Slice (The Elledge Family #1) Read online
Page 4
“Your playlist is like a walk through heaven.” Lucas added. “Could I have it?”
“I could definitely make you a CD.”
“Perfect, I have a road trip in the morning. I have to go a state over to see an old friend. I would love to listen to it on the trip over.”
“I’ll make sure I get you one before you leave. I could make it when you drop me off?”
“Perfect plan ma’am…” He sat down on the plush couch and exhaled. “Glad it’s the weekend. I could do every weekend with you. Plans for next Saturday?”
“None,” I looked at his couch. God, I missed the luxury of just sitting on a couch. “Well, actually I could use a partner and a good eye to couch shop with me. I like this couch and I miss my television in the living room.”
“It’s a date.” Lucas touched my hand and pulled me closer to him.
Asher
He had really taken a liking to this girl. They had spent the entire week together and there were some real emotions pouring out of this guy that were unparalleled. She was lucky. She could be his saving grace.
Following them the entire day had become a bore. Whitney and I had plans for the evening and for once in six days I was not thinking about this irksome dissertation. I was thinking about how it would feel to have Whitney under me and screaming my name. It was destined to happen. She had invited me over to her house for dinner and a movie, but I had already eaten. So she gobbled down her spaghetti while I sipped on the wine and got lost in the Jurassic Park movie. We used to be obsessed with the movie when we were younger.
“Asher,” she said from the kitchen
“Yes, ma’am, “I sat the glass down and turned towards her washing the dishes. “Why in the hell did you come here for your major?”
“Close to my Case Study.” I said.
“What are you studying?”
“More like whom,” I corrected her. “There are some cases here that I am following and documenting about. I have to inconspicuous. One particular case I have been studying since I was in high school. My father helped me formulate the correct research and materials.”
“I never met your father,” she said.
“He lives in Australia.”
“Right, I forgot you were foreign,” she poured her another glass of wine. “So you came here to stalk someone?”
“Study someone,” I rolled my eyes. “I have been working it for so long that I could not let it finish without me.”
“What's the subject?”
“The theory of real Psychopath.”
“We have a serial killer here.”
“No, not all serial killers are psychopaths and not all psychopaths are killer. You cannot think closed mindlessly when dealing with psychology.” I had overheard Lucas saying that there was something he had to do out of town tomorrow and I had a feeling it had something to do with his ex-Summer Randy. She was a porn star now and he hated that the most. His journals, he frequently left open on the library tables displayed her name written everywhere. I couldn't decide what to do with the freedom that was before me. I could follow him and watch the kill or I could raid his apartment. Who knew when he would strike again. He waited exactly seven months to attack Summer and that must have been torture for him.
Whitney looked at me. “We’ll be careful.” There was no telling what she had said before. I really didn't know or care at the moment.
“I will be. I am happy I ran into you on campus Whit. You look really nice and you still can cook.”
“Shut up.” She chuckled.
“I am serious,” I pulled her in my lap. “I remember our first kiss.”
“You mean when I had my friends hold you down in the dollhouse of the backyard.”
“Yes, that was amazing. Three women, one kiss. It was magical.”
“Oh fuck you.” She spits playfully.
“Yeah, still a little feisty. Very attractive,” I rubbed her legs and she stood up. “Well, dinner was great.”
“It was thanking you.”
“I'm sorry… I want to fuck you.” She smiled. “I have a boyfriend about three hours away and up until seeing you I was sure that I could refrain from being that girl who fucks around. And so for the sake of my blooming relationship… I have to kick you out.”
I dropped my head. Shit, she was taken. “We don't have to fuck.” I smiled. “Though I like that you can be filthy mouthed. Could I stay and watch Jurassic Park with a childhood friend. You can have one end of the couch and I can have the other?”
“Sure,” She smiled.
This was a disaster. We watched the movie as we have done as kids. We talked to the screen, screamed like babies and all while not touching. My dick was rather disappointed and I couldn't blame him. We had plans for this night and it seemed to not be happening.
She fell asleep before the end and I took my leave. I had decided it was best to watch the kill. I kissed her lightly on the forehead and took my leave. I wanted to beat him there so he would not think he had a tail. Granted, he was so elusive with his plans and his murders there would be no reason to tail him.
Lucas
Summer. Fuck you summer. Yeah, there is some angst there, summer was a bitch and everyone seemed to love her. They dressed up for her, they changed who they were for her and waited in anticipation for her all year long. And when she finally came there was this relief that went after them like she wasn’t going to make it. People planned for months in advance just to enjoy her; she was not my friend, at least not any longer. I fucking hate Summer. She was this bitch that taunted me behind the cameras and hated me, she burned me. And it was her turn to suffer, I will kill Summer.
I sound crazy, I know this already. I never say any of this out loud. People would have me bloody committed. This banter and rant continued in my head almost constantly until I was able to get rid of the issue and right now Summer was the issue. She lived out of town for the most part and at one point in our life we had been this amazing couple. The nights were filled with poems and dragon flies next to the pond by her house. They were never filled with cameras and people chasing her all around the damn place. It’s why things have got to stop. Summer had to die.
The movie industry had been good to her. But it was not the movies that she had dreamed of. Real movie auditions didn’t happen on a couch and yeah I understand that was how she made her money, but now she was the slut that every high school watched when his mom was gone and she was the bitch that allowed me to look stupid. I wanted to be with her more than she would ever know and now what we had is ruined by a slew of other men and that was not right. I would finish it tonight. It was not my first kill. Yeah, I know not exactly comforting. People were imbeciles that had no control over their fucking emotions.
The anticipation for a kill for me was almost better than the kill. The thought of hearing the blade slice her skin was like a high but it was not the real thing. I wanted the real thing. She was dead tonight. She was back in town for Summer, as usual. She was like a kid still coming home for mom and dad who secretly were so ashamed of her that they told everyone who didn’t know she was an independent actress and she was making movies in Europe. They were damned liars.
I sat in the car a few blocks from her home. The music was graciously supplied by Cypress, though it was not my normal type of music I liked it. She was a good girl and was someone I could see myself settling down with and more importantly loving. She was different from Summer, she was pure.
Summer stretched out in her lawn beneath the last of the daylight. Her skin was already a perfect bronzed color but nothing was every good enough for her? Why was she so damned beautiful? I stared at her from my old run down car. It was good for stake outs and it was reliable. I just have an addiction. Right now it was called Summer. I never felt that I could be normal. My father said that it had happened for generations. He said that even she had to surrender to the darkness. He had started training me young and finally the first kill made me crave it more. There were
forty-two people that have met the same fate that Summer was about to meet.
Summer is the first of a vindictive nature the other forty-two were personal sort of… one guy ran over my dog before Burke… he could have been personal Then there was the woman fired me for no reason and it really pissed me off. I tried not to make too many people connect back to me. I knew that Summer would be a risk. But Fuck it. I would rather see her dead.
Her hair was as red as a fire engine and her eyes were blue. Freckles lightly covered her body and she always wore a smile. I knew the difference between the real and the fake smile. She twitched her eye when she faked a smile and an orgasm. She’d done it once and it was in one of her Glorious-God awful films. It was the last one I watched. She kind of pissed me off with that one. It was when the decision was made for her. She dumped me because I cared about my education too much to satisfy her needs.
It could be easily said she was a sex addict and though some men think it would be nice… it was not. There are other things in life rather than sex. There was poetry and fiction. There was love. Forgive me, though I have my many flaws, some dangerous the others not so much… I was a sucker for romance. I just wanted to be with someone that loved me.
My cell phone vibrated lightly in my pocket.
Cypress: I hope you drove safe last night =)
I text her back quickly and I could feel the grin across my face. I liked this girl. She needed someone like me to protect her from her exes and Persephone-s of the world. I would fucking kill Persephone if it was not an obvious kill, perhaps I would visit her after the stench of college rubbed off.
I watched Summer for most of the day. She had done the same old same shit. She tweeted and text all damned day. Then finally, when she got bored she put on some clothes and left the house. They owned a cabin out in the woods, five miles out and there was where she would take her last breath.
The cabin was closed off and discreet. It was nice, still had internet connection before I had cut the lines and it would take a miracle for someone to hear the screams. She was meeting her new summer hook up there. She went there like it was a ritual by 6 every day and told her parents, she was reading at the beach. She never strolled back home until about two in the morning. Her cell phone was never answered because she was so consumed with the lust for her new hook up. He wasn’t a good guy either so it made it easier for me to include him in the kill. He’d raped a girl in high school… his kill was not personal, it was well deserved.
I’d planned to take him down first, he was not a tall guy just average and he was not special in bed either. He fucked like he was a frantic virgin and was only good to her because it didn’t take much to get her there. He was an asshole; she was a bitch. It was a match made in heaven.
The woods were so quiet and secluded it almost made it too good to be true. But I had left the police more to be involved in about 30 minutes out. I hid the car about a half mile from the cabin and started to make my way by foot. I wondered, would they sell the place once they found her dead in it. Most parents would, but her parents seemed a little selfish. I hid out while she greeted the dweeb with a kiss. Her foot was all in the air like she was a teenager in love. The damned slut could act. Summer was about to die.
They stumbled into the cabin barely able to keep their hands off one another and stripped down in less than a few seconds. It helped me. The less they wore, the less mess would be made. No bleeding shirts or smudging on me. No clothing would make it less of a struggle. She dropped to her knees like it was a fucking routine for her as she wrapped her lips around his dick. He threw his head back in ecstasy… in relief. Fucking Summer, I made my way through the front door and tossed their cell phones in the dishwater. There could be no distractions now. My heart was racing and there they were fucking on the floor like wild animals. I smiled as her face looked petrified to see me hold the knife so close to her beau, as if she was ever worthy enough to be called one.
She screamed, a real fear filled scream and let out a little laugh. “Summer, how are you? I whispered. My accent tended to grow thick when this piece of me came out to play.
The fucking rapist stared at me. “What the fuck are you doing?” He rolled off of her crawled away leaving her there vulnerable. This guy was not even worthy enough to be called a wanker. He was a coward. I bloody hate cowards.
I turned my head, “So you’re into cowards now?” I chuckled lightly and nodded my head. “I knew that your taste had dwindled after me, but never would I see you with a coward Summer. You fucked up… God, I almost feel sorry for you.” I looked at the guy huddling in the corner full of fear. “Now I am here to talk first, of course. I would like to explain first and there will be no more screaming… Summer you should have made better decisions. You hear?”
She shook her head. “Lucas…”
“Shut the fuck up, there will be no blimey begging okay?” I smiled and then turned toward the coward. “Did you know he has raped three girls in the past three years? And you have been fucking him like he is God’s gift to this earth. Dumb decisions, Summer, are you comprehend now? You have to learn a lesson.”
It was evident that she knew she was already dead. Her hands shook and the sobs wouldn’t stop as she crawled over to the coward. He shuffled away from her quickly as he guarded himself from me with a chair. “Please, I have money. I have so much money.”
“This is not about your money Summer, fuck you and fuck your money. I don’t give a fuck about money. I’m a fucking published author. I have money coming out of my ass. I want you to understand that this life is not for everyone… now coward… come here and you can face your death first… I can make it quick or you can try to fight and I will fucking destroy you. Get up!!!! Move your bollocks quickly!” My voice was harsh. It almost scared me. Damn kills of passion. He left Summer by herself and tried to bolt towards the door. My foot caught him and he hit his head on the bed rail, it sent a clang sound through the room. The dummy had made things easier for me. I kicked his foot, he was out cold. It made the kill less fun. I wanted to see the life escape those eyes, it was the best part.
I shook my head and Summer walked towards me. “Baby, please…”
“I’m not your fucking baby. Sit your ass down or I’ll end it quick.” I warned. I pushed her on the rustic looking bed. “I’m not going to rape you… too many men have been there anyhow… I am going to tame you… Then free you. I know it’ll make you happy.”
The tears, I hated when they cried. The tears could not save them. The tears just made it messier for me. I hated waste and crying for life when I had made my decision was a waste. I sliced into her skin. The blood bubbled from her and spilled into a pool on the bed. The sex stained sheets were now red and she was dead. Summer was dead and my mind was quiet. For once it was quiet and there was peace. It happened every time I had a kill. The whispering in my head ceased and there was silence. And in that silence, I found peace for the first time in months.
I exhaled and finished off the coward, for him there needed to be more pain. And trust me there was. Summer was over. The coward was drained and the room smelled of blood. Sweet blood of Summer.
I really didn’t understand why I loved to kill, but it was fairly common in my family. My father murdered and from what he told me his father murdered. Summer was the forty-three, or forty-something at least. I had made a vow to my father that when I reached found someone to love, I would quit. I wasn’t sure if I would honor it. But with Cypress it was possible.
I never looked for companionship before her. My life was fine without it. There was a longing I couldn’t hide that at least wanted to try something and perhaps Cypress could be the woman that changes me for good. I prayed she was… because there was this aching part inside of me that didn’t want to kill her.
Chapter Three
Cypress
The Publisher had worked in my favor. For once I had a job that was not resulting in food being sprayed on me or oil on my fingers. I tutored on Mond
ay, Wednesday and Sunday afternoons and was required to write one article on Student life per week for the physical paper. My first article had been on the Summit, which made Lucas happy. It didn’t take much to make him happy. He liked the little things in life. There was something different about him and I liked it. I had not planned to move on so fast from Phillip. I still had nightmares. I still slept with a wrench wedged under my pillow. He had done a number on me, that I had to admit. Lucas always had something to keep me busy from thinking here lately. We had done random things all week, he took me to land sites and random creaks all week. Sitting in the middle of my apartment had been the first normal thing I had done with him since our last official date, two weeks ago.
“I really like what you have done with the place.” Lucas said sarcastically as he pointed to the bookshelf. Bargain shopping was my specialty. It was five dollars at a yard sale I had forced him to go to. It was perched on the wall next to the door. It wasn’t much but it was something rather than emptiness. “It brings out the beige in the walls.” He wiped his face and smiled playfully.
I nodded my head and pushed him lightly. “Well, if you will give me a moment to get ready, we can go shopping.”
“We must go and get you something that simply screams you.” He shook his head. He pulled me closer to him, his arms warm and they made me feel safe. I smiled at him and moved the hair from his face. “I think that a floral couch would match you very well.”
I shook my head in agreement with him. Lucas made his way over to me a cupped my chin in ahis hand as he pecked my lips softly. He already knew me well. There was nothing that I loved more than floral. I had an obsession with flowers. “Yes, something light and festive.” He held out his two hands and pulled me to my feet. “I have to change into something not so snazzy and then we can go find the world’s best floral couch. I know you’re excited.”