chapter2
His bloodshot eyes were what scared her the most. As ghastly and bloody looking as they were, it did not shut out his other grotesque features. He looked like he had not shaved for years now. His beards scattered all over his face like it was a battlefield.
His nails did not receive any attention either. They were long and sharp and looked more like claws. The unusual dark colour of lips was scary. It made Celine wonder if those were the same lips she once kissed. They were so unnaturally dark.
John looked unhealthy. Painfully slim, yet she knew not to judge by appearance. From the recent news that Celine gathered, he was more than you can handle. How did John change so much and within a short time, she wondered?
'What a pleasant surprise." The smile he gave her was disturbing, and it revealed yet another disconcerting feature of his. His teeth were a dark shade of yellow, with one of the front teeth broken at the tip and some of his teeth gone.
She could feel the goose pimples emerging out from her skin. It was not just about looks. It was the sudden change that unnerved her. Nothing showed that this was the handsome young man she fell for years back. The John she knew was stunning with a flashy set of teeth. His lips were a perfect shade of peach. How it turned so hideously black was just unfathomable. He was well-groomed back in those days. He took hygiene seriously back then but had that been all a façade?
'John." His name came out in a whisper like she was trying to make out the syllables.
She has been so demoralized by his looks and not to talk of the place she had to meet him. She roved her eyes to observe her surroundings.
It was a dark and abandoned tunnel. The only light source is a little candle placed on an improvised desk. It was more like woods jammed together to form a shape like a table. She could see other improvised furniture scattered all over the place. Each of them looked like it would collapse at any minute, and they all had a red ribbon tied on them. She wondered if he was trying to make her home. She imagined that he did not live here because only someone mentally unstable would want to live here.
The pile of drugs and cigarettes scattered in a small but sizable hole caught her attention. That explains this look. What has John done to himself? The feeling of disgust that was starting to develop had changed to pity. She looked up at him.
'Are you done observing? So what next?" John asked, his gaze firm on her. 'Oh, I know what next," he continued 'she is going to judge me. Judge me as you've always done because that's the only thing you're so good at." He clenched his jaw and stared at her, daring her to prove him right.
'I…" she was trying to speak up, but he interrupted 'Just so you know, I do not care, Celine. I don't. Gone are the days when what you think mattered."
'John." After those harsh words, all she could do was call his name. She became lost for words.
'Why are you here, Celine!" his voice was a pitch higher, and he looked at her like the mere sight of her irritated him.
'I need you." That was the only thing she could say. Her voice was a whisper with her head bent low.
John laughed out loud. A sadistic laugh that was spine-chilling and made her shiver. 'What did you just say?" He asked, his tone unusually calm in a way that made her feel uneasy.
'I said that I… need…," she started to stammer but never got to finish her statement because John interrupted her again.
'Are you seriously going to repeat that?" He glared at her. 'Don't you have any shame left in you?! Or at least, are you not afraid of me now!" he screamed out.
Celine gasped, taken aback by his sudden screaming.
'You have the guts, Celine, to come here and say that?" he continued. 'Same old you, same old you. Haven't you been the same old gallant Celine everybody knows?" He paused, then laughed out. 'You were brave enough to come here in the first place."
Truthfully, she had mustered up all the courage in her to come here and meet John after all she had heard. She was putting her life on the line by coming to see him.
John was a wanted criminal. The police had not traced the series of killings happening in the city. But she knew. She knew it was him. The instant the police recorded the first pattern in the murders. The killer had slaughtered a pregnant woman, brought out the premature baby and tied a red ribbon around its neck. That was how she knew it was him.
The red ribbon. John always had an inhuman obsession with that colour of ribbon. Series of the same kind of murder has been occurring after that.
John walked over to her. He came so close, close enough that she could hear his breathing. She tried not to panic, not wanting to give John any hint that she was scared out of her wits. Folding his right index finger, he placed it under her jaw and slowly raised her head for her to look at him. He stared down at her. He stared down at her for a whole two minutes. It took everything in her not to break eye contact, to relieve herself of the dreadful sight of those bloody eyes. But that would only be a hint that she was scared of him.
Gradually a psychotic grin appeared on his face, stretching from ear to ear. Celine shivered. That was one thing she couldn't control.
'You know, don't you?" There was a mad gleam in his bloodshot eyes. She got pressed instantly and was in desperate need to pee. She knew what he was asking, but she decided to act like she did not.
'What are you talking about?" she managed to ask without stammering.
'You know what I'm talking about! Don't play games with me!" he yelled, using his whole hand to grab her jaw and squeezing it tightly.
She winced in pain. With gritted teeth, he said, 'I will only ask one more time." He released her jaw and took in a breath. 'Do you know?"
'Yes, I do." she whispered, her head returning immediately to face the floor.
'Oh, my bad. I told you so many things I shouldn't have." He spat. 'First of all, this place. I should never have brought you here."
The location of the tunnel was the outskirts of the city. It was a hidden area. A place John discovered when he was a little boy.
John brought her here whenever he wanted alone time with her. She had always viewed John's choice of recreation and place of relaxation as weird, but she didn't mind. His idea of romance was too bizarre, but Celine never read meaning into it. If only she knew. John kept dropping hints that he wasn't normal. She had ignored it all.
They believed that they were the only two people that knew of this tunnel, or so it seemed. So when those killings started, and they couldn't find the culprit, she knew where to find him.
'Then, I told you how much I hated pregnant women and babies." He laughed out loud. 'As if that wasn't enough, I showed you my obsession with red ribbons." Stepping closer to her, he grabbed her jaw again, 'Wasn't it so easy for you? You didn't need to think twice to know it was me, did you?" he asked. It was rhetorical.
Celine did not respond. She just stared up at him. His hate for pregnant women and babies was the particular reason she broke up with him. It began to worry her the day he started to rant on and on how they were disgusting. How nice it would be to slice open the bulging stomach. He always said it as a joke. She finally knew it was, as a matter of fact, not a joke when he had an orgasm watching a movie scene in which they butchered a pregnant woman. That was when she knew that he had a psychological problem, and he needed medical attention. She told him that, and he flared up, so she broke up with him.
Now he is acting out the same thing he watched in that movie, so it wasn't hard to know it was just him. He just added the ribbons, clearing up all doubts.
'So tell me, Celine, why haven't you reported me? Why haven't you exposed my hideout?" he asked, smiling down at her.
'Because I need you," she said simply. John tightened his hand around her jaw.
'You need me! Oh, of course, what did I expect? It is obviously for your selfish reasons." He said through clenched teeth.
'John, please just hear me out."
'No! Shut the fuck up!" he said, then laughed a sadistic laugh. 'Here you out! Wasn't those the same words I said to you when you wanted to leave? But you won't have it. I needed you, but you didn't care! All you cared about was yourself!" he laughed out again. 'I do not blame you. I mean. Who would want a deranged boyfriend?"
'John. I wanted to help you. You know I wanted to, but you didn't let me." Tears were streaming down her eyes now. Her jaw was hurting.
'Shut up. Celine. Shut up! You wanted to take me to an asylum. How is that any help?" John screamed.
'I begged you. Begged you not to leave, that I will correct those things and fix my problems myself, but you refused." His voice was calm.
Then he screamed, 'You wanted things your way!" His hand tightened even more around her jaw, his nails digging into her skin. 'You were the only one keeping me sane. I needed you to remain sane. I needed you, Celine. I am who I am today is because of you!"
'John, please, it hurts." She begged. She was beginning to whimper.
'Oh, does it? Because pain is the only emotion that I want you to feel." He said, smiling, then tightening his hands further. 'What guts you had to come here, Celine, and say you need me. Do you have a death wish or something?" he laughed again. His sadistic laugh was becoming too frequent. Celine was sure it would give her nightmares.
'Do you know?" he asked, glaring down at her. 'That I could slaughter you into tiny pieces then bury you under the entrance of this place, and absolutely no one will know about it, where you are and what happened to you." A psychotic grin spread across his face.
Celine was on the verge of screaming out in terror. She regretted ever deciding to come and meet John for help.
'Regardless, let us hear it. What do you need me for, Celine?" He asked, releasing her jaw and placing a distance between them. Celine breathes out a sigh of relief. It was good finally having some space for herself. She could now breathe fresh air. She rubbed her jaw, desperate for some kind of relief from the pain. She looked up at John and spoke.
'I need you to find out who murdered my parents."
'And when I do?"
'You bring them to me. I want to torture and kill those bastards with my bare hands."
John laughed. Not sadistically this time. It was a burst of amused laughter. Hard, he was grabbing his stomach. 'As I said, Celine, you have some guts. You come down here, knowing you possibly won't come out alive. You do all that just to tell me this? You are an idiot."
'I know it sounds stupid, but it's not. If I go through legal means of getting justice, I get the honour of avenging them personally. The stupid law would take over."
'And why do you choose to come to me? There are many illegal private investigators out there."
'Well, that's the catch. I need you to take the blame."
John just stared at her. That statement had taken him back completely.
In one swift move, he went over to her. He grabbed her neck and squeezed it. 'Do you think I kill to get caught? I kill because I can't help it. I get excited by it, and it's my only way of getting sexual satisfaction!" John said through gritted teeth, obviously very mad. He was fuming with anger.
Celine grabbed his hands, trying to release them from her neck. 'Let me explain." she breathed out. It took a while for him to calm down. When he did, he released his hand.
Celine coughed repeatedly, trying to make out words. 'When I say take the blame, I don't mean turn yourself in. I just need you to do that red ribbon thing for me, so they'll think you are just changing victims."
'I am not changing victims." He stated
'Yeah, I know, they'll think you are, and you'll confuse them."
'Why should I even do this for you? What do I stand to gain? I hate you, and the last thing I'll want to do is help you. What gave you the courage to come here and think I would?"
Smiling, Celine was the one to walk over to John. 'Don't you see? I've been closing my mouth all this while. I hope you do know I can open it at any time." Even she was beginning to wonder what kind of courage she had for her to say that.
'What do you mean?" John asked, one brow raised slightly up.
'You do this for me, and I keep my mouth shut."
John laughed out loud. He kept laughing for over one minute. Celine just stared at him, confused.
'I never knew you to be this dumb." He said, a frown forming on his face. 'If I was worried about being reported, I could kill you right here and now. Let me remind you." He replaced the frown with a smile, 'So how about we do this on my terms."
Celine has never felt this stupid.
He was right. This idea was dumb.
She hadn't thought through her plan before jumping into action. 'What do you want?" she asked grudgingly.
His psychotic grin appeared again. 'Your body." His bloodshot gaze wandered over her figure in a way that made her regret ever coming here.
'You know, I can't help but wonder if you are still a virgin. We never got to -"
'I'm not having sex with you, John." She interrupted him abruptly. He laughed out, then started walking toward her. She stood her ground. She didn't move.
When he got close to her, he whispered into her ears, 'Do you have a choice?"
'I do, and I'm not!" she said, trying to control her anger.
'You don't because I'm not letting you leave here without a deal. If we don't make a deal, I'll have to kill you because you'll leave here and-"
'I won't report you." She interrupted again
'Oh good, but that is not good enough. You can say you will not but do otherwise. So we are making a deal," John said, clapping his hands together like an excited child that has just been given candy.
Celine hissed, frustrated. 'Please, John, something else, please." She begged. She did not want to look pitiful, but she did not have any other option. She could not have sex with a serial killer, a deranged one at that. Besides, that was not how she planned on losing her virginity. Not to this psychopath.
'Ok. Something else." He said. Celine breathes out a sigh of relief.
'Ten million dollars!" he stated.
'What!" Celine screamed. 'Where would I get that kind of money?"
'I do not know. Is that supposed to be my business? Do your end of the deal, I do mine."
'Hold up, that is not a deal yet."
'I'm not changing it. Your body or the money." He started yawning like he was bored.
Celine felt the urge to just stomp over to him and rip his mouth apart. She glared at him, trying to control the anger boiling up in her.
'I do not know where to get ten million dollars. I do not steal!"
'You have the first option." He smiled. She wanted to give him a resounding slap that would wipe that smile off his face.
'I am not having sex with you either." She spat.
'You do not have a choice, Celine. Do you not see the whole point of this? There is just no way you can get that kind of money. So I practically gave you just one option here. Something you can give. Your body."
'Deal!" she said through gritted teeth.
'Oh good girl, good girl. I know you are smart." He said, grinning and gazing through her body.
'I will give you the money, and that is a deal." That was a better way to wipe out the grin from his face.