Serial (9 page)

“Not a problem,” I said and dropped down on top of her. I pressed her into the floor with my weight, she felt tiny underneath me, a slip of a girl and so beautiful in that moment I wanted to cut her throat immediately.

I took my time though; I needed to in order to keep Pet safe from this, from me. I wanted to honor Coral’s sacrifice, her life so my Pet might heal and live and survive my red-hot waves of need. I pushed myself back up and looked at her.

“You should wear a condom,” she said, “bareback is another fifty.”

“I’ve got one when I’m ready,” I told her and surveyed the scene. She was stretched out elegantly, more poignantly perfect on the edge of death than she ever was in life.

“Is this ok?” she asked, suddenly self-conscious of her position and my intense gaze.

“You look beautiful, you know that though, don’t you?”

“I don’t, but thank you.”

“You are, it’s not something dependent on whether or not you know. You just are.” I looked at her, up and down, and drank in that moment. I needed to etch it into my brain so I could savor it when I needed to alleviate my rage.

I leaned over her, hovered above her face for a few tense moments, and kissed her again. I put all the emotion I feel for Pet into my kiss. I wrapped my tongue around hers, stroked her spiky hair and ground my cock against her body.

She moaned and thrust up against me, trying to let me know she was ready for it.

I wasn’t buying all of it; I knew she was playing a part, acting out a role. Little did she know the role she was playing included her own death.

“So beautiful,” I whispered and closed my eyes. I could see Pet’s silky skin and thick, wavy hair pulled back into a ponytail. I imagined my hand loosening her hair and pulling it around her face in fragrant waves.

I ran my hand up under Coral’s cheap faux leather corset and pulled it apart, exposing her breasts. They were fairly small, but well shaped and plump.

Her nipples were perfect little rosebuds of puckered pink skin. I locked my mouth on one flushed little mound and teased it harder. I moved my other hand under her skirt and found her slit, pushed her panties aside and fingered her clit while I mouthed her breast.

She sighs and reached for my head, but I managed to say, “No” before she got her hands wrapped in my hair. I didn’t want her touching me and ruining the moment. As it stands, I could pretend this was Pet’s body I was enjoying and exploring. This was the dress rehearsal.

I abruptly pulled away, her breast popped from my mouth and I removed my hand. I needed to do this now, get it over with so I could get back to the woman I loved.

I moved ahead and reached for my case; she looked up and said, “Good thinking,” as she grabbed my painfully throbbing cock. She thought I was getting the condom and preparing to fuck her. How cute.

I opened it just a crack and prop it against the box behind it. The box has some assorted knives, a rope, and cleaning products, mostly bleach…it was amazing what bleach would get rid of.

I removed a small, razor sharp skinning knife and moved back along her body. She arched her back in anticipation and I kissed her, holding the knife low on her side. She sighed against my mouth and whispered, “This is nice. You’re so different from most guys I meet.”

“I really am,” I said and fell into the lazy nirvana with her, imagining another life, another woman. I kissed her softly at first, then with more force, pinning her back against the floor with the weight of my body and the crush of my mouth.

I moved down her neck, sucking and nibbling her flesh as I went, feeding on the energy of her little gasps and moans.

I suckled her breast and rolled the nipple in my mouth, between my teeth. We were so close then I could feel my own pulse throbbing in my hard cock. I wanted to mount her and cover her with my seed, but I was limited in my clean up in this place, so I had to be very careful.

I couldn’t be caught then, when my life was
almost
perfect and I had
almost
become everything my parents had always deemed important. I needed to reach my destination, fulfill all their hopes and dreams and commands for how to live my life. I couldn’t end up trapped in this purgatory of
almost.

I sucked harder and felt her growing discomfort at the use of my teeth. I couldn’t help myself then, I couldn’t have stopped even if I had wanted to. The red heat wave had consumed my mind and all I could think about was hitting the pinnacle of our shared release.

I reached down and hastily shoved my cock against her rough tartan skirt. I dry humped her while I bit harder and moved to pick up the knife.

She didn’t have time to react; it was over so fast.

In one swift and practiced motion I sunk the blade in and drew across her neck. One powerful thrust is all it took; my cock erupted as the stream of blood shot from her body and covered my face. I shut my eyes and bit down, hard.

Her flesh tore as I pulled away, nipple in my mouth and knife in my hand. I sat up and surveyed the scene, tasted the nipple and almost swallowed it in my excitement. I spat it into my hand and placed it in a plastic bag I brought for just this purpose. I would preserve it and add it to my collection later.

She was gone, so fast, so efficient…and so very beautiful.

I felt the red receding, and my head stopped throbbing as though connected to my cock. I softened and looked at her face, serene and soft. Her eyes were staring at some unknown horror, so I reached out and closed them. I ran the tip of my finger over her skin, traced her lips and her jawline.

I felt sated, and my Pet was safe until the redness returns.

I wanted to linger with Coral, but I knew I couldn’t. I needed to get back to Pet and take her the items I purchased earlier. I moved into motion, a flurry of activity.

I zipped myself up and remove her clothing. I tossed my knife in a shallow bowl and poured some bleach over it. I dragged long rubber gloves onto my hands and started the cleaning process.

This storage unit had a drain, one of the main reasons I chose it I realized then. With my apartment no longer available, I needed another, safer processing site.

I mixed bleach with some water. I had also stocked the unit with water jugs, planning ahead without planning again. I stripped Coral’s clothing off, wiped her body down and tossed the cloth to the side. I’d take her clothes and the cloth to a dumpster far from here at some point…or burn them. Somehow I’d dispose of them.

I took a handheld vacuum and ran it all over the tarp and her body, rolled it to and fro, hovering just above her open neck. The wound fascinated me; it was still oozing and exposed. By the time I dumped her body, it would probably be crusting over. Even in death, blood attempted to coagulate, repair the tissue beneath it.

The human body was truly a thing of wonder.

I vacuumed her hair, hoping to catch any traces of my presence.

It was a good thing that the reality of forensic science was vastly different than portrayed on television. From my intensive studies in the matter, it was never just one thing that got somebody caught. It wasn’t like the movies; they wouldn’t find one fibre and hunt me down based on a shabby suit jacket I had purchased at the second hand store a year ago.

It was an accumulation of things that got one caught, somebody smart enough to recognize a pattern and put the pieces together.

It took time, money, effort, coordination…and a brilliant mind. Most of which were lacking in day-to-day life.

Either way, I did my best to clean her up and eliminated traces of me.

I sat back, satisfied with my work. I fingered the plastic bag in my pocket and felt a surge of lust race through my veins to my cock. I was semi-erect when I finally rolled her up and folded her little body in half.

Oh how I wish I could have stayed with her a while longer, jerk off and find some more relief from the constant need that lived in my head.

I packed her into the front cab of the pickup truck and headed out of town to my favourite dumping ground.

I knew the press had mentioned the Cascades Killer, but I think it was just more wishful thinking on their parts than somebody actually putting two and two together.

I made it a couple hours out of Portland before I felt the need to dump her body. I wasn’t as far out as usual, but I didn’t care. I had to get home; I had to see my Pet.

I took a short, narrow path into the bush a ways and decided that was as good a spot as any. I hopped out, opened the passenger door and lifted Coral’s stiffening body.

I walked into the forest and laid her down, unrolled the tarp and slid her off onto the mossy carpet.

She was perfection; the loss of blood had left her skin as cold and white as alabaster. Her short hair gave her a tragic look, and her face appeared mournful as though she regretted leaving her life behind.

I closed my eyes and remembered that last moment, when she realized what was happening and offered herself up to me, exposed her throat and took the knife deep in her skin.

“Thank you,” I said and arranged her arms across her body, Sleeping Beauty style. I think I saw a picture in a book of fairy tales once, a woman painted in soft repose, arms crossed and hair splayed out around her like a fan.

Coral’s hair was too short, which is why I generally preferred longer, but I had been in a hurry tonight.

I touched her face one last time, stood and left the scene.

I got home just before dawn, the streetlights of the city blinked out alongside me as I moved through the silent streets.

I showered before seeing her, I needed to clean the clotted blood from my face and get rid of my clothes.

I dressed casually in soft track pants and a Harvard tee. I unlocked the door and noticed my hands were trembling as I opened it.

She was on the bed in almost the exact same position as the body I had just left. My heart sank and I feared that she had died while I was gone, as punishment perhaps for my wicked ways. I crossed the room and leaned over, listening for her breathing.

It was faint, but there. My mouth curved into a smile and I dropped the shopping bags to the floor.

“Hey sleepyhead,” I whispered and she stirred but did not wake. My heart sored with the little movements and noises she makes. “Sweetheart,” I said and dropped to my knees beside the bed.

She was deep in sleep, too deep for me to reach her. I touched her face, it was still swollen but signs of healing were apparent. The wonder of the human body, I thought to myself.

I nudged her gently and climbed into bed with her. I drew the covers over the both of us and spooned her, my face nuzzled into the nape of her neck.

She woke then, rolled against me and smiled. “Hey you,” she said, “you came back.”

“I’ll always come back,” I replied and she was asleep again in a flash. I nuzzled her neck, nipped the flesh and inhaled her scent. She sighed softly and wiggled her body against mine. I whispered, “I’ll always come back for you, Pet. I’ll never leave you now that I have you.”

We slept together like that, for the first time. Fully clothed and innocent, two beautiful creatures just discovering who they were and what they were meant to be to each other.

Me…her protection. She…my salvation.

Chapter Nine

Jude

I had woken to find her gone from my arms. The pillow was still rumpled where her head had lain.

Shock coursed through my body, I hadn’t locked the door before I laid down this morning, and I hadn’t meant to fall asleep holding her.

She had been intoxicating, the feel of her body against mine and the sound of her steady breathing had lulled me into a peaceful, dreamless sleep. The first one in years.

“Pet?” I asked and sat up, surveying the room. Her pajamas were folded carefully on the dresser and there was no sign of her.

I walked to the bathroom and rapped lightly. There was no answer so I opened the door; she was not inside.

I left the room in search of her and found her immediately. She was in my kitchen cooking me breakfast. Although I had slept so long this would be considered more of a late dinner. Thank god I had texted work some time last night to let them know I’d need a few personal days.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I demanded, alarmed at the sight of her loose in my space.

“I hope you don’t mind,” she said and lowered her eyes, they were still swollen, and dark bruises encircled them, “I wanted to repay you for saving me and this is all I could think of.” She lifted the plate and said, “Omelet, no cheddar, whole wheat toast, cut diagonally and butter on the side.”

I wanted to smash the plate from her hands and drag her back to her room. Her freedom terrified me and challenged me and had me reconsidering this entire crazy plan. If she was to get away and tell somebody, anybody, about me…I would be captured for sure. If not for the women I’d killed, then at least for Pet’s boyfriend.

I glanced at the office door, but it was still closed. I had left a fresh treat in there, one I had casually dropped on the desk, still in the plastic bag from the night before. If she had gone in and seen it…I almost shuddered to think of what I would have had to do.

I took a deep breath, noted the fear in her eyes and the tension in her posture, and thought about what this looked like to her. At this moment I was no better than her uneducated pig of a boyfriend, somebody to fear and be wary of.

This was not how I wanted to start my relationship off with her; I wanted us to be perfect together, happy and trusting.

So, I took everything I needed to remain calm, I smiled and said, “Thank you, that is so kind.”

She visibly relaxed and slid the plate towards me across the custom polished concrete island.

As I sat in the barstool and began my meal it occurred to me that I had never used these chairs, and I had never cooked breakfast in my own kitchen the entire five years I’d lived here.

“How do you feel today?” I asked her between mouthfuls of food. She was a good cook; I’d give her that. I wasn’t sure if I’d had the ingredients to make this, but my mother must have brought over some groceries some time this week. She popped in when I’m at work every once in a while, to snoop and feel charitable towards her only child.