it's been too long. months. who knows how many... feds got to close, had to lay low. time to roam again. time to take it all in. oh man. it's been way to long. nervous now. it's like the first time. i love this feelin'. maybe i'll take a few months off ever' now and then. this rush... incredible.

where's that bitch at? she's supposed to be here by now. goddamn whore, where are you? i love you, you stupid cunt. come to me...

a petite brunette walks down a lonely street by herself. she's on her way home from work. why such a small creature would walk these streets alone is beyond any reasonable explanation, but she does.

perfect. oh god, this is gonna be good. i love you, you stupid bitch.

danny comes from his hiding spot in the alley as she passes by him. his ability to hide is almost otherworldly. but then, he's had plenty of practice. none of his prey has ever seen him coming.

he follows behind her quietly until she passes the next alley. this is when he takes her.

two steps and he's on her, his left arm around her waste lifting her off the ground as he carries her into the alley, his right hand covering her mouth and nose so she doesn't make a sound.

deep into the alley they go. no one is here, danny had already made sure of it. he'd also set up his "lab" in the darkest corner. he had all his tools laid out. duct tape to shut her up, scalpel to cut her up, a small bit of rope to tie her up, and a condom so he doesn't knock her up.

"Hey, sweetpea. We're gonna have a little fun."

under danny's hand, she was screaming her lungs out, but danny had become exceptionaly good at muffleing the sound. so much practice. the woman's eyes were wide with fear and tears streamed down her face like a floodgate had just been opened. this gave danny chub.

he whispered into her ear.

"If you scream, you're dead, you understand me?"

she was dead anyway.

the woman nodded and swallowed hard as the glint from the scalpel caught her eye. danny, still having the one arm around the woman to hold on, reached out with his right and picked up the duct tape.

"To make sure you don't scream."

a person wouldn't think it'd be this easy to duct tape a person's mouth one handed, but danny had tons of practice. once he was satisfied, he ripped the tape with his teeth and threw the roll to the ground, followed quickly by the woman. she landed on a small mattress danny had set up. reaching for the rope, he spoke again.

"How was work today, doll?"

the rope is kind of tight around her ankles, but the woman doesn't notice. who would? shortly thereafter, danny tied her hands behind her back and she lay on her stomach, crying. her make-up running down her face.

-----

*The low buzz of the fluorescent lights was irritating to Claire. Most people wouldn't even notice, but she could detect the buzzing that was meant to signify the bulb was approaching the end of its life. Unfortunately, there had been no such audible hum to signify the approaching end of life for the girls whose pictures lay sprawled on the desk in front of her. Five young women, all of them raped. They had also been tortured prior to their deaths, but all in different ways. One girl had been burned with cigarrettes, angry red dots speckling her entire body. Claire could only imagine how the girl would have screamed behind the duct tape that held her mouth closed. Perhaps the most twisted common thread that linked the cases together was that fact that they were all killed in semi-public places. She had been staring at the photos for the past hour, after reading all the available information. She couldn't find anything that had been missed. It was as if he'd just vanished into thin air.

This wasn't a malicious ghost, this was an evil, evil man. People left things behind. He had left one thing behind with each of his victims. He'd been enough of a fool to leave his DNA behind in the condom he used to rape each girl. Claire found that oddly amusing, it was if he was afraid he'd catch something from his victims. She would find this evil man and bring him to justice if she had to kill him herself.*

----------

danny rolled her over and looked deeply into her eyes. the absolute fear he saw there gave him a full-on erection. he picked up the scalpel and traced it along her side. she flinched trying to get away from it, but danny was laying on top of her. he was bigger than she by about 125lbs. she wasn't going anywhere.

"Calm down, whore. I don't wanna cut you."

liar.

he cut down the pants to her uniform, pushing the knife slightly into her skin and cutting her down her right hip and leg. she screamed from beneath the duct tape. no one could hear her. danny was very eager to have his way with her.

he rolled over just enough to rip her pants from her body. he'd only cut down one side, so they were a tad hard to remove. danny wasn't easy with it, either. he jerked the pants from her, pulling her body off the ground and slinging it about some. it began to sink in the woman's mind that she wouldn't make it out alive and she began to sob uncontrollably.

after her pants were removed, her panties came next, taken in the same fasion. and soon his pants were down and condom in place.

he had his way with her. not violently like one would expect, but he made love to her... if that could be called making love. he took off the condom and tossed it aside, pulling his pants back around his waist.

"Now comes the real fun, Lucy."

he called all his victims Lucy.

--------

*Claire wasn't surprised when the DNA had come back inconclusive. Any number of deranged psychopaths had managed to maintain clean police records until they were arrested. Once they had a suspect, they could match it with this killer. Opening a faded manila folder, she looked over the news articles focused on the killings. There was no catchy nickname for this monster like the "Boston Strangler" or "Son of Sam". There wasn't enough of a common thread between his victims to give the crime reporter something to chew on. The fact that all of these killings were done by the same man had been kept out of the paper entirely. Without knowledge of the DNA, there was no reason for anyone to think it was anything besides normal murders. Claire took a drink of her cold coffee. The very concept of a normal murder was laughable.

Murder by its very nature was unique, for lack of a better word, special. Lower mammals killed indiscriminately with a blatant disregard for what they were tearing with their claws and teeth. When humans kill, there is -always- a reason. Whether it be lover scorned, blatant self-interest, or just for the thrill of it, there was always a reason. The motive could very well prove to be the key to catching this madman. Of course, he could just as easily be arrested for tax evasion or on a moving violation with a body in the trunk. One of the most ironic parts of her work was that it wasn't always good detective work that brought in the criminals, sometimes it was a simple twist of fate. Fate was a fickle bitch, and everybody's number comes up one day.

Leaning back in her chair, Claire rubbed her face with her eyes. With no lead, no new course, she may as well give up and go home. But, she didn't go home. She couldn't, because somehow she -knew- that this monster was still out there, and he would continue to kill until he was put out of his misery like the rabid dog he was.*

----------------

danny cut the woman's shirt from her body, then ber bra, and pulled them from underneath her. she lay gagged and bound, naked on the mattress danny had laid out for her. he lit some candles he had positioned around the bed and tossed the lighter.

'Lucy' watched danny work, her eyes never left him. through her tears, she could see his face clearly. she wouldn't be able to identify him. sad.

a grin crept across danny's face as he looked down at her, shaking from the damp night air and the torment she was about to go through. he squeezed the scalpel tightly, his knuckles went white. kneeling down beside her, danny traced the blade down her cheekbone, cutting into the skin slightly. she screamed again from beneath the tape covering her mouth.

"Relax, Lucy. This'll only hurt 'til you're dead."

the woman cried, almost choking herself.

danny stroked the right side of her face with his left hand gently, looking down at her with a malicious love. then, faster than the eye could register, the scalpel sank into the woman's neck. he cut across, opening the inside of her throat to the night air.

the woman choked on her own blood, she was unable to scream. she bled out and her body fell lifeless.

he stood and looked at his work.

not bad. but we ain't done

he knelt down again, and begain carving into her abdomen a note to whoever may find 'Lucy'.

'Lucy was my first
Lucy was the best
Lucy stays with me
Lucy is forever'

his work done, danny packed his tools into his backpack and put a strap over his right shoulder.

"C'mon, Lucy. Let's tell the world about the love we share."

he dragged the mattress, 'Lucy' with it, out to the mouth of the alley, litl a cigarette, and strolled down the street happy and carefree. tonight, he was done. tonight, he quenched that desire that ate at him day and night. it wouldn't be long before he would need it again, but for now danny was content with himself.

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