This Guy Kills Me

by Anlyn Hansell

  “Jane?” He looked both ways, catching a glimpse of her in front of the lit sign.

  “Wel ome to ubble Butt . Amateur Night every F id y. Cum on in get craBs” he read as she stepped aside, apparently pleased with herself.

  Walking over, he grabbed her arm and swung her in the direction of the car, walking briskly and causing her to jog to keep up.

  “You are a crazy bitch,” he breathed out before hitting the button on his key fob, opening the door and depositing her inside none too gently. She watched him round the car, open the door and settle his body in the driver’s seat before she spoke.

  “I told you -” she started before he abruptly cut her off.

  “Shut it,” he commanded, looking behind him as he backed out of the parking space quickly then slammed on the gas to exit the lot.

  “But -”

  “Jane? I swear,” he muttered forcefully as he concentrated on the road before him.

  Her lips clamped shut and she forced her attention away from him and on the bleak, darkened scenery in front of her.

  A few minutes later, he was speeding down the ramp to I-94, merging then passing traffic as he maneuvered the car between lanes.

  “What the hell did you do?” he finally spoke as they passed a series of exits to other major highways leading into and away from the downtown area.

  “I’m sorry, am I allowed to speak now?” She unfolded her arms and turned toward him in the seat.

  Her answer was a severely furrowed brow on his face.

  “I told you I can’t dance! So I was sort of…I don’t know, like, bouncing around and I was doing good! I mean, I thought it was good, at least for me…and then this chick comes out of nowhere and she starts touching me and she’s whispering we’ll make more money and I told her I wasn’t into that and then this old pervert is yelling at me to show him my tits and he’s waving a buck at me. A buck! Like I’m gonna show him my tits for a buck, right? So I said no. I mean a buck? Maybe a five, for one boob – no I’m just kidding, I wouldn’t do it for twenty. Maybe twenty per boob…I don’t know, but not a buck, that’s just ignorant! So I ignored him and tried to swing around the pole, because I don’t know, it looked kind of fun, and then I accidently kicked the other chick in the head and she slipped on the ice and fell off the stage. That’s it,” she stated in rapid succession before taking a deep breath.

  “What ice?”

  “What?”

  “What ice?”

  “The ice on the stage.”

  “Why was there ice on the stage?” he asked without looking at her.

  Her bottom lip disappeared behind her teeth for a second before she answered. “Well, apparently guys in strip clubs get upset when you don’t take your clothes off,” she stated simply before turning in the seat to face forward once again.

  “And…?”

  “So I apparently touched a collective nerve and they started throwing ice cubes at me. Personally, I blame you for that. I was only trying to distract the bouncers long enough for you to find what you were looking for, but you took forever. By the way, did you find out where he lives?”

  His breath released in a whoosh. “Hold up. I’m still trying to process all that,” he responded. The lights from the dash illuminated his profile revealing what she thought might be the beginnings of a smile before his lips settled into a straight line once again. “You have to be the first person I’ve ever met that was tossed out of a titty club for not being classy enough,” he muttered seriously.

  “Thanks. OH! And I did not get my two hundred bucks, which pisses me off, by the way,” she stated with a scowl. “So did you at least find out where he lives or what?”

  “Yes,” was his only reply and due to the silence that stretched out after it, she spoke again.

  “Yes, you found out where he lives?” she prompted.

  “Yes.”

  “Cool. Ok, now what?”

  *****

  “This is totally illegal.”

  His answer was a severely arched eyebrow in her general direction at her whispered declaration.

  They stood in front of a large brick wall running the perimeter of property, the light from the full moon cast eerie shadows along the at least six-foot high obstacle.

  “Just put your foot in my hands,” he stated as he linked his fingers together and bent down.

  “You’re not planning to break into his house, are you?” she asked with barely concealed skepticism.

  “Step up,” was his only reply.

  “Not until you tell me…”

  “Ok, never mind. We’ll just stuff you in the trunk and I’ll -”

  “No! No. I’m good, see? Here,” she raised her foot and immediately placed it into his waiting hands. With a quick push up, her torso flopped over the wall and a loud “oof” escaped her throat as she hung over the wall, arms and legs dangling from both sides.

  “Ok, up and over,” he commanded.

  “Uhhh. How?” she murmured desperately.

  “Just kind of…I don’t know, move your body to lay on the wall and then, oh, never mind,” he huffed out before his body appeared next her almost effortlessly. She watched him drop down and hold his arms up to her.

  “Here, just put your arms out, I’ll drag you.” He didn’t wait, just grabbed her upper arms and gently pulled. “Straighten out your legs,” he instructed in a loud whisper as her clothing caught on the sharp brick.

  “You’re a disaster, I swear,” he breathed out as her body finally cleared the wall and smashed up against him. He held her tightly to him for maybe a few seconds longer than necessary.

  The burning sensation of being dragged across brick was nothing compared to the inferno in her panties. He was so close; she could feel the ridges of his hard body everywhere they were pressed together. Yummm…

  “Grrrrrrrrrrrr.”

  Their eyes traveled slowly toward the source of the sound.

  A large dog, a Doberman Pinscher to be exact, was standing at full attention, pointy ears shooting straight up and its’ bared teeth glowing white from the full moon.

  “Holy shit,” Jane whispered as something appeared in Pete’s hand and his arm rose ever so slowly. The growling intensified as the dog took one step, two steps toward them before a strange whizzing sound could be heard and the dog yelped, jolted, then sprung forward before stumbling and flopping on its side.

  “You killed it? Oh my god, you killed his dog,” she breathed out, still held tightly to him.

  “Tranquilizer. He’ll be Ok.” He released her and calmly walked over to the prone animal. The eyes were still open and a high pitched growl/whimper could be heard coming from its’ throat before the dog’s eyes fluttered then closed.

  “Come on.” He flicked his wrist at her as she carefully sidestepped an extra ten feet around the animal just in case.

  Her head swiveled from Pete’s retreating back to the dog as she quickly crept over to join him near the back of the stately home. Stepping forward, she was immediately held back by one of his arms.

  “Don’t. See that? Camera,” he whispered as he tucked her body back behind his.

  “Where? How do you see that?” she whispered back, her eyes scanning the general area of a large patio adorned with outdoor furniture and sculpted bushes.

  “Red light. It’s a dead giveaway,” he stated pointing to an area above the sliding glass doors. Her eyes followed the direction of his pointed figure and sure enough the tiniest red light was visible.

  “So what now?”

  “Now, we wait.”

  “What about Fido?” she indicated the dog with a jerk of her head.

  “He’ll be out for a few hours.”

  “What if Rick doesn’t show up?”

  “The question is; what if he does?” he whispered, still staring straight ahead.

  *****

  Hours later and people started arriving, wandering throughout the house, at least from the windows they could see through from the side of the ho
use. Some couples headed up the grand staircase in the foyer, some sat around in what was probably the living room, all with drinks, some smoking joints, some partaking in snorting coke from a coffee table.

  Another hour and apparently the drugs were taking effect. One of the scantily-clad women stood up from the sofa, peeled her tight dress and panties off in front of the group of men and another woman as one of the men unbuckled his belt and allowed his pants to drop to the floor. Jane’s eyes widened as his rather impressive erection practically bounced out and pointed straight ahead. She was touching herself, causing the crowd to follow suit as the man laid down on the couch and she wandered over to straddle him. The rest of the group watched as she bounced up and down before another man smacked her toned ass, causing her to stop before she turned her head. Suddenly he was devoid of his own pants and he situated himself behind her causing Jane to look down nervously.

  “He’s not going to…?” she whispered but looked up almost involuntarily as he too entered her, while she was still impaled by the other man, which could only mean…

  “That’s gross.”

  Her eyes wandered to Pete, who by all means didn’t seem too disturbed or impressed, at least from the bland expression on his face. He was watching the scene before him with what appeared to be detached disinterest as her eyes darted back to the live porno in front of her and back at him.

  “That’s Moll, by the way,” he whispered; his eyes fixed on a new arrival in the room.

  A short, rotund man with thinning hair walked in and was immediately drawn to the scene in front of him based on the fact that his hand immediately started grabbing and rubbing at his crotch.

  “OK, I’ve seen enough – don’t you think they would’ve shown up already?” she hissed as her eyes closed tightly. For some strange reason, warmth began pooling and her own body clenched at the erotic scene taking place in front of her.

  Maybe she was a pervert. Maybe it had been waaaaay too long; that was certainly true. Perhaps it was the fact that she was in such close proximity to someone she found extremely attractive. Whatever it was, she was becoming either aroused or disturbed and neither possibility was welcome in the least.

  “I don’t know. I…” Something buzzed, causing him to reach inside his coat pocket immediately.

  “Oh no. No, not that thing. Don’t leave me,” she commanded as he began reading. Moments passed as she watched his lips move, her eyes wandering back to the living room where another man was now standing at the end of the couch and the woman’s head was moving back and forth as the other men were still…otherwise engaged…geez, woman…She cringed before feeling her hand clasped in his.

  “We have to go. Damn,” he breathed out, pocketing the device with one hand and pulling her behind him. As they crept through the yard, the dog was starting to make strange whimpering noises once again heralding the fact that the tranquilizer was wearing off. Jane’s head turned as they jogged past; the animal attempted to stand on shaking legs before flopping over once again. She immediately placed her foot in Pete’s hands and was instantly catapulted up and over the wall without time to grab onto it or otherwise steady her body in any way. She fell ungracefully to the ground on the other side before he landed in a crouch next to her. Her breath escaped with an unattractive grunt on impact.

  “You Ok?”

  “Wonderful,” she stated in a flat voice as her eyes narrowed to slits. His head snapped up to survey to the area before he stood and reached out his hand to help her up.

  *****

  “That had to hurt.”

  “Jane…”

  “No, I’m serious. Who does that? She should have been screaming in agony.”

  “Jane!” His erection was almost painful as it strained against the zipper of his jeans.

  “What? It’s burned in my brain. I can’t un-see it,” she stated as she glanced over at his profile. His jaw muscles clenched and unclenched.

  “Fine, but could you please stop talking about it?”

  “I can’t help it. Maybe I’m a prude, or a perv,” she mused aloud.

  “Let’s talk about something else. Or better yet, let’s just not talk at all, Ok?”

  Her shoulders raised in a quick shrug. “Ok,” she responded before taking a deep breath. “So, are you going to whack someone tonight?”

  “Jane -”

  “What? It’s either that or the double whammy. Take your pick.”

  “I choose neither.”

  She chose to ignore him. “Where are we headed? You’re not taking me with you, are you?”

  “You’re going back to the hotel. I have some business to attend to,” he breathed out.

  “Business as in whacking someone?”

  “Business as in none of yours. Drop it.”

  “Fine,” she stated on a frustrated breath. “You’re not going to tie me up are you?”

  “No.”

  “Drug me?”

  “Wasn’t planning on it…”

  This caused her to turn toward him, beaming. “So you finally trust me? This is great. This is a big step forward.”

  *****

  “What is that?”

  “Just give me your foot.”

  “Uh uh.” She bent at the knees and tucked her feet beneath her body and stared up at him defiantly.

  He simply dug between her body and the mattress and pulled both feet from under her.

  “What is it? Does it shock me if I try to leave? Will it blow up?” She eyed the thick black cuff on the nightstand. It looked innocent enough, but this was Pete…

  “Don’t try to leave and you won’t find out,” he stated simply before grabbing and placing the cuff on her ankle. It snapped closed and he pulled a small apparatus from his pocket, placed it near the seam of the cuff before a small click could be heard.

  She pulled her foot as close to her face as possible, examined the cuff closely, turning her foot at all possible angles as he remained seated next to her on the bed.

  “Hmm. I wasn’t planning on going anywhere. This bed is awesome. The mattress is so comfortable, I could cry. Seriously.”

  “You have this thing about beds -”

  “Hey, you sleep on a pile of ratty comforters for 6 years. You’d appreciate a good mattress too,” she replied as their eyes did that weird catch and hold thing. His mind was completely blank. No tunnel vision on her part, no nothing, really.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to read you. I get absolutely nothing. How do you do that? I mean, you’re not anxious or nervous and I’m assuming you’re going to whack someone, but it’s like you feel nothing,” she whispered.

  “Is this that psychic shit again? Jane -”

  “Don’t say it. One day, I’ll prove it. You’ll see.”

  “I look forward to it,” he stated in a low voice but his facial expression was at complete odds with his words. “Sleep tight, crazy girl,” he stated on a sigh.

  “Be safe, psycho killer,” she whispered back. Was it possible that his head was closer to hers? It sure seemed that way. His lips kind of curled up in a grin. Damn he was hot. What would his lips feel like on hers? Would he be a straight-on tongue in the mouth kisser or would he start out slow and kind of caress her lips with his? Would he be a face-toucher or maybe thread his fingers through her hair and…

  “Stop looking at me like that,” he commanded in a flat voice causing her to blink once, twice.

  Any softening in his eyes just sort of switched immediately to cold and hard before he pushed his weight off the bed and wandered across the room.

  *****

  And that’s pretty much the same scenario she observed for the next week and a half. It would seem like he was finally softening toward her, he would seem pulled to her and then he would back away. Sometimes she could hear him mumble stuff like, “she’s a weed,” or “detach, asshole” or any other number of strange phrases to himself as he walked away from her.

  They had switched hotels three mo
re times, staying for two nights and two nights only. It didn’t matter. Each place they stayed at seemed nicer than the last. He had to make seriously good money. In the relatively short amount of time she knew him, he had left her three times to go off and do whatever it was he did and always at night. Apparently business was booming and from the amount of beeps he received on a daily basis, she wondered if he turned down more ‘jobs’ than he took on. Not that they ever really talked about it. The ankle cuff was now a permanent accessory on her body, but anything was better than being tied up.

  It was still a mystery as to why he wanted to find Rick. Even their conversations netted nothing substantial as to the reason he felt she would be able to help flush him out. Every place they visited only served to accentuate the fact that she might possibly be the most hated person in the metro Detroit area. If it frustrated Pete, he didn’t let on. In fact, she could tell it was almost becoming a joke between the two of them. They were becoming friends, oddly enough. And that was weird.

  Because she had no friends. Not really. Talk about Stockholm Syndrome. Her best buddy was the guy that kidnapped her and at some point was going to kill her?

  How appropriate.

  *****

  This was nuts.

  Correction: She was nuts.

  She lay next to him, her face turned toward his on the large pillow they somehow began to share sometime during the night. She was mumbling something about pierogies. Apparently the sauerkraut ones were her favorite, cheese and potato – not so much, at least from the expressions she was making in her sleep. Every once in a while she would utter something then settle back in a peaceful sleep as he watched her intently.

  All of his mental commands to distance himself were futile. At least he was able to control his body from doing what he really wanted to do. His mind? Well, she had wheedled herself into his consciousness. So much so, in fact, that it became almost a comforting thing to come back to wherever they were staying, slip into bed next to her, hold her for a few minutes while she slept before he would come to his senses and settle himself as far away on the bed as possible. He told her it was necessary to sleep next to her in case she decided to try and escape; even though she had made absolutely no attempt to do so and the GPS tracking device around her ankle ensured he would find her immediately. Her life was so unfortunate that this situation was actually preferable to her. She admitted that.