Several times he had asked her, several times she has denied him. He is patient.
He climbs into his car and starts the engine, letting it idle as he ponders his obsession…… her name was Lanell. She was everything to him, his stars, his moon, his galaxy and all of the beauty within. He must have her.
He blinks his eyes a couple of times to clear them of the welling tears of frustration and notices how tightly his hands are gripped to the steering wheel, showing the whites of his nuckles, a sign of anger.
She was dating some ugly redneck who has been known as the “Floppy Cold Fish”…… a dead lay in a world of beautiful passion, and John didn’t know what he has.
‘I do’ James thought, ‘I do’
He shifts into first, stomps on the gas, and pops the clutch. He hears the satisfying squeal of the tires, the un-nerving release of the car as it protests the abuse, the sudden grip of very warm tires, and the wrenching of his body as the G-forces slam him into the seat.
He was going to work.
Later that night, he calls her from his home. He asks her out again, tries to convince her, and hopes, praying that the woman of his dreams would finally accept him.
“No, James, I’m going out with John tonight”
He silently listens to her breathing over the phone, then ‘click’.
He will have her. He will have her tonight.
He waits in his car in front of her house. He waits for her to return. Car lights catch his attention, he ducks down into the seat, it’s not them. He curses under his breath and checks his backpack again. Duct tape, rope, survival knife, a glass bottle of Red Devil Lye drain cleaner, and a pack of balloons. Satisfied, he closes the pack in time to see another set of headlights. He slowly slides into the seat and watches. Excitement leaps into his throat as he sees Johns’ car pull in in front of him. He watches them kiss and swallows down the bile that tried to make it to the outside world. She gets out of the car. In her hands she holds her mini-purse, her house keys, and some clothing that he couldn’t quite make out. She kisses the “Fish” again and heads for her door as John leaves.
He creaps from the vehicles’ window onto the pavement. Pack in hand, he slowly fades into the shadows and becomes one with the darkness. Never once did he doubt his decision to have her. As he makes his way to the back of the house, he hears the voices of her neibors from across the fence. He stops and listens for a moment, nothng of any value, just a poker game. He slips to the back door and searches for the key that Lanell kept in case she ever got locked out. He finds it in the usual spot.
He remembers the first time he did this. He watched her all night in her house. He counted how many times she breathed air into her lungs, how many times her breasts rose and fell, how many times she smiled in her sleep. He needed her. He did this sort of thing at least three or four times a week, only tonight, tonight he was going all the way.
He unlocks the back door as quiet as usual. He slips into her home and silently closes it. He turns and finds his hiding place. In the shower. She always took a shower at night and in the morning. It was humid in the bathroom. She already took her shower tonight. He chuckled to himself as he breathes deeply the humid moisture of her. He knew her scent very well.
Movement. She was preparing to go to bed. It was late. She always slept in the nude. A showing for him as she slept. Tonight, there was going to be no sleep. He reaches into the pack and pulls out the tape. As quietly as possible, he removes an eight inch piece. He quietly stalks into the bedroom. Her back is to him. He crosses the room and stands directly behind her. He clears his throat.
Lanell turns and screams, or tries to. The tape covers her mouth and she is forcefully shoved to the bed, the nightgown ripped from her body. Then she sees the knife and stops struggling.
“You will obey?” James asks reflecting the light from the knife to her eyes. She nods her head.
He pulls out the rope and looks to her.
“Lie on the bed with your head to the foot.”
She, afraid to move, complies.
He ties her wrists and ankles to the floor posts of the bed. He then takes tape from her ankle, down the side of the bed, across her forehead, and to her other ankle. She lay there whimpering as best as her throat would let her. He admires his work. She cannot move an inch save for her fingers and toes. He chuckles. Tonight is their last night on Earth.