[ WP ] Write a story about a serial killer , but make the readers feel sympathy for him/her as he kills his most recent victim .

*Journal Entry # 726 - West Plains, Missouri* 
 
 *It's me again, Shannon. I promised I'd write to you each night, but I ca n't really. It's different since the sun dimmed. The world has gone to shit. I've been searching for something in my life that has n't changed, but everything has. The tall grass is everywhere, and it scares me. The tall grass is everywhere my memories used to be. I went back to the farm after the twilight began. The grass grew up after we moved away. * 
 
 *That'd make a good song. Would n't it, Shannon? * 
 
 > Tall grass, it scares me.'Cause it's every place my memories used to be. Like out on the farm where we laugh and played; the grass grew up when we moved away. Even that old dirt road where we walked to check the mail. The grass grew up and now it's just a trail. 
 
 *That's about all I could come up with. Maybe next time, I'll write a little more of it. You know, if the Dusty Men do n't get me. They seem to be multiplying. I encounter them more now than I used to. I think this twilight night that descended on this world came with a sickness. For the most part, everyone seems the same. They smile and mumble hellos when we pass, but every now and again, I see the way their eyes shine. I did n't know what that meant in the beginning, but I know now. They caught whatever the virus is that's been infected people. That's how it starts. First their eyes glitter, then later they become as grey as the sky, then they change. * 
 
 *I get tired of killing them; the Dusk Men that is. The last one I was forced to kill was n't very old. I came upon it while it was distracted on that old play ground down behind where that old elementary school used to be in Alton, before they built the new one. It was sitting on the ground, and it saw me while I was crossing. I swear it looked small as a child, but its face was all cracked and pitted like stone, and its eyes glowed almost red. I was nervous. I'd killed Dusk Men and even the women before that were around my size, but never one of their children. I felt bad after. While it lay upon its stomach, I could almost imagine that it was still human. I'm not ashamed to say that I fled. The others can smell the blood I think or seem to sense when one of their own is injured or killed. In St. Louis, I killed a Dusk Man out in a parking lot and a lot of the other Dusk Men chased after me. I killed several in St. Louis. I... * 
 
 *You know what? I do n't really like talking about those I killed. I do it to survive and that's all. I do n't want you to think about what I've done. When I killed that small one and fled, I stopped on the other side of the gymnasium to catch my breath and heard a mother wail. She was crying because someone murdered her child. If I'd only happened along sooner, I might have killed that little Dusk Man before it killed that poor women's kid. * 
 
 *Anyway, I'll try and write more often. I hate to think you're up there in Heaven wondering why I have n't written to you. I hope you're up there in Heaven. I really do. I do n't know if Dusk Men get to go to Heaven. I'm pretty sure they do. They used to be human before they got sick. You used to be human before you changed. I just have to believe you're up there looking down on me. Killing the monster that took over your body was the hardest thing I ever did. I miss you, Shannon. God, how I miss you. I just -- I'm tired of this; this roaming and surviving. It is n't really much of a life, and the killing wearies me so. The only reason I have n't ended myself is because I know it's a sin. I still want to be with you after I die. * 
 
 *Ha. Ha. As fast as this sickness is spreading in the world, it wo n't be long I should think. I see the Dawn Men everywhere now. Sooner or later, they'll catch me, and we'll be together. Maybe, I'll finish that song before they overwhelm me and sing it to you when we're together again. You always liked that country music. I think you'd enjoy it. * 
 
 *Well, goodbye, lover. As always, I'm sorry you got sick and became one of them. I'm sorry I was forced to put you out of your misery the way I did. I'm sorry we ca n't be together. Just hold on. Please? It wo n't be much longer. * 
 
 *Love, * 
 
 *Dean*
