Read Killer Among Us Online

Authors: Adriana Hunter,Carmen Cross

Tags: #erotic thriller, #bondage, #submissive, #domination, #bdsm erotica, #dungeon, #erotic horror, #bdsm horror, #bdsm thriller, #thriller and mystery, #bdsm absolute power

Killer Among Us (3 page)

BOOK: Killer Among Us
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Outside his windows dark had fallen. From
the street below he could hear noisy laughter and smell the food
from the halal cart that set up almost directly beneath the
windows. Restlessness tied his stomach into knots and he paced the
small living room, making a circuit around the couch and desk. The
vision of his favorite club came to mind, and lust made his prick
twitch at the zipper of his black jeans. Swearing softly he turned
on the television and was instantly bombarded with images of The
Creeper’s victims. He hit the off button on the remote and then
tossed the remote onto the couch.


I’ll go for a run,” he
decided. “That should settle me down some.”

Even as he pulled on his sweats, running
shoes and a t-shirt, he knew that what he was really doing was
trying to run away from himself, and that was one race he knew no
man ever won.

 

***

Sassy had fallen in love with a particular
section of Central Park. It was far enough away from Sophie’s
apartment that it meant she had to put Sophie in the little fabric
tote she had bought at Goodwill and then carry her there and home
because otherwise Sassy would have been too tired to play in the
grass. Sophie didn’t mind the long walk; it was about twenty
minutes each way; in fact she enjoyed it because it took up long
stretches of time she might not have been able to fill otherwise.
Sassy liked to hang her head over the side of the tote and take in
the view as well, Sophie had always been too afraid to let the
small animal hang out the window of her car like other dogs did so
she figured the tote gave Sassy a way to do that without
danger.

Watching the happy little creature gambol
about on the grass made her happy but she was aware that something
was missing. Sitting on the red and blue blanket she had carried so
that her pants would not get dirty she thought about her life, and
the shape it was taking.

When she had been younger she had made
friends easily, nothing in her experience had taught her that life
could be cruel and she trusted most people right off the bat,
especially authority figures. After the car crash that had killed
her parents and her subsequent burial in the system, she had
learned that life was not always about dinner on the table at six
o’clock every night, that not all kids were nice to each other,
that authority figures were often, if not downright petty and
cruel, too busy to bother listening when she tried to ask for help
and that nothing in life was fair.

Susan had been her only confidante
throughout those years, she was unable to imagine telling anyone
else what had happened to her, and with Susan words had been
unnecessary. She had been there with her in that place and had
shared those same experiences.

Looking at the people in the park Sophie
became acutely aware of just how lonely she was. She talked to
Geoff and customers at work but when she went home she had no one
for company other than Sassy.

She raised her face to the sun, letting its
strong rays soak away some of her sadness. It was late when they
started back, and Sassy was restless. She kept moving in the tote,
and barking at people who passed by. Sophie knew it was because
they had stayed too late at the park and Sassy was hungry and
irritated but it didn’t make it any easier to hang onto her. At one
point she leashed her and tried walking her to see if that would
calm her down, it didn’t so she put her back in the tote where she
wriggled and yowled until they reached home.

She fed Sassy and immediately afterwards the
canine curled up in her bed and went back to sleep. Sophie peeked
into her almost bare cabinets, looking for some dinner for herself.
Her kitchen was very small and so was her appetite so she had taken
to buying food on a day-to-day basis. Her cabinet held a packet of
Ramen noodles, a can of ravioli and a pound cake. The fridge had an
overripe avocado, a cup of pudding from her lunch the day before
and salad that had turned brown and limp.

Giving up she took her keys and purse and
headed out into the darkness to buy food.

 

***

Kane had given in. In his bedroom he toweled
his just showered body off and then dressed in black jeans, a black
t-shirt and his boots. He didn’t pack a bag for the club, telling
himself that all he wanted to do was watch, he had not ever picked
up anyone he didn’t know for casual play and he didn’t intend to do
so then. He just needed to reconnect, to be around others like
himself.

He headed out, walking down the darkening
avenues, enjoying the smells of the city. He had grown up in
Austerlitz and had always longed for the excitement of the city. He
had never been sorry about the move; there was something about the
pulse of life there, something so raw and vital that it called out
to him.

A young woman with a shaven head and tight
leather leggings strolled past him, her perfume making a sharp and
momentary exclamation in the air. Traffic gnashed and slowed and
the man at the stand selling roasted nuts waved a hand at him,
bringing the smell of sticky honey and almonds his way.

Neon bounced and wavered, from the doorways
of restaurants people called out to each other, yelled at taxis or
simply let the warm and scented air out into the night. Men in
business suits carried on conversations with each other and
tourists stood gawking past the hot white lights blazing from the
storefronts to the expensive merchandise within.

People drifted in huge shoals, and he let
himself be carried along. His thoughts refused to coalesce and he
didn’t force them to, he just walked and enjoyed the city.

The club was inside a large warehouse that
had been converted for its use over a decade before. The door was
small, discreet, tucked into a wall. There were no visible signs
that anything was going on in there. He rang the bell and
waited.

 

***

Sophie had decided to treat herself so she
had her dinner in a small and quiet Italian restaurant where the
helpings were huge and the bill reasonable. She pushed her plate
back, eyeing the scraped clean surface a bit regretfully. The
vegetable lasagna had been bursting with flavors she had never had
before: ricotta and zucchini and tarragon, the bread had been warm
and crusty and the salad crisp and tasty. She drank the last of her
coffee and paid her check, leaving a generous tip for her waitress,
who smiled at her in thanks.

Out on the street she found herself
confused. She had been walking a bit aimlessly, and the restaurant
was not on a street she was familiar with. She went down a nearly
deserted side street, came into a dead end and backtracked her way
back to a major avenue that she knew.

She had turned down a smaller street and was
nearing home when she saw him.

 

***

He had made the kill three hours before and
he was weary and ready to go home. His trophy was stashed in the
special insulated bag he carried and he walked out of the apartment
building, his cap pulled low and his face pointed down. He knew
where the two cameras were and he avoided them, but on the off
chance someone saw him he had dressed to ensure that he was
unremarkable: Baseball hat, dark jeans, dark shirt, no jacket. He
deliberately wore the girdle that made him look slimmer and bent
his knees so that he appeared an inch or two shorter than he
was.

He stepped out onto the sidewalk and into a
pile of dog shit someone had left behind. Anger swelled up and he
cursed several times, his face turning red. He set the bag down so
that he could scrape his shoe on the curb and his knee accidentally
hit it. His latest trophy rolled out onto the sidewalk.

Sophie had stepped onto the square of
sidewalk just as the heavy skull rolled onto it. She stared at it,
her mind frozen at the incomprehensibility of the situation. The
severed end revealed a clotted maroon and the eyes were rolled back
up in the sockets. The grisly hunk of neck stopped at the toe of
her right shoe.


Halloween mask,” was her
first thought but when she looked up at the man standing there, his
face turned toward her yet obscured by shadows and the bill of his
hat, she knew better. His eyes had a glitter she had seen before:
predatory.

She turned and ran, not stopping to think.
She wore the tennis shoes she had worn to walk to the park and she
had fear on her side, she did not dare look back, and she didn’t
need to, she could hear him running after her.

Ahead of her loomed another wider avenue.
Lights streamed from buildings and taxis, she could hear people
talking. For one long moment she thought she was trapped in some
strange netherworld but then she was back on the avenue and running
toward a door that was opening and a strong looking man who was
stepping into it.

Kane stared as the gorgeous woman with the
pale skin and long ebony hair burst into the club on his heels. Her
brightly blue eyes held sheer terror and her quivering mouth,
though devoid of lipstick, had a delightfully kissable coral
hue.

Her body was long, lean and elegant and
every inch of it was vibrating with the fear that was stamped on
her features. The door swung shut behind them and the doorman
asked, “Do you know her?”

The doorman was the same one who had been
there during the years when Kane made a regular appearance. He
started to shake his head in reply, but his instincts told him she
was in trouble and that if he let her loose something terrible
would happen to her.


Well you are going to have
to renew your membership and sign her in as a guest. That will cost
you a hundred bucks, my man.”

Sophie opened her mouth but nothing came
out. The man she had run into seemed to find nothing odd about
that, instead he patted her shoulder, an impartial bit of
comforting.

She was too confused to make sense of
anything. She kept waiting for the door to open and the man with
the head in a bag to charge in. She looked around wildly for
somewhere to hide, but there was only the small and cloyingly
narrow hallway in which they stood, the walls painted jet black and
the floors carpeted in heavy red. She felt dizzy and slightly
nauseated. Her heartbeat was still way too high and sweat pooled
under her hairline thanks to her impromptu run.

Kane asked her for her ID, she stared at him
then dug around in her purse, showing her ID to the man behind the
makeshift counter. The man took it, perused it and handed it and a
shiny plastic card back to her. She simply tucked them into her
purse without thinking. They were waved on and they moved into a
smaller room, still dimly lit, but with couches and chairs
scattered about. Kane went to the small alcove where snacks and
beverages were provided and brought her back a bottle of water and
a small chocolate wrapped in gold paper.


So let’s start with your
name.” He spoke in his calmest voice and it soothed her.


I’m Sophie.”


I’m Kane. It looked like
you were running from something.”


Yes,” she replied in a
shaky whisper. “This is going to sound crazy; I was running because
there was…I thought… a head rolled into my feet.”

Kane blinked. “What?”


Oh, I know it sounds…See,
I got lost…the head, it just rolled out of the sack and it landed
on the sidewalk next to my feet.”

She was babbling and her face was still
white with shock. Kane unwrapped the candy and slid it between her
lips, she bit down gracefully and the sugar hit her system, jolting
her back to reality somewhat.


That sounds crazy,
right?”


Did you see his face?” He
asked.


Uh, no, he wore a cap. It
was likely a Halloween mask or something; it just scared the shit
out of me.”


Have you heard of The
Creeper?”


No.”

Her accent placed her as being from out of
town. “Are you here visiting?”


No, I moved here two weeks
ago.”

Kane felt his stomach tighten. He glanced
down at the toes of her tennis shoes, wondering if the head she
thought she had seen rolling into her shoe had left any evidence
behind. “Can you tell me where this happened?”


No,” her face fell. “I was
lost and then I ran…I’m sorry. You think I am a lunatic I’m sure. I
should get home, my dog will be afraid if I’m gone too
long.”

His eyes went to her hands; no ring. She was
alone. All alone and she may have very well spotted the Creeper. It
was a long shot, but he had to take it.

Sophie became aware of the sounds that were
echoing through the space suddenly. Her head jerked up and her eyes
dilated, her nostrils flared like an animal that has scented
danger. Muffled screams, the sound of flesh hitting flesh; it rose
slightly above the music.


What…what is that?” she
asked in a quavering voice. Stark horror darkened her eyes as she
asked the question.

She probably thinks she wandered into a
building filled with killers, Kane thought.


It’s a party. This is a
BDSM club. It is for people who are into bondage and
kink.”

That sunk in. She didn’t look shocked by it
even though she was obviously confused. “You mean like whips and
chains and that sort of thing?”


Yes, to a point. I need
your shoe.”


What?”

Kane leaned very close to her ear. “I’m a
cop. I’m working a case and I think you may have just seen
something that can help.”

She looked dazed, “You’re here working a
case?”


No I’m here for personal
reasons, or at least, I was. I need your shoe and I need to get you
somewhere safe.”

BOOK: Killer Among Us
7.45Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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