how many days had it been? who knows, but far too many. it had to be this way though. if one stays in any place, you get caught. danny was smart enough to know this.

new orleans is the new stomping grounds. lots of fresh blood to be spilled. lots of sights to see.

Oh boy oh boy ohboyohboyohboy. Drunk bitches. They love a good fuckin'. Bet Lucy would love to meet someone for Nawlins.

he mugged a guy for money. a man's gotta eat. he'd thought once about maybe eatin' the women he killed, but Lucy just wouldn't put up with that. he never gave it a second thought.

after dinner, danny started searching the streets for his next victim, almost foaming at the mouth at the thought of another kill. finally, deep in the city in a lonely back alley, he caught the glimpse of a woman taking some garbage to a dumpster down an alley behind some underground strip club. who knows what was in the garbage bag, who cares. diseases lurk in these places.

danny's lust for blood had overcome his want to prepare and get to know his victim, he had to satisfy his need. he rushed down the alley and tackled the woman into the dumpster. a loud thud, but the streets were mostly empty as everyone was in their particular hangout in this part of town fulfilling whatever debauchery they required.

the woman cried in pain as her ribcage was broken against the dumpster and she began to yell for help.

"Shut the fuck up, Lucy. Somebody'll see us."

he punched her straight in the face, breaking her jaw. he threw her to the ground and ripped part of his shirt off and gagged her mouth with it. then forced her hands above her head, holding them in place with one had.

"Don't make a sound and you'll survive this, you understand me?"

the woman was crying, pain and fear sweeping through her. she nodded to his request, silently sobbing.

slowly, he removed her pants, bringing her panties down with them. the pain on her face had already given him an erection. he didn't take time to put a condom on... didn't have any with him anyway.

he couldn't contain himself any more. enough of the slow, love making bullshit. he ripped her shirt from her body and inserted himself into her, biting at her neck as he had his way with her.

after he finished his 'business', he stood over her, buckling his belt. the woman lay at his feet crying rivers. this site brought a smile to danny's face.

"I love you so much. Lucy would probably love you as much as I do."

the woman looked at him confused but still crying. the confusion, however quickly turned to solid terror as danny pulled from beneath his pant leg, just above his boot, a filet knife. she tried to stand and run away, but danny put his foot on her back as she rolled over and pushed her to the ground.

"Relax. This'll only hurt for a minute."

the woman screamed, but being gagged, it didn't do much good. and with her jaw broke, it was near impossible for her to spit the gag out. she tried to push danny off her back, but by now, he'd already knelt down and was sitting on top of her. the knife gleamed in the lone streetlamp lighting the alley. that gleam, however, was quickly giving way to a deep red shine as danny began to carve her back.

he started at her left side, just below the ribcage, and cut a straigh line across her back, the knife just deep enough to cut the skin completely, but barely more than that. he made similar cuts down each of her sides. he laid the knife beside her on the ground as the woman screached beneath the gag in her mouth. danny loved it. this Lucy screamed more than any of the others.

he peeled the skin from her lower back down, revealing the muscles of her lower back. the shock was slowly killing the woman, and she'd stopped making so much noise now. danny, however, was in a whole other place. he picked the knife back up and started cutting the muscle out carefully. he lay each on the ground beside the now lifeless body.

all the muscle now gone from the woman's back, danny starts fasioning a rope out of it. making thin slices and braiding it all together, tying knots at the ends to attach them.

it took him about 45 minutes of tedious work to make his rope, but it was done. he had never done anything like this before, but he was sure it would support her weight. from his pocket, he pulled a needle and a spool of thread he'd taken out of his backpack while making the rope. like a doctor in an emergency room, he sewed the flap of skin back into place. he took the rope he made and tied it into a noose, looking around to find something suitable.

nothing.

Damn.

he walked back out into the street. nothing there, either. back to 'Lucy'.

"What am I gonna do with you?"

an idea. he slid the noose over her head and tightened it. the other end of the fleshrope was wrapped around her feet, which he'd pulled up nearly touching her head. he tied it off and cut the unused portion.

he pulled her left arm back, then her right arm, her hands touching her feet. he tied them there. danny stood and looked at his work. she was nearly perfect, but her face couldn't be seen. how to fix this?

another idea. her hair.

he pulled her head back and tied locks of her hair to her wrists. still not satisfied, he picked his filet knife up.

"You should smile more, Lucy."

and with that, he cut each side of her mouth, literally to her ears. and now she was done. he dragged the body to the end of the alley, just off the sidewalk.

as quickly as he'd found his way to this alley, he was gone. strolling casually down the street... not sure where he goes from here. his lust had been quenched, but deep in his mind, this wasn't right. he hadn't prepared. his next, he decided, would be his most lavish yet to make up for this.

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

*It was after midnight, and Claire was on a flight to New Orleans, the Devil's town. The Lucy killer had struck again, and she was stuck picking up the pieces of a human puzzle that he had left for her. The killing occured in a new location, but that wasn't what was unique. Moving across the country was normal for serial killers, a common way for them to cover their tracks. His modus operandi was different. From what she'd gleaned from the outline of the sketchy police report, there were several oddities. No protection was used in the rape of the victim, which could indicate a rush job, one without the proper planning. The torture was becoming more detailed with each kill, for some reason. She rubbed the bridge of her nose with her left hand, absentmindedly as she spoke quietly to herself.* How the fuck am I gonna catch this guy? *She had insisted that the crime scene remain intact until she got there. The techs could take pictures, tag evidence, etc, but everything was to be left where it was. Maybe if she could see things as the killer did, it would give her new insight into his madness. Of course, it was equally as likely it would just give her more nightmares.* ~*~Back~*~