It was a foggy, cold and rainy Halloween day in 2014 in Ludwigshafen. Sybille was cashing up the last customer and getting ready for closing time. She supported her studies by working in a small pet shop and was in charge of the aquatics department. She was an aquarist herself and loved to advise customers on all aspects of aquaristics.
Her flat was not far from the shop, which was why she always walked. That day she locked the door and set off. Sybille walked all alone through the dark streets. Every now and then a few children passed by, ringing the doorbells and shouting out "TRICK OR TREAT!”.
To distract herself, Sybille started texting with her best friend. As she walked around the corner, she accidentally bumped into a man carrying some bags. He was tall, well dressed, but had a strange smell. It reminded her of the smell of rotten substrate in aquariums if you don't vacuum the bottom with the JBL PROCLEAN AQUA EX 20-45 regularly. She immediately apologised and started picking up the bags. When she picked up the bags, she was very surprised. The bags were full of JBL PROSCAPE scissors. Every size and shape, from JBL PROSCAPE TOOLS S STRAIGHT , JBL PROSCAPE TOOLS S CURVED , JBL PROSCAPE TOOLS S WAVE to the JBL PROSCAPE TOOLS S SPRING . Sybille said to the man in a laughing voice: "You sure have a lot of scissors. You must have a lot of aquariums at home!" But the man did not react. She quickly gave him the bags and wished him a good evening.
Sybille quickly went to her front door, took the newspaper out of her letterbox and locked the door behind her. She had a queasy feeling, but thought it was just a slightly strange man. So she turned on the light in her flat, hung up her jacket and went without hesitation to the aquarium as she did every evening, gave the fish a JBL PlanktonPur MEDIUM stick and fertilised with JBL PROFLORA Ferropol 24 . The aquarium was modelled on the Aquascaping - aquariumtype JBL Dreamscape® ; large stones with ground-cover in a lush green.
Sybille switched on the TV and lay down on the couch. She usually watched an episode of JBL TV after work, but she got stuck on the news while zapping through. She turned the TV up louder as the rain was pelting against her old windows. A breaking news report came on that there was a murderer on the loose near Sybille's flat and they were advised not to go out on the streets until the police found him. Sybille went straight to the door and checked that it was properly locked. In the hallway she heard the newscaster say that the killer does not use ordinary weapons, but scissors for cutting aquarium plants. All his victims were aquarium owners. Sybille's heart began to beat very fast. Now she knew what the man was up to with all those scissors. She ran to her mobile phone and wanted to call her best friend, but out of nowhere, the strange smell came up her nose again. Beads of sweat ran down her forehead and suddenly there was a banging on the door. Louder and louder. Someone was there and desperately wanted to get in. Sybille looked around desperately and thought about what she could use to defend herself. But she only had an almost empty bottle of JBL Biotopol , a JBL Vangnet Fijn and a JBL WishWash Aqua within reach. But suddenly the blows stopped. Dead silence. Sybille slowly went to the door and looked through the peephole. There was no one to be seen. Only the light was still on.
She picked up her mobile phone and dialled the emergency number. It rang and a young policewoman answered. Before Sybille could say anything, she heard water dripping on the floor. She dropped the mobile and immediately ran to her aquarium. There he was. The PROSCAPE scissors snipper. Soaked from the rain. He dipped the JBL PROSCAPE TOOLS S CURVED into the water and cut the plants criss-cross. The sharp scissors cut the plants like butter. Sybille cried out, fell to the ground and begged the man to stop. But he just kept cutting, looking deep into her eyes, until she passed out.
When Sybille regained consciousness, she was lying on the couch and the biologist Heiko Blessin was talking blithely to himself in the " JBL TV #28 Part 2: Aquarium care is so easy! Weekly measures " . Her first glance was towards the aquarium and she was glad to see her great JBL Dreamscape® was not destroyed. She took a deep breath and was relieved that it was only a dream. But what was strange was that there was a package of scissors on the floor and she certainly hadn't imagined the man either. Suddenly Sybille heard footsteps coming closer and closer. And when she turned around, she cried out.....
Scary, isn't it? Just the thought of someone defacing my plants sends shivers down my spine. But what do you think? What did Sybille see that made her scream? Was it the PROSCAPE scissors snipper or someone entirely different? Let us know how you would finish the story!
Happy Halloween!
