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The Psycho of Barking

(Pages 4-10)

Bullying: Birth of a New Criminal

(Pages 11-17)

Violence: Birth of another Criminal

(Pages 18-25)

The victims of Racism

(Pages 25-29)

The Browns Residence

(Pages 30-35)

The Beginning
(Pages 36-41)

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This document is a short compilation of six stories. All of them are connected to each other.

These stories are fictional and any resemblance to an actual person living or dead is purely

coincidental.

These stories are based on the dark side of humans and the disappearance of humanity in

today’s world. Humanity is long gone, now all that is left is humans.

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 The Psycho of Barking

Today Miss Amelia found another dead cat in the backyard of our school. She immediately made

her way to all the classrooms. My wandering eye stuck on her as she shouted in her high-pitched

voice and asked who it was. Her legs were looking restless, fingers fidgeting. Luna is her name.

Her pale skin compliments her long black hair that rests on her pink cheeks. I found her the prettiest

in the entire school. However, she is a quiet one; I never saw her talking to anyone. She was

transferred to our school a few weeks ago. I was absent that day. And when the next day I came,

everyone was talking about her.

Even when the Teacher asks her something, she always replies with her head or sometimes stays

still. Just like today when Miss Amelia is asked about the dead cat. She remained quiet.

Barking is a suburban area in East London, and that is what I love about this place. A quiet place.

‘Hey! Did you see that?’

Noah shouted from the back as I was leaving for home after school.

‘See what?’ I replied.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and continued

‘Did you see Luna was avoiding eye contact with Miss Amelia? I am telling you she is not

normal, this time she did not even shake her head.’

‘I do not know I was sleeping’ I lied.

I met Noah two years ago when he transferred from Brentford. He says he had to transfer from

there but never answers when people ask him what was the reason. His mom avoids talking about

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it too, she says it is a bad memory and is best to forget about it. My ‘best friend’ or at least that is

what he says. He has a slim and tall body. Sometimes he talks too much and that annoys me. He

stays by my side because he is like a little mouse who is afraid of almost everything. No one

disrespects me so he stays behind me all the time to protect himself.

Noah was the first one who told me about Luna killing all the cats however he was not the

only one. Soon enough many students start talking about it. Some claimed they have seen Luna

killing those cats while some claimed they have seen her eating them. ‘They are all making things

up that is what I used to tell Noah until that day come. Everything started to get worse for Luna

and me.

I live in one of the Apartments right across the Barking Abbey. Usually, to relax my mind I go to

the Abbey ruins. They are empty most of the time of the day. Today when I was going home after

doing some grocery shopping at the nearby supermarket, I decided to walk through the Abbey to

reach home. Around half past nine, I saw her sitting in a corner.

‘Is that Luna?’ I asked myself. ‘What is she doing here?’ I said while taking steps towards her.

‘Luna? Is that you?’ I asked but she did not reply so I asked again. ‘Luna?’

I always wanted to talk to her but never found any chance. Even though she was alone all the time,

she was never out of other students’ sight. However, today was going to be my day. I wanted to

tell her how pretty she is.

She turned her head towards me. Her long open hair looked messy, blood wiped over her cheeks,

and her face was pale, without any expression, not smiling nor sad. A face without any emotion

covered in blood. My eyes instantly dropped toward her feet just to see what I have been denying

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the most. A cat lay there with her stomach ripped open, eyes popped out, open mouth, and legs

apart from its body. She was lifeless, laying on the ground in front of her. Luna was digging a hole

near the dead cat with her hands red with blood. My mouth was open in shock.

With a shaking voice, I asked

‘Did you do that?’

She turned her head towards the ground without saying any words and kept digging the hole.

I stand beside her while she buried the cat inside the hole. She stood up and murmured something

in my right ear before leaving. I was too shocked to understand what she was saying. I stood there

like a statue and kept staring at her while she walks away, and disappeared into space.

The following week Luna did not come to class. I did not tell anyone about anything I saw that

day. I like her but-

‘Hey man!’ Noah tapped his hand on my shoulder and asked, ‘Did something happen?’

‘No, I am fine – I replied.

Noah started laughing

‘I am talking about that weird girl. Where is she?’

He took his seat in front of my desk. I also wanted to know but I replied

‘Don’t know, don’t care!’

No one except me knows that I am interested in Luna. I do not want anyone to know. I hate it when

people judge me and; if they know me, they will judge me.

Life was getting normal. Luna was back at school. There were no more dead cats around the

school. ‘Luna was in medical care during the time she was not coming to school’ everyone is

saying the same thing. Noah and I were talking during lunch break. He has doubts that his mom

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reads his diary behind his back. As we were talking, Steve, a student from our class, came running.

He was shouting -

‘Monica is dead!’

Who is Monica? You may wonder. She was the only girl who sometimes used to talk to Luna.

Everyone was trembling in fear. I looked at Luna only to see her staring back at me with an

emotionless face, just staring.

This time the police are involved. Students stop coming to classes for fear of Luna. My mom also

forced me to stay home this morning but the mid-term exams are coming closer and I do not want

to skip any classes. Just like me, a few more students did not want to miss classes. Luna was one

of them as well. Noah used to call me every day to ask about class and to share my classwork and

homework with him. It started to get annoying for me. Therefore, one day when he called I start

shouting at him ‘If you want to study that much why are you skipping classes? Just come and get

your notes!’ we had a fight and Noah stopped calling me after that. On the other hand, the police

received one more call from a resident of Barking.

A girl from the seventh standard was found dead in her school uniform. Our school's uniform.

Police start investigating each person who works in our school. Soon rumours about Luna got into

the ears of Police Officers and she is investigated for the same. Because there was no proof, the

police had to release her but due to pressure from other kids' parents, they start calling her on daily

basis for basic questioning. Our exams are cancelled and our school is closed.

I thought Luna would never do that. She would never kill a human. Meanwhile, the police start

having doubts that there is some connection between the death of Monica and the dead cats. It was

everywhere in news ‘The cat killer of Barking’ According to the police it is compulsory to stop

that killer because this is just beginning, the time is not far when there will be more dead bodies.

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 He was right. The police received another call. A student of ‘The secondary school of

Barking’, was found dead in her apartment. Her name was Luna.

Some were happy some were worried. Luna was on every news channel and every local paper,

‘The killer of barking is dead’. As for me, it was the first time in my life that I felt despair. Broken

from the inside.

‘Thank god she committed suicide I was really worried about you’ mom continued serving

me dinner

‘Tomorrow we have to attend her funeral, it’s okay if you don’t want to come. I understand’

she gently patted my hand.

‘No I will go’ I replied.

My mother did not want to go to her funeral but Mrs. Wilson, the mother of Luna, invited everyone

from school to talk about something.

‘How shameful of her, she thinks this will be enough to get an apology. Her daughter was a

murderer! How did she raise her?’ She kept blabbering. It was a little annoying for me.

Sometimes I pray nothing of this would have happened. If Luna were just like everyone else, she

would have been alive.

After taking shower, I head back to my room. I see my mom in my room, holding something in

her hands.

‘Mom? What happened? Why are you here?’

As soon as she heard my voice, she turned around to answer me

‘N-Nothing, I was just looking for you, are you ready?’ she rushed past me.

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 ‘Yes, I am ready.

‘Good. Let’s go’ she replied.

She remain quiet for the whole ride unless I asked her ‘You read my diary right?’

She looked at me and she look scared. She started crying and shouting ‘How could you?

Why?’ and I was feeling angry. Why would she do that? Why would she read my diary? I wanted

to kill her. Because of the argument, she lost balance and we bumped into a big truck.

The next thing I remember is I laying on a bed when a doctor rushed towards me and start asking

‘Can you hear me? Can you hear me?’ Yes, I can- I wanted to answer him but I could not. I was

trying to move my tongue but it felt too heavy to move, my body felt the same.

‘I am so sorry’. I heard a crying voice from my left and as I turned my eyes, I see Noah. They

told me that it is the first time in six months that I opened my eyes. Although I am progressing

well. They are sorry, as they could not save my mom.

**** *** ***

Six Months Ago, In the Barking graveyard.

‘Thank you everyone to attend this Funeral. I am Judie William, the mother of Luna. I know none

of you wanted to be a part of this day. My daughter, Luna was suffering from a schizoid personality

disorder. It was hard for her to bond with others but she was a kind girl. She could never hurt

anyone. The police were so much in a hurry that they closed the case concluding my dear daughter

killed that student without any evidence just because she was different from other.

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They called her for investigation almost every day to answer the same questions repeatedly. She

was killed by this system. She did not commit suicide; it was a murder. By every person who

spread rumors about her and every person who believed them. The real killer is still out there!’.

*** *** ***

Present Day

‘Doctor, I do not know if this is the right time to ask but – I continued – ‘Did you find any

diary?’

‘What? Diary?’

He looked at me in confusion and shook his head in a ‘no’.

It is so strange because I remember it was with us in the car. Do I have to keep looking for it before,

Steve, a student from our class,? I remembered what Luna whispered in my ear that day; she said

‘I saw you kill it. '

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 Bullying: Birth of a new Criminal

John was visiting his uncle Denial who was admitted to the Barking Hospital. John was out for

some water when he saw a diary on the floor in the hospital’s corridor. He opened it to check if it

has any name or address of the person, it belongs to but when he started reading it, he found

something strange. There were measurements and species of cats along with details of their dead

body. When he went to the last page he saw the same kind of details but this time, of a human.

‘What kind of a prank is this?’ a little scared, he murmured and threw the diary away into a dustbin

nearby.

While saying goodbye to his uncle, John’s mother saw some marks on her son's hand.

Driving back to Greenwich, she asked her son

‘Did you fight with someone in school?’

John pulled down his sleeves and replied

‘No, I just fall down the stairs.’

He turned away his face. He increased the volume of the music and start looking outside the

window. His mother knew he was lying but she did not want to irritate him so she kept quiet after

saying

‘I am always here to listen kid.’

Greenwich is not that far from Barking but still, this small ride was enough for both of them to

think about all the memories they try to avoid every day but could never forget. Life has been

tough for both of them. Moreover, tough times always work in two ways, either one becomes the

strongest they could be or break into pieces that they might end up taking their own life. John’s

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father decided to choose the latter one. Which, I believe also requires courage. John’s mother has

been a single mom, a hardworking woman with a tough physique but a kind personality. She has

always been there for people around her, be it her family, friends, and even her colleagues.

However, that has never been the case for her; people always take advantage of her kindness.

Seeing her mother already going through so much, John never let anything trouble her more. They

both are good at hiding their feelings from each other.

John is an ordinary student at Greenwich University. He is average in his studies and is doing his

Bachelor’s in Computer Science. He has a slim physique with light brown eyes and red hair. Other

than computer science, he likes to read comics and listen to music. One time when he was leaving

after his class, he heard someone screaming for help down the near valley. Cautiously he headed

towards the place and as soon as he reached there, someone came and grabbed him by his back.

He got surprised and in fear started asking without looking ‘who is it?’

The person behind him pushed him onto the floor and that is how John met Billy, Ryan, and

George. These three were beating up someone. They thought John was filming them to report and

start beating him as well. In the meantime, that injured person, instead of helping John, ran away.

From then onwards they start following John everywhere. They used to wait for him outside the

university campus just to beat him up and stole his money. They threatened him that if he ever

report them to anyone they will kill him.

Living a normal life was all he could now wish for. He was waiting for someone to see his bruises

and to be his shield. However, when someone or to be specific, his mother did notice his condition;

he ended up lying to her. A mother is someone said to be the best protector of a child. Nevertheless,

as we grew up we find out that the mother is also just an ordinary grown-up. Someone who is

fighting every day with everyone; who is lost and waiting for someone to show up and help her

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when she is having hard times. John knew it and wanted to deal with his problems by himself just

like his mother.

However, was that a good idea?

After a few weeks, the bullies started to show up outside his university every day. Billy was a

troubled kid from the beginning, he used to beat up his classmates due to his anger issues, and just

like that, he ended up being suspended from all of his schools. He used to live with his uncle but

moved out two years ago and start living with Ryan and George. On the other hand, Ryan and

George has been best friends for years. George used to live in an orphanage but he left it after he

turned eighteen lying about getting a job in Central London. They both were five years older than

Ryan at the time. None of them ever had a proper job. They get money from Ryan’s uncle who

has a deal with Ryan to never show up in front of him if he keeps paying Ryan some pocket money

every three weeks. But that money is never enough for the three of them. They have always been

involved in crimes such as theft and bullying to get that extra money.

All three of them were people abandoned by their families and society and hence now they

had nothing to lose. Will they be any different if people around them cared a little more? Or if they

would have taught about humanity and love?

John on the other hand was living a life he had never imagined. However, this was just the

beginning.

One day Billy asked John to meet him alone near St Alfege Park. When John reached there, he

saw Billy holding a knife. He wanted to ask him why he was holding a knife but could not say a

word out of fear. Billy then asked John

‘Do you want to use it?’

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A bit confused John gathered up his courage and asked what he meant by that. Billy then continued

‘George and Ryan are both cowards. They would never do it with me but you are different.’

Billy was smiling. His eyes were sparkling with hope

‘You are like me, I can see it.’ He said.

John could not believe what he was hearing. His legs started to become heavy and his lungs

tightened in his chest. He started breathing heavily but Billy kept smiling at him. John apologized

to him and ran away with all his will as far as he can.

He somehow managed to reach home. That day he locked himself in his room and did not open

the door of his room. Not even to have dinner with his mother. John’s mother started to get worried.

She wanted her son to talk to her but John fought with her and told her to leave him alone.

Therefore, she decided to talk to him in the morning.

‘You are like me. I can see it. What does he mean I am like him? Am I like him? Why did

he say that?’ John kept murmuring these questions the whole night. He wanted an answer but no

one was there to answer him. The next morning he finally came out of his room.

The next morning, he looked at his mother and asked her for food. She ran her fingers through

John’s hair, she finally fall into tears.

‘Are you okay?’

She was expecting her son to open his heart to her but John only answered her with a ‘Yes’.

After eating Breakfast John left for university. His mother decided to fix an appointment with a

psychiatrist she met during a family gathering last year. After fixing the appointment, she left for

work. She was feeling quite uneasy at Office so decided to call John during her lunch break.

The phone kept ringing, ‘He must be busy with classes’ she thought and disconnected the call.

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 On the other hand, John, who was determined enough to end all his suffering left home to get

it done with the bullies. He used to be someone who cared about others, a talkative and bright kid.

He was a strong boy who suffered all by himself for almost six months now. He could feel the

changes in himself. The thing he feared the most was to turn into someone like them. The incident

from last night made him realize that if he did not do anything his fear might come true.

He skipped his classes and decided to wait for all three of them where they usually beat John up.

He waited for three long hours but no one showed up. At that time, he received a call from his

mother but he did not pick up. Right after the phone disconnected John saw all three of them

coming toward him. Seeing John, they started laughing at him

‘It is the first time that someone is waiting for us’

George approached John first.

‘HEY! What are you staring at?’

Ryan shouted from the back. Instead of looking down, John kept staring at George.

‘What is with him today?’

George said looking at Billy. Billy started smiling and whispered in John’s ear

‘Why? Do you want to kill him?’

John looked at him in anger and start punching his face. George and Ryan start laughing to see

John’s efforts going in vain, as Billy did not get hurt even an inch by him. Nevertheless, John kept

punching him until Billy finally start bleeding. George and Ryan start making fun of Billy and to

save his pride he starts punching John back harshly. John could feel the pain in every bone of his

body and he start bleeding but Billy did not stop. John fell to the ground when he saw George and

Ryan laughing. He burst into tears seeing himself this miserable.

‘Why are you all doing this to me?’

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He shouted rubbing tears from his eyes.

‘Why should we answer you?’ Ryan continued ‘also, don’t you dare to raise your voice again

like this!’

Billy picked John up from his chin and answered

‘Because it’s fun. Happy?’

John spit on Billy’s face and said

‘You all are pathetic losers!’

Billy took out his knife from his left pocket and was about to stab John when George and Ryan

panicked seeing the knife in his hand.

‘Hey! Are you crazy? Stop! Stop right there!’

Ryan took the knife out of his hand and pushed him.

‘As expected you both are cowards!’

Billy started shouting in anger. John who has been waiting for the right moment pulled himself

together. He grabbed the knife from Ryan’s hand, only to stab him in the neck. George wanted to

run away but John stopped him with his hand and start stabbing him. George starts crying in pain

and fear. John, who completely lost control over himself, keep shouting back at him

‘Why are you running? Huh! You made me do this! You all made me do this!’

Billy was standing just a few steps away from them but instead of helping his friend he could not

help but stare at John. John heard laughing. He dropped the dead body of George on the floor. He

looked at Billy in disgust and starts walking toward him

‘You are the worst of them! You are a monster! Stop laughing! Stop laughing at me!

He starts stabbing Billy in his stomach and all his skin starts falling out of his body.

‘Die! Die you monster! Just Die!’

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Billy was in so much pain that he could hardly whisper. He grabbed John by his collar and smiled

at him saying

‘I knew it. You are different. You – you are j-just like me.’

He gasped in his last breath and died on the spot. John keeps stabbing him, crying and shouting

‘I am not like you! I am not like you!’

Soon enough people start gathering around the alley hearing the screams. People were terrified at

the scene of John being covered in blood. Someone called 999 and within twenty minutes, the

Police reached there.

They found John, who was still stabbing the dead body of Billy screaming one sentence

repeatedly –

‘I am not like you!’

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 Violence: Birth of another Criminal

Somewhere in Ilford, on a news channel

A student from Greenwich brutally murdered three young men. Let’s hear more from the

witnesses – I was out to buy some vegetables when I heard him. At first, I thought someone is in

danger so I ran towards the sound to help but when I reached there, I got chills in my entire body.

The floor was covered in blood. I screamed out of shock but he did not stop. He kept stabbing-.

‘What the hell is happening in the world?’

Sarah exclaimed in shock and switched off the TV.

‘Why did you switch it off? Let me see the whole thing.’ Mrs. Laura requested.

‘No! Look at Archie; I don’t want him to see anything like this.’

Sarah replied while passing the cup of tea to her.

‘Hmm right… then what about the things he sees at home? Are they not enough to ruin his

innocence?’

Mrs. Laura sighed. She take a look at Archie, who was busy playing with his baby dinosaur toys.

Mrs. Laura has always been a very dear friend to Sarah. They have been friends since High School.

They both are graduates of East London College. Both of them were pretty and quite popular in

college. Laura was smart and Sarah was kind. After completing their degree, they get married to

their college sweethearts at the age of twenty-three and settled in Ilford itself. However, their

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married life has turned out to be completely different from what they have expected. Especially

for Sarah. Right after seven months of their marriage, her husband started violence against her.

In the beginning, it used to happen every two weeks but as time passed by, it start happening

to her frequently, almost every day. Sarah, who was madly in love with her husband, David, kept

forgiving him. She thought maybe after having a child things will get back to normal.

However, to her surprise, things got worse after Archie was born.

Mrs. Laura was well aware of Sarah’s situation. She even gave opinions about what could or should

be done about it. Such as getting a divorce. Sarah refused to do so out of love for her husband even

after going through so much. Later she realized it was never love but fear. Sarah has never been

taught how to survive alone in society and with a child now, it would be even more difficult. Both

Mrs. Laura and Sarah used to meet for a cup of tea every day simply to laugh and cry together.

David’s frustration from work and failure in life has turned him into a terrible human. He could no

longer feel the pain he was causing to the wife he once used to love like crazy. Sarah’s only hope

to get out of this gutter was his son now. She wanted to make him a wonderful man opposite to his

father. She never let Archie watch any bad news or any type of negative TV program that might

affect him.

However, all her efforts used be in vain during the evening time. Even after all her efforts,

she would fail to stop Archie from seeing his father beating up his mother brutally.

Archie, the only son of Sarah and David, was only four years old and still too young to protect his

mother from his father’s violence. Sometimes when David used to beat Sarah, Archie started

crying because of all the screams. To stop his son from crying Sarah would start to smile and laugh

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which used to make David angrier. Nevertheless, Sarah never stopped doing it, thinking she is

doing it for the sake of her son. On the other hand, all this beating was just becoming a play to

Archie that he gets to see every evening. Every time David punched or slapped Sarah, Archie

would simply start laughing.

It was Archie’s fifth birthday. David was getting ready for his office when Sarah gathered the

courage to ask him –

‘It is Archie’s birthday today. Do you remember?

‘So?’

David answered coldly while putting on his shoes.

‘I was thinking of getting him a cake ...’

Sarah continued in a low voice.

‘A new bakery has opened right around the corner and it’s not too expensive either.’

Sarah passed the lunch box to David.

‘I don’t have money.’

David answered annoyingly and left for work without saying any more.

Sarah wanted to celebrate his son’s birthday so she borrowed some money from Mrs. Laura. She

decorated the house with some balloons and bought 250 grams of cake from the newly opened

bakery.

To celebrate, she invited Mrs. Laura over to her place to have some tea and cake. Mrs. Laura

did not come alone. Her three-year-old niece, Ella arrived a few days ago to stay with her during

her summer breaks. Therefore, Laura decided to bring her to Archie’s birthday party as well. Sarah

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was happy to see Archie playing with Ella. She never let Archie go outside so Archie had no

friends. She thanked Laura for bringing Ella as she was fondly admiring their friendship.

‘Sarah I know you are worried about Archie but you should let him play with other kids. He

should learn to socialize. Let him make some friends’ Mrs. Laura showed her concern.

‘You know how dangerous the outside world is. Right?’

Sarah looked over at Archie

‘Do you remember the case of that student who stabbed three people? If something like that

would happen to him, I won’t be able to live anymore.’

She rubbed her left arm with her fingers.

‘Do you think protecting him from the outside world is enough? Inside is as dangerous as

outside.’

In the evening, Sarah was preparing food for dinner when she heard Archie shouting at someone.

She rushed to the hall to check on him. As soon as she enter, she found Archie in the corner of the

hall standing with his stuffed animal. He was not only shouting at it but also beating it in the exact

way David beats Sarah. Sarah could not control her anger after seeing Archie like that. She ran

towards Archie only to slap him in the face. Archie started crying and hearing his cry Sarah realized

what she has done. She sat on the ground and started crying

‘I am sorry, I am sorry my boy!’

Archie stopped crying to start looking at the face of his mother in confusion. Sarah could not stop

crying.

Sarah kept thinking about what Laura told her in the afternoon.

‘Maybe Laura is right.’ She thought to herself.

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 ‘Keeping Archie inside all the time and letting him see all the violence is affecting his mind.

I cannot let him be someone like his father.’

She started to go out with Archie to the nearby park. She used to play with him. She let him

socialize with other kids. Soon enough Archie becomes friends with a few kids from the

neighbourhood. Now Sarah would send him outside most of the time when David used to beat her

up. Things were getting better for Archie. At least that is what Sarah thought.

One day Sarah was preparing lunch when someone knocked on the door. She turned off the stove

and went to the hall to open the door

‘Whom could it be?’ She thought.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw Laura out of breath.

‘Laura! What happened?’

She helped Laura to stand straight on her feet.

‘Ar-Archie! Archie! He’

Laura was struggling to get words out of her mouth and Sarah was losing her patience.

Sarah’s heart stopped for a moment.

‘What about him? What happened? Tell me!’

She holds Laura by her shoulders tightly.

‘He is killing someone in the park!’ Laura’s eyes were wide open and tears started to fall out

from her eyes.

Sarah on the other hand could barely feel her legs. She could not understand what Laura just

told her. She somehow managed to walk towards the park, which was steps away from her house.

When she reached there, she saw people staring at her, with wide eyes. Holding her breath, she

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looks over at Archie. What she saw was something that would be the worst nightmare for a mother.

Archie was holding an iron bar and the dead body of a small kid was laying down in front of him;

lifeless. Blood was dripping down that iron rod. Archie was laughing innocently looking at his

mother he said

‘Let’s play.’

There were mixed opinions about this case that took place in Ilford. Archie was only five when he

committed this crime and there is no law for children under the age of ten except for a Child curfew

and a Child Safety order. The mother who lost her four-year-old son to a five-year-old was feeling

helpless.

Due to extreme shock, Sarah’s organs were damaged and she was admitted to the hospital.

Archie has been sent to an orphanage by the order of the court and David was sent to prison for

committing violence against his wife.

*** *** ***

Five years later

House of Love Orphanage, Ilford, UK

Sister Sophia was on her way to wake up the boys for Morning Prayer. When she entered the room,

she saw all the boys standing in a circle. She heard them murmuring.

‘What is it?’

She asked while making her way through them. An injured bird was laying on the floor and it was

crying in pain. She immediately picks it up gently with her big soft hands.

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 ‘How many times did I tell you? Do not let the window wide open. These innocent birds keep

coming in and getting injured by the ceiling fans.’

She scolded everyone.

‘Yes, Sister.’

Everyone answered unanimously.

‘Hmm, now get ready for the morning prayer.’

She was turning towards the door to take exit the room when she noticed the closed window. Right

after that, she heard someone giggling. To confirm she turned back and ask

‘Archie? Did you just laugh?’

‘No, Sister.’

Archie answered with an innocent smile.

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 The victims of Racism

‘Did you hear what happened in the sales apartment?’ Hae-won asks Anne, as they both were alone

in the copy machine room.

‘About David? Yes. I was so terrified’ Anne looked around before answering Hae-won ‘we are

not supposed to talk about it so be careful what if someone heard you?’

Anne and Hae-won both work in the sales department of ASA Manufacturers Ltd. Hae-won

joined the company a few months ago. She is born in Daegu, South Korea. When she told her

parents that she want to go to the UK and want to settle there, her family was against the idea. Her

family wanted her to marry someone in Seoul and settle down there only. However, getting married

at the age of twenty-five was too soon for Hae-won so she somehow talked it out with her parents

and moved out eleven months ago to live an independent life in London. Moving to a new country

without any friends and family was a brave decision of hers.

Anne was the first one who started a conversation with Hae-won. One day when Hae-won was

standing near the main door, waiting for the rain to stop, Anne approached her to share an umbrella

with her until the Bus Stop. The way from their office to the Bus Stop is a ten-minute walk. The

time was enough for them to introduce each other. They start hanging out more after that day.

When some of their team members used to mock Hae-won’s accent or tried to make fun of her,

Anne would always stand by her side. Even though she never fought directly with any of them

about the same but she has always consoled Hae-won.

25 | P a g e
Right when Anne warned Hae-won not to talk about the whole David situation, they both heard a

rummage from under the table.

‘I heard you’ Owen came out from there.

He shared a glance with Hae-won and Anne and then continued

‘What happened to David? Why were you terrified, Anne?’

‘Were you eavesdropping on us? Seriously?’ Anne looked at him in disgust.

‘I was not eavesdropping on anyone okay? I dropped these sheets by mistake and heard you

by mistake. Hey Hey-won, would you care to share the tea with me?’

Owen is the type who likes to be involved in every matter. If anyone wanted to know about

anything, people would usually go to Owen straight away. He is popular among everyone in the

office, a free-spirited person with a good physique and handsome face.

‘You did not watch the news?’ Hae-won asked back.

‘I did not get the time; I was out of London last night. Now stop with the suspense and tell

me already please!’

‘David is under arrest for domestic violence’.

‘Not only that, his son killed a small boy in the park’ George answered from the main door.

‘What? His son killed someone. Isn’t he himself a child?’ Owen asked in shock.

‘Who knows what happened! Now stop talking about it and get back to work everyone. Don’t

you guys know we are not supposed to talk about this?’

George made his way through holding some pages he needed to photocopy. When everyone was

leaving, he asked Hae-won to go to the main office to talk with Mr. Hammersmith, their team

leader. Hae-won already knew what it is going to be about. Their team attended a seminar last

week, and they were assigned to do some field research before launching their new product. Hae-

26 | P a g e
won was the first one to complete the market research and according to the plan, she is supposed

to go to Australia with a team to meet the sponsors and some VIP clients.

Hae-won excitedly knocks on the door, Mr. Hammersmith asks her to come in and as soon

as she enters, she saw Stephen (one of the people who works with her and makes fun of her) sitting

on the chair in front of Mr. Hammersmith. At first, she got confused but when Mr. Hammersmith

asks her to take a step back from the project and let Stephen handle it, her expression changed into

that of an innocent child who had been asked to give all his candies to someone else.

‘I am sorry sir, but why? Did I do something wrong?’

She did not sit on the chair even when she asked to, in form of protest. Mr. Hammersmith told her

that she might not be the right person to represent their British product. Hae-won could not

understand why she would be the wrong choice to represent the product but not to help in the

making process. Nevertheless, no one answered her. After being dismissed from the office, she

called Anne and told her everything.

‘What can we do?’ was the only answer Anne could tell her.

They both went down to get coffee from the near Café. Hae-won was upset about the whole

situation but she knew that this will not be the only time for something like this to happen and she

has no choice but to mentally prepare herself. They both were regular to the café.

‘Look Hae-won, he is a new face, I guess he joined today.’

Anne was trying to make Hae-won forget about all that happened to her. A young boy, in his

twenties, was serving the customers. His dark skin, big eyes, and black hair are evident enough to

tell his roots.

‘Seems so, I do not want her to make my coffee.’

‘Why?’ Anne asked.

27 | P a g e
 ‘This is an Italian coffee shop and he looks like he is from India. I need a good coffee. From

my regular Italian barista.’ Hae-won sat down at their usual table. She said this statement casually,

without realizing that this is exactly what happened to her a few minutes ago. Anne wanted to

point it out but remained quiet as Hae-won was already upset. After deciding, what coffee they are

getting Anne voluntarily decided to go and get their coffee today.

Two people were working, and so there were two queues. Anne end up standing in the queue

with fewer people, which was the queue in front of the Indian boy. People were avoiding standing

in that Que. This might be not problematic for some people but for Anne, it seemed wrong. She

noticed the expression on the Indian boy’s face. He knew what people were thinking.

‘One oat flat white and regular latte please.’ Anne ordered their coffee.

‘Sure, sugar inside?’ Kamal asked with a smile.

‘I am all right, thanks.’

Kamal nodded his head and start making her coffee.

‘How are you today? Good?’ Anne starts the conversation.

‘I am good, how are you?’ Kamal smiled brightly. He liked Anne’s gesture.

‘Me too. Is this your first day?’

‘Yes. I came to London a week ago.’

‘Oh really? For studies?’

It is common to see students working in cafés or Mcdonald’s in London.

‘Yes, I am doing my Masters.’

Kamal answered and hand her both coffees.

‘Good luck with your studies!’ Anne smiled and left.

28 | P a g e
Kamal, a twenty-two-year-old boy arrived in London a week ago. He was alone in this huge city.

Excited and terrified at the same time he ran from street to street to find a part-time job. It is not

common in India to work part-time along with studies. He is learning to be independent. He is

from a middle-class family. His parents somehow arranged money for his studies but he wanted

to be capable enough to survive on his own. He was lucky enough to find a cheap hostel in Central

London now he wanted to find a job with enough money for his daily expenses. When he was

leaving, his cousins warned him about the racism he might have to face in London.

‘This is the twentieth century and I am not going to any third-world country like us, I am going

to a first-world, developed country. I will be fine.’ Is what he believed and answered. However,

just in seven days, his white roommates have neglected him and the customers have been trying to

avoid him since morning. He wanted to welcome London with open arms but to him, it seemed

like London was not as welcoming as he was. The only thing he used to enjoy in London is walking

down the streets at night when the lights are bright and pretty. The hustle-bustle of this busy city

at night made him forget about how lonely he is.

Both Hae-won and Kamal had one thing in common other than them being new in the city, they

both were struggling in their daily lives but still when people asks them how they are finding

London, they always answer-

‘It is pretty.’

29 | P a g e
 The Browns Residence

Kamal, a twenty-two-year-old Barista who works in Central London lived in Wembley, where

most Indians live. He would travel every day from Wembley to Central London to make enough

money for his living expenses. He rented a house with Mr. and Mrs. Brown. The couple has been

married for a few years. They do not have any children of their own.

‘You are like our child.’ is what they keep saying to Kamal whenever they wanted to interfere in

his personal life. Kamal did not like it but they were the only ones who rented a room to him. Their

house is a small two-floor building. They have rented the upstairs room to Kamal and they live on

the ground floor. The first floor is not too big as it is mostly covered with walls and only two

rooms. One is where Kamal lived and the other one is just a small bathroom. They share the

kitchen. The infrastructure is a bit strange as they could have easily made another room on the first

floor but it has just long large walls with paintings of mice. The neighbourhood is also a quiet

place.

Sometimes they even invite him to have dinner with them. Even though they always behaved

nicely, Kamal felt something strange around them. However, he cannot do anything about it but

adjust due to his financial situation. They rented him a room just at two-thirds of the price others

were asking for. Kamal always wanted to ask them why they agreed to let him stay in their home

but he never did. Strangely, they did not give him keys and told him to knock on the door whenever

he want to come inside the house.

That night Kamal get back home a bit late. Usually, he makes it home around 9:00 PM, but that

evening he knocked on the door around 10:00 PM. He kept knocking for ten minutes but no one

opened the door,

30 | P a g e
 ‘Are they sleeping?’ Kamal thought to himself.

He knocked on the door one last time and waited silently for five more minutes. Yet again. No

reply from inside. He decided to call Mr. Brown. When he was about to take out his phone he

heard the clicking sound of the door opening. It was Mrs. Brown. He smiled at her and was about

to say thank you when she cut him off.

‘You must have learned your lesson by now.’ She said and smiled at Kamal.

Kamal looked at her in confusion. He did not expect her to say this so he asked to clarify.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Don’t get me wrong. You- you are just like our son.’

She dabs Kamal’s hair. Kamal flinched in surprise and confusion and for those few seconds, she

noticed Mrs. Brown’s face and his whole body start shivering in horror. He noticed a weird and

very angry expression on her face, which lasted for a few seconds. She said good night to him and

they both went their ways.

‘Was it an illusion? Her facial expression, was she angry at me?’ Kamal kept thinking the

whole night. The expressions on Mrs. Brown’s face lasted for just a second so it was hard for him

to decide if it was real or a trick of the eyes. The next day no one talked about the last night. Kamal

left home early to do a morning shift at his café. His classes were only thrice a week, Tuesday,

Wednesday, and Thursday. Today was Friday. In the Café, most of the customers are still rude to

him, and his colleagues still avoid him during conversations. It has been more than three months

now but things did not change for him.

Christmas was close; Kamal has never celebrated Christmas so he was excited about the festival.

He has heard people saying that London looks beautiful during Christmas time. The streets have

been decorated with some lights and he could see the red bells and beautifully decorated Christmas

31 | P a g e
trees in many stores. The smell of the cold wind and lighted-up streets was making London more

pretty. After taking out the rubbish and experiencing this beautiful view, he went back to the café.

He was working with one person today. A lady in her forties, who was a regular customer asked

for her usual Chai latte, Kamal initiated to make her drink as his other colleague was busy on the

other side of the store. He served the lady and after paying for the coffee, Kamal greeted her Merry

Christmas but she was in a hurry to go and talk to Kamal’s colleague so did not reply to him.

Kamal as always covered the hurt with a smile. Could she be ruder? He thought to himself. The

worst part was yet to happen. The woman took out a ten-pound note from her bag and gave it to

the other person who was working in the café with him. She smiled and wished him Merry

Christmas and left. Kamal did not feel bad about not receiving the ten-pound note but he hated the

feeling of being completely ignored even when he was the one to make her drink and wished him.

He was not feeling welcome in London. He did not have many friends due to his introverted

personality and these small experiences in his job were giving him more reasons to stay away from

people.

‘Just a few more years. Bear it for a few more months.’ He used to say this to himself every

time something like this would happen to him.

Even though Kamal wanted to roam around the streets for a bit after returning from work, he

decided to head back home straight as he had some assignments to work on.

It was around 4 p.m. when he knocked on the door to wait for one of the Browns to come and open

the door for him. Mr. Brown opened the door, his head was sweating so Kamal asked out of

concern.

‘Mr. Johns are you okay?’

‘Yes – yes my son.’ He dabbed his head with his fingers to get rid of the sweat.

32 | P a g e
 ‘Do I need to call an ambulance? You are not looking well.’

‘NO! I said I am okay. Why can’t you let this go?’

Mr. Brown starts shouting as if he is feeling very angry.

‘I did not mean to. I am sorry.’

Kamal apologized quickly without any further questions.

‘No, my son. Come inside.’

Mr. Brown’s anger suddenly disappeared and he start smiling. Kamal, who found this very strange

did not utter a single word. He quickly wanted to go to his room but Mr. Brown grabbed his hand

and pulled him inside the kitchen with him.

‘My son, come and have some tea with me.’

‘No, it’s okay sir I do not feel like having tea at the moment.’

Kamal wanted to leave there as soon as possible. The moment he said no to Mr. Brown he noticed

his face distorting with rage. Kamal’s spine shivered for a moment. He immediately sat on the

chair out of fear.

‘Now that’s like my son.’

Mr. Brown smiled at him and immediately went to the kitchen counter to boil some water for tea.

He pulled himself up to reach for the tea jar, which has placed on the upper shelf. Kamal noticed

a blood stain on Mr. Brown’s sleeve as he grabbed the jar. He unconsciously asked about it

immediately.

‘Mr. Johns? What is this stain on your sleeve?’

Kamal immediately realized his mistake and flinched for a moment. He did not want to make him

angry. However, to his surprise, Mr. Brown answered him immediately in a calm voice.

33 | P a g e
 ‘This is blood. My lovely Samantha is quite fond of a mouse who roamed around the house.

However, yesterday that mouse made her angry so I took the chance to kill it. You know how

dangerous it is to let them live with you. I hate it.’

Kamal immediately remembered last night. He start sweating, he could feel his hands getting

colder and his body start becoming numb. A weird sensation as if several ants are running down

his whole body start covering him. He wants to run away before the numbness reached his legs so

he threw away his bag and ran towards the door. He reached the main door but as he opened it he

saw Mrs. Brown standing in front of him. She smiled at him and whispered in his ear.

‘You are just like my son. He reacted the same way.’

She smiled by scrunching her nose. After pushing him inside the house, she quickly locked the

door.

When several days passed by and Kamal did not show up to work, his manager, Stevens, called

on his number. He could not reach him so he decided to visit the address Kamal has filled in his

contract form later that day. When he reached there he saw two police vans and an ambulance in

front of the main door. He got worried and asked one of the people standing there.

‘What happened here?’

‘Who are you?’ The man asked.

‘One of my staff members lives in this house. I am here to meet him.’

‘Oh! That boy is dead.’

‘What!?!’

Stevens could not believe what he heard.

Within two days, the press covered the news.

34 | P a g e
A boy in his twenties is been brutally murdered by a woman in her forties last night. The woman

who is a single mother used to live alone after losing her twenty-two years old son who died from

a heart attack a few years ago. One of the neighbours filed a report after discovering a rotten

smell coming from the laundry room of Mrs. Brown, which is attached to their backyard. A few

body parts of the young man are missing and can not be found anywhere so far. The police are

looking at the whereabouts of the young boy to inform the family.

35 | P a g e
 The Beginning

It was midnight, someone knocked on the Copper’s residence. Noah’s father, Simon opened the

door. A man badly injured was standing in front of their door. His head was bleeding and he was

holding a bag with blood all over it.

‘Are you okay? Who are you?’ Mr. Cooper asked

‘Help! Can you please help me?’

He was panting as if he has been running before knocking on their door.

‘Who are you? What’s inside that bag?’

‘I am Johns, Johns Brown. Please get me some water!’ He collapsed on the ground.

Mr. Cooper called out his wife and they both took Johns to their living room.

‘Let’s call an ambulance he is badly hurt.’

‘But first, can you get some water from the kitchen?’

Mrs. Cooper rushed towards the kitchen to get some water for Johns, in the meantime, Simon

helped Johns to lie down on the couch. He then grabbed the phone that had been placed on the side

table near the couch to call for help. Mrs. Cooper passed water to Johns when she saw Noah

standing on the stairs.

‘Mom?’

He rubbed his eyes and then noticed a badly injured man, who is lying on their couch.

‘Who is he?’ Noah continued.

‘It is nothing son, go back to your room we will talk tomorrow morning.’

‘What is going on?’ Noah started to get worried.

36 | P a g e
 ‘Noah! Go back to your room. This man is badly injured we are calling an ambulance for him.

Don’t worry just go back to sleep.’

‘Let’s go.’

Mrs. Cooper took him back upstairs.

‘Honey I’ll be back.’

They both went away. Simon then dialed the emergency number.

‘Hello, 112? Hello, this is Simon Cooper from Brentford, I need some medical help as soon

as possible. No, it is not for me. Someone knocked on the door, I do not know him - yes! Yes, he

is bleeding, no he is not conscious he collapsed in front of the door right away, hello? I can not

hear you, Hel-!’

Johns disconnected the call. Simon looked at him in confusion.

‘What are you doing?’ Johns asked when he was trying to sit.

‘What do you mean? Of course, I am calling for help! Why did you do that?’

‘No! I am fine. Please just let me rest here for tonight.’

By this time, Simon started to become suspicious of Johns. He did not ask him any further

questions and decided to go to his room and call the police.

‘Okay! You should lie down now. You can sleep here.’

After putting him back on the couch, Simon made his way upstairs. However, before that he

accidentally hit the bag Johns carried with him when he knocked on their door. He looked down

and saw blood coming out of the bag. He wanted to scream but tried to remain calm and slowly

tried to open the bag. He saw human fingers that fell out of the bag covered in blood.

Meanwhile, his wife who was putting Noah to sleep heard Simon’s scream and rushed

downstairs, Noah followed. When they both made their way downstairs, they saw Johns who was

37 | P a g e
chewing Simon alive. The scene was so terrifying that Noah fainted right there. The next thing

Noah remembered was they were in a hospital. They had to put Simon in surgery but unfortunately

could not save him due to excessive blood loss. However, the suspect was still on a run. The

thought of Johns being in the same neighbourhood with them was eating them alive so they decided

to move to Barking shortly afterward. They never talked about the incident with anyone, not even

to each other.

The police have been searching for Johns everywhere they could. An injured man in his forties

cannot hide for too long, which is the motivation for keeping the investigation going on.

The police decided to reveal this incident to the Media to make the people alert however, the

names of the victim and the criminal were never revealed to the public for the sake of their families.

Within a few days, every news channel covered the story of Johns Brown. They mentioned him as

‘The cannibal of London’.

Johns was only ten when he did his first hunting of a rabbit. He took the dead animal to his mother

and asked her to cook it for dinner. They all enjoyed the dinner and his father praised him as well.

His interest in Hunting kept increasing. They used to live in Brentford at that time. His father

would always take him to hunt and he would always enjoy eating the animals he had killed. When

Johns was in Secondary School he told his mother for the first time that sometimes he craves

Human meat. His mother got shocked.

‘Why do you want to eat Humans? Humans are meant to eat not to be eaten.’

‘Why cannot I eat humans when I can eat animals? They both are livings.’

‘Yes but you are a human too. How can you eat a human yourself?’

‘But animals eat each other as well.’

‘But you are not an animal Johns.’

38 | P a g e
They got into a fight but Johns could not understand why he cannot consume a human. His craving

kept increasing so his mother decided to play a trick on him. She decided to serve him an animal

but told him it was a human. However, it was not easy to fool Johns as he has tried every meat and

he might figure it out easily. Besides she wanted him to hate the meat so she cooked him burned

rotten piece of meat. Her trick worked. When she was doing dishes after dinner, Johns knocked on

the door.

‘Mother?’

‘Johns my darling, come inside.’

She continued doing dishes and Johns sat on the dining table. He then continued.

‘Why did you do that?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You know what I mean.’

Johns’s mother stopped doing the dishes, turned around, and looked at Johns. She sat in front of

him but remained quiet.

‘You think I am stupid?’

‘No, No Johns! Of course not!’

‘Yes, you do! You think I am weird and you think I am a monster!’

‘Johns! What are you saying? You know I love you.’

‘You love me? Those who love do not lie!’

‘Johns! You do not understand. The thing you are asking for is wrong!’

‘Why? I just want to try something. What is so wrong with it? Why is this a big deal when

we can eat animals?’

‘Because they are just animals!’

39 | P a g e
 ‘To us! They also feel pain and love. They also have their own families. They are also trying

to make a living. What is the difference? I cannot see it.’

‘Fine if you want to try then okay. You can try to eat me first.’

She pulled a knife and cut off her finger. However, to her surprise, Johns did not shed a single tear

he held her finger in his hand and tried to eat it. His mother took a promise from him to never ask

for human meat ever again. Months passed by and Johns kept his promise. Until one rainy night,

Johns’s father came home late. The lights were out. He went to the kitchen to grab some water and

saw Johns standing in front of the cooking stove.

‘What are you making son?’

‘Hey, father! Are you hungry?’

‘A little, yes. I thought you two would be sleeping.’

‘I tried to fall asleep but could not. My hunger could not let me sleep.’

Johns sat in front of him. With a plate full of meat and vegetables.

‘Hmm looks good.’

Johns smiles at the compliment from his father they both start eating.

‘Do you like it?’

‘It’s not bad.’

‘I know right? Mother never believed me.’

‘You should save some of this for your mother then.’

‘No, it tastes good only when it’s the fresh father.’

‘But it’s a bit heavy for me. Which meat is this?’

Johns stopped eating he looked at his father and said

‘Why? You don’t like it?’

40 | P a g e
 ‘No, it is good just too heavy for me. Anyways I am going to rest you can finish it all.’

He stood up from the chair and opened the fridge to get some water. As soon as he opened the

fridge, the body of his wife fell out of it. Before he could understand anything Johns start

explaining.

‘Father it was not my idea. It was Mother. I just told her that I could not control it I want more.

Please do not get angry with me father. I was just hungry.’

Soon enough people start asking questions when they did not see Johns’s mother around and to

cover it up, Johns father told everyone that she got attacked by an animal. He asked Johns to leave

home, as he cannot live with him anymore. Johns did the same.

This was the story that only his father knew but during the investigation, everyone found out about

it. The police soon arrested Johns who was hiding inside their old home in Brentford. When they

arrested Johns he was counting his last breath. Due to his injuries, he could not be saved.

The police in charge of the case was sitting in his office when one of the detectives come to him

and asked this.

‘Nicole? What did he whisper to you before dying?’

‘He said- Do you think I am the only one?’

They both looked at each other but remained quiet.

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