn though his blank face said otherwise. He tried to be as laid back as possible for his own sake. "Miss me?" Caitlyn made a huge grin. "How do you know I'm here?" Did his coworkers tell her? Or did she read the newspaper? "I promised to teach you a lesson. Did you learn it already?" Phoenix took awhile to make a flashback in his memory.

Phoenix was close to jumping out of his chair when he gained the memory back. The memory of two months ago where they both were outside the courtroom. It was when they were just finished the divorce's trial. "Listen up, Phoenix Ross. You made me suffer and I will do whatever it takes to teach you a lesson. I am not done and this is not the end!" Caitlyn's voice was still crystal clear in Phoenix head. "It was you! You done all this!" Phoenix screamed through the glass. Teardrops fell under his eyes. "Now you feel what I felt," Caitlyn put the phone back to its place and stood up from the chair. She turned around while serving him a sly smile as if she was satisfied to seek her retaliation. Then she left without looking back.

Phoenix kept letting his tears accompany his cheeks. His heart was filled with shock, anger, and disappointment. He did not predict that the woman he left had a grudge inside her. He did not see that the person he spent his married life with the potential to become a psychopath. After all this time, he was not capable of doing violence. It was her. It was her all along.

THE END