Crowe Julia - The My First Guitar: Tales of True Love and Lost Chords

The First

A Look Through The Eyes Of
The Worlds Oldest Serial Killer.

M Santana

The First 2011.

A Look Through The Eyes Of The Worlds Oldest Serial Killer.

By Michael Santana

Contents

For Renee, Thanks for always believing.

Prelude

The door flew open wide as Casey burst through it, the knob busted into the drywall securing it in place.

Hes here! I know it! I have to get out of here. Jesus, please help me. She crossed her chest with this silent prayer.

She ran through the halls at breakneck speed. Her heart pounded, and her thoughts raced as her eyes darted frantically searching for an exit. Time slowed as she rushed down the winding corridors, desperately trying door handles. The doors, some locked, others not, had done nothing but lead her back to where she had started.

For a brief moment, her thoughts switched to her friend. Where is Mandy? Why did we split up? Has he gotten her? She prayed he hadnt. But if it must be one of us, please let it be Mandy. The morbid thought made her shudder. The reality of what was happening took its toll, and she started to cry again.

Somewhere behind her a door slammed. Her legs moved even faster. She ran another thirty feet before a door opened in front of her and the floor disappeared, plunging her into darkness. She struck the ground with a thud, painfully realizing that throwing her hands out in front of her to break her fall hadnt been the best idea. Her wrists gave way to the weight of her falling body as a sickening crunch rang out in the small windowless room. She almost screamed but remembered why she had run, what she had seen. She bit down to drive the pain into the deepest recesses of her mind. She knew he would hear her if she uttered a single sound, and when he found her Oh lord, please no, she thought.

Tears streamed down her now dirty face when fire shot from her hands to her shoulders as she pushed herself slowly up off the ground. Wave after wave tore through her, causing her wrist to give way once again, smashing her face into the floor. Her front teeth shattered as they met the concrete. Casey rolled onto her back, and her hands instinctively rushed to cover her now bleeding mouth. This caused her swollen wrists to send another flash of excruciating pain through her limbs. It took a few seconds before she could push herself up off the floor. When she finally steadied herself, she probed her now swollen hands along the wall, searching for a door.

On the third wall, she found it. The near ice-cold metal gave little relief to her aching hands. Fresh tears made new tracks down her face as she moved her hands around the door. There was no knob! Someone had removed it. She was trapped! Then she heard voices. One voice, smooth and melodious, traveled through the air. His voice. He was in the next room! The muffled cries of her young friend came from only a few feet away. She pressed her ear close to the wall, her body shaking. She heard him say something that sounded like, Starting with the basics?

*****************************************

Mandys eyes opened, slowly adjusting to the light. The back of her head pounded, and she was cold, so cold. It took her only a few seconds to notice that something was bizarre about the room. She was looking at an upside-down room. Someone had nailed the chairs and tables to the ceiling. They had even taken the time to hang the sconces upside down. A strong aroma of cinnamon filled the air, incense maybe? Then the room started to spin, and she felt queasy. The more she tried to focus in on the room, the more nauseous she felt. Her stomach tossed and turned. The flickering from the candle flames made her even dizzier. When she closed her eyes, the nausea subsided. Thats when a thought floated in and tickled her consciousness like a feather. Flames dont point down. The flames werent pointing at the floor; she was. She was upside down.

What the hell?

Something covered her mouth before she could scream. It was a hand: a hand with shiny and sharp looking fingernails. The hand wasnt a womans hand, it was too big. A voice whispered in her ear.

Hush child.

Her head jerked to the right, and she stared into a pair of golden eyes. They reminded her of little swirling pools of honey. The voice, soft and soothing, calmed her, but this wasnt a time to be calm. She shouldnt feel relaxed at a time like this. She knew this; still, she couldnt help herself, she felt completely relaxed. He removed his hand from her mouth and stroked her dangling hair. Something about his eyes, those beautiful eyes, she knew wasnt right. It wasnt just his eyes though; it was something else about him. He wore priests robes, but she was sure there wasnt anything holy about this man. She stared into his face, his beautiful face. Her eyes looked up to his nose, and to the lips that whispered to her. His smile then twisted downward, and she saw them. His teeth, two perfect rows of the whitest teeth she had ever seen, marred only by the fangs that protruded down further than the rest.

Fangs! The word washed through her mind again and again, before her body started to shake violently and she instinctively screamed. He once again put his hand over her mouth. This time, she bit down on his palm as hard as she could. If he noticed, he didnt react. He just kept smiling and talking in his calm and soothing tone, but she blocked him out. It wasnt easy. The euphoric wave once again washed over her, giving back into the calm. She let go of his palm and bit down hard into her bottom lip. The pain was excruciating, but it shook his spell before it took hold of her again.

Her mind raced. She couldnt remember much at all. As her pain subsided, the fog slowly began to lift, and everything started to come back to her. She and Casey had been selling cookies. Well, taking the orders anyway. They had teamed up just like they always did, and this year, just like the previous ones they were destined to reach their goals before the other girls. They had only seventy- two boxes left between them to achieve their goal. It was Caseys idea to try the church. This surprised Mandy. Since Caseys sweet sixteen, six months ago, she had been anything but sweet. But, since they were so far ahead of all the other girls, and no one had ever tried the church, she thought maybe the old priest would give them some ideas as to which parishioners might have a sweet tooth.

She and Casey had knocked on the rectory door expecting to see Father Matthews. Yet it wasnt the old priest that met them. It had been him, with the fangs.

He didnt have them then did he? She thought.

No, she was almost sure she hadnt seen them before, but if not, why did they run from him? Her head began to pound again, and she could feel her heartbeat pulsing in her temples.

She remembered how she and Casey giggled as they followed the man from the rectory and into the church.

Nom, Nom, Nom Casey had said, implying the deliciousness of the caramel colored man. Mandy agreed, well she always agreed with Casey. Sometimes she felt as if her entire friendship with Casey depended on Mandy following her, agreeing with everything she said.

The few times she hadnt agreed that someone was delicious, Casey had acted as if she was so much more sophisticated than her. They were only a year and three months apart in age, but when she wasnt with Mandy, Casey hung out with the older kids from school.

This time Mandy agreed with Casey though. She had also caught her breath when the man had answered the door. Usually, Mandy would not have found an older man attractive, but he was almost perfect. He was as tall as her dad, which would make him about six feet tall. His amber eyes seemed to dance when they met hers. His skin, a light brown, made his white teeth jump out in contrast. When he spoke, the words rolled smoothly off his tongue. He spoke with a slight accent that she didnt recognize, and this made him even hotter. They should have known something wasnt right.