Page 17 of Burn Me Down

Beck was my prisoner. I planned on killing her, and yet, I could no longer see it clearly. The desire had been slowly receding before I took her, and now it was gone completely. I would happily watch anyone burn under the right circumstances, but not her. Not anymore, and now I was making it worse.

I was getting attached to someone who would never want me back. I saw the fear in Beck’s eyes when I touched her. It would turn into terror if she knew who I was, and, just like everyone else, she would rather die once she saw my face. Maybe I could keep her locked up and the mask on forever.

“Oh fuck, yes, ride me hard. No one fucks me like you do,” Brian yelled from the living room, and I rolled my eyes. Dramatic much? Did the girl even notice he was comparing her to someone else?

Finding the pencil dick had been easy enough. I’d perfected my skills at hunting my prey even if I hadn’t killed anyone in weeks. Kent didn’t count. I hadn’t planned on killing him until he touched Beck. Then his soul was mine.

“Oh, Brian.”

“Oh, give me fucking strength,” I mumbled.

They were too busy to notice me slipping into the house through the back door. Too preoccupied to hear me going through Brian’s paperwork and drawers. I’d even fired up his computer. I loved when people put stickies on their monitor with the computer password. It was stupid, but it made my life easier. How far I’d come since I broke out of the hospital.

Brian had a fascinating search history. He apparently liked teens in school uniforms being taken by their daddies. I didn’t need a search history to know he was a dick. It was his banking information I was after.

Beck said he’d stolen from her, but she didn’t say what. It could’ve been anything from a family heirloom to money. Whatever it was, I would find it, and he would give it back before he died. I already knew I was going to kill him. The darkness was clapping its hands and dancing a little too much like Ava in my mind.

Pulling out my phone, I sent a text to Chase.

Dragon: Hey, you got anyone who can transfer funds, and it not look suss?

Did I just use a Gen Z term? Fuck, maybe I needed to lock myself back up.

Cherry Popper: Depends. Got numbers for me?

Dragon: I can do better than that.

Cherry Popper: LOL! See, we work great together. How’s your head?

Dragon: Go fuck yourself.

Cherry Popper: LOL! Love you too, Boo.

Dragon: Unless you want to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, don’t ever call me that again.

Cherry Popper: So touchy. Fine. Bring what you have. I got a guy that can take care of it.

Swearing under my breath, I stuffed the phone into my jeans. I unhooked the computer and gathered all the little notes and pads of paper he had lying around, along with his banking files. For someone who according to Beck, mooched off of her, he had a shit ton of money stashed away, half a million, to be precise. Stuffing the pile into the black duffel bag I brought with me, I wandered down the hall as the sex noises got louder again. I had to give him credit for keeping it up. That thought instantly set my blood boiling as I pictured him fucking Beck. My Beck. I was cutting his cock off before I killed him.

Dropping the bag by my escape window, I placed everything I’d gathered inside and went on the hunt again. If I wanted to, I could clear out his entire house before he noticed. I found some interesting files hidden in the closet and a loaded gun. I wasn’t much for guns. They were noisy, but I took it anyway.

I smirked as I opened the medicine cabinet and found a bottle of bright blue pills tucked behind other things. Well, that explained his superhuman ability. I could do something fun with these…so many possibilities. I took the bottle and anything else that would come in handy to the bag, then sat down to wait for the show to be over. I really hoped she left so I didn’t have to kill her, too.

Not that I cared about her, but it made what I was planning more difficult. I was resting when the noises stopped, and I could just make out the sound of them talking. I smiled as the front door closed and a car started. Good, at least I wouldn’t have to kill her, that was one less complication.

Standing, I stepped behind the bedroom door and waited.

“Damn, I’m beat,” Brian said mid-yawn as he walked into the room and flopped face-first down on the bed.

Becoming one with the darkness was who I was and what I did. Moving silently up to the foot of the bed, I waited to see if his mind would register the danger. I loved that moment, and excitement filled me as his eyelid fluttered and his eye rolled up to me. The large hood masked my face, and I was sure I must look like the reaper standing there.

I knew the minute his brain registered what he was seeing as his body stiffened and he sucked in a sharp breath. He went to roll over, but I grabbed his legs and yanked him off the bed so hard that he landed with a thud, face-first on the ground.

“Oh my God, help!”

Pressing down with my boot, I twisted his leg. His knee gave me very little resistance before it dislocated with a pop. Brian’s scream made me smile and filled me with joy.

“Help!”