#4 Him

He smiled as he drove from his home to hers. He was still in that calm state of satisfaction he always had just before arriving at a woman's house. The excitement would start to build once he was there.

He was a good driver, more out of necessity than personal conviction because it would ruin the mood if he was stopped by a cop for speeding. Once on a mission, he hated to be deterred by anything.

Her house wasn't far from his, only a few minute's drive. Along Mulberry Drive to Miller Circle and turn left...a half block to Lilac Court townhouses and hers was number 15. He pulled carefully into the complex parking lot and parked obediently in a visitor's space.

The parking lot was well lit and that concerned him mildly but it was very late, after 11 P.M. so no-one was around. He'd told her he had to work till 11 but was anxious to see her.

They'd spent just a couple of weeks conversing on the internet and only seen each other via web cam but he had a pretty good idea what to expect. She was pathetic. Too thin, too old, and desperate for a man. It had been easy to convince her that a handsome man like himself was able to look beyond the physical and had come to care deeply for the person. Sometimes it was so easy it took all the fun out of it for him.

They'd scheduled a date for dinner the next day but he'd gotten cold feet about showing up at her house during daylight. He e-mailed her and said he had a present for her to wear on the date so could he come over after work for a few minutes. She was reluctant but he was persuasive.

The excitement had begun to build as he drove into the complex. It had been almost three months since he'd felt like this and the urge was very strong. Too strong to even try to resist. He stepped out of the car and walked quickly up to her townhouse and knocked on the door.

She opened the door almost immediately. She was thinner than she'd appeared on the web cam, he thought, and older than she'd admitted to. He smiled warmly at her and stepped inside.

She welcomed him to her home, said how happy she was to finally meet him. She rambled from nervousness and this suited him fine. He hated making small talk.

She led him to the sofa and asked if he'd like a cold drink..."pop? beer? water? The night is so warm, they need rain, weren't the mosquitoes terrible?", she said. He smiled politely and agreed a glass of cold water would hit the spot on such a warm night.

In the kitchen she was so nervous she dropped the whole tray of ice cubes into the sink trying to remove a couple for his glass of water. As she struggled to retrieve some for the glass he walked up behind her.

He moved slowly until the front of his body pressed gently against her back. He kissed her neck and said how long he'd waited for this moment and she collapsed slightly back against him. She'd dreamed of this and now it was happening.

He kneaded her shoulders and spoke softly of their future together. They'd take trips, long walks by the ocean, he'd been so lonely until he found her. His words were like balm to her soul.

His hands slid up to her neck and he skilfully pressed on her aorta until she passed out and slid down to the floor. Now his excitement was in full flower and he grasped her neck and squeezed with all of his strength. She came to slightly and feebly tried to pull his hands away.

"I'm dying", she thought, almost with amazement. The thought swept away as swiftly as sweet life and she lay still.

He continued to squeeze until the final spasms of his own excitement died away...and, fulfilled, he stepped away from her corpse.

He looked down at her and felt no empathy, no guilt. She'd served her purpose and had been the cause of her own death. How stupid of her to take him in, believe in him. She'd deserved what she got.

As he walked to his car he enjoyed the late night summer breeze in his face. He was smiling and singing along to the radio as he drove away.

What he didn't know was that the parking lot was equipped with security cameras and his handsome face and licence plate had photographed clearly on that night. Early next morning he answered his doorbell, first to face the police officers and soon to face the consequences of his brutal crime.