The box was light as I carried it to my kitchen and set it down on the counter. My brows furrowed as I looked it over, wondering who it was from. Nobody but Casey had a key, and I knew she was asleep right now. An overwhelming sense of dread filled my stomach as I pulled the lid off, revealing what was inside.
It was a hand.
A scream tore from my throat as I looked down at the bloody appendage wrapped in a pink silk bow, white bone penetrating from beneath the skin. Pieces of flesh dangled off the side, and a small puddle of blood sat beneath it. Pink and white tissue paper lined the bottom of the box, and a small note sat off to the side. My hands trembled as I picked it up, reading what was inside.
Now he can never touch you again
ColdOctoberairnippedat my cheeks as I stood across the street from Lila’s apartment building. The police had been there for about an hour, but I knew they wouldn't find anything. Following people was my job, and covering my tracks was the first thing I learned when starting out.
My obsession with her had only deepened after our encounter at Club Ghost. When she met me outside, I’d been unprepared, expecting her to cower away from me, but instead, her eyes had danced with curiosity.
After returning to the club the next night and discovering that the man who dared to touch her was a regular, I convinced the bartender to give me his name, claiming I was going to apologize. It didn’t take much to track him down. When I found him, he was at another local bar, his hands grabbing at some woman’s ass. Despite her many refusals to leave with him, he continued until he was eventually kicked out.
I followed him outside, keeping a short distance between us. Once he made it to his car, I leaned down and sliced his Achilles. Blood began to spurt, coating the mask I wore in a deep crimson. He fell to the ground thrashing and screaming in agony as he clutched his foot.
I knelt beside him, reaching into my pocket to pull out a dirty rag. I shoved it into his mouth, forcing it deeper into his throat until he started to gag. Myknees had pinned him down, keeping his legs from kicking at me. His hands clawed at my face, but all he could grip was the dark fabric of the mask I wore.
Grabbing hold of his left hand, I slammed it into the pavement until I felt his bones crack under the force. Blood began to run down his arm as the bone protruded from his skin and I could my cock growing hard beneath my jeans. I moved to his other hand and brought out my knife, the silver blade glinting under the dim streetlights. His eyes widened when he saw it, the smell of urine permeating the air. I laughed mirthlessly, my eyes fixed on his as I pressed it down into the skin just at his wrist. His muscles tensed as I began to cut in a back and forth motion, the sharpened blade gliding straight through flesh, tendons, and muscle.
I paused to inhale the metallic scent of his blood before using my strength to cut through bone. He writhed beneath me, blood pooling all around us, as I continued to work, feeling his body tense with the pain. Tears slid down his cheeks as the knife finally hit the pavement, his hand twitching one last time as it hit the ground.
Blood rushed in my ears as I picked up the hand, wrapped in a thick towel, and slipped it into my coat pocket. I gazed down at him, his eyes fluttering open and closed as blood loss began to take hold. Reaching down, I grabbed a handful of hair and pulled his head back, angling him to look at the night sky. The skin was taut and stained with blood as I pressed the knife into his sensitive flesh, hearing a small whimper.
“You… will never touch her again,” I snarled.
I pressed the knife deep into his skin just beneath his ear, then dragged it across until I reached his other ear. Blood erupted like a geyser, splattering into my eyes and blurring my vision. It didn’t take long for his movements to fall still, the light vanishing from his eyes quicker than I wanted. His headhung loosely in my hand, a glint of bone peeking out from the gash I’d created.
I let go of his head and slowly stood from the ground, my pants covered in his blood. Looking up and down the street, making sure no one was around, I glanced back down at him one more time before taking off in the direction of Lila’s apartment.
When everything was wrapped and ready, I dropped the box off at her apartment door, hiding behind the corner where the maintenance room was. The sound of her scream had been euphoric, and I wished that I could stay to see the aftermath up close.
Since then, I’d been waiting across the street while the minutes slowly ticked by, until I could finally get a glimpse of the woman I was wholly obsessed with.
My leg bounced with anticipation as I watched the door, waiting for her to come out. Eventually, the front door of the apartment building swung open and she stepped outside, her curvy figure cloaked in an oversized hoodie and loose sweatpants. Everything about her screamed ‘vulnerable,’ and that dark part of me came to life.
Behind her were the two detectives, their faces turned down in a serious expression. The female detective placed her hand on Lila’s shoulder and handed her what looked like a business card. Lila took the card, smiled, and nodded before shaking her hand. The male detective stood off to the side, his back leaned against their car, and a phone pressed to his ear. After a few minutes, the female detective waved goodbye to Lila before entering the vehicle and driving away.
Lila walked side by side with her best friend, Casey, their arms linked together. They strolled down the street, talking and crying until reaching Casey’s car a block away. Once they were gone, I shuffled toward the apartmentbuilding and pulled out the key that I had gotten from her landlord five months ago.
It was fairly easy to convince her landlord that I was her boyfriend. Given that he was nothing but a drunk, he just took my word for it and handed me the key without much discussion. I told him I was surprising her with an anniversary gift, and to this day, he hasn’t told her.
The elevator had been out of service for months, which made it easier to go unnoticed by the other tenants. I climbed four flights of stairs until I reached her floor, then headed for her apartment at the end of the hallway. Her front door had a Halloween wreath hung at the top, with tiny figures of some of her favorite iconic horror movie villains evenly spaced around it.
Slipping out the key to her apartment, I glanced around to make sure I was alone before unlocking the door and stepping inside. The smell of bleach flooded my nostrils, an overpowering scent that masked hers.
Bookshelves filled with her favorite books lined the living room, with the couch centered in the space and a small glass coffee table in front of it. Two floor lamps flanked the sofa, their bulbs dim, casting a yellowish glow over the area. A half-eaten bowl of popcorn sat on the coffee table, and I wondered what she’d been watching before her night had turned into her own personal horror movie.
I turned to the left and entered her bedroom, the bed unmade with sheets thrown back and her pillows lazily pushed to the side. I closed the door, a soft click echoing in the silence, and headed for the bed.
I’d been in this room a hundred times before, but somehow, this time, it felt different. Desire surged through me as I lay on her bed, the scent of sweat, apples, and coconut filling my senses. I inhaled deeply, savoring her aroma and holding it deep in my lungs. I moaned softly into her pillow, fighting the urgeto give in to pleasure right then and there. I craved her so deeply, I could feel it in my bones.
Cuddled up to her pillow, with her sheets in my hands, I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.
WegotbacktoCasey’s apartment and binged leftover Chinese food and wine, refilling our glasses until the bottle was dry. We stayed up late watching rom-coms, laughing until we cried. Around three a.m., her neighbors beat on the door telling us to keep it down, so we curled up on the couch talking and laughing until eventually we drifted off to sleep.
A few hours later, I woke up to my bladder screaming with discomfort and stumbled to the bathroom. I hadn’t drunk this much in a long time, and I could feel the alcohol still swimming in my veins. When I reached the bathroom, I sat down on the toilet, not even bothering to turn on the light. My head felt heavy, exhaustion threatening to pull me under. I snapped to attention at the sound of my phone ringing somewhere in the living room.
Nausea churned in my stomach as I stood up from the toilet, the room spinning and tilting. I pressed my hands against the wall, using them to steady myself, then stumbled back down the hallway into the living room.
