Terrifying Love: A Halloween Anthology

by Serena Nova

  I wanted to sit and watch her all night, mesmerized by her beauty, even in her sleep. There were plans to make though, and I needed to get moving if I were going to have things ready in time.

  I lined her brush back up on her vanity and gave her one last look before leaving through the front door and gently closing it behind me. On my way down the stairs I passed an older man going the direction I had come. A curious look crossed his face as he looked at me from the top landing, but he kept moving.

  For a moment, I almost ignored him, but rage filled me that he was getting close to Binx. That he had looked at me as if I had no right to be here. I turned before he had time to disturb her and grabbed him by the throat, pushing him to the ground and held tight. He grunted and tried to scream out, but I held on, knowing it was my duty to keep him from her. I squeezed harder as he tried to pull my hands away, but it was too late for him though.

  His pulse slowed beneath my fingers as his hands fell to his sides and his eyes rolled back in his head. I held onto him for another minute, making sure he was really no longer a threat. At the very least he was unconscious, and I could take care of him if I needed to somewhere else.

  I hoisted him over my shoulder and quickly made my way down the last flight of stairs and ducked into the alley in the back. The man might be small, but he was dead weight, and I was grateful when I flipped him back over and dropped him to a crumpled heap on the ground. He made a soft groan and I reacted instantly.

  My blade flicked open and I drove it into his chest, letting the blood flow over my hand as I thrust it into him again and again. He was going to pay for his insolence, and thinking that he could get between Binx and I. After a few more jabs of my blade against his slumped body I was satisfied that he was gone.

  Quickly, I wiped my blade off on the only clean corner remaining of his shirt and left him in the alley, where he belonged. Far away from my Binx.

  *******

  The following day I woke refreshed and eager to see her again. Before the sun even rose, I was standing outside of her apartment, waiting to catch a glimpse of her as she left for the day. I stood in the shadows of the trees, not wanting her to see me, not yet. She needed to be sure of us before I revealed myself to her.

  Exactly on time as I had hoped, she came out of the door of her building, refreshed and energy bouncing off her. It was good to see my small gift left such a smile on her face. I couldn’t wait until she knew I was the reason she was so excited. The person that brought the smile to her face as I had so many times before.

  She left quickly and I stood for a moment, letting the thrill of seeing her again wash over me. I hoped she understood all of this was for her. Everything I did was for her. Inspired, I decided I needed to make sure she knew exactly that. I checked both directions and crossed the street, quickly letting myself into her apartment. The property managers here really should do something about them, but I was grateful it was so easy to get in.

  I let myself look around her apartment for a little while. Enjoying her scent and getting to know her through her things. I knew she was a dancer, but it was even more clear from the things in her apartment. Books about dancing, the food she ate, and even the clothes she wore. Not that I minded her showing off her delectable figure. Everyone would know she was mine, and I would enjoy showing her off in every way possible.

  When I entered her bathroom, I was disappointed to find it in the same state as her vanity. Disorganized and no rhyme or reason to where she kept things. Even a pair of leggings on the floor. I didn’t want to push her too fast though, so I left things lay where they were, reminding myself that there was still plenty of time.

  My hand shook as I picked up the lipstick that lay on its side and I opened it. I slowly wrote out my message to her, the excitement so great that I was finally leaving her a message had my dick rock hard at the very thought of her finding it. Knowing at last, that everything was for her. I slipped the tube of lipstick into my pocket and raced from her apartment, heading back for my own.

  The throbbing in my dick continued all the way back to my place and the need for release was instant as I shut my door sharply. I uncapped the bottle of her perfume and I sighed as her scent filled the room. I looked at a photo I had taken of her when she was laughing outside of the café and lust filled me as it always did when I thought of her. Before I knew it, my hand was on my cock and I was stroking fast and hard, my release coming quicker than ever before.

  She smiled back at me, that bright look on her face, the one that was meant just for me, had me coming undone as I let loose and came all over the photograph. My body shuddered as I held my softening dick and imagined the pleasure I knew it would give her when at last we could really be together.

  After cleaning up, I headed to the café, hoping to catch a glimpse of her but came up empty handed. It was okay, I knew she was busy, and it only made seeing her again that much sweeter. As the sun set, I again found myself in the shadows of the trees across from her building, letting myself doze off as the thoughts of us filled my head.

  The sound of her laughter had my head shooting up and looking in that direction. What I saw left me less than happy. She held her breath as the very same man from the Theatre pulled her close and kissed her. Pulling back as she stared up at him, with the look that should have been only for me.

  Fear pooled in my gut that she would invite him to her place, but I was relieved to see that she still waited for me and he left her to go alone back to her apartment. I waited until I knew she would be letting herself into her apartment, the knowledge that she would get my message putting a little extra joy in my step as I followed behind the man that had dared to touch what was mine.

  Chapter Eight - Binx

  The operator made me stay on the phone with her as she got my information and assured me that the police were on their way. I felt crazy as I paced my small living room, but I knew this wasn’t normal. The sharp knock on my door had me jumping and sucking in a breath.

  “Bianca, the deputies have arrived. It is safe to answer the door,” the operator said into the phone.

  I turned the lock and slowly opened the door, relieved to find two officers standing across the threshold. “They are here,” I informed her.

  “Okay, I’ll let you go now, you’re in good hands,” she replied gently.

  “Thank you,” I hung up the phone and opened the door the rest of the way.

  “We received a call of someone possibly breaking in?” the female officer asked.

  “Yeah, through here,” I guided them back into the bathroom and they each took turns looking at the mirror.

  “Is anything missing?” the second officer asked.

  “I don’t think so. But just this morning, I thought I was going crazy when I woke up to all of my bottles lined up like that.” I motioned to the vanity and crossed to my nightstand to pick up the weird rubber band I had found in my hair, passing it to the woman. She paused and took out a pair of rubber gloves and gripped the crude hair tie. “I have had a lot going on, and thought I had just forgotten doing it. But I know for sure this isn’t mine. And I know I didn’t braid my hair last night either.”

  “Do you have episodes like this often?” the male officer asked.

  “No. I just thought you guys would think I was crazy or something. So, I was going to let it go. When I got home to that message though, I knew something was off. Not to mention, I never leave my door unlocked, and when I got home tonight, it wasn’t locked.”

  “Anyone you would know that might have a reason to break in here?” the woman questioned.

  “Not that I know of. I don’t know many people. And the one person I was close to passed away, if you can call it that,” I answered.

  “What do you mean, if you can call it that?” the man asked.

  “She was murdered outside of the café where we worked, the other day.” My face fell as the man adjusted the belt at his waistline and watched me closely.

  “Any reason
to think that person might be after you now?” he shifted, looking around the small room.

  “I don’t know anyone well enough for that. I have no clue why someone would even want Jan dead,” I answered, shakily.

  “Why don’t you have a drink of water? We’ll take a look around and see if we find anything off. Make sure you are safe for the night,” the woman suggested as they did a quick search of my apartment.

  The crackle of her radio had her pausing and tilting her head to the side as she listened. The series of coded numbers that came across didn’t make any sense to me, but the words in the alley downstairs sure did. My eyes flew up to hers in panic. “Is the person down there?”

  “Not the person that did this, I’m afraid. But it looks like you might have gotten lucky today. The body they found down there could have been yours,” the man answered as all the blood rushed from my head and my vision turned black around the edges.

  Body. He said body. That meant someone else had died. Were they connected, did the break in here have something to do with it? Even worse, did I have something to do with it? The woman patted my back. “Deep breaths, Bianca.”

  I listened to her gentle but firm voice and did as she instructed. Gradually, my vision returned to normal, and I looked at her. “Who?” I asked, needing to know that it wasn’t someone else that might have been close to me.

  “We haven’t made an ID on him yet, but I’m sure we will soon, and we will have some questions for you. In the meantime, do you have somewhere you can go for the night? Someone you could call? If not, can you get a ride to a hotel or something?” I looked around the room, noticing the male officer must have left during my mini panic attack. How was I supposed to go anywhere? I didn’t know anyone.

  “There is this guy. We kind of hung out today, but I don’t really know him,” I answered hesitantly. He might have put his number in my phone, but I was sure it wasn’t for this kind of call. Telling a guy you needed to come stay at his place for a bit because a dead body was found near your apartment, and some creep did weird stuff in your place, was certainly one way to make sure those boundaries were not crossed, though.

  “Good, call him, see if you can go over there for the night. We will have teams all over your apartment, and you probably don’t want to be here for that.”

  Slowly, I nodded and pulled my phone from my pocket. After unlocking it, I scrolled to the J’s expecting to find his name, but there was nothing. I searched the recent call history, assuming he had called himself from my phone, and I might be able to find him that way. Instead of finding his name on the call log, I found ‘I knew you would call first’, listed as the last person called.

  Despite everything happening, I grinned to myself. Of course, he would be that confident. My heart hammered in my chest as I slid my finger across the screen, both hoping he wouldn’t find this incredibly off putting, and hoping that he would at the same time. I needed him to take me seriously as a dancer, and this was not going to help.

  After a few rings he answered with a laugh, “Miss me already?”

  “Something like that,” I tried to make my voice sound light, but the officer's words rang in my ear. I had been incredibly lucky and who knew what would have happened to me if I had been here when this person broke in.

  Chapter Nine - Binx

  After briefly explaining to Jay what was happening, and sheepishly asking whether he minded if I crashed on his couch for the night, he agreed and reassured me that he would be right over. The officer passed me a glass of water and urged me to sit on the couch and wait for my friend.

  She was probably right as my eyes kept darting back to the doorway of my bedroom and wondering who had been in there, who had touched my stuff, who had touched me? Even worse, was the officer right? Did I get off lucky and the victim they found could have been me? I slowly took a sip of water, letting the cool liquid sooth the burn that had gathered at the back of my throat.

  Recalling the way I found my hair that morning had me feeling violated. I wanted to shower and wash off the dirty feeling that consumed me all over again. I stared into my glass, the time dragging by as I waited for Jay. More officers came into my apartment and dipped their head inside my room, the looks of confusion on their faces mirroring how I felt.

  “Bianca?” at last, the female officer spoke to me. “Your friend is here. We asked him to wait outside.”

  I stood and put my glass on the kitchen counter. “Thank you.”

  “Here, take my card. If you think of anything else, anyone that might be trying to mess with you, give me a call.” I nodded and took the offered card from her and slipped it into my pocket.

  With a deep breath I squared my shoulders and left to talk to Jay. I hated asking such a huge favor of him, especially when I was the one that just said I wanted boundaries. This was certainly crossing some of them, but it couldn’t be helped. Even if the officers said I could stay here tonight, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

  As soon as I got into the hall Jay surprised me by pulling me close to him and holding me tight in a hug, his cheek resting on the top of my head. After a moment, he pulled back. “Sorry, I was just glad to see you were okay.”

  I gave him a small smile. “I’m fine, just a little rattled, you know?”

  “Understandably.” Again, he linked his fingers with mine and led me down the stairs. “Let’s go for a walk, get some fresh air and then head back to my place.”

  “That sounds good,” I replied, grateful he was taking the reins on this one as I felt lost and clueless about what to do in a situation like this. We stepped onto the sidewalk and the blazing lights of the police cars flashed back at us. Parked against the curb was an ambulance along with a large, very official looking box truck.

  My gaze was drawn to the alley next to my apartment where several officers gathered and were talking among themselves. The officer that had first responded to my call was among them and gave me a small nod before they stepped to the side and a cot was rolled out.

  I stood, transfixed to the spot, unable to tear my eyes away as they rolled it toward the ambulance, the thin sheet clearly covering a very still body. Jay gently wrapped his arm around my shoulder and turned me away. “Come on.”

  “Do you think they are right?” I asked, feeling more shocked than I would have liked.

  “About what?” he asked, linking his hand in mine as we started walking down the sidewalk.

  “That I could have been that person? That maybe I should have been Jan?” The reality of the situation hit me seemingly all at once.

  “I honestly don’t know. The whole situation is strange, to say the least. Don’t worry, we will get you somewhere safe for the night, and deal with whatever else tomorrow.” He gently squeezed my hand in reassurance.

  That one small motion seemed to snap me out of my initial shock. While I was still worried about the situation, I no longer felt like I was paralyzed by fear. By the idea that someone was targeting me. Instead, I wanted answers. I wanted whoever killed that person to pay. “I mean what kind of crazy person sneaks in someone’s house, does their hair and organizes their stuff? What would be in it for them?”

  “You just said it, Binx. A crazy person. There doesn’t have to be anything in it for them. It makes sense in their own convoluted way,” Jay answered, leading me around the corner, toward the Theatre district. Of course, it made sense that he had a place near the Theatre. Since he probably came here specifically for the dance.

  “So how long have you been in town?” I asked, trying to change the subject. I wanted to get my mind off the fact that some super creepy person had been in my house for who knew how long, and that it could have been me they were rolling out of the alley tonight, instead of whoever else it was. Two deaths in just a few days, and ones that hit really close to home at that, had me feeling uneasy.

  “Only a few weeks. I got the call they were interested in me for Coppélia and thankfully, I was just wrapping up the last day in Paris, so I came as
soon as they called,” he replied as if it were no big deal.

  “What made you want to work on this one? I’m sure you could have gotten a part in a much larger theatre,” I asked, genuinely curious what made him attracted to the old Theatre. Sure, it was beautiful and grand, but he had performed in some of the biggest theatres in France, he could have had his choice.

  “It’s really not about how large the theatre is,” he shrugged. “For me it’s more about the passion that goes behind the production, that the other dancers have. I have worked with Arthur before, and there is no one that surpasses him in that. He is the most enthusiastic choreographer I have ever met, and I knew not only would he bring that to this production, but he would find the best possible dancers to work with. Don’t tell him I said that, though,” he nudged my shoulder with his playfully, making me laugh.

  “You’re not what I expected,” I admitted.

  “How so?” He paused and opened the door to an apartment building for me.

  “Most dancers with your skill have a lot bigger head.” I passed through the open door and he led me to an elevator.

  “I still have a big head,” he chuckled lightly, his hand on my lower back as he reached around me to push the up button. Butterflies danced in my stomach at his touch and I reined myself back in. Even if I could allow myself to be interested in him like that, now was definitely not the time to get something started. “What made you audition?” he asked as we stepped into the elevator together and he pressed the button for his floor.

  “I have wanted to be a dancer my whole life. I don’t know anything else, really. I saw the call for Coppélia and something about it spoke to me. The story line, the Theatre, everything. The fact that I will be getting to work with some people I have also admired my whole career is just icing on the cake.” I flushed a little when I realized I had basically just told him I fangirled over him.