“Nobody said anything aboutmurderin’. Christ in heaven, didn’t anyone teach you anything? Youdon’t gotta slay a cunt to shut her up. You just gotta kill herspirit; break her down, mentally and physically. If that doesn’twork, then beat the shit out of her. And if that doesn’t work…”

Victor had heard enough. “Iget it. I’ll stick with my own methods. Anyway, I like herspirit.”

As soon as he let thestatement slip from his mouth, he regretted it. What the hell washe thinking? He was tired and… God damnit.

“Jesus, Agent Cock Sucker,you’re losing your touch. Is the merciless Mr. Black getting softin his old age?”

Victor cringed. He trulyhated that Ant knew his secrets. “No one is getting soft and thisconversation is over.”

***

Elsa held the manuscript inher hands and touched the binding. She suddenly felt as if she wasbeing watched and panic inundated her. She just wanted to get thehell out of there and fast. She looked around the room for printerpaper and then carefully untied the twine. Removing the cover pagefrom the document, she placed it on top of the stack of blanksheets of paper and retied the string. No one would ever know itwas a fake at first glance. She put the faux case study back in itsplace and tucked the real pages under her arm. She closed all thedrawers and put everything else back in its place, and gave theroom a once over to make sure that she had left no evidence of hervisit.

The drive back to herapartment was excruciating. She found her eyes on the manuscriptmore often than they were on the road and her foot keptunintentionally pressing too hard on the gas. Twice she caughtherself doing well over the speed limit. If she were to get pulledover and given a ticket, Victor would undoubtedly find out and itwouldn’t take him long to figure out why she was on this side oftown.

She turned on her satelliteradio for the distraction, tuning into an alternative rock station.An unfamiliar song came on and the strong bass and instrumentalintro slowly began to erase from her mind the thoughts of the lawshe had just broken, and the shitty intrusion of privacy she wasperpetrating on Victor.

When the words of the songfinally broke through her trance-like state, it was as if Mr. Blackhad cued the song himself. She tapped the button to see the artistand title and I Will Possess YourHeart by Death Cab for Cutie flashedon the small screen. What the hell kind of creepy kismet was goingon? She promptly turned the channel, not wanting to hear anyversion of a stalkers anthem.

Back in her apartment, shewas too eager to get down to business to even take her jacket off.She sank into her couch and flipped over the first page.

Chapter 7 – Emily, Age26. Profession: Graphic Designer.

Elsa had already read asmall portion of his journal about this particular Chapter andfound it odd the document read in reverse and started with the mostrecent subject as opposed to starting from the beginning. She wasalso frustrated that none of the notes written on her werepresent.

Prologue:

And so C7 begins. Youfound me at a local gathering and made your presence known. Youhave a reputation that I’m well aware of and though I’m not usuallyone to jump on the pussy bandwagon, something about you piqued myinterest. If any Chapter has needed my assistance, it’s you. Yourimmature behavior to get my attention was only slightly amusing ifnot pathetic. Nonetheless, you’re my next project. We shall see ifyour ways can be changed.

The first lesson I shallattempt to teach you is self-restraint, though I suspect this maybe a subject that will be a work in progress. First and foremost,your promiscuity must end. I will not toleratebeing one in a long line of lovers. It is to be me and only meduring our time together. Your sexual cleanliness must be provenbefore we can continue.

Pre-activity:

I was disappointed andmore than a little annoyed to find out that you have an STD, thoughit doesn’t completely surprise me. Now it’s necessary that you bestarted on a regimen of antibiotics before we can begin ourliaisons, only delaying our sexual activity. I will use this timeto my advantage to watch you in your surroundings and learn yourhabits. Also it will help me to figure out exactly what I can do tomake this endeavor successful. I hope you like to play rough, C7,because that’s precisely what I think you need.

SurveillanceNotes:

Never have I seen suchimmaturity in a 26-year-old woman. In the span of a week, I’vewitnessed you drinking and driving twice, seen you get into averbal altercation that nearly led to a fist fight with a cashierover the wrong change given, and observed you leaving from a coffeeshop with a stranger to engage in oral sex in his car.

I’m shocked that you’vegotten this far without having caused yourself or others physicalharm or gotten your ass kicked for acting absurd.

What Elsa would’ve given tosee a picture of Emily. Was she beautiful? What color were hereyes? Were they sad and expressive? Was she truly a recklessindividual who needed help or was she just a normal, uninhibitedwoman? Elsa would never know. All she had to go on was Mr. Black’snotes and they were, to say the least, biased andtwisted.

I must delve into yourpast to see what is causing you to act so recklessly. Have you beenabused? For your and my sake, I hope not. I don’t need the hassleof trying to heal your mental wounds as that’s next to impossible.I know. If it comes to light that you have been abused in some waybe it sexual or physical, I must conclude our brief interlude. Eventhough I can identify with your pain, I cannot condone yourcarelessness, regardless of your past. No matter what has happened,there is no excuse for unreasonable behavior. We all have to moveon at some point and make the best of it.

Elsa stood and removed hercoat, letting the words sink in as she glanced out the windownervously. She was only two pages in and already she knew Victorhad been abused, but by whom? She remembered the detail of hismother having died of liver disease and the implications sent ashockwave through her. His mother was most likely an alcoholic. Herstomach churned. If she was going to continue reading, she neededwine, and lots of it.

***

Victor didn’t fall asleepuntil well after two. It was one of those restless, nearlysleepless nights where his brain wouldn’t fucking shut off. When hedid sleep, his dreams were filled with disorganized, grisly imagesfrom the Cambridge case files – a 22-year-old stunning blonde in astate of rigor, duct-tape with skin cells gruesomely clinging tothe adhesive, a discarded knife with dried blood, scalp and darkhair encrusted onto the metal, clouded hazel eyes, bluelips…

He woke early that Sundayfrom a nightmare, breathless and with his heart nearly pounding outof his chest. He rubbed his eyes and tried to recall theparticulars, but they were already fading. In his dream, he was aserial-killer and his victims were his Chapters. One by one he hadbroken their hearts and then murdered each of them in a differentway so as not to get caught. He couldn’t remember all the details,but he had bludgeoned the sad and irredeemable Seven, poisoned thegorgeous but temperamental Three, and sexually asphyxiated thestrong husband and father of two, Four. His heart was still beatingrapidly when a wave of nausea washed over him.

He wasn’t afraid of deathor the dead. Hell, he dealt with it day in and day out; it was theliving that scared the hell out of him, the not knowing who waswalking behind him or plotting their next kill. The not knowingwhat was going to happen next, the helplessness to do anythingabout is what was devouring him from the inside out. It wassimultaneously the most potent and sexy thing in the world tohim.