Once upon a time, I wanted to kill again.
Once upon a time, I found a victim. One, then two, then three...
Once upon a time, my fun began again.
It was easy to find her... my thirteenth victim. She was left all alone in my alley; her boyfriend had left her there. His red car drove by, the radio booming different shit about sex and drugs and power and money, and then the door to shotgun opened, and she was pushed out of his car. I had fun watching her struggle to keep herself in the paint-faded, dented car, and I had fun watching her loving boyfriend push her out into my alley... my dangerous alley...
I licked my lips.
She still had her hands on the door to his car, one of her legs still in his car. He was shaking it like an idiot trying to get dried wax out of raw wool. "Adam! Stop it! Adam!" She was screaming to him over and over, and like a fool he acted so unkindly toward her.
Didn't your grandfather tell you to respect the women, dear boy? my conscious mind thought.
I moved a little closer. The smell of alcohol met my senses, and I felt my blood pump faster in my excitement. Come on... come on... come to me, let me take you home...
"Adam! Please! You don't understand! Stop! Adam!" He had grabbed her leg, trying to fling it out, but she was kicking as though it would help in the slightest. Idiot.
"Get out of my car, you fucking whore! Go home! Go to your pretty boy and cheat on someone else!"
"Leave him... come to me... let me take you home..." I chanted in a low voice, singing the last phrase to myself as I smiled in anticipation.
She was sobbing now, getting weaker for show. "You don't understand – "
"You promised me last time you loved me enough to never cheat again! I don't ever want to see your face! You can have sex with him all you want when you don't have to worry about my feelings!"
He flung her leg out of his car as her kicking became weaker, and then continued to shake the door like a madman.
She let go of the door, her hand slipping. She was staring at this Adam as though she could see aliens through his eyes staring back at her. The very moment she did, he slammed the door and drove off as fast as he could, leaving his cheating whore in my alley, alone and helpless. She let herself fall completely to the ground now, in such an easy way.
This would be an easy kill...
"Come to me... come to me... let me take you home..." I sang as the silence began to ring after the car.
The sobbing girl stopped for a moment and looked into the heart of my alley, a strange look on her face. Not quite fear, not yet. It was more of confusion and surprise to not be alone, and as she lifted her head, I saw wonder... no, curiosity. "H-hello?" she said in a quiet, weak tone. She didn't stutter from fear, but from tears. Her tears made it hard for her to speak.
"Come to me..."
She sat up just a little, and my excitement became powerful.
"Come to me... Let me take you home..."
I was too animal-like tonight to actually walk up to her like I normally would. Normally, I would have pretended to care that she was hurt, pretended to believe her lies and feel sorry for her, make her think I could be the hero in her drama triangle, made her charmed by my beautiful appearance and kindness, tricked her into thinking me a safe way to get home in this unsafe part of whatever town this was... But the animal in me was too strong now, and I could only sing and chant. If I walked to her, I would lose control. I would be caught.
"Who's there?" she asked stupidly.
"Come to me..." I shivered in pleasure as my own words echoed back to me from the dark silence surrounding us.
The stupid drunken girl began to sit up a bit, looking just a bit dizzy.
"...Let me take you home..."
"Hello?" she said louder. Like that would help in her case.
Hello... I thought, but I couldn't make myself say it. "Come here... Come to me..."
She stood, slowly, then put a hand around her stomach as though it was upset. She put another hand on the old, stinky brick wall beside her for balance, using her nails to play with the flaking bits. She groaned and then cried a little more. Then she brought her hand down unconsciously to see the flakes she'd rubbed off of the wall, and she stared for a moment, a thoughtful expression coming to her face.
I wonder if that hurts her to think like that, I thought.
The flakes were dark, dark red, and hard, but they would come off onto her hands to stain them. Flaky, yes... but not quite like brick, unless old brick flaked like that... did it?
Yes, I knew in my conscious mind what she thought. I had seen so many people come through this alley and never come out again. I knew how they thought, how they made themselves begin to fear too late for themselves, but at the perfect time for me.
She brought the flakes to her face, bringing out her cell phone to shine a little light on them, looking in confusion at them like the drunken fool she was. She sniffed it, smelling its metallic smell, and then she slowly came to the realization much too late that her lovely boyfriend had unintentionally left her in a dangerous place.
Yes, she was thinking that now... at least, I believed so. Her eyes widened in fear, and she listened to my voice again. "Come... to... me..."
She began to back away, holding up her cell phone to use as a light, but beginning to dial.
How amusing.
But now my patience was gone. I could wait no more, could not watch this funny thing much longer. I let myself form out of my crouch, and I let myself walk to her, happily. She stared in fear and shock. Oh, she knew I was beautiful under this dark hood... she knew I was a killer. She saw the eight-inch sabre I held, and she heard my quiet laugh.
She knew she was doomed.
She backed away, then turned and began to run, as quickly as she possibly could, her phone in her hand. If I gave her the time to stop, she would dial a number.
I stood there for a moment, watching her run.
It is only polite to let the slower, weaker creature get a head start. At least that way you knew it was fair.
And then, I smiled and ran after her. It didn't take me a second to catch her, and not another second to get her weak body down on the ground.
I laughed as she screamed for help, and as she began to beg me to let her go, I pulled down my hood. She froze. "Annabelle?" she said in shock, staring at me.
I laughed again.
"Damn it, Anna! You scared me! That was not funny! I have had the worst day in my entire life, and all you've done here is made it worse!" The last word squeaked off her tongue.
I growled in excitement, and the stupid drunk stared.
"...Anna?"
"Let me take you home..."
And then I flipped her, letting her face be flat in mud, and he screamed in fright and tried her hardest to fight me off. I bit the back of her neck, and now she screamed again, trying almost too desperately to get me away.
But it wouldn't last long... her pain and suffering would end... soon.
Just let me have my fun, God.