Page 59 of Hello, Listener
I crouch to meet her at eye level and observe the scared little girl in front of me as her face turns a deeper shade of red, the louder she gets. Her lip trembles, and she stops. I closely line my face up with hers, the tips of our noses nearly touching.
“Scream all you want. I love it,” I admit. “No one can hear you. There is no one around for miles.” She moves her body in hopes of getting further away from me.There is no getting away from me. You’re all mine now.
“Where do you think you’re going to go?”
She turns her head and scans around the room as if she’s trying to conjure up an escape plan. It's pathetic, really. The look of defeat covers her face when she notices the padlock on the closed roll-up door.
“Why did you agree to get into my car?” I question, still spinning the tip of the knife on my index finger. “Didn’t anyone tell you not to get in a car with a stranger?”
“I-I-I…” She stammers.
“Look at you,” I shake my head. “Now at a loss for words.” I run the blade of my knife across my bottom lip. “You know, you look pretty when you’re like this.” Her tears and sweat make several of her dark purple strands stick to the side of her cheeks. I glide the tip of the blade along a few of her thin fibers.
“I don’t want to hurt your pretty face,” I whisper next to her ear. I gently move my blade from the top of her neck to the neckline of her shirt. I watch more tears fall down her cheeks.
“Just sit back, beautiful. It’ll all be over soon.”
The sharp blade presses down hard on her shirt, starting at the neckline. It cuts smoothly through the silk threads. I pay close attention to the goosebumps and the beads of sweat that form in the middle of her chest.
Her body shivers and her chest heaves as I move the blade along her skin beneath the opened flaps of the silk fabric. The way she tenses from the sharp blade entering the skin allows the knife to glide down, just above her tits, with ease.
What’s left of her shirt hangs loosely off her body. My eyes stare at the trail of blood I left between her tits, ending just below her rib cage. I lick my lower lip at the sight of my mark contrasting against her pale skin.
“Tonight, you’re mine, and baby, we’re going to play.” Roughly, I grab her chin and kiss her swollen lips.
“Why me?” She probes through quiet sobs.
“Because you’re the next best thing.” I close my switchblade and slide it into the pocket of my black jeans. Her sad eyes look up at me as I rise to my feet, and I walk back towards the shelf. Her eyes trail me as I grab the tripod I had set up for Jace and set it next to the empty metal chair.
“What are you going to do to me?”
“Whatever the hell I want.” I grab her small, black purse. I sat it next to the metal shelf when I first brought her here.
“What are you doing with my stuff?” She questions angrily and I let out a small laugh while hunting for her phone.Even when she’s about to die, she’s still worried about material things. Just like Ashley. Fucking typical.
“Here it is.” I grab her phone from the tiny bag and she shifts in her seat the closer I get to her body. “Smile for me, baby.” Her chin is small in my hand as I hold her head up to her phone. “Good, girl.” I praise and watch how the phone opens up.
The device fits securely into the tripod that sits in front of her. In what seems like minutes of silence, I search through her many apps until I can find her camera. I hit the record button and step out of the way.
“Why are you recording me?”
“Because when you’re dead, I want to replay the sounds you make right before you meet your end,” I answer. Standing behind the tripod, I adjust the height, making sure my face will be out of view.
“Someone will come for me. They’ll notice I’m no longer at the club. There were witnesses. People saw me walk out with you to your car!” She cries. Her voice bouncing off the walls
“If someone noticed or even cared that you were gone, they would have said something by now. No one is coming.” I look at her from behind the tripod and revel in her trembling body. The long red line that goes down her chest continues to entice my mind.
“You wear my mark so fucking well.” I move closer to her chair and take the switchblade from my pocket. The clicking sound of the knife opening echoes in the small storage space. Keeping my eyes on her, I lean in close and run the tip along her pale skin. “I think it would look so much better with a few more.”
Before I begin running the sharp edge of the cold blade along her ivory skin, I look up at her terrified face.Keep it that way. I love the way you look right now.I study her reactions as the blade pushes deep into her flesh. Her body jumps at the feeling of the serrated edge carving into her sternum. She bites her lower lip again, and her tears fall out of her heavy lids. Thick clots of red stream out in tandem with my knife as it cuts into her chest in slow motion.
I stop once the end of my new mark lines up with the first one. “Oh, pretty girl, you look like a fucking work of art.”
I stand back with my hand stroking my chin and admire the new canvas in front of me. She lets out small whimpers while I walk back to my chair and sit down on the cold metal surface. My stare is permanently on the blood streaming down her snow white chest as I pinch the blade between my fingers.
“What else are you going to do to me?"
“Terrible, awful things.” I look down at her exposed breasts and notice how her many tears have mixed with her blood.
