Page 15 of Grave Obsession

The scene I’m met with is eerily similar to the one from a few months ago. The victim is female, dark hair this time, not blonde. She’s probably mid to late twenties in age, and she’s been hung naked from the rafters of the mill. I suspect when we get her down we will find that the hanging is just a ruse to divert us towards suicide as manner of death. When in reality she will have been asphyxiated up close and personal. Whoever the perpetrator is, he is escalating. There are small cut marks all over her body, she was undoubtedly tortured before he ended her life. This always happens when they try to capture the feeling of their first kill. If we don’t catch him soon he’s going to start dismembering bodies and…experimenting. He’s already feeling bold, returning to the place of his first murder.

Sidling up beside my uncle, I observe that Johnson seems agitated. He’s lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet and shifting his weight from side to side. He’s flushed, and fidgety. It’s immediately annoying. The captain on the other hand looks like he has aged ten years since I saw him yesterday. He takes it personally that this happened in his town. In the place filled with so many happy memories of him and my aunt. This person is tearing my uncle apart in so many ways simultaneously. I despise it. We stand there bouncing theories off each other, waiting for the coroner to come and collect the body. Now, I’ve never had an in-depth conversation with Johnson before but I’m starting to think he may be the most clueless cop on the planet. I’d usually appreciate his ability to come up with new theories but only if the evidence supports it. His theory that this killer is a woman is absolutely ludicrous. Not that a woman couldn’t do this but the genital mutilation alone points us towards a male un-sub.

Is he trying to steer me in the wrong direction on purpose? It’s the only thing that makes sense to me. He must want to solve the case all by himself and be the hero. He’s been lusting after the captain position for months but I’m already a sure-in for that position. Perks of being the captain’s family and the only one he trusts to love this town as much as him.

The coroner finally shows up and removes the body while I’m tagging evidence for collection. I pause what I’m doing in order to inspect the body before it leaves the scene. Just as I suspected…multiple bruises and abrasions from ligature strangulation. Whoever murdered this woman, and the last, is doing it slowly. Garrotting them as both a form of torture and wielding power over the victim. I bet he gets off on the whole sick process. The coroner's assistant tells me they will have the preliminary report done by the end of the day and ensure I will have it in my inbox by tomorrow morning. With that, my uncle dismisses me, telling me to enjoy my time off because when I’m back I’ll be diving head first into this case. I need to catch this motherfucker before he kills again and levels up to serial killer status. I’ll never be able to see my little siren then, I’d be inundated with work. Thinking of her brings a smile to my face, I can’t wait to see what she’s been up to while I’ve been gone.

Chapter Fourteen

Mallory

How long have I been in here? The bubbles have disappeared and the once steaming water is cold enough to give me goosebumps. Where are my towels? God damn it, still in the dryer. I pull the plug and stand on the bath mat wringing out my hair, and drip drying to the point of shivering. My phone beeps from the sink counter and the screen lights up with a new text message. With the possibility of it being Rita, my boss, I unlock my phone and open the message.

Ghost:

How long are you planning to stay in there, little siren?

I’m trying to be respectful but my patience is wearing thin.

I wonder why he calls me little siren. Should I ask him? How long has he been waiting for me? Checking the time, I see it's just after 8 pm now. Did I fall asleep in the tub? I don’t remember if I did or not and that concerns me more than the man outside. A tingling sensation spreads through my very nude body, every nerve ending firing to life as my mind realizes the danger I could be in. How far can I push his patience? What will he do if the very fine tightrope I'm walking snaps? Will he catch me? Will he kill me? Do I want to find out?

I need to go pick up my surveillance cameras from the post office tomorrow. I want to know where he is and what he is doing in the shadows. Is he touching himself again? I smirk as warmth spreads through me. He says he’s respectful? Let's test his restraint. I walk out of the bathroom naked as the day I was born and head to my bedroom.

The curtains are still open but he isn’t there... Where is he? My wet hair is dripping down my body as I open the closet to search for clothes. Suddenly, "Do I Wanna Know?" by the Arctic Monkeys starts streaming through the speakers in my house and I think I’ve had a heart attack. This fucking prick gets off on scaring me, I just know it. I love this fucking song and he probably knows that too. He can’t see me through the window with the closet door open, effectively blocking his field of view. My hips start to move and dip to the beat, it's involuntary. My phone lights up in my hand, looking at it has me giggling. What the hell girl? Get it together.

Ghost:

Come out of the closet, Mallory.

You can’t hide from me all night.

Want to bet? The urge to taunt the fucker pulls me under and I reply.

Mallory:

And if I don’t?

Ghost:

Are you brave enough to find out?

I'm definitely not and it suddenly hits me like a freight train that I have no pants or anything resembling them in this closet. I wanted my robe but it's not here. Grabbing a long cardigan that I can wrap around myself while I grab clothes from my dresser is my only option. It hits mid thigh and is oversized so it covers me enough. My mind is swimming, what do I do? Fuck it, game on motherfucker, and I close the closet door.

There he is again, just like last night. Dressed in black from top to bottom with the mask of my favourite psycho covering his face. His hands fly to the mask's elongated mouth in a comical display of shock and I fight back a laugh, but a smile graces my lips. Pulling out his phone, he types me a message.

Ghost:

You’re beautiful.

I’ve never been called beautiful before, it's almost too personal. I’m both scared and empowered. Hot all over and blushing. It’s a heady mix knowing he could overpower me in an instant but he’s putty in my hands at this moment. My face is on fire as I type out a reply to his message.

Mallory:

I wonder if I could say the same about you.

Ghost:

I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.

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