Drip.

Third Person:

The man held his head in his hands. He’s been sitting in this parking lot for the last hour. He hadn’t moved. He was too busy tearing himself apart, from the inside out.

How could he have done that? He’d never actually hit somebody like that before, he would rather sit back and watch others. He’d never let the rage control him like that before and he never wanted to let it happen again.

Leah. She was such a small girl. She’d turned out better than he could have ever hoped, and not just in his little game. All around. How could he have done that? Over a smart-alick remark? He held back from abusing himself in some way.

Of course he knew she’d never love him like she was supposed to. He knew she’d always be missing that part of her life. Now he couldn’t even bring himself to tell her the truth. How could he tell her who he was, when in her head he was already a monster. He couldn’t let her know that was the opposite of what he was supposed to be. He couldn’t let her know what he was; what he is.

He growled before looking up and throwing himself out of the parking lot. He needed new victims; he needed to clear his head. He needed…

He knew it would throw off the game, but he wanted to stall as much as possible. How could he have not noticed who she was? How could he not know after all of the intricate planning?

He slammed his hands against the steering wheel as he pulled out onto an interstate. How had he gotten so far from home? How had this gotten so out of hand? Why does he suddenly want to be caught?

The man’s eyes followed the cars on either side of him. Bending his neck backwards and to the sides he slowly made his way to a bar. “Let’s just pick up a particularly dumb one.” He mumbled to himself, parking the car.

He walked through the doors and realized this place was new. It was a good thing if he didn’t want to get caught. It meant no particular pattern. His heart dropped, just a little.

“What can I get for you?” A blonde and busty bartender asked him in a sugar coated voice. Maybe he just needed to…

He let his thoughts trail off, answering the bartender. She smiled a big, bright smile before walking away. He felt like he was in a daze and not once did he let his gaze leave her ass.

———————

The man sat in his car. He was still parked in the bar’s small parking lot. He watched a group of young girls pass him, letting his eyes follow them down the street a ways. They took turns glancing over their shoulders at him, and he glanced up to check his face in the mirror. He stepped quickly out of his car and waved to the three girls, approximately seventeen.

A bit older than what he needed, but they would work.

“Hey.” The man drawled. His southern accent living gloriously in his voice. “What are three beautiful ladies like you doin’ out here?” He asked nicely.

“We were on the way home actually.” The short, dark haired one replied snippily. He let his gaze shift to her. Then his eyes slid along the trio. The middle one had noticeably brown hair and the third’s was a dirty blonde. It was hard to see anything else with the low lighting.

“Now, how far would that be?” He asked politely.

“Not far.” The blonde said quickly. Smart. He hadn’t needed all of them anyway.

He didn’t really need any of them.

“Actually, it’s around a mile or so.” The first one muttered giving the blonde an odd look. “If you’re offering a ride…” She trailed off, implying that she’d love one.

Subtle. The man thought to himself.

“Of course I’m offering a ride. What if it started raining?” He asked smiling, even though the thought reminded him of Leah.

“That would be horrible!” She burst. Her eyes were suddenly fixated on her feet as she moved her toes inside her boots. “These boots cannot get wet.”

The man chuckled, all thoughts of Leah instantly disappeared. The two weren’t a bit alike.

It was ironic how she thought the worst of her problems tonight, would be her shoes. “What’s your name?” He asked, keeping a small smile on his lips.

“Miranda.” The dark haired one with the expensive shoes smiled. She then pointed to the brunette in the middle. “She’s Sidney and-“

Her blonde friend spoke first though, “and I’m leaving.” The man cocked his head to the side, looking at her. The image of confusion.

“Why, hello, leaving. How’s your night been?” He asked, giving off a smirk he’d perfected. It’s how he lured in all the women. He shoved his hands in his pockets, gently rocking back and forth on his feet.

“Ha. Ha. Funny.” The blonde muttered dryly. “C’mon guys. He’s bad news, let’s go.” She grabbed the brunette’s arm pulling her along down the street. The dark haired one, Miranda, stayed behind.

“Please Sierra? My legs are killing me.” The quiet one from the middle pulled her hand from her friend’s grasp.

“Well, then let’s get going so we can get home quicker.” The blonde one, Sierra, turned her cautious eyes towards the man though she spoke to her two friends. “Please guys.” She pleaded quietly.

“Fine. I guess I’ll make it.” The brunette, Sidney, mumbled.

Oh, come on!” Miranda yelled. She rolled her eyes before turning towards the man. “Can I please have that ride?” She asked.

He grinned and she took a step backwards. She finally noticed the monster he was. He watched her eyes widen considerably.

“Guys… run…” Sierra murmured, low and calm. Surprising the man, but not enough for him to lose his head.

“Oh. My. God.” Miranda blurted out loudly before turning and sprinting. The man’s grin fell. Why did they always have to run?

He opted for the slower one. He grabbed Sierra by her blonde hair and tripped the quiet one, Sidney. Slowly he picked the brunette up off of the ground, also by her hair. He winced as she screamed and glanced at the bar, which was far out of hearing distance. He smirked at the two girls in his hands.

“Funny. The really stupid one gets away.”

He knocked the blonde girl out as she struggled to get away while Sidney kept still. She was probably smart enough, didn’t want the brain damage.

“Well, that’s a dramatic twist.” He chuckled before knocking her out too, anyway.

——————

Halfway home the blonde one woke up. Seirra. She started screaming as the man swerved into his driveway. He grabbed her around the neck, cutting off the screams and slowly all her breath too. “Wouldn’t want to wake the neighbors.” He sighed. “Too bad their aren’t any.” He only gave an evil smile, though you’d expect some sort of maniacal laughter.

He threw the brunette over his shoulder and got ahold of the other’s hair. He heard her mutter something about not having much hair left, to which he gave an extra yank. She gave a cry of pain as she brought them down into the slightly refurbished basement. He reached for the metal door, swung it open, flung them in, and the slammed it closed.

Quickly, the man made his way to his ‘control room’ of sorts. On the screen Zayden was still leaning over Leah, the man’s heart ripped a little. Arielle was sitting cross-legged near her feet and Britnay was kneeled next to the new two. Hopefully describing the situation. Probably not though.

Prisoner’s Rule #1: Don’t get attached to other prisoners.

Leah’s bound to break all of these rules yet.