In Laymon's Terms

He wanted to go up to her, but he knew he couldn’t. What would he say? All he could do was just sit there and watch; wait for her to leave.

So he could follow.

He sat on one stool for almost two hours, not taking his eyes off her for a moment, before she finally made her way to the door.

Alone.

He was sure that she would have been with someone, even a girlfriend, but she was completely alone.

Which made things even easier for him.

Usually, if there was a friend or a boyfriend, he would just kill them. Cut a slice right up the middle of their body. One swipe did it almost every time. Then to watch the woman scream, to see the pure terror in her eyes, was an untellable pleasure.

There would be no need for that on this night. He could follow her, all the way back to her place, and quietly make his move.

He didn’t feel the same about her as he did the others. He didn’t want to hurt her at all. He wanted to love her; to have her love him. The others, they just didn’t matter. Hurting them had been fun; killing them even better. But not with this one. This one was special. This one was going to be the one.

He wouldn’t kill her. He wouldn’t even hurt her.

No, this one he would keep.

He had been looking, all these years, for the one he was going to keep. The one he was going to truly treasure. And now he had found her. Tonight was going to be the most magical night of his life. Love had finally found its way to him.

He stood from his stool, throwing down a five-dollar bill to pay for the drink he had ordered, and raced toward the exit, not caring who the hell he was knocking over in the process. He couldn’t let her get away—it would be the end of him.

Just the thought of it was making him feel funny inside. He was sure it was love. He got the same sort of feeling just looking at her; beautiful black hair flowing down her shoulders, a perfect face—something designed by God Himself. And God had sent her down, just for him.

As he neared the door, he knocked into some blonde-haired college idiot. He tried to keep walking, but the guy grabbed him by the arm and turned him around.

“What the fuck...” the college kid started.

He just didn’t have time for this. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the switchblade knife, flicking out the blade as he did. In one swift movement, the college kid’s insides fell to the floor.

He turned, hearing a mass of screaming behind him and getting a little excited, and raced out the door, hoping that he hadn’t already lost her. He got outside just in time to see her turn the corner into the main street.

Wondering why she had parked so far away from the club, he put on the pace, starting a brisk walk.

She wouldn’t get away. There was no way she could; he was right behind her now.

But she did.

When he turned the corner, she was gone. He felt like crying, but wouldn’t allow it. She was around somewhere—she had to be. She couldn’t have just disappeared.

He had spent three hours searching street after street for her. He didn’t find her in any of them. She was gone for good and the thought that he would never see her again ripped him up inside.

What sort of God would do a thing like that? Dangle love in front of someone, only to snatch it away at the last minute.

He was angry. He had thought, by that stage, that God would know not to make him angry. There were some serious repercussions.

He visited another nightclub later that night and spent a little time trying to pick out his next victim. There were two girls he was trying to choose from. One of them had been dancing by herself up on a podium to his left the whole night. She hadn’t spoken to anyone at all and Robert figured that she was probably on drugs, which helped him out. She seemed pretty, but it could have been the bad lighting. Her hair reached half way down her back and seemed to be a light brown with small streaks of red. She wore a skimpy white top that showed her belly button, but was cut low enough at the top for him to see her tight cleavage. Her pants were tight blue jeans with an oversized black belt and a big silver buckle. He couldn’t stop himself from staring at her ass. She seemed like quite a party girl.

The other girl was much different. She was a lot more reserved, and actually seemed a little out of place in a nightclub like this one. She had short blonde hair down to her shoulders and she wore a skirt that came down just below her knees. She had a light blue shirt top on with the top two buttons open, just enough to show the top of her breasts if you were looking on the right angle. She had been sitting at the end of the bar all night, sipping on a strawberry daiquiri. She, like the other one, hadn’t spoken to anyone at all. She looked around at the crowd a lot and had positioned herself so she was facing the door. Robert guessed she was waiting for someone.

She had a beautiful face with nice blue eyes, hidden only slightly behind her thin-framed glasses. She seemed innocent and Robert loved that.