The water is scalding. But I have thick skin. Like a rhinoceros. I feel nothing. It’s easier this way. To burn alive and feel nothing. I imagine this is what hell is like.

“Carol?”

His voice is so soft, caring. As if from a different man. Not the man I witnessed plunge a knife into a woman’s spine, fold her into her own trunk, then kiss me goodnight.

The drain is slightly clogged. The water doesn’t go down as fast as I want. Looking at its reddish tint, I wonder…

Is it her blood I’m washing off, or my own?

—Nortina

The A to Z Challenge has officially kicked off… and on a Sunday! (April Fools?)

This year I’m giving you 26 drabbles (100-word stories) using some of my favorite unused or underused tags.

Today’s tag is “accessory to murder.” I wonder which is Carol…accessory, or victim herself? And who is this mystery man? Will he appear in a future drabble? You know how I love serializing my A to Z Challenges. 😉

Stay tuned for “B” tomorrow.

And if you want to know how “accessory to murder” ended up on this blog, here’s the one and only story that ever featured the tag, a chapter in a previous dangerous serial…

And no, these stories aren’t related…or are they?