Andrew watched all round him as people passed by. The park was the best place to watch them. He was paying attention to the women on the jogging trail in particular. They were so beautiful, the way they ran, how their hair fell… Andrew shook his head. He couldn’t think about that now. He needed to be able to concentrate so he could find a new one. A brunette in jean shorts and a white t-shirt with her shiny, curly hair up in a high perky ponytail trotted past him. She looked good enough. Lean, in shape. And tall. The bigger the better, he thought. Pulling out a dog leash, he walked up to her, casting his gaze about as if looking for something. As he got closer, watching her finish her stretches, he decided she was perfect. He could now clearly see how healthy and gorgeous she was. She looked up when she heard him approach her.

“Yes?” she asked.

“I... I need your help,” stuttered Andrew, distracted by the way her lips moved when she spoke. “I let my dog off his leash for a minute, but he saw a squirrel and went after it. Now I can’t find him”

The brunette glanced around. She had heard of women who disappeared because they were lured away from people. But there were lots of people everywhere, even along the creek behind the trees. She decided it would be safe. And this man looked so sincere and lost without his dog.

“Yeah, of course I’ll help you. Which way did he run off too?”

            “I’m not totally sure, but I heard him bark from beyond those trees near the parking lot.”

            “Ok.”

            Andrew smiled to himself as they walked together towards the trees. The dog ruse always worked. And they’d have to go right through the parking lot to get to that grove of trees past it. He decided he should try and make conversation.

            “So, uhm, my name’s Andrew. You?”

            “Sheila.”

            Sheila. What an amazing name. It sounded like a song to Andrew. It chimed in perfect tune to his ears, and for a moment, he imagined being with her, spending his life with her. Then he promptly pushed the thought from his mind.

            They continued towards the parking lot, and Andrew knew this was his chance.

            “I need to stop at my car and grab Rico’s dog treats. ‘Cuz he deserves a reward when we find him,” said Andrew casually as he altered his path and started to go to his car.

            “Ok, that’s fine,” replied Sheila. It didn’t really make sense to her, but she wasn’t worried.

            When they reached his car, Andrew opened the passenger side door and leaned in. Sheila folded her arms across her chest and waited a few feet away from the car. Andrew quickly glanced behind him and saw that Sheila was looking away from the car. He grabbed a beer bottle lying on the floor of his car, turned rapidly and swiftly smashed the bottle into the side of Sheila’s head. She fell to the pavement, lying in a crumpled, bloody mess. Andrew stole a glance at the park, and satisfied that no one was watching, pulled Sheila into his car. As he started his car, he started feeling more and more triumphant. By the time he pulled out of the parking lot, he was near euphoria.

                                                           

*     *     *

            Sheila groaned when she opened her eyes the first time. Her head bobbed up and down slightly. She tried opening her eyes again, gradually, so there was no shock of light. Andrew was the first thing she saw. He was sitting across from her, smiling, looking at her with such intensity that she felt his stare hit her soul. She then realized that she was upright. Not standing either. She straightened her slouched frame and stood up. She followed her outstretched arms to her wrists and the binds around them. Her eyes continued upwards along the ropes to where they fastened on the roof. She slumped back down and looked at her captor.

            “Didn’t want you to take off on me,” said Andrew coyly while he walked towards Sheila. He stopped in front of her and put his hand up to her face. He tenderly touched where he had smashed the bottle, the area now caked with dried blood and hair. He ran his fingers along her jaw line and around her neck and finally through her hair.

            She then realized that her hair was down. She looked down and saw that she was only in her bra and underwear. Then she noticed marker lines. They were dashed lines, ovals and circles on her stomach, thighs, calves and god knows where else. She raised her head and stared Andrew in the eyes.

            “What the hell is this?” she demanded.

            “Oh, you mean the markings? Those are nothing. They’re just there for my benefit.”

            “Why? What do you want from me?” cried Sheila.

            “Oh nothing, really. I just want you,” he replied. He again put his hands up near her face, but this time he let them rest on her two jugular veins. He pressed harder and harder, cutting the circulation to her brain and making her pass out. Sheila’s knees gave out and her head fell down and rested on her chest. She was again at the mercy of Andrew. He held her with one arm as he untied her right arm. With the right one loosed, he switched arms and untied her left one. Andrew gazed at the prize in his arms and lovingly picked her up and took her to another room.

 

*     *     *

 

            An older lady sat in her living room beside her phone watching TV. Her daughter didn’t call her last night. She wondered what could be wrong. They were close, and Sheila would have mentioned if anything was wrong. She dialed her daughter’s cell phone. Straight to voicemail. That was the fourth time tonight. She couldn’t reach her at home either. She shook her head. Things were fine. She just must be out. She thought about it again. She decided to make sure she was ok. She called the police and made a missing persons report. They reassured her that they would look for her.

 

*     *     *

 

Opening her eyes to bright light once again, Sheila squinted. A medical light, like the ones in operation rooms, hovered about her head. She wondered where she was. Then she remembered Andrew. She tried to get up to escape, but got nowhere. Trying again and again, she realized her efforts were in vain. She could barely lift her head to see the thick leather restraints. They were everywhere. But they never covered any of the markings on her body. Desperation began to fill her mind and filtered down into her breathing until it was shallow and shaky. Andrew walked into the room carrying a silver tray just then. He was humming a sweet tune, and it made Sheila sick.

“You’re awake!” exclaimed Andrew. “This is good! I wouldn’t want you to miss what’s to follow.”

Tears slowly traveled down Sheila’s face. Andrew wiped them away.

“There’ll be plenty of time for that later.”

He picked up a long, serrated blade and smiled. He was so entranced by the knife and his own thoughts that he didn’t even hear Sheila begin to scream or see her struggling wildly to get free. He turned his sparkling eyes towards Sheila and set the blade on her upper thigh. The first cut was always the best. He sawed into the skin deeply and turned the blade horizontally to get the most out of the leg. A deep red flowed freely from the cut. It was his favourite colour. He continued sawing and cutting along his lines. He had to make sure to cut slowly. Too much pain and she would pass out. He glanced at Sheila, mouth wide and screaming in agony, tears now a downpour along her pain stricken face. Still he heard nothing. He finished on the thigh and set the slab of meat on the table beside him. Picking up a towel, he set it on the leg, flowing with blood. He didn’t want her to bleed out too fast. She had to last a little while longer. He walked around to the other side of the table and started in the same fashion on the other thigh. Looking up again, he saw that Sheila was no longer screaming. She had given way to sobbing instead, no longer able to scream the pain she felt. It wouldn’t be long now. Finishing up the leg, the ecstasy of another victim began to wear off and he became aware of sounds again. Sheila began to cry more softly, now that he had stopped. He took off the towel on her leg, knowing that it was of no use now. He had been able to make her suffer, and that was alright with him. He now waited for her to exsanguinate. He sat and watched the blood stream down the table onto the floor. He had to remember that next time, he wouldn’t start where there were so many arteries. The stream eventually subsided to a trickle, and then stopped entirely. He knew she had passed on. He sighed and stood up and finished his work, cutting slabs of meat off along his carefully chosen lines. He knew those lines marked the best cuts.

 

 *     *     *

 

The police presence at the jogging park was overpowering. They were searching high and low, scouring the surrounding forest, cadaver dogs and search parties alike. Nothing was found.

 

*     *     *

 

Andrew closed his freezer. He smiled to himself at the thought of a very well stocked freezer for quite some time. He cast his eyes to his garden. It would soon be lush and beautiful. He wandered into his kitchen and stirred the pot on the stove. And while the police still toiled for someone they would never find, the smell of a sweet and savory stew wafted from the windows of Andrew’s house.