This is a story I am working on…..Dream sequence: There is a commotion, gun shots ring out in the night, followed by screams and horrible images of blood and a single news reporter asking, “Who wakes up one morning and decides to be a serial killer?”

Chapter 1

He laid there with a slit neck, blood gleaming bright in the moonlight, maybe he should have taken heed to the NO! I said to him while he was grabbing my ass in the bar twenty minutes prior, he would have been able to go home to his wife and kids, instead of lying dead behind the dumpster.

            I, get into my van, and head home. 

            Home welcomes me with a tail wagging cat, I call Shannon and she is happy to see me, for she is hungry and wanting food.  I took my jacket off and noticed that a small drop of blood landed onto the tiled floor.  Shannon as well saw this droplet fall and immediately went to inspect it, sniffed at it and licked it up off the floor.  Good kitty, get rid of the evidence of what happened earlier.  She looked up at me and headed straight for the kitchen.  I followed her and went to the pantry to get out a can of her favorite food, opened it and put it in her bowl and placed it on the floor.  Grabbed her water bowl, went over to the sink and filled it with fresh water. 

            Above my sink is a window and something outside caught my eye.  I put Shannon’s water bowl down on the floor and proceeded to go outside.  Once out there, I looked around and saw that the gate to the fence that led out back was open.  “Shit!” I exclaimed and ran through the opened gate and to the 10’x10′ white metal shed I used for storage.  The door to the shed was open and what was in there was no longer.  “Dammit, where the hell did it go?!” I said out loud, didn’t have to worry about neighbors hearing me because there wasn’t any.  I lived out in the country, a six-acre property with a dirt road that was off a dead-end street.  It was secluded. 

Chapter 2

            I ran back out front, grabbed a flashlight I left on the porch for reasons such as this and turn it on and flashed it back and forth until I saw the marks.  There were drag marks in the dirt and I followed them.  I didn’t have to go far to find what had escaped from the shed.  I grabbed onto its hair, and it screamed.  I knelt down to look at the thing that was screaming and put my finger to its lips and shushed it.  The eyes stared at me with fear, and they pled with me for its release.  “Do you want me to let you go?” I asked.  All it could do was shake its head feverishly up and down.  So I did the humane thing and bashed my flashlight several times into its face.  I lost count after ten whacks, it was no longer moving.  I looked at it, its long blonde hair now soaked with blood, an eye had popped out of its socket and I took it into my fingers and popped it right back in.  “That’s so much better now isn’t it? Isn’t it? Hello? Can you hear me?”

I bent down and took my lifeless thing in my arms and brushed the blonde sticky hair from its face.  My head moved side to side staring emotionless at the form that laid within my arms.  “You were always my favorite, now I have to find someone to take your place.” I put the body down in the dirt and grabbed its feet to drag it back inside the fence.  I went beside the shed and started up a little backhoe that I have and drove over to an area of my yard to dig a hole.  When I was finished I put my little toy away and took ahold of the body’s feet and dragged it into the freshly dug hole.  I went into the shed and found a shovel, that was stained with red and slung dirt back into the hole.  Walked back into the shed to put the shovel away and found a bag of grass seed, then went back to the disturbed soil and scattered the seed over the dirt. 

            I turned and went over to the water hose attached to the house and sprayed down the soon to be fresh grass and once it was drenched, I stood there and admired my work.  I whispered to the earth “Sweet dreams Mrs. Cayhill.”

            I looked down at my watch and it read 10:45 pm, time for the nightly news and then for bed.  Before heading back into the house I put the hose away. 

Chapter 3

            I took off my shoes, and went upstairs to take a hot shower.  Afterwards, got into my pajamas, went back down into the kitchen, put Shannon’s food bowl into the sink and grabbed a water from the refrigerator a long with some ibuprofen and proceeded into the living room to watch the news. 

            I turned the television on and immediately there was a breaking news story.  An employee of a bar found the body of a man with a slit throat behind a dumpster and the Police were asking the public if anyone saw anything to contact them.  Shannon had jumped up on my lap, and I looked at her and told her, “Maybe I should call,” snickering.  She looked at me and meowed.  The Police Chief was talking about the killings that have been happening the past few weeks and he told the public that there was no need to worry, they were doing all they can to catch the person or persons responsible.  He was asked by a reporter if there were any leads and the chief shook his head and said no.  Another reporter asked about a woman who has been missing for three months and still there were no leads, the Chief, replied, “It’s as if she’s disappeared off the face of the earth.”  I talked back to the TV saying, “Not off more like in.”

            I sat there and listened to the rest of the news and checked to see what the weather was going to be like for the weekend.  Then I clicked off the TV and gathered up Shannon and went back upstairs to go to bed.

            Asleep, the mind never ceases to relax, it’s a constant barrage of thoughts, and those thoughts sometimes creep into your dreams.  My dreams, they hold keys to my mindset.  They give me ideas and I act upon them. 

Chapter 4

            Buzz Buzz Buzz!!! My alarm goes off at 8:00 am and I quickly get up for I have a busy day ahead.  I have errands to run and goals to be made.  I get dressed, throwing on a tee shirt and denim shorts, as the weather lady said it was going to be warm today.  I go into the bathroom, brush my short shaggy brown hair and tell myself that I will have a great day today.  Shannon wanders into the bathroom and jumps up onto the sink, she meows at me, telling me she’s hungry.  I go back into the bedroom and grab my backpack and then head downstairs, Shannon runs before me heading towards the kitchen.  I take her bowl from the sink and pour her some dry food and give her fresh water, and tell her that I will be gone most of the day. 

            I get into my van, and begin my day.  First stop is the pawn shop; I have to get something out that I pawned for some extra dollars when I was short on bills.  So, I started up my car, and drove out onto the dusty drive to the dead end street.  At the stop sign, I saw several police cars drive by, one officer waved as he drove by.  I half waved back. 

            I may live in a secluded area but I am not far from town, it’s not a big town, but it’s not really small either, population is 10,483, scratch that 10,481 as of today.  I couldn’t help but feel a smile come out on my face.  I drove up to Rick’s Pawn Shop, my first stop and went to go inside but it wasn’t open yet, forgot that it was Saturday and they do not open until 10am and it was only nine.  I figured to kill an hour, by going to Mable’s Diner, one of the many diners in the area, but the one with the best food.

            The door to Mable’s has a bell that rings when you come and go, so all heads turn when you walk in.  Waves and nods from the locals who are there every day.  I am well known, I have lived here all my life, my parents were from here, as were my grandparents, both sides.   Mable passed away a few years ago and her daughters now run the place.  They like to hire students from the high school and at one point in my life I worked here as well.  It helped me save up money to go to the community college the next county over, where I got my degree in criminology.  My job? I analyze data to determine why the crime was committed and find ways to predict, deter and prevent further criminal behavior. That’s the fancy way of telling people that I am like those actors on the television, who dwell into the minds of criminals.  I make a salary of $35,000 a year with nice benefits. 

            I took a seat at the counter and was asked if I wanted coffee.  I said yes.  I was a little hungry so I ordered two sunny side up eggs and bacon with toast.  I asked the guy who was sitting a few seats from me, if he was done with the newspaper? He pushed it down towards me, I watched his movement.  It took him two tries to slide it down to me because the counter was sticky, probably from the special of the morning, pancakes.   As I waited on my food, I saw the headline on the front cover.  ‘POLICE ARE JUST AS CONFUSED AS THE PUBLIC’ The Police Chief from the news last night, reported that there are no leads.  A total of seven bodies in the last two months and the open case of the missing Cayhill woman from three months ago have law enforcement just baffled.  He goes on saying that eventually the vigilante will mess up and when he does, they will be there and we can end this ruthless killing.  The reporter had asked if the person they were looking for was indeed a male.  The Chief replied, it is more or less a male suspect they are looking for.  He couldn’t imagine a woman pulling off these heinous crimes.  I chuckled just as my eggs arrived. 

            The young girl who delivered my food asked if I wanted another cup of coffee, but I was too engrossed in the paper that I didn’t even drink my first cup.  I asked her for a Coke instead. 

Chapter 5

            I finished my breakfast, paid for it and tipped a $5 to the waitress and left.  Went straight to the pawn shop.  I gave them my ID and the paper they gave me along with the money I owed them.  My item was then placed into my hands and it was cold, I thought to myself don’t worry it won’t be cold for too long.  I said thank you and left the shop. 

            My next stop was to the hardware store, I needed to get some more duct tape, tarp, cable ties, rope and grass seed.  The clerk who rang me out joked about my items, “Planning a murder?”  I wasn’t joking when I replied, “Yes.”

            Being a Saturday, the goings on, were plenty and there was a lot to do.  My next stop was the Farmer’s Market at the park.  Local fruit and vegetable growers with their crops to sell.  I was particular in what I wanted, it was overwhelming with the choices.  I stopped at the strawberry stand and picked up a few containers of luscious sweet and very red berries.  Something other than fruit caught my eye and she was staring right at me.  It didn’t make me uncomfortable but gave me the courage to go over and introduce myself.  I knew of this woman, I have seen her about town and she was always with someone but today she was alone.  I readily took advantage of that and within a short time had her drawn away from the market.   She was too eager and it was only a matter of time.  She leaned into kiss me and I placed my hands on her face not to stop her but to draw her into me, I then kissed her to muffle the screams as my hands squeezed her neck, till she passed out. 

            When she woke up, she was in the back of my van, duct taped mouth, cable ties around her hands and feet, and a worried look in her eyes as she looked at the others who have joined her.  The market produced a plentiful abundance of my special friends.  A guy in his early 20’s who loved how I admired his cucumbers.  He wanted to show me how big his cukes can get.  There was the woman who was showing off her watermelons.  I wanted to see her own melons and she followed me to the van. 

            I had to make a few more stops before I went home.  I had to stop and get foods they didn’t sell at the Farmer’s Market.  I needed bread, milk, junk food, frozen pizza, tuna fish, cat food and chocolate syrup.  The bagger offered to help me with my groceries but I declined.  You’re probably wondering why I didn’t let him help me? Simple.  He wasn’t the one.

            The one I wanted, the one I needed, was on my way home.  I made a stop at the police station.  I knew his routine, I knew his schedule and I knew what he wanted.  To catch the suspect(s) in the murders and well I just couldn’t let this happen.  I played his emotions in my hands.  I told him that I may have a lead into the case and wanted to discuss it with him, if we could meet.  He met with me and soon he met the others.  It was all set.  It was all planned. 

            Arriving back to the house, I opened the gate of the fence and backed the van into the yard.  I got out and went to the shed to make sure that everything was set up and so that no escapes could happen.  One by one, I escorted them from the van into the shed.  Once inside, I secured them to shackles, and I stood there in front of the four of them looking side to side in a maniacal stare and giving them an evil grin.  Their faces were priceless. 

            The guy who wanted to show me how big his cucumbers were, was struggling with the shackles so I walked up to him, looked into his eyes, grabbed his crotch and said, “I’ve had bigger, I am not impressed at all.”  I watched as tears welled up in his eyes. 

            I taunted them by saying “Don’t go anywhere, I will be back.” Making a last shackle check before leaving them alone. 

More to come…….