Four corpses, one for each of the winds.

I can’t believe how easy this shit is. How do people get caught all of the time? Are they stupid or lazy? I am traceless, and all it takes is a little bargaining.

I pray to the Spirit of Water to keep me from sweating.

I beg the Spirit of Earth to obscure my fingerprints.

I beseech the Spirit of Fire to burn my hair and follicles as they stray from my body.

I invoke the Spirit of Wind to keep me silent as I escape.

Like I said, easy shit. And speaking of easy, I need to let the others know that a ritualistic bullet is just as viable as a dagger. Both are sharp points of iron, which is what the spell calls for. My way leaves less mess, takes less time, and looks way fucking cooler as well. I’m sure there will be some luddite response from the naysayers but fuck them. I’m expediting the process. I’m calling more and more while they stand around in their robes with their thumbs and their ornate daggers up their asses.

Two downsides, however. The blood tastes like gunpowder and even more like iron. I like a good, irony blood but sucking down this stuff is like drinking liquid pennies.

Secondly, shooting a person just doesn’t give the same satisfaction as carving them bit by bit. Sure, you can shoot them in the leg or some non-vital organ and watch them squirm around a bit, but it’s nothing like the slow, deliberate draw of the knife. The screams are different. The pleading is more desperate. And if push comes to shove and you do have to pop someone in the head or the heart, well, that’s it. They quiet up real quick. No fun.

For example, these four… I had to do them quick. I did an old B&E on their house and walked in on them playing Wii Bowling or some shit. Shot the older girl in the head before anyone had time to see me. Made the other three shut the fuck up as quickly as I could and sit around their dinner table. Stupid me, didn’t check beforehand to see if the table was round but thank fuck it was. Propped the girl’s body at the northmost chair while the other three sat and sniffled with their heads down.

Shot my second, the youngest boy, in the heart. Bam! At this point, the other two were sobbing and shaking. “Oh shut the fuck up,” I said and when they didn’t, I just popped the third. After that, I placed the last girl’s hand around the pistol and made her point it at her temple. Boy, was she unhappy. Her moaning dropped to silence soon enough.

Took what I could from both spirit and blood and got out of there when I heard sirens. Left the gun, of course, in the hands of the last girl. I suppose that’s a third downside- gotta get a new gun every time I want to do it this way. Expensive. No skin off my nose, I’ve got a benefactor.