Nothing is Such a Heavy Burden as a Secret is-French Proverb

Working overtime sucks. I am barely scraping enough money to pay half of the rent. Thank God I have my roommate. I do not see him very often, but as long as he is helping me keep away from the streets, I can care less about what he does in his free time. I park my car in front of my apartment. I get out of my car and walk up the steps it takes to get to the third floor. Seriously this place has got to get an elevator.

The lights are on. That is unusual. Kamen usually gets back around midnight. Maybe he got off work early. I go to unlock the door with my keys to find that the door is already unlocked. Is he trying to get us robbed? This is not the safest neighborhood. A killer or a thief could come at any moment. "Kamen you have really got to learn to lock doors. It is late at night, and you never know when somebody is lurking aroun-" I stop my lecture when I see the horrid sight in front of me.

Kamen was standing over a body. A dead one. There was blood all over the living room carpet and even more splattered on the walls and furniture. The young girl had multiple stab wounds in her abdomen and one in the middle of her skull. It was a gory sight. I dropped my keys out of shock. Kamen slowly turned his head towards mine with a blank expression. He looked me up and down.

All I could do was stand there scared shitless. My breathing became labored. "My bad that was awfully clumsy of me," he responds as if there is not a dead body in our living room.

"Would you mind helping me clean up? It would be a shame if you had to meet the same fate as this young woman here." Would I mind? Would. I. Mind?! Yes, yes, I do mind. I mind a lot. And what did he mean he did not want me to have the same fate as the young girl? Is he going to kill me too?!

"You-yo-you know, actually I left my um my um bag in the in the car." I stutter. It was a lame excuse, but I had to find some way out of this situation. "The one that is on your arm?" he questions. I look down at my arm and low and behold my bag is right there. Unfortunately. I awkwardly chuckled. He grins and starts walking toward me. I started walking back, outside the door.

"Nu-uh uh. I would not do that if I were you. Let me make this clear and simple. I killed this girl. Things got messy you know. So now I need to clean it up and since you are here you are going to help me. You will silently do as told without so much as a squeak from your mouth. Then you will go to bed and not tell anybody about what you saw, or you will be the next body to clean up." After he finishes telling me what to do, he smiles and turns away.

I take this time to start sprinting out of there. The exhaustion I felt not even five minutes ago. Gone. I jumped and skipped a couple of steps. I reach my car and then realize. I forgot my keys. I never picked them up. Dammit!

"Yoo-Hoo" I hear coming from the apartment I just left. I turn and look up to see Kamen dangling my keys in his hand. Pure terror runs down my spine. "I can tell that escape was not well thought out. *sigh* I thought you would be smarter than this. Even if you did manage to successfully run away, I would have just tracked you down and killed you anyway. Now be a good girl and come back here. We have lots of cleaning to do."

Knowing escape would be futile, I walk back up to the apartment. I hesitate to open the door. I do not have to decide since Kamen does it for me. He opens the door and stands right in front of me leaving no breathing room.

I am too scared to look up at him. He puts his hand underneath my chin and lifts my head so that our eyes meet. "You did not try to run away again. Good girl." He smiles at me. Though it used to seem sweet now it just looks like a twisted and sadistic smile. I shoved past him into the apartment.

It smells terrible. I look at the body again and feel my lunch from earlier come up. I ran to the trash can in the kitchen and vomited everything up. The smell of puke mixed with the smell of a rotting corpse only made me vomit even more. A hand touches the back of my neck and lifts my hair.

"Let it all out, darling. This must be so hard for you. Your hair is fairly soft. What shampoo and conditioner do you use?"

His touch only makes me sicker. "Argan Oil. It is expensive at times, but it lasts for a while." My voice is hoarse from the acidic waste that just came from my body. "Maybe I should use it too." I hope he does not mean he is going to use mine.

"Only if you pay for it." he chuckles. "You have always had a mouth on you. Great to know this situation has not changed that." I give a humorless laugh

"Yeah? What the hell would you know about me? You are never here and now I know why." I snarl.

He comes closer to my ear and with his husky voice he says, "I am always watching." shivers go down my spine. Not only was he a killer he is also a stalker. How could I have any more bad luck when it came to finding a roommate? Does the universe hate me?

I go to the kitchen sink and rinse my mouth out to get rid of the bad taste and to clean my mouth in the process.

I look over the counter at the dead body again. I cringe and then go under the sink for some cleaning supplies. "What is my little kitten looking for?" Kamen's breath fans my neck. He is extremely close. His lips are only inches from my ear. He kisses my neck, making me stand up immediately. I hit my head on the sink cabinet. Shit that hurt. I hear Kamen start to laugh.

I look back at him with a glare while rubbing the top of my head. "I am sorry it is just so fun to tease you," he says in between laughs. I glare at him for another minute or two until I go back to digging for supplies underneath the sink.

I pull out the vinegar, baking soda, borax, and cornstarch. I get up from my crouching position and head to the cabinets. I go up to grab the salt, but it is on one of the highest shelves. I stand on my tippy toes, but I am still too short. Damn my 5'5 height. The warmth of a body comes up from behind me. Kamen easily reaches over me with his 6'4 body and grabs the salt. I hate tall people.

He puts the salt on the counter. "There you go, darling." I shoved past him to get a cup of water. After gathering all the supplies, I go into the closet to get the vacuum vapor cleaner. I look at the body and look back at Kamen. "How am I going to clean with a body in the way?" I cock my eyebrow.

"I will deal with that." He goes into his room and comes back out with a black body bag. Has that always been here? My apartment is a crime scene. The realization that I have been living with a killer this entire time is finally dawning on me. I could have been killed at any moment. The thought makes me want to hurl all over again.

"Are you okay? You look green in the face." I come out of thought and see the body is gone. Well, hidden in the body bag. Kamen has black gloves, black jeans, and a black shirt. Not much contrast to his black hair. What stands out most about him is his hazel green eyes. "Did you seriously just ask if I am okay? My roommate is a killer, and I am helping him clean up a murder. I am just dandy."

I roll my eyes and plug in the vacuum. "Do not go saying that in public now or-"

I cut him off "Yeah yeah yeah you will kill me. I get the gist." I do not bother looking at him and go to turn on the vacuum. "I will be back." with that, he leaves out the back door. Just like that, I got stuck cleaning up a crime like a criminal.