Colin: A Serial Killer Romance

by Stella Noir

  What and incredibly sexy smile, I thought as I continued to stare up at him. And I had a really hard time not staring at him, especially since he was easily the most gorgeous man within a twenty-mile radius. But it may also have had to do with the way he looked back at me. His eyes seemed to get bigger and darker the longer we stood there, and he leaned toward me like he was about to say something, or do something. It was very unnerving, but in a way that made me almost swoon.

  “Why don’t you grab your things and we can head over to my table,” he said, gesturing to the far corner of the patio but never taking his eyes off me. I immediately wrapped a towel around my body, hoping that he hadn’t already seen the worst of it when I was hoisting myself up the pool ladder. Even though I had recently lost some weight I was so used to feeling insecure about my body that it was just a reflex now. I knew I would never have the skinny arms and legs and flat stomach that Maxwell had, but I was working on just feeling good about being me, and it had been going pretty well until this handsome man started picking me apart with his eyes. At least, that’s the way it felt.

  We walked in the direction that he had pointed, then stopped in front of a table that was littered with a variety of glasses with bits of different colored liquids in the bottom and a small cordless speaker that was playing some super bassy song.

  Hmmmm…Mr. Popular, obviously. He’s just talking to me because he’s friends with Maxwell, I’m sure.

  A waiter walked up and asked Jake if there was anything we needed.

  “Yes, just take all these away please and…would you like anything to drink, Abby?”

  “No thanks.” I was still barely able to form full sentences around this guy, but anything would have been better than the self-deprecating jokes I could feel bubbling up inside me, just waiting to get out.

  “Do you want anything to eat? Are you hungry at all?”

  “Well, that’s a silly question,” I said as I laughed, trying to make a joke and failing miserably. Jake smiled and told me that the food there was very good, but I just shook my head and tried to sink as far as I could into my chair.

  “No, really, I’m fine. Thank you,” I said to the waiter and he nodded back at me.

  Jake told the waiter to come back when the rest of our party had joined us, then settled into his chair while the table was being cleaned off.

  “So Maxwell tells me you’re a writer.”

  I stopped breathing for a few seconds and looked around the patio, avoiding his eyes and laughing like he had just told a joke.

  “I’m sorry. I feel like I’m missing something. Isn’t there a supermodel orgy around here you’re late for?”

  Oh God, I can’t believe that really just came out of my mouth! I thought as I laughed, trying to make light of my ridiculous comment. I was overreacting like crazy, and I guess I was a little on edge because I hadn’t talked to a guy, let alone a really hot guy, in forever. But the way this guy was looking at me was kinda unsettling. And I didn’t know if he was flirting with me or what the hell was going on, but figured I couldn’t possibly be his type so I told myself to just get a grip. Plus the comment about me being a writer really threw me for a loop. Where did Maxwell get off telling him I was a writer? But even through all of my idiotic insecurities, I knew that comment was just lame.

  Just chill out Abby. He’s not into you so stop acting so silly. He’s just a really nice guy.

  I laughed weakly again to indicate that it was a joke, but I really felt like crawling under the table for the rest of my life. And, of course, Jake was still looking at me with those eyes and that damned expression, and I was pretty sure he was laughing at me, or that he had just realized I what an idiot I was.

  “Oh, brother. Andrew just called me on the club phone cause he couldn’t get me on my cell. And he kept me on there for like fifteen minutes. Ugh. It’s hard to hate him when he sounds so sorry.”

  Maxwell looked from me to Jake and back to me.

  “So! You two got a chance to get to know each other a little?” she asked as she flopped down on a lounge chair and put her feet up.

  “Yeah, we’ve gotten to know each other. I now know that this is Abby and that I am apparently late for a supermodel orgy that I didn’t even know was happening. I feel so out of the loop,” Jake said as he winked at me. And oh God could he wink. I couldn’t believe I had been so rude to him.

  “I’m so sorry about that. I really don’t know why…”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said with a smile as he put his hand over mine on the table.

  My face flushed as I looked down at his hands.

  God, is he for real? He seems so incredibly sweet, but hot guys aren’t sweet. At least not to me.

  He let his hand linger over mine for a few seconds then pulled it back, but when I glanced back up at him his eyes sucked me into a vortex and held me there.

  “Miss?”

  There was a silence at the table and I realized that everyone was waiting for me to answer a question. I tore my gaze away from Jake’s eyes and blushed furiously as I looked around the table. I had no idea how long I had been transfixed by his stare.

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Can I bring you anything, miss? A beverage, perhaps?”

  The waiter was patiently waiting for me to mature by about ten years when Jake took control of the situation and saved me from further embarrassment.

  “Just bring us a pitcher of Bloody Marys and a pitcher of iced tea, that way no one has to make any rash decisions right now.”

  While Jake gave the waiter a few more instructions Maxwell grabbed my arm and pulled me over to her so she could whisper in my ear.

  “He likes you, Abby. He asked me about you while you were in the pool,” she said as she pulled away slightly and gave me a big evil smile.

  I quickly looked at Jake, who was now talking to a friend of his, then moved closer to Maxwell so I could keep my voice at a whisper.

  “That is not even within the realm of possibility, Maxwell. Stop being stupid. I am not anywhere near his league!”

  “Abby, get over yourself. You’re beautiful and funny, and you’re also the sweetest person I know. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean he can’t,” she said as she glanced back up at Jake and immediately sat back in her chair, smiling at him behind her sunglasses. Jake looked back and forth between the two of us, then smiled as he settled his glance on me. And there was that look again. It was almost like he was laughing at me, but not at me really. Like he was leaning in to whisper to me about our own private little joke that I didn’t even know about. And let me tell you, I really wanted to know about it. I wasn’t going to be able to stay here much longer if he kept looking at me like that. I was starting to feel giddy again and was a little worried about another stupid comment flying out of my mouth. And I was also starting to get worried that I could really like this guy.

  I HAD FINALLY STOPPED SOBBING, but I just kept right on driving away from the lights of the city and into the quiet of the forest. I wasn’t sure where I was going or how long I would stay away, I just knew I needed to get out of there for a while. The rain was coming down harder and the visibility was getting worse, but there were very few cars on the road, and only one set of headlights a good distance behind me, so I started to relax a little. But of course, I still couldn’t stop thinking about Jake. I kept torturing myself by playing the first few months of our relationship over in my head, wondering if there was anything I could have done back then to make things turn out differently. It may seem like running away was an easy decision for me, but it wasn’t. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. I had never met someone I clicked with so quickly and, of course, that made things even more scary.

  NO ONE WAS MORE surprised than I was when he called and asked me out, but he did, and I said yes. And it was no time at all before I was trapped…trapped between him and a wall, that is. Or any hard surface, really. He had a very quiet but commanding way about
him when we were alone together, and I started to see it even before we became fully intimate. He would start out by kissing me softly on the lips, and those incredibly gentle caresses would work their way up to deep, hard, passionate kisses that made me melt in his arms. The contrast between his hard grasp and his soft lips drove me wild as I melted into him, giggling and screaming and moaning his name. It took my breath away, the way he would grab me by my shoulders or waist or hips and push me up against a wall or a counter or a table, slowly nibbling his way down my neck and holding the back of my head while my body involuntarily curled up against his. My entire body sang with electricity whenever he would come near me, but he didn’t even have to touch me to send shivers of delight out to every limb. The very second he looked into my eyes my panties were left soaking wet and my head was left swimming with thoughts of him prying my legs apart.

  I DON’T KNOW how long I had driven in my trance state, enveloped in thoughts about Jake’s lips trailing down my body, but I finally snapped out of it and looked around. I was driving down a dark road with enormous trees on both sides and the ground was covered in snow. It was so beautiful and serene up here in the mountains but still a little worrisome to be driving all alone on this dark, mountain road and I was comforted to see that there was still a single set of headlights a few miles behind me. I couldn’t make much out ahead of me except the light flurry of snow that had replaced the rain and the narrow road and lines of trees that disappeared up ahead into the darkness.

  I had finally stopped crying during the sexy segment of my Jake flashback festival, and now I couldn’t stop thinking about the rest. Another wave of sadness came over me as I thought about all the fears that haunted me during the times I wasn’t with him. I wanted so badly to believe that he was for real. That he wasn’t lying to me or trying to trick me. And no matter how many times I turned everything around in my head I couldn’t come up with a single motive he could have for making me think he loved me…

  Other than that he’s a man, I thought, gloomily. But still, no amount of trying to convince myself kept me from doubting him…or doubting myself, really.

  I was starting to get sleepy, most likely due to my self-imposed emotional turmoil, and I decided I would stop for the night at the next town I came to - whatever that was. I hadn’t ever driven up this road, even though I had meant to for years, and I wasn’t even sure how far I was going to have to drive before I got to the next town.

  Suddenly something small and gray jumped out in front of my car and I swerved a bit but managed to keep myself from skidding off the road. As I gripped the wheel and slowed down I looked in my rear view mirror, hoping I hadn’t just killed some cute little forest creature. From what I could tell there was no small body lying in the road behind me, so I figured we were both lucky and I missed hitting him. I shifted my glance back to the road in front of me just in time to watch a fully antlered elk tumble up onto the hood of my car and crash into my windshield. I remember hitting the brakes and seeing trees and snow covered ground spin around and around in front of me, but then everything went black.

  2

  ABBY

  “The hospital entrance is around back. Just follow the driveway as it curves to the left up ahead.”

  “Ok ma’am.”

  What movie is this? It seems so familiar to me. Have I seen it before? I feel like I know what’s going to happen next, but I don’t remember.

  “Room two, down the hall, first door on the right.”

  What happened to her? The girl on the stretcher. Her eyes are open but she’s not moving or talking.

  “We need to intubate! Stat!”

  Intubate? Is that really necessary? They always need to intubate on these TV shows. She looks like she’s breathing fine to me.

  “Grab the head! Quick we’re losing her! I can’t get a pulse!”

  Can’t get a pulse? But I’m fine. I’m right in front of you with my eyes open. Didn’t you see the part where I was wandering around in this big dark mansion all alone…

  I shook my head from side to side and slowly opened my eyes a tiny bit. The light streaming in through the small window was too much for me to take so early, so I closed my eyes again and tried to think for a minute, but my thoughts came slowly, and I felt like my head was in a fog bank.

  Ok, where am I? I’m laying in bed…and the light is really bright. Too bright. I don’t remember it ever being this bright before.

  I kept my eyes closed tight as I studied the reverse image of slatted lines of light and shadow that were burned into the blackness of my field of view.

  Wait, that looks like the pattern of light streaming through venetian blinds. I don’t have venetian blinds in my bedroom. Where the hell am I?

  I rubbed my eyes and temples to try and alleviate the dull ache that sat like a hat on top of my head and slowly opened and closed my eyes.

  Am I hungover? My god my body is so sore. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. What did I do last night. Did I get drunk? I hardly ever get drunk. I’ve been drunk maybe twice in my life! What the hell did I do last night?? Wait. I remember. I watched a movie. Or wait, was it a dream? It was…about a woman…and she was in an ambulance. No a girl? A girl in a nightgown in a big dark mansion…and there was an elk…and a car spinning. What on earth?

  I opened my eyes and stared at the millions of holes in the large white tiles in the ceiling and then at the slatted venetian blind shadow on the wall in front of me.

  What, am I in a doctor’s office? I feel like I should have my feet up in stirrups or something.

  I slowly moved my hands up to the top of my head and winced at the pain in both my arms. I realized that I must have some sort of head injury because when I reached up all I could feel were bandages. I looked at my arms as I brought them back down to my sides and noticed that I had scratches and bruises all over them.

  What on earth happened to me?

  I looked around the room and tried to figure out where I was. From what I could tell I was in some sort of hospital that apparently hadn’t been renovated since it was built, which looked to me like the 1950s. The walls were covered halfway up with dingy white tiles and the floor with off-white linoleum. Behind the bed and up towards the ceiling was a small, rectangular window where the stripes of light and shadow came from that appeared on the wall in front of me. It was the kind of window that was usually reserved for the basement floor, where the majority of the walls of the room were below ground level. The antiseptic smell from some sort of strong cleaner filled the room, as well as a faint musty scent that made me wonder when this room had been used last. It was sparsely furnished with a very institutional grey and wood veneered side table that stood against the wall to my right with the requisite TV suspended on an arm above it. There were two doors in the room, one directly in front of me and one on the wall to the left. That door stood open and I figured it was probably the bathroom, but I wasn’t capable of getting up to investigate yet, so I hoped I wouldn’t need to use it anytime soon. I looked to my left and noticed a table with a pitcher of water and a glass, as well as a machine on a tall skinny stand that was making green zig zags and beeping out the sound of a heart beat, which I assumed was mine.

  What in the hell happened?? Think, Abby! God, it hurts to think. Ok, ok, what the hell did I do last night? I’m pretty sure that stuff about the mansion and the elk was a dream or a movie. But was it? Did I watch a movie last night?

  I looked up at the ancient TV on the wall and could easily imagine an old, weird movie set in a hospital mansion playing on the out-dated screen.

  Ok, if I’m in a hospital room then maybe the car spinning and the ambulance and the ER were all real. So, if those parts weren’t a dream then maybe the mansion stuff was real too? Ugh. Don’t be silly, Abby. You’re not in a hospital mansion. This isn’t one of your far-fetched storylines where a woman gets rescued from a madman in a mansion by a handsome stranger. But, seriously, where the hell am I?

  I rubbed my templ
es, pretty much the only unbandaged part of my head, and closed my eyes again.

  Ok. Ok…just calm down. I kind of remember now. I was with Jake earlier last night…

  “JAKE,” I said as the door opened in front of me. I threw my arms around his neck and smiled as he picked me up by my waist and carried me through the doorway, closing the door to his house with a flick of his foot. That’s one of the things I loved about Jake. He was an incredibly sweet guy and kindness was on the top of my list of what I wanted in a man, but he could also be so smooth and sexy and that made me want him even more. He set me on my feet and brushed a stray hair out of my eyes, smiling down at me like he always did, as if he knew some wonderful secret about the two of us that I didn’t, and it always took my breath away.

  “Abby. You look absolutely beautiful.”

  I smiled up at him but quickly looked away. I knew what I was going to have to do that night, what I had planned to do, and I wasn’t very happy about it. Jake lifted my chin then grabbed the sides of my head with both hands and gently touched his lips to mine. They lingered on the surface of my skin for just a moment, then pressed into me, his tongue darting into my mouth and tickling mine as he pulled me hard against his body and held me in a mesmerizing embrace. My legs turned to jelly as the kiss became more passionate and intense and I used my grip on his neck to hold myself steady. I was starting to question my motives for breaking up with him, but I had come to this decision after a lot of thought. Not that I truly bought any of my own arguments as to why I would be better off alone, though. In fact, the more I thought about it, and the longer I let Jake kiss me, the more ridiculous my motives all sounded. But the insecure, anxiety-ridden part of me always won these internal discussions and my mind was made up. And this kiss was definitely not helping my thought process, so I summoned all my strength and somehow cut the kiss short, then gently push him back a little.

  “Jake, we need to talk.”

  “Ok, but I have a surprise for you,” he said with a sly smile as he turned me around and nudged me towards the dining room. He had a modern home that was tastefully decorated in earth tones and black leather furniture. It wasn’t my taste, but it suited his strong, confident demeanor very well. I tentatively walked ahead of him through the double door entry of his dining room that was now filled with dark pink peonies and was lit by candlelight in every corner of the room. I clasped my hands in front of me and stood there, my eyes filling with tears as I felt Jake’s hands wrap around my waist.