The cart’s wheel kept squeaking as it was pushed down the aisle of the grocery store. Numerous items littered the bottom of the cart: bread, eggs, orange juice, cheese, and cereal. Now Robert was searching for milk. The last gallon had gone sour, and if he was going to buy more cereal, he’d have to have milk. He pushed the cart into the dairy aisle and headed straight for the milk. It seemed odd to that he hadn’t picked it up when he had gotten the cheese, but then again, he hadn’t grabbed the Lucky Charms yet. He stopped and picked up a gallon of skim milk. His eyes wandered to the 2% milk. He shrugged as if to say, “why the hell not?” and put the skim milk back down. The 2% milk quickly made its way into his cart and he wheeled off into another direction.
He stopped in the candle aisle and grabbed numerous sized scented candles. Some aerosol room deodorizers were a few shelves over. Robert picked out five different scents and threw them into the cart. As he wheeled the cart around to go to the check out counter the wheel let out a loud shriek as if protesting the direction he had just chosen.
When he reached the check out lanes he saw that the woman on lane five was actually quite attractive. She had a slim build with brown hair down to her shoulders. She smiled at the customer she was helping, and her whole face seemed to light up. He made his way over to her and patiently waited for the few customers in front of him to finish with their shopping. When he finally did reach her he saw that her nametag said that her name was Andrea. He gave her a courteous hello and she responded, smiling the whole time. She moved his items across the scanner and it beeped as the prices jumped onto the screen. By his judgment, she was around twenty-five. He was only twenty-nine himself so she landed right in his age range. His looks weren’t bad either. He may not pass for Brad Pitt but he had his assets. His jet black hair was trimmed neatly and his face was blemish free. She passed his last item across the scanner and pushed a few buttons on the register.
“Twenty-seven thirty-five,” she said. He dug through his wallet and handed her the appropriate bills. She turned to get him his change and he opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it. The register spit out his receipt; she tore it off with ease and turned back to him to give him his change. He thanked her and picked up his items. She gave him a smile and he was about to say something, but the guy behind him began to ask her a question. Robert slumped his shoulders and headed out to the parking lot.
The keys jingled as he pulled them out of his pocket. He hit the unlock button on the car remote and a Mercedes chirped as the alarm shut off. The bags slid smoothly into the back seat. Robert looked at them resting on the leather upholstery and decided it might be better if he put them in the trunk just in case something happened in which the leather would be ruined. With a push of a button on the car remote the trunk was opened and the bags were placed neatly inside.
He began to open the driver’s door when he felt a pang in his stomach. Guilt for not talking to the cashier was invading him. After standing there for what felt like an eternity he shut the door and began to walk back inside. When he entered he saw that she only had one customer in her lane. He quickly jumped into her lane and grabbed a pack of gum off the shelf. After she was done with her customer she looked up and gave him a sly look that made it seem like she knew what he was doing.
“Back again I see,” she said.
“Yeah. I forgot my gum.” He held it up and smiled. She took it and ran it across the scanner. He knew it had to be now or never. “I don’t usually do this but I was wondering if I could get your phone number. Maybe we could go out some time.” She began to look at him as if she were analyzing him.
“I tell you what,” she said. The receipt for his gum popped up out of the register. She tore it off and flipped it over. “This is my cell phone number. If we have a decent conversation sometime then I’ll think about that date.” She scribbled a number on the receipt and handed it to him with his gum. He took it with a smile on his face.
“Alright. I’ll be in touch,” he said. She gave him a smile that almost melted his brain. He headed towards the doors. When he reached the parking lot he let his joy overtake him and he swung his right arm in delight. He dug the keys out of his pocket again and thumbed the unlock button. The Mercedes chirped again. He jumped into the front seat and turned the ignition. A song he liked came on the radio and he turned it up. He was having a good day.
The garage door opened as he angled the Mercedes into the driveway. He turned the wheel and lined up the car perfectly as it entered the garage. When the car had completely entered, he pressed the garage door remote located on the sun visor. The door slowly began its decent back down its track. Robert shut the car off and made his way back to the trunk. He grabbed the groceries and headed for the door that would take him inside. It opened into a spacious kitchen. The floors looked like a professional company had waxed them. All the appliances were top-notch quality. It seemed that you could roast a whole pig over the large stove.
He put the groceries on the island in the middle of the room. As he pulled the contents out of the bag he began to hum to himself. The groceries went into their respective places. On the wall by the door to the garage was a bulletin board. Robert pulled Andrea’s number out of his pocket and pinned it to the board. He let out a sigh and smiled at the handwriting. It was very feminine and bubbly.
“Honey, I’m home,” he called out. Nothing but his echo came back to him. He turned and headed into the living room. When he entered the living room his eyes directly darted to the couch where a man and woman sat. Their eyes looked off into space as they sat motionless. The woman looked to be around thirty-five. Her hair was a light blonde, more than likely dyed, and her skin had a nice tan. “Right where I left you this morning,” he said with a chuckle. “You two need to be more productive.” They both just sat unmoving. The man wore a black turtleneck. The front of it had a large ,dark stain on it. The man appeared to be close to forty. His temples were starting to gray a little and deep wrinkles on his forehead showed that he had a stressful job. On the woman was a yellow scarf that was turning a red color, and a green blouse. Robert walked up and began to adjust the scarf. He moved it to one side revealing a large cut across her throat that was leaking fluid.
“You’re still leaking after three days?” He readjusted the scarf and turned to the man. When he pulled up the front of the man’s shirt it made a squishy sound. “You’re still leaking too? My god.” Multiple knife wounds were apparent on the man’s stomach. Robert pulled the shirt back down and took a step back from the bodies and smiled at them. “I’ve got some good news. I met someone today.” Both of the bodies just sat there. “So it looks like I’ll be inconveniencing you for a shorter time than I thought. If all goes well I’ll be able to move onto my next place within the next couple of days.” He looked at the bodies as if he expected a response. When they didn’t seem to give him what he wanted he began to get angry. He stepped forward and backhanded the man. The man’s head lolled to the side and stayed there.
“Listen to me when I talk to you!” As soon as he said it, he began to laugh at himself. He looked over at the woman and walked over to console her. “Oh don’t worry honey. I would never hit you.” He grabbed her left breast as if to show her that he cared. Laughter escaped his mouth again as he got up to go to the kitchen. “Dead people are so much fun,” he said. When he entered the kitchen he turned on the stove. Dinner had to be made.
As he began to prepare dinner, Robert thought back to how easy it was to enter the house. Rich people were usually more cautious. The woman had opened the door as if he were a long lost relative. He claimed to be collecting money for a children’s relief fund. She had been all too eager to contribute. When she turned her back to get some money, he pushed his way in the door. His hand produced a blade that he had hidden behind his back. The tin can he had been holding cluttered against the porch as he reached up and grabbed the woman by her hair. He pulled hard and jerked her head back. She began to let out a scream. The blade flashed forward and drew a line across her throat. The screaming stopped, but her body began to squirm as she panicked from lack of oxygen. He stood in her entryway holding her hair until all of the fight had left her body and she finally went limp.
For three more minutes he stood silently listening for any sounds in the house to indicate that anyone else might be home. No sounds came. The husband must have been at work. Robert looked at his watch and smiled as he saw it was just a little past noon. Plenty of time before the hubby came home. He made his way out to the garage, by way of the kitchen, and found a tarp neatly folded on one of the shelves. Spread across the floor it had to be at least ten feet. The woman was placed in the middle of the tarp and the sides were folded around her. She wasn’t too heavy and he carried her upstairs easily.
The bathroom tile was a sky blue color. On the towel rack, were two white towels adorned with blue flowers. He set the woman down on the floor and turned on the faucet on the bathtub. The wound on the woman’s neck was still bleeding, but it had slowed down. Once the heart had stopped beating, blood wasn’t rushed throughout the body as quickly. Gravity was the only other force that helped it get from one point to the other. Without the heart, the blood’s movement was more slack yet it still seeped through Robert unfastened the buttons on the front of her shirt. Underneath he found a white bra with a silky sheen to it. He felt himself getting excited and had to make himself calm down. As much as he liked looking at naked women, he had always felt that people who had sex with dead people were absolutely deranged. He had never had sex with a dead body before. Crazy he was, sick he was not. Very delicately he sat her up, reached behind, and began to undo the fastener on her bra. He could perform the most delicate of procedures such as pulling a knife out of his pocket, opening the blade, and slashing someone’s throat with one hand in a matter of seconds. Yet he still had trouble getting a bra undone.
Finally the fastener unlocked and the silky fabric unleashed its hold on its owner. Without even looking at her he lay her back down and immediately unbuttoned her pants. With one pull he pulled down her pants and underwear, which matched her bra, and threw them off to the side. He stood up and looked at her. She was completely naked on the bathroom floor. He could see definite tan lines on her breasts and pelvis. Obviously from a tanning bed as it was early March and a slight chill still swam in the air. Her pubic area was well trimmed, telling him that she enjoyed sex. He bent forward and cupped her left breast in his hand. The weight of it felt good. When he gave it a gentle squeeze he began to shudder. He was getting excited again. A long breath escaped him as he closed his eyes trying to restrain himself. Someday he may just give in to his urge. When he opened his eyes he was once again focused on his task.
With a quick turn, the bath faucet shut off. He lowered her body into the water. As she sank to the bottom of the bathtub small air bubbles escaped the wound in her throat as the air that was trapped in her chest escaped through the water. He looked at her through the shimmering water. To him she looked beautiful. He had thought she was beautiful to begin with. Now she seemed dreamlike . Her hair flowed around her head as it was given weightlessness by the water.
The husband had been a little harder. Robert heard the car pull into the garage so he had hidden in the kitchen, waiting for him to enter through the door from the garage. After five minutes, it dawned on him that the husband may come through the front door. Robert ran to the living room and peeked out the front window. Sure enough he had gone to the mailbox to check the mail. He was now coming up the front walk with his head down while he sifted through the mail. Robert pressed himself against the wall next to the door. When the door opened the husband walked in. His eyes immediately darted to Robert’s position. The husband was a little more alert than he had anticipated. He put up more of a fight than his wife had. Robert took a few shots to the face, but in the end his blade found itself into his stomach.
He had performed the same ritual for him but was drastically less excited about stripping him down and putting him into the tub. While the man soaked, Robert went downstairs and cleaned up. Very little blood had splattered onto the carpet so cleaning up had been simple. No one would have known that two people were just murdered here. He dressed both of the bodies up with clothes he found in their room. Over the next two days he had taken them down stairs and sat them around the kitchen table while he ate dinner, sat them in the living room while he watched television, and put them in bed with himself at night while he slept. He talked to them all the time as if they were still alive. Now Robert stood stirring the stew he had been making.
“Dinner’s ready!” he exclaimed. The bodies were sitting around the kitchen table, slumped back in their chairs. Robert put the food on the table and dished out three platefuls. Steam rose up from the stew and danced through the air in the kitchen. His two dinner guests only looked off into the far away distance. Robert’s spoon clicked as he ate heartily. A smile was on his face after every bite.
“I know I’ve been a burden, guys, but after a few more days I’ll be out of your hair. That Andrea girl seemed to like me enough that she’ll agree to a date. Then after I go pick her up I’ll have a new place to live.” He smiled. “At least for another week or so.” A small laugh escaped him and he went back to eating. After three bites he turned his head sharply towards the woman. His face was angry.
“What?” No response sounded in the room but he seemed to get the answer anyway. “There’s no need to get jealous. You knew this was only temporary.” Still no response came. Robert stood up abruptly and slapped the woman across the face. She slowly slid off to one side and then fell off her chair in a heap. Robert looked upon her with a smile on his face. He sat back down and finished his stew. After his last bite he set the spoon down and knelt next to the woman.
“I’m sorry, love, but I don’t like being questioned about my activities. You needed to be taught a lesson.” When she was lifted up her head rolled to the right side. She was put back in her chair with such kindness it was almost a wonder why she was on the floor in the first place. Robert brushed off the side of her face to get rid of any dirt that may have gotten on her. Her flesh was ice cold but for him it was comforting. He stroked her other cheek and was immediately feeling excited again. His heart began to hammer against the inside of his chest. To him the room sounded as if a large bass drum was being beaten. Blood was rushing through his veins. He was losing control. His urges were over taking him.
With a shout he let go of her. He walked into the living room and began to breath heavily. Sweat rolled off his forehead. His hands were trembling as he reached up to wipe the sweat from his face.
“Not now,” he thought to himself. “I’ve come so far only to lose control now. I really will be sick if I follow through with it.” He began to look around wildly as if someone was watching him. No one else was in the room. The drapes on the front window were wide open. He ran to them and looked out. No one was outside. Far off in the distance he heard a dog bark. “Of course if I do it no one will know. Not if I only do it this once. No one will know. Just this one time,” he thought.
He rushed into the kitchen with his mind made up. With ease he lifted her and took her upstairs. Gently he put her on the bed and backed up to look at her. His body was trembling but he was still excited. He could feel it. Slowly he walked towards her. The green blouse clung to her breasts. She was not wearing a bra, as Robert couldn’t figure out the complexity of putting one on her. The fabric of the blouse was so thin her n*****s, though not hardened, still showed through. He reached towards her and unfastened the top three buttons of her blouse. His hand reached inside and cupped her breast. The breast was a little stiffer than it had been the other day but it wasn’t yet repulsive. He caressed it softly. His excitement swelled. Sweat poured off of him. He leaned over her. His eyes found her lips and the rest of him began to follow. Their lips were only centimeters apart when a loud crash broke the silence of the house.
Robert turned his head towards the noise and away from the task he had been thinking about a second ago. His hand that was holding her breast relaxed. The noise had come from downstairs. Robert walked to the door and listened for further noise. Slowly he walked into the hallway. Nothing came from downstairs. He continued on until he was at the top of the stairs. Still, nothing came from downstairs. From his pocket he pulled out the knife he had used only three days earlier to kill the people he now lived with. He descended the steps as quietly as he could, hoping to catch the intruder by surprise. A soft shuffle seemed to come from the kitchen. He peered around the corner into the kitchen but could not see anything. Walking further into the kitchen he saw the man sprawled across the floor. Some how he had fallen over and managed to take a plate of beef stew with him.
“How did you do this?” Robert asked him. Beef stew was now all over the man’s left arm. Robert set his chair up straight and began to pull him over to set him up again. As the man was being put back into place a small sound escaped him. It almost sounded like a grunt. Robert looked at him suspiciously. With his index finger he poked the man in the cheek. “Must have been gas.” Robert said to himself. Out of nowhere a loud thud came from upstairs. Robert looked up at the ceiling. He hurried up the stairs and ran into the master bedroom. Now it was the woman that was on the floor. Slowly he walked towards her.
“What in the f**k is going on?” he asked. His hand trembled as he reached out to turn her over. Without warning her arm jumped up and fell back to the floor. Robert jumped back in surprise. He stood by the door and looked at her. No more movement came from her. Robert looked around cautiously and walked back towards her again. He pulled the knife out of his pocket and held it in front of him.
Carefully he bent over again and reached out to touch her. Before his hand could reach her, she began to flail around wildly. Her arms and legs flew this way and that. Robert backed away again and held his knife in front of himself. As he stood watching the woman pulled herself up into a standing position. She turned to face him and he saw a blank expression on her face. Slowly she walked towards him. Robert struck out with his knife and caught her in the chest. She stumbled backwards and he ran for the door. He looked over his shoulder as he took the steps two at a time. When he reached the bottom he turned into the kitchen so he could go out into the garage. As he turned the corner he ran right into the chest of the man who had been dead three days now. Robert began to scream at the top of his lungs.
“You’re dead! You’re f*****g dead! I killed you!” he said. The man had the same blank expression on his face that his wife had upstairs. Robert turned to run towards the front door but quickly realized that the man had a hold of his arm. He began to punch at the man to try and get him to release his grip. The man only pulled him closer. His other hand went up and grabbed Robert’s neck. Despite the pressure on his windpipe and his dwindling air supply he let out the loudest scream anyone had ever heard. As dots began to dance in front of his vision he saw the woman walk down the stairs. A large red patch had grown where he had stabbed her. She stumbled over towards them. Finally all of Robert’s strength gave out and he fell to the floor with the man’s hands still around his throat. His vision began to give out and everything faded to black. The last thing he ever saw was the two people he had killed only days earlier kneeling over him.
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