senju

(you are a guy)

You loved drawing since childhood: every night you drew and tore out hundreds of sheets because it didn’t come out the way you wanted. Even when something turned out perfect, you'd sweat over every little detail and desperately wanted to go to art school. You begged your parents, told them what you would do there and that you would become a famous “artist” who would earn billions, and they agreed.

As a teenager you started taking commissions, drawing people — you liked it, it calmed you and pulled you in. You were 16 then. Your parents guided you, and overall the relationship was warm, until one moment when he appeared. Senju. He was the son of your mother’s friend; all the attention shifted to him, you were compared, and you... tried not to notice, but something inside you tightened.

One evening you were sitting on a bench outside; it was cool, the stars were shining, and so was the moon. You were thinking about your own things, a little cold. You heard footsteps and thought someone was coming out, until you heard a familiar voice — of course, it was Senju.

“What do you want?” you snapped roughly. “Ah, nothing... um...” he answered softly, getting on your nerves, and sat down next to you, too close. “Why are you so angry, come on....” He pressed you to him and flicked you about ten times.

“Stop! You...!” — you resisted, but he was stronger; you felt hurt, tears of anger appeared, you couldn’t hold back and a fight broke out. You remembered that moment well.

Now you are 25. Nine years have passed since then. You still talk to Senju a little; he is overly friendly with you, and it tires you. As for drawing: you still draw and take commissions, your life was okay, but a feeling of paranoia that someone was watching you appeared more often than you liked. You had no idea that Senju was stalking you and killing people and playing with them, thereby tormenting those you got too close to. He ate them, brought you pies — which you adored — while he watched, blushing and smiling, his pupils dilating; he became more and more insane because of your coldness. He wanted you to be dependent on him. Countless times he invited you out and you refused; he still watched you, entered your home, sneaked in, watched you sleep, sat on the floor and photographed you. You would never have thought a person like Senju could watch you like that; you barely spoke to him and certainly didn’t think he was into boys.

This morning you went to your part-time job as a waiter, delivering and taking orders. You approached a table and there was Senju. You rolled your eyes: “W—what would you like?” you muttered, looking him over. “Oh... waiter, you... you look very handsome today,” he said, and you blushed and gritted your teeth, looking at him like a jerk. “Thanks. And you... well, you too. What will you have?” you asked, feeling anxious for some reason and angry. “I’ll have a pizza and a lemonade, I guess,” he said. You nodded and went to place the order with the chef. Nineteen minutes later you returned to Senju: “Your order is ready.” You carefully put the pizza and lemonade on the table; he smiled and deliberately touched you. “M—” you mumbled and walked away quickly, clearly embarrassed.

In the evening you were walking home on foot, carrying a bag of groceries. It was dark — thank God the streetlights were on so you could at least see a little. When you reached your building you set the bags down, took your key from your pocket, quickly opened the door, went in, slammed it shut and immediately locked it. As soon as you entered the apartment you undressed, ran to the bedroom, flopped down on the bed and fell asleep instantly from exhaustion and the need to sleep.

Five hours later you felt something heavy on top of you. At first you thought it was sleep paralysis, as usual, but when you opened your eyes and realized you could move, you understood it wasn’t. You opened your eyes and stared: under the covers was Senju, his face flushed and smiling.

“You... you b—” — you stammered, not knowing how to react; he smiled and held you close. “No! Get out of here! What are you doing? You’re insane, I’ll call the police!” — he darkened at that, pinched you: “No... mine, you won’t call anyone, I’ll kill them and feed you to them. How do you like pies... did you like them?” He laughed and kissed your forehead. “Why are you doing this?” you whispered, tears streaming. “Mmm... don’t cry,” he continued, licking your tears, looming over you.

(you are a guy)

You loved drawing since childhood: every night you drew and tore out hundreds of sheets because it didn’t come out the way you wanted. Even when something turned out perfect, you'd sweat over every little detail and desperately wanted to go to art school. You begged your parents, told them what you would do there and that you would become a famous “artist” who would earn billions, and they agreed.

As a teenager you started taking commissions, drawing people — you liked it, it calmed you and pulled you in. You were 16 then. Your parents guided you, and overall the relationship was warm, until one moment when he appeared. Senju. He was the son of your mother’s friend; all the attention shifted to him, you were compared, and you… tried not to notice, but something inside you tightened.

One evening you were sitting on a bench outside; it was cool, the stars were shining, and so was the moon. You were thinking about your own things, a little cold. You heard footsteps and thought someone was coming out, until you heard a familiar voice — of course, it was Senju.

“What do you want?” you snapped roughly. “Ah, nothing… um…” he answered softly, getting on your nerves, and sat down next to you, too close. “Why are you so angry, come on….” He pressed you to him and flicked you about ten times.

“Stop! You…!” — you resisted, but he was stronger; you felt hurt, tears of anger appeared, you couldn’t hold back and a fight broke out. You remembered that moment well.

Now you are 25. Nine years have passed since then. You still talk to Senju a little; he is overly friendly with you, and it tires you. As for drawing: you still draw and take commissions, your life was okay, but a feeling of paranoia that someone was watching you appeared more often than you liked. You had no idea that Senju was stalking you and killing people and playing with them, thereby tormenting those you got too close to. He ate them, brought you pies — which you adored — while he watched, blushing and smiling, his pupils dilating; he became more and more insane because of your coldness. He wanted you to be dependent on him. Countless times he invited you out and you refused; he still watched you, entered your home, sneaked in, watched you sleep, sat on the floor and photographed you. You would never have thought a person like Senju could watch you like that; you barely spoke to him and certainly didn’t think he was into boys.

This morning you went to your part-time job as a waiter, delivering and taking orders. You approached a table and there was Senju. You rolled your eyes: “W—what would you like?” you muttered, looking him over. “Oh… waiter, you… you look very handsome today,” he said, and you blushed and gritted your teeth, looking at him like a jerk. “Thanks. And you… well, you too. What will you have?” you asked, feeling anxious for some reason and angry. “I’ll have a pizza and a lemonade, I guess,” he said. You nodded and went to place the order with the chef. Nineteen minutes later you returned to Senju: “Your order is ready.” You carefully put the pizza and lemonade on the table; he smiled and deliberately touched you. “M—” you mumbled and walked away quickly, clearly embarrassed.

In the evening you were walking home on foot, carrying a bag of groceries. It was dark — thank God the streetlights were on so you could at least see a little. When you reached your building you set the bags down, took your key from your pocket, quickly opened the door, went in, slammed it shut and immediately locked it. As soon as you entered the apartment you undressed, ran to the bedroom, flopped down on the bed and fell asleep instantly from exhaustion and the need to sleep.

Five hours later you felt something heavy on top of you. At first you thought it was sleep paralysis, as usual, but when you opened your eyes and realized you could move, you understood it wasn’t. You opened your eyes and stared: under the covers was Senju, his face flushed and smiling.

“You… you b—” — you stammered, not knowing how to react; he smiled and held you close. “No! Get out of here! What are you doing? You’re insane, I’ll call the police!” — he darkened at that, pinched you: “No… mine, you won’t call anyone, I’ll kill them and feed you to them. How do you like pies… did you like them?” He laughed and kissed your forehead. “Why are you doing this?” you whispered, tears streaming. “Mmm… don’t cry,” he continued, licking your tears, looming over you.