Writing - Hunter

Here's something I wrote not to long ago. Of course like most of what I write it's horror. I went dark on this one so you might get creeped out before the end. But read it to the end before you write me off as a nutjob.

Hunter

Rain slick pavement glistened in his head lights as he made a pass for the third time around the bus terminal. It wasn’t the breeding ground of scum like it used to be but it sufficed his needs. Scanning the sidewalk from his Corolla he could get a good look at them. Just as he was about to settle for the strung out prostitute that had been waving to him, she caught his eye. As small and unassuming as she was, he almost missed her. Lady luck was with him tonight as his patience had paid off. And it paid off in a big way, it wasn’t too often he was lucky enough to find a catch this good. With her colorful wool cap pulled down over her dirty blond hair and the over stuffed ‘Twilight’ backpack she had all the markings of a runaway.

Oh he’d gotten runaways before but this one seemed extra special, at least to him. No more than 15, fair skinned and petite, he could barely keep from jumping out of the car and getting her. He knew better. You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. The others in the past had been older, a little wiser; he could tell this one was naïve. As she looked around he could see the fear and realization hit her that maybe she had made a mistake. They all had that moment. Sometimes it wasn’t till after they met him but that was altogether a different story. It had just started raining a little harder. Good. Made it a little easier. One last check to make sure he had everything right. Car clean, dry and warm. Clothes still looked good even after driving around for awhile. Flipping down the visor, he checked his look in the mirror. Neat hair cut, clean shaven and a decent looking man to boot if he might say so himself.

He was ready. No, not yet wait for it. Wait. There. She began to tremble a little bit. After that rain soaks in a little, it’s easy from then on. Thanks Mother Nature; you’re a lovely accomplice. Slowly he let the car stalk up to the curb next to her. He rolled the window down, only a bit though, didn’t want to scare his little fish away. Leaning over slightly she peered in the window, her round face and big eyes filling his view. He was really going to have a hard time controlling himself.
“Are you lost child?” No answer. She’s afraid. Time to go to work. He leaned over so that the crucifix he wore around his neck could fall free of his shirt, her eyes drawn to it immediately. Now the pamphlet. He pulls out a tri-folded pamphlet and hands it to her. There is a crucifix printed on the front with a picture of him. It says his name is Reverend John Michaels. It speaks about his ministry for helping the homeless. There are pictures of the homeless and passages from the Bible. It’s all lies. It’s amazing what you can do with the internet and a couple of simple programs. It’s the icing on his cake.
“My name is Reverend John, child.”
Tentatively she looks the pamphlet over, comparing the picture with his face. It’s a warm and friendly face, he put it on just before meeting her.
“Are you lost?” Again he pries, no she shakes her head.
“Homeless?”
“Kinda” she says meekly. Her voice is soft and lyrical. Again he pushes his immediate urges down.
“Do you have a place to sleep tonight?”
“No I…..no” she stammers. Glancing left and right she hugs herself. A couple of men down the street look at her as if considering buying a car. She moves a little closer to his car. It’s working.
“Are you a runaway child?”
“I…..I…..uh”
“Be not afraid child. I’m not here to pass judgment on you. My only concern is for your well being. I’ll not turn you in to the police or anything.”
“Yes.” Her pretty blue eyes casting downward. She is shameful, that’s good. The men down the street begin to shuffle closer to her, only a few steps at a time, they stop and then a few steps again. Their advance is cat like. As she watches them she moves closer to the car.
“You must be careful. There are those who would do you harm.” There is fear in her eyes, he can almost smell it.
“I….you’re a priest?” She nibbles at the hook.
“Not a priest little one, but a man of God nonetheless.” He plays with his line a bit. And with his new toy. Once again she glances to the men on the street. They are at a threatening close distance now.
“Is there somewhere safe I can sleep tonight Fath…..Reverend?” voice trembling, body visibly shaking as tears begin to well up in her eyes. Hook is set, he reels her in, the car door swings open.
“Come child, no harm will come to you today.” More lies.

Sitting next to him even with her pink, puffy down vest he could easily tell he was almost three times her body mass. She must have been ninety pounds soaking wet. This would be an easy one. Her struggles would be futile against his superior strength. And he was superior. That was one of the best parts. It all starts with the hunt, then the control, finally ending in the fear. His ultimate goal and reward. There was plenty of time for that but he couldn’t help but think about how his mother would always yell at him about playing with his food. Not that he would ever eat his prey. That would just be sick. A slight grin passed over the left side of his mouth and he silently giggled.
She said something to him.
“What was that little one?”
“I……mean I…..respect them…..but I….” she trailed off. Parents. It must have been her parents she was babbling about.
“It’s alright child. Sometimes these things happen. As I said, I shall not pass judgment on you.”
“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” It was more of a question than a statement. A religious upbringing, somehow that made it so much better.
“Yes. Exactly.”
“Where can I stay? In a church?” There was a slight tremor in her voice.
“No, I have rented rooms at a local motel for those in need. You are my fifth lost soul I will put up tonight.” More lies, she would be the one and only tonight.
“Oh. Will there be others there?”
“Perhaps as the night goes on. There are always more in need.”
“Others like me?” It was almost too good to pass up but he restrained himself.
“I don’t think anyone quite as special as you” flashing his warmest smile at her. She smiled shyly. She was perfect. Almost unable to control himself, he let his hand slip into his left coat pocket. Running his index finger along the two wooden handles wrapped in a leather thong placated his need……..for now. It was a fine homemade garrote.
“What’s your name child?”
“Rose” Ah, by any other name would smell so sweet. So sweet. “You know, from like Romeo and Juliet?”
“Yes, yes I know” and educated. He stroked the garrote more vigorously.

They drove for awhile speaking of things useless to him but they kept her from becoming suspicious and she seemed to start to become comfortable with him. He queried about hunger but she said she was fine. Perfect, when they had something to eat things could get messy. He’d learned from his mistakes. This would be number thirteen. His bakers dozen. There had been a lot to learn. The first had been the toughest and messiest. He had no idea how difficult it was to stab someone to death. In the movies you stab them once and they slither to the ground quietly gasping as they die. That’s not what happened. It took a lot more force than he would have thought to bury the blade deep enough but that wasn’t the real problem. She didn’t die. No slithering, no gasping but lots of screaming and running around with a carving knife protruding out of her chest. It down right scared him and he sat on the floor and watched as she ran around wildly tearing up everything in his recreation room. Finally coming to his senses he tackled her and ripped the knife from her chest. More screaming until he drove the blade again and again into her. It all might have ended around the sixteenth time but he kept stabbing her for another thirty, just to make sure.

After that knives were right out. Well at least as far as the death goes. Knives could be used after the fact but not for the death. Something quieter, more controlling would be better. The second one was a prostitute who thought it was some kind of kinky game when he tied her to the bed. That was until he put the pillow over her face. Yelling into the pillow like a banshee she tried to get herself free from the bonds. No luck. It took a while for her to die but he enjoyed the fight and the feeling of control he had over her life. He did a few in this manner but it just wasn’t right yet. He needed that fear. He needed to see their eyes.

Then he came up with the bag idea. After he would tie them up he would place a heavy clear plastic bag over their heads and tie it off. No air could get in and slowly they would suffocate to death. There was some noise at first but as they would thrash around and panic they would use up more and more of their precious air and their yells would diminish. Still he was missing something as there was no struggling for him to fight. He did that for awhile until he made the mistake of letting one runaway eat before he did it to her. In her panic and lack of oxygen she vomited inside the bag before she died. It was a mess and she ruined it for him. Never again would he get them food and never again would he use the bag.

Finally after his eighth victim he came up with the idea of the garrote. Drilling holes into two wooden handles he got from the local hardware store, he attached them together with a length of toughened leather. Winding the leather around the handles and securing them by not only tying them but also tacking them to the handles he created a strong, reliable death bringer. Now he only needed to test it on a subject. He did. It worked wonderfully for him. He had the control, they struggled against him and he could see the fear in their eyes. As well no air could escape them so there was no sound. Here he had found his perfect killing instrument and he was becoming a perfect killer.

He eased the car onto the drive of the motel. Pink neon bathed his prey in a soft glow. Beautiful, just beautiful he thought, as he continued his struggle for control. Soon. Only a little longer and his hunger would be sated. Rose peered out of the window at the shabby motel. He could see the slight resignation in her face but it was too late now, the mold was cast, there would only be one end.
“I know it might seem a little unsightly but it is clean, quiet and there are very few people here that will bother you.” He knew this already, which was why he chooses this motel.
“It’s safe?”
“Very. I’ve used this motel many times.” This time he spoke the truth. Sliding the car into a parking space at the back of the motel he noticed her trying to suppress a yawn.
“It seems we are just in time. You’re very tired. You’ve had a long day.” Sleepy eyes looked up at him.
“Yeah, I am a little tired.” A turn of the key and the car went silent. All was silent.
“Then let us get you into a bed child.” Stepping out of the car he walked around to her side of the car to open the door. Having rigged the locks on the passenger side she was not able to open the door herself. A faulty door lock he told her. Again he smiled warmly and now she returned the smile. Trust gained, it would make it that much sweeter.

Swinging on slightly rusted hinges the door complained as he opened it. Inside the room she could see the sparse furnishings; a large four post bed took up most of the room. A worn nightstand sat next to the bed, both facing a dresser with a large dirty mirror. Stepping in he threw her ‘Twilight’ backpack on the only other piece of furniture an old worn out arm chair. It all smelled musty and the walls showed signs of needing a paint job as its grey walls were peeling badly. Locking the door behind him, he let her take the room in.
“Do you like it?” Time to play.
“It’s….it’s, okay I guess.”
“It’s fine for our needs.” His voice was a little deeper and now had a harsher edge to it.
“So I just stay here?”
“Yeah, kid we’re gonna stay here.” Harsher yet.
“We?” He had begun to take the crucifix off.
“You have bad hearing or something. Yeah, we.” She stared at his crucifix now in his hand.
“Why why did you take off your crucifix.” Shakily she asked.
“Cause I don’t need it anymore. Jesus Christ you ask a lot of questions.” He threw the crucifix off to a far corner of the room. Roses eyes followed its trajectory, watching as it lost itself under the radiator.
“I don’t understand. You took the Lords name in vain. Your crucifix.” There was that religious training again. He was going to enjoy this so much.
“You don’t understand because you’re stupid. Little girls are stupid. But after today you’ll never have to worry about that.” He spat his reply taking a step toward her. There it was. As she stepped away from him fear began to grow in her eyes. Tears began to well up, panic over took her and she made a dash for the door. It’s what he expected.

Intentionally he let her almost get past him, almost. At the last possible second he swung out and backhanded her across the face knocking her onto the bed. A slight yelp escaped her lips. Dazed she shook her head trying to bring her eyes back into focus. Scrambling to a sitting position she tried to crab walk backwards away from him. This was all in his plan as well. Many a times this had been practiced, he was in total control.
“Reverend! Please don’t!” tears streamed down her face, the panic growing.
“Reverend, Hrrphh!” with his left hand he ripped off her stocking cap and with his right he viciously grabbed a handful of her hair.
“Ahhhh!” hands flying up to his, her body went tense and she shook with terror. This was perfect! NOW! NOW!
Reaching into his coat pocket he produced the garrote and held on to one of the handles as he let the leather unroll to its full length. Her eyes followed its unraveling and her mouth opened wide in stunned, silent horror. In one quick movement he released her hair and wove the leather around her neck, bring the other handle to his now free hand. With a quick tug on the handles the leather bit deeply into her flesh. At that moment she went to scream but it was to late, the garrote did its job cutting off all air being taken in or coming out of the girls’ lungs.

Fingers looking for a hold on the leather she dug into her own neck trying to find some purchase. It was of no use. So powerfully was he pulling on the line that it easily went a quarter inch below the surface of her skin. Eyes spinning like those of a doll she viewed the room whirling wildly out of control. No sound came from her open, gaping mouth but spit began to fly out as she struggled with all of her strength. Violently she scratched and kicked at him, her Skechers leaving small shoe prints on his clothes. He was both amazed and thrilled at how much she fought. Never in a million years would he have guessed that such a little thing as her could fight so much. It was as he had thought, she was something very special. Older women had never even fought him this long. The longest it had ever taken him to put one down was three minutes. Taking a glance at the cracked face of a small electric alarm clock on the night stand he could see she had already been fighting for four minutes. Muscles of her larynx told the tale of them being crushed with an audible ‘pop’. Finally her kicks became lessened, her hands only grasped at the bedding at her sides, her eyes fixed only on his eyes. Their eyes meet and he could see her slip away. A small trickle of blood came from her nose and with one final spasm she lay motionless.

After an extra minute, he was too caught up in the rapture, he loosened his grip on the handles. Unwinding the leather from her neck he could see the deep impression it had made on her petite neck. Sightless eyes stared off at the wall as her head flopped lazily to one side. Wiping away the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand he gazed down on his handy work. This was one of his best pieces of work. Well worth the effort he had put into it. Deep down he had known she would be something special and he was right. None of the others had fought as much as this little girl did. He was giddy with glee for she fulfilled everything he could hope for in one of his victims. Now he could play with the body. Knives, nails, clamps, pins all tools of his trade. There was all the time in the world now. But he had waited a long time. Held him self back for too long. Denied him self what he needed to do. Slowly his hand moved down to his belt. Taking hold of the excess leather at the end of it he pulled it to get the buckle to come lose or at least he was about to.

His hand stopped and he leaned closer to her. Blinking twice he tried to clear his vision. Where the deep impressions of the leather garrote had been the flesh had begun to fill in. It looked like a flatten tire being filled with air. A ‘popping’ sound and the area of her neck where her larynx was came back into shape. In shocked horror he watched as the blood that had come from her nose slowly receded back into the nostril. His mouth hung open in shocked awe.
“What the fuck is this?” wide eyed he began to tremble. Soft giggling reached his ears. Eyes blinked and her head rolled from the side to look straight up at him. A wide smile graced her face. He was frozen in terror mouth gaping wide.
“Whatsa matter Rev? Cat got your tongue?” Grabbing hold of his shirt she pushed him off sending him flying across the room. Crashing into the large mirror of the dresser the shove was strong enough to send him through the mirror and causing him to crack the dry wall. Coming to a bone jarring stop forced him to lose his balance and he came to rest in a sitting position on the dresser. In one leap she covered the ten feet from where she was on the bed to land in a crouching position on the dresser next to him. Roughly grabbing him by the front of his shirt again, she hefted him up so his feet were hanging over the side of the dresser. Drawing up to her full height she held him out straight armed as if he were a bag of feathers.
“I really want to thank you for coming to the terminal. It’s one of my favorite places. I hope you don’t’ mind that I played along with your charade. I know I really shouldn’t play with my food like that but I just can’t help my self. I’m such a bad little girl. Maybe I should be punished, huh? OR MAYBE YOU SHOULD!”
He stared on in disbelief as he watched her pretty blue eyes change to a fiery copper red. Lips parting he could see the fangs begin to grow. She drew him to her and then plunged her fangs deep into his neck. It usually took three minutes for her to drain someone, four if they fought. He was gone in two.

************

It was warm in his SUV. Much warmer than it needed to be and sweat beads broke out on his forehead. When it was a cold and rainy night like tonight it helped make it that much easier. It also helped that he looked so young and innocent. Put them at ease right away. He needed to find a good one. Those Chinese guys would pay a nice dollar for the right kind of girl. White women were best and the younger, the better. He made a pretty coin off of those in their twenty’s but that one time he got that eighteen year old he made out like a bandit. This made it his sixth pass guess it’s going to be that redhead he saw. Guess she was about mid twenty’s or so and that should…..hold the phone. Where did that one come from he wondered. Couldn’t be more that fifteen or sixteen. Maybe even younger. This would be like hitting the lottery. Slowly he eased the truck next to the curb.
“Hey there kiddo. You lost or something?” Probably fifteen.
“I just came into town on the bus and my auntie was supposed to pick me up.” She wiped the wet hair out of her face.
“How long you been waiting?”
“Like an hour now.”
“Wow, like that sucks. Parents can bite right.” She gigged, he smiled, she smiled back.
“Yeah, I guess so.” The bottle and the rag sat on the floor of the car next to him, all he needed was for her to get partially in the truck.
“Look I have to wait for my mom who is coming from out of town anyway, wanna get in the truck and stay warm?”
“Uhh, Idunno. I mean you seem ok and all but….”
“No, no that’s cool…..no problama. Just be careful kid, ok? There are some screwed up people around here.”
“What? Really?” she looked around nervously. A rat knocked over a trash can somewhere and the crash made her jump a little. Good.
“Look, here take my cell phone and set it to speed dial 911.” Passing a cell phone to her through the window.
“Wow, thanks dude. I wish I could repay you.”
“Oh no worries.” You will kid. “You know what I’ll just stay right here anyway and we can talk and then you can be safe how about that?”
“You’re just gonna sit here with me?”
“Yeah, no sweat.” She looked down at her feet, looks like she’s feeling a little guilty.
“Well, I mean I guess if you’re just gonna sit here anyway. I guess I could get in.”
“Sure kiddo. Whatever you want. Hey at least it’s warm and dry in here.” He chucked and smiled again. Reaching for the door let out a little laugh. She had to pull herself up into the big SUV and was having a little trouble with her bag.
“Here let me help you with that.” She passed the overstuffed ‘Twilight’ backpack up to him. Swinging it around he tossed it in the back seat while reaching for the chloroform soaked rag on the floor.
“Hey if you’re hungry there’s a McDonalds just up the street.” Wiggling up onto the seat she slammed the door behind her not noticing the rag he had.
“Oh no thanks, maybe I’ll have something a little later”

I hope you enjoyed.