Serial Hottie (5 page)

For the next couple of days I avoided the house across the street. I still took the occasional peek out the window during the workouts, but my days of obsessive spying were over. Then Saturday night Heather Monroe was murdered and things slowly began to change.

My dad and I were watching the eleven o’clock news, waiting for the sports re-cap when the girl’s tragic story came up. I didn’t know Heather Monroe from Novi, and, sadly, I wasn’t shocked to hear a story about a girl who’d been found beaten and stabbed 37 times—I do live in the greater Detroit area. But when her picture flashed up on the screen I found myself staring at a fifteen-year-old, tall, skinny, red-haired, hazel-eyed girl.

Something about the image was haunting, and not just because I’m a fifteen-year-old, tall, skinny, red-haired, hazel-eyed girl. It was more than that. Heather Monroe could have been my twin sister. I know I wasn’t the only one thinking that either, because my dad immediately turned off the TV, kissed the top of my head, told me how much he loved me, and then left the room.

That same night I dreamed of Seth for the first time. I was standing in his garage and the entire wall behind me was painted like a giant bull’s-eye. I felt afraid. I needed to escape, but my legs wouldn’t move.

Seth was there, and when he looked at me with those blue, blue eyes, I got lost in them. “Ellie,” he called to me, whispered my name almost reverently.

Then he began throwing knives at me. I couldn’t move. The only thing I could do was pinch my eyes shut and wait for the pain, but the pain didn’t come. I opened my eyes again and the knives had landed in my clothing, pinning my arms and legs to the bull’s-eye behind me. I was trapped.

He walked up to me, admiring his aim. My breath got shallower with every step he took my direction. “Ellie,” he whispered again as he brought the tip of a knife to the side of my face. “Relax.”

He dragged the blade down my cheek and then down the side of my neck so lightly that it could have been his fingers caressing me. Then he dropped the knife to the ground. I flinched at the sound and that’s when he kissed me. He kissed me, and kissed me, and kissed me until I thought my body would melt from the wall into a small puddle on the floor.

Someone began pounding on the garage door, yelling my name. I knew I should call out for help, but I couldn’t make myself do it. Not when his kisses were making me feel so good. The knocking got louder and louder until eventually my mom walked into my room and shook me. I woke with a gasp and my mom was immediately concerned.

“It was just a dream, Mom,” I told her, trying not to flush because I could still almost feel Seth’s lips on mine. “A nightmare. I think.”

She smiled understandingly and then pushed my hair back to look at my stitches. “How’s your head this morning?”

I thought about it for a second. “A lot better. The headache’s gone.”

“I felt bad having to leave you every day,” Mom said with a sigh. “I should have taken a few days off work, but with the cruise coming up I didn’t really have any time.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said quickly, not wanting her to feel guilty.

She and Dad are going on a cruise later this summer for their twentieth anniversary. They’ve never been on a real vacation before and I don’t think I’ve ever seen either of them more excited about anything in their lives. They’ve been the easiest parents ever since they booked the trip. They didn’t even ground me when I got suspended the last month of school for wailing on Gabby Reese after she called me a lesbian. No need to kill their moods over one dumb accident.

“I just slept most of the time anyway,” I assured her. “And I really am feeling a lot better today. I could probably even go for a skate later. I’m dying to get out of the house for a while.”

Mom frowned at that but then sighed. “Just be careful and remember—”

“Always take the skates off before the helmet,” I finished for her, nodding my understanding.

Mom’s concern melted into a smile. “I’ve got to go to the supermarket now, do you want anything?”

“Rocky Road and Mint Chip?”

Mom laughed. “I guess you really are feeling better.” She stood up from my bed and stopped at my door. “Take it easy today, Gretzky.”

“I did take it easy!” I yelled before my mom could say anything when I rolled into the house later that evening covered in blood. I leaned over the kitchen sink and began to wash the blood off my hands and face. “It was just a small pickup game in the park and I didn’t even hit back!”

“What happened?” Dad asked from somewhere in the family room.

“I took an elbow in the nose. Don’t worry I’m sure it’s not broken. Can somebody hand me a freaking towel?”

I suddenly got what I asked for. More than I asked for. I was pulled against a body and my head gently tilted back until it was resting on someone’s shoulder. Then the dishtowel I’d requested was pressed lightly to my throbbing nose. I instinctively screamed and tried to escape my surprise captor, but the arm around my waist was a vice.

“There are easier ways of getting my attention than continually bloodying yourself, Ellie,” the object of my nightmare cooed. His lips brushed my ear, breath as warm as it had been in my dream.

For a single instant I thought I’d been knocked out during the game and was having another nightmare. I wrestled free of the embrace to find Seth looking wickedly amused.

“What is the matter with you?” I gasped.

Seth held up the bloody towel with the perfect mask of innocence. “Just trying to help.”

I snatched the towel from his hands angrily, and took a safe step away from him as I attempted to stop the nosebleed on my own. “What are you doing here?”

Angela came into the kitchen and pulled something from the fridge. “Ellie, is that any way to greet a guest? This is Seth,” she informed me. “Aren’t you excited to finally meet your knight in shining armor?”

“It is nice to finally meet you,” Seth agreed. The knowing smile he flashed me sent two different kinds of chills through me.

“Yeah,” I said sarcastically. “Finally.”

I was glad when Angela broke the awkward silence, and even more glad when she weaved her arm around Seth’s. “Dinner’s all ready,” she said, pulling him the direction of the dining room. “You can sit next to me.” It was a relief to have that killer smile of his pointed at someone besides me this time.

I retreated to the safety of my room and took a deep breath when the door was shut securely behind me. As I changed out of my blood-soaked shirt, I thought about the person downstairs waiting to have dinner with my family. So he liked to throw knives at mannequins and had no sense of personal space, that wasn’t really reason to fear him. I mean Vince Kowalski had no problem invading my personal space as he was bashing my face in this afternoon, and I didn’t fear him. In fact, the next time I was in the game with Vince, he was going to be really sorry.

But still, there was something very unsettling about Seth and it really irked me. I went downstairs determined not to let this guy intimidate me. After all, no guy ever had before.

“Here she is!” my dad exclaimed proudly when I entered the dining room. “This is our youngest daughter, Ellie.”

My dad gestured to me and then swept his hand toward the woman I’d seen driving the BMW. She was even more striking up close and seemed oddly out of place at our dingy old dinner table. “Ellie, this is our new neighbor Janice Wainwright, and, of course, you’ve already met her nephew, Seth Bishop.”

I tried to brace myself as I looked the direction my father was now pointing, but it didn’t do me any good. I met Seth’s eyes and instantly all my resolve flew out the window. My heart sped up, my adrenaline spiked, and judging by the way Seth was watching me—a predator stalking his prey—I was beginning to think he could smell my fear.

“Hey,” I mumbled, taking the seat they’d saved me, which was unfortunately directly across the table from Seth. I glued my eyes to my plate.

“Ellie, where are your manners?” Mom chided. Something she did a lot with me.

I looked up then, but at least now I was annoyed instead of intimidated. Seth grinned at me and I tried to keep the edge out of my voice as I said, “Thanks for helping me.”

“Helping you?” Angela repeated incredulously. “Ellie, he
rescued
you.” She turned to Seth then, glowing with admiration. “You saved her life.”

Seth flashed me another smile. “It was my pleasure.”

Angela quickly tried to regain his attention. “I don’t know how you stayed so calm,” she said. “There was so much blood. You must be really brave.”

“Or maybe he just likes blood,” I grumbled under my breath.

“Actually,” Seth’s aunt spoke up, startling me. For a moment I wondered if she’d heard me, but she was smiling. “Seth is great in emergency situations. He’s certified in both CPR and First Aid and has had self-defense training.”

Is expert knife slinging considered self-defense?
I wanted to ask.

“Really?” Angela cooed, resting her hand on his arm. “That’s so great!”

“Yes, I have high hopes that he’ll be a great doctor one day,” Ms. Wainwright continued to brag.

“A doctor!” Angela gasped. “Yeah, after seeing you in action, I’m sure you’d make a great doctor.”

“Maybe I should,” Seth said lightly. “Seems to me you could use one on staff in this house for Ellie alone.”

Everyone laughed at that, except me, of course. To my horror all I could do was blush. It was my mom who finally threw me a bone and got the attention off of me. “Is that what you’re going to study then?” she asked Seth. “I assume you’ll be starting college in the fall.”

“No, I’m just barely seventeen. I’ll be a senior in the fall. Which is a good thing because I don’t have any idea what I want to do. I need the time to think about it.”

My mom smiled sympathetically. “Transferring high schools before your senior year? That’s got to be rough.”

Ms. Wainwright sighed. “I did feel bad about having to move, but he’s been very mature about it.”

I caught my dad glancing at Angela with a smirk on his face and I couldn’t hold back my smile either. Angela’s going to be a senior too, and if my dad had transferred us this year, she would have started World War III. Dad winked at me and then we turned our attention back to the conversation.

“It won’t be so bad,” Seth was saying as he grinned at me again. “The neighborhood’s already turned out to be much more exciting than I’d expected.” Everyone chuckled again with more glances my direction. “Plus now I’ll at least have a couple of friends to keep me company through the summer.”

“Oh, more than just a couple!” Angela was practically bubbling over with excitement. “I can introduce you to a ton of people this summer. In fact, there’s a big beach party this Friday. I know it’s not exactly the kind of beach you’re used to in California, but it’s still really fun. My friend Rachel has a lake house with a boat and jet skis. Half the senior class is going.”

“I don’t know about this party Angela,” Mom interrupted in a wary voice.

“Oh, don’t worry, Mom. Rachel’s parents will totally be there. It’s a barbeque, not a rave.”

“It’s not that honey, I trust Rachel’s parents. But after what happened to those other girls? I just don’t know if it’s a good idea to be out so late on the weekends right now.”

“What girls?” Angela, Seth and I all asked in unison.

“Do you mean the two stabbing victims?” Seth’s aunt asked and my mom nodded.

“Remember the girl we saw on the news last week?” Dad asked me suddenly. “The one who…”

Dad’s voice trailed off and I shivered. “Heather Monroe,” I said.

“She wasn’t the only one. There was another girl the weekend before. Stabbed to death in Farmington Hills. She fit the same profile.”

I shuddered again. I could tell by the look on Dad’s face that by “the same profile” he meant a carbon copy of me. A moment passed between us, which Angela interrupted by blurting out, “Are you saying there’s a serial killer on the loose right now?”

My face blanched and my dad quickly assured us that there wasn’t. “You don’t look too convinced,” I told him, because he didn’t.

“The murders may be connected,” Seth said out of nowhere. “But they can’t be considered serial killings unless there’s three or more.”

Ms. Wainwright must have seen the look I was giving her nephew because she said, “No, he’s right. I was watching a special report about it the other night. The police are actually pretty sure that the two deaths are coincidence.”

“They’re sure?” my mom asked.

Ms. Wainwright shrugged. “They seemed pretty confident.”

Mom looked back at Angela. “When is this party?”

“Friday.”

“And Rachel’s parents will be there?”

Angela nodded. “Plus some of their friends too.”

Mom looked at Dad and then back at Angela. Finally she sighed. “You can’t go by yourself, and I expect you to be home by your normal curfew.”

“There,” Angela said turning to Seth. “You have to come with me now because I can’t go alone.”

Seth frowned in confusion. “Won’t Ellie be going too?”