Chapter 2

Sherry slept for one hour and a half, and when she woke up, it was half past two. She stood up from her bed and walked to her desk. While there still was some time, she decided to search for some more information that could be useful for her thesis. Opening the browser, she began to search for murder cases that were inspired by horror films or games, maybe also literature. Finally she found one interesting case, directly connected with famous horror film franchises – A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. All happened in United Kingdom during two days across London and Sussex, in 2004. The killer's name was Daniel Gonzalez, known as "Freddy Krueger Killer" or "Mummy's Boy Killer". It said that he killed four people and injured two more. And when the murderer was asked about the reason, he replied that he wanted to become a famous serial killer. His letters said how much he enjoyed the murders "...one of the best things I've done in my life", and how similar he was to Freddy Krueger.

"Well, this is one of the best cases to discuss in my work," Sherry whispered to herself. "But this guy is also dead, and he tried to commit suicide by biting through an artery in his arm. Oh dear… That must be horribly painful…"

Sherry continued reading further about his death, and that's what she found out:

"'I have never seen anyone bite himself with that ferocity,' said the inspecting doctor. The killer survived but committed suicide in his cell in Broadmoor Hospital, Berkshire, on 9 August 2007 by slicing his wrists with the edges of a broken CD case."

"He finally succeeded…" Sherry said quietly. "I guess many serial killers prefer to be dead than spend the rest of their lives in prison. And this one, realizing that his dream will never come true, decided to end his life. Pity it's not possible find out more personal and psychological information, and all because he's dead. And it's so far to go, have to cross the ocean to get to records…"

Although Sherry wasn't a crazy horror genre fan, she enjoyed watching classical films, like the ones mentioned in the article about Gonzalez. The main villains have become icons of modern pop culture due to their charisma and creepy appearance, and, of course, killing methods. Her personal favourite was Friday the 13th and its antagonist – Jason Voorhees, which somehow scared her. She remembered those times when she watched several famous slasher films, and it was always fun, but Jason… There was something about him that made the young woman shiver. Was it his creepy hockey mask? Or inability to talk? It's much scarier when you can't hear and understand what's going on in killer's mind.

"Creepy dude, yeah," Sherry laughed silently, continuing her search. Finally she stumbled on even more interesting information concerning Jason. "Oh my god! There were so many Jason copycats? Really? I didn't even know that! Let's see then…" She went on reading articles. "Wow, Portland, Philadelphia, Houston, London, Manchester… Each attacker had a Jason-like mask on his face. Interesting…"

Time passed while Sherry searched for information that could be useful for her thesis. Glancing at the clock, the young woman noticed it was nearly four already so she switched her computer off and went downstairs, waving goodbye to her mother, and left the house.

The school wasn't very far away from her house and if you walk quickly, it could be reached in twenty minutes. When Sherry arrived there, it was exactly half past four. The school bell went off and children ran down the stairs. One of them ran to Sherry with a happy squeal.

"Sherry!" Lindsay practically jumped in her arms.

"Hi, my little sweety," Sherry embraced her. "How are you today? How are you getting on in school?"

"Fine," she replied. "Today I got B in Maths for doing a task in class and A in English for retelling the text that we had to learn at home."

"Well done, dear," Sherry smiled to her. "And for that you deserve an ice cream."

"Hurrah!" Lindsay squealed again. "Can we go now?"

"Sure thing," Sherry said. "While your mom is at work, we'll take a walk around the city and I'll buy us an ice cream. It's rather hot today."

Sherry took the girl's hand and they left school, heading to the city center. The place was crowded as usual but not so many people that you couldn't get through. Finally they stopped at the ice cream shop.

"Which ice cream would you like?" Sherry asked her.

"White one with pieces of chocolate," Lindsay replied.

"Ok then. I'll buy the one with coconut taste for me," the young woman said. Purchasing the two ice cones, they went out in the street, walking slowly and enjoying the sunny weather and eating ice cones, which was a pleasant refresh in summer heat. Everything seemed so cheerful when suddenly a mocking female voice rang behind their backs:

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

Sherry and Lindsay turned around and saw a dark haired young woman coming their way. She was approximately of the same age as Sherry, her hair was darker and a bit longer, and her clothes were rather provocative. She was dressed in a short black mini skirt and black tube top with a bit of pink lace on it. Also she was wearing high heeled boots and wore bright make-up.

"What do you want, Vanessa?" Sherry's voice sounded irritated.

"Nothing special," Vanessa replied. "Spending all your time with little kids, as I can see? Well, sure, that's all you can do."

"Yes, I do love kids," Sherry said. "Anyway, what's your problem?"

"I know you're still wailing about the fact that Jordan left you," she grinned "and it was the right thing to do. Which guy would like to be with a grey mouse?"

Sherry gave her ice cone to Lindsay, then made a few steps forward, putting hands on her hips, and said:

"First of all, I'm not a grey mouse. And second, he's not worth my time. If he likes sluts, that's his problem."

Vanessa just laughed and said:

"Oh, I completely forgot – you're a saint, hah! No one would ever want you! For complete joy you have to wear a hijab!"

Sherry was getting really angry.

"You know, I'd better dress in hijab from head to feet and stay alone forever then be a whore like you! A brothel would be a perfect place for you!"

Saying this, Sherry laughed. Vanessa clenched her teeth and hissed:

"You better shut your filthy mouth, you bitch! Better don't arouse my anger! You have no idea who you're dealing with!"

"Oh yeah? Are you checking me?" Sherry laughed again.

"Such a schmuck like you anyway isn't capable of anything!" Vanessa laughed back.

"Schmuck, you say?" Sherry grinned. "You know where you can see a schmuck? Just stand in front of a mirror and you'll see a schmuck in all its beauty!"

"That's enough!" Vanessa yelled and jumped on Sherry, trying to slap her on face. But Sherry reacted quickly and grabbed her hand, clenching it firmly. Lucky for her, she has learned several martial tricks from her brother.

"Well, well, you decided to start a fight, didn't you? Sherry said, smirking. "That makes you even lower than you already are."

"You ugly, filthy toad…" Vanessa hissed through her teeth.

"Hey, stop offending Sherry! You're bad!" Lindsay suddenly screamed. After Sherry released her hand, Vanessa bent her knees a bit, turning attention to Lindsay.

"And you don't interfere, you little beast!"

This was too much. Those words were very offensive to Lindsay. She pressed her lips together and did something that Sherry didn't expect her to do. While Vanessa's face was close, the little girl stretched out her left hand abruptly, the one that was holding the white ice cone, and nearly all her ice cream was on Vanessa's face. She squealed in surprise and recoiled. Sherry covered her mouth with her right palm, trying not to burst into laughing. Several people who surrounded them, began laughing at this scene. Sherry then decided not to hold her laugh and joined them, and so did Lindsay. Vanessa took the napkin from her handbag and wiped the ice cream from her face which was now red from rage.

"Why you little b…" she wanted to attack Lindsay, but Sherry didn't allow it.

"Don't touch the child, you ugly toad!" she yelled.

"What's going on here?" a policeman interfered just in time.

"Nothing, sir," Sherry replied with a kind smile. "This lady just decided to clarify the relationship right now and here. Don't worry, everything is under control."

"This is not over, Sherry Cooke, this is not over…" Vanessa hissed. She felt terribly humiliated. Now she was determined to get revenge on Sherry. But at this moment all she could do was leaving.

After all was clear, Sherry crouched before Lindsay and hugged her.

"You did the right thing, sweetheart," she said, smirking. "That woman needed some refreshment."

"I just wanted to protect you," Lindsay replied. "She was so bad to you."

"I know, dear. You're very brave," Sherry smiled to her. "Come, let's go. Soon your mom will return, so we'll slowly go home."

The time passed fast and soon enough it was six. After a fifteen minutes Sherry's cell phone rang. It was Lindsay's mother, asking where they were at the moment. Sherry said they were on their way home. Mrs. Hawkins was home already and Sherry told her she would take Lindsay there herself. Her house was a bit out of center, but not far out. It took approximately thirty minutes to walk till center, maybe forty as maximum, if you walk slower. Soon they both were at Lindsay's house where her mother met them. Lindsay ran into mother's arms, telling about the good marks she got at school and how she tried to protect her best friend.

"It's true, Mrs. Hawkins," Sherry said, a bit embarrassed. "One lady that actually hates me, really tried to insult me right in the street, and Lindsay smeared her face with ice cream when she said offensive words to Lindsay after she interfered in our talk."

"And I don't regret it!" Lindsay said proudly. "She was bad."

"The only bad thing is that Lindsay lost half of her ice cream," Sherry laughed. "I shared mine with her though."

"I see," Mrs. Hawkins smiled gently. "I knew that Lindsay wouldn't let anyone insult the ones she loves. I'm proud of you, my little angel," she said, kissing her daughter on her forehead.

"So am I," Sherry added.

"Would you like something, dear?" Mrs. Hawkins asked, referring to Sherry.

"No, thank you very much, I'm not hungry," Sherry replied.

"Well, you're not leaving at least without a cup of tea. I have a few brownies in the fridge that I baked yesterday. Lindsay loves them and I'm sure you would, too."

"Ok then, thank you once more," Sherry smiled to her.

Mrs. Hawkins made aromatic black tea that tasted really good, and put out the brownies from fridge. The three of them spent their time, chatting cheerfully while having tea. Lindsay's father was not yet home, he finished work at nine. When it was half past seven, Sherry thanked Mrs. Hawkins for her hospitality and left their house.

Somehow the young woman was nervous. Her feelings told her that something bad could happen to her. She knew that Vanessa couldn't harm her, as Sherry could protect herself, but that damned wretch was smart enough to instigate someone to do it. She might persuade Jordan and someone of their company to do something. Sherry could only hope for the best.

It was beginning to get dark already, so Sherry increased her walking speed, wishing to reach home as fast as possible. She didn't manage to walk even fifteen minutes when suddenly a cloth was pressed to her nose and mouth. A pungent smell hit her nose, but it didn't last long. Her vision started to blur and soon everything went dark.