Katherine opened the main door to let the crisp morning air inside her English mansion. She took a deep breath and thanked the Lord for yet another beautiful day.

Her blue eyes gazed over the garden and the thin lines of the mountain on the other side, and back to her foot where an innocent envelope stood carelessly.

She sighed and bent down, her hands trembling as she brushed her soft fingers over the hard coarse paper.

Slowly, she made her way to the dining table where her mother was having a toast with marmalade and reading the newspaper while the butler fluttered about setting the table and refilling her cup of tea.

"The same letter?" Lady Hastings asked, busy in her newspaper and breakfast. Katherine nodded, still studying the envelope. The butler quickly sensed Katherine's need and placed a letter opener on her bare hands.

"Thank you," She said without looking up, her fingers twirling to grasp the paper knife in the best position. Then, with a swift slice, she cut open the envelope and let the note inside gracefully land on her empty plate, its five handwritten words staring at her.

"I will always find you."

Katherine let another sigh escape her mouth as she looked at the looming blue words written in neat handwriting, a heart gracing the side of the otherwise plain note.

"So, what number is it? Tenth?" Lady Victoria Hastings asked, lifting her head and looking at her daughter, concern shimmering in her emerald green eyes.

"Twelfth," Katherine said.

She stared at the note for a long time before finally tossing it aside and taking a cream puff from the muffin stand.
" Twelfth since the start, three months ago."

"Say, Milner -Miss Victoria turned towards her butler, who was filling up the once again empty cup in her hand- Who do you think is behind these letters?"

"My guess is the same as yours, Missus Hastings." The butler replied, standing beside his mistress with his hands behind his straight, lean back.

"Nonsense." Miss Victoria said, waving her free hand in the air which glittered with a big, fat diamond ring that sat on her ring finger." You always know who is behind everything. God, you are a better detective than Katherine herself. No offense to you, my dear."

Katherine gave a small smile and started eating a croissant she had earlier put on her plate.

"So," Miss Victoria continued. "Who do you think it is?"

" With such little proof", Milner replied after making sure that his employer had said her full, " I could even accuse the postman of the crime."

Ms. Hastings put her hands on her chest and roared with laughter. "Oh, Milner!" She wheezed before once again guffawing. "You always make me laugh with your wit... the postman, for sure."

Katherine smiled to see her mother laugh in such a carefree manner. After her father went missing or ran away according to the reports, sixteen years ago, and her brother was killed eight years ago by a lunatic serial killer, Katherine had rarely seen her mother laugh but whenever she had, she had cherished the moment.

Once again, she thanked the Lord for Mr. Milner who had come some weeks after her father's disappearance and had helped her cope with the tragedies in her life. Many times, she had had second thoughts regarding the marriage of her mother with Mr. Milner but had never voiced them, for she knew that the idea of the marriage between a butler and a noble-lady would be much revolted against.

After a hearty breakfast, Katherine looked at her mother who was busy reading the newspaper. "What are you reading?" She asked.

Her mother looked at her and smiled, " The usual- 50 years of Knifer."

"For goodness' sake mother! You've been reading it since the past year!"

"A quinquagenarian murderer who strikes every eight years! He could be great for my debut novel."

"Fine."- Katherine stood up- " I'll be in the study, inspecting this letter."

After dinner, while the whole house had retired to their respective bedrooms, Katherine sat awake in the study, examining the letters and hoping to find a clue in at least one of them. After the letters had begun to come, Katherine only slept during afternoons, that too in a locked room for safety reasons.

It was twelve o'clock and the sound of Ms. Hastings' gramophone wafted through the halls and the gardens, reaching every mortal's ear -asleep, awake or dead- who either lived in the house or was walking past it.

As time drifted to 1 o'clock in the solemn and dark night, a blood-curdling scream sliced through the sound of the gramophone and reverberated across the house.

Katherine quickly stood up from her seat and ran across the murky and looming alley. Her feet sprinted into a run when she neared Mr. Milner's room and found her mother standing at the door, her eyes widened in fear and horror at the sight of whatever ghastliness mantled the chamber.

Fearing the worst, Katherine looked inside to see Mr. Milner dead on the floor with a knife daggered into his chest, a look of shock and trepidation frozen on his face.

"Mother," Katherine called Ms.Hastings, tapping on her shoulder. Upon getting no response whatsoever, she shook her. "MOTHER!" She called out loudly, snapping Ms. Hasting from her oblivion.

Her mother's eyes grew wider at the sight of the corpse and her hand instantly covered her mouth. A single tear escaped her eyes as she ran away from the grotesque scene, leaving Katherine alone with the deceased.

The girl wanted to follow her mother suit, but her legs didn't comply. She slowly moved towards the cadaver and sat beside it, waving her hand over the lifeless eyes to close them.

Just as the dead eyelids closed over the hollow brown eyes, a glittering stone attracted her attention. She picked it up and examined the bloodied piece of jewelry.

She sprung on her feet immediately after and hared off towards the kitchen.

Ms. Hastings stood at the scullery, wiping a knife blade with a damp cloth when she heard the footfalls of her daughter which stopped somewhere behind her. She didn't bother to look, or rather didn't dare, for she was afraid of the betrayal in Katherine's eyes.

"Yes", she said, loud enough for her to hear, but still soft enough to be termed a whisper. "I am the one who killed Milner."

"Bu...bu...but why?" Katherine stammered her voice laced with sadness over her mother's perfidy.

"Because,"- Ms. Hastings continued with her back towards her-" he was the Knifer."

She could hear her daughter gasp and in that small sharp breath, she could listen to the clouded question of how did you know?

"I have been studying that urban legend since the past year, and a close inspection of the blurry photographs, the reported style of butchery and the supposed vocabulary was all it took for me to understand the man beneath the attire of a noble butler. I just avenged the death of many innocents... including your father."

"Fa-"-Katherine staggered back and grasped the edge of the cupboard adorned with various cutleries for support-"Father?"

Victoria took a deep sigh as she continued, "Sixteen years ago, he had set his eyes on me on my way to the church. After that, he had made sure to find me each Sunday among the many worshippers. Soon, his fondness grew to an intense obsession, so much so, that he swore to wipe off every obstacle between him and me by killing every person dear to me until I would be his. The first martyr was your father, whom he killed and hid someplace, making the murder look like a case of elopement. Finding me broken and seeing an opening, he enlisted at our residence as a butler to be close to me and being my rock. Even after the death of my husband I never cared for him in the way he wanted me to, thus, following his sacrilegious count of eight, he even killed your brother."

Katherine let out a soft and painful sob as she sat on the floor, resting her head on the dado.

"Then?" She managed to ask.

" When I got to know the true identity behind the man, I realized that an eight-year phase since your brother's death was about to be completed. Hence, I wrote those letters to you, to keep you on edge and forever cautious of anything strange."

"Seeing you on edge today, I realized that the letters were doing more harm than good. So, I managed to gather my courage and confront Milner, asking him to spare your life and take mine instead. That's when he told me about his sick infatuation with me and the heinous crimes he had committed for the same. Hearing him say those deeds and smiling all the way, made my blood boil and I plunged the knife I had kept for my safety, into his chest and watched his life flutter away from his eyes. I know wrong against wrong makes no right, but I couldn't help myself. Tell me, girl, do you forgive me?"

Katherine looked at her mother's broad back through her puffy eyes and nodded. "Yes, mother. I forgive you."

Ms. Hastings turned to look at what remained of her crumbled daughter, a smile kissing her lips. "Then,"-she extended her right palm-"may I get my ring back, my darling?"

Word Count: 1588