Chased

The faster I ran the faster he would as he kept gaining on me. Nobody was around. It was close to two in the morning. I was in my bare feet because as I had kicked off my heels a couple of blocks back, still clutching them in one hand. The soles of my feet felt raw and every time my feet set down a piercing pain ran up my legs. I could not keep this pace up much longer. He was a large man and as he grew closer, I could hear him gasping harder as he closed the gap between us even more. He was running on brute strength and the will to catch me.

I thought if I could reach the tree line up ahead where I could lose him more easily. I knew the area well and hoped he did not. I gave my last burst of energy and reached the start of the bush that led to the park, running into the darkness of the trees. Many different trails branched off in all directions. If I could just get a head start on him, I could lose him in the maze of trees. That was the ideas in my addled brain from one too many glasses of wine with friends earlier.

He was slowing as I entered my first trail and quickly headed into a blackness of trees. I could hear him breathing heavily as he passed within inches of where I stood holding my breath. He was muttering to himself that he would find me and when he did, I would pay for him having to chase me. I could see him pick up a large stick as he started to thrash the bushes around him. He was getting angrier with each step. The only thing I had was my stiletto heels for protection.

He went about a hundred yards ahead of where I was and then started coming back towards me. Pausing often to listen. Had he heard me breathing? I was very still, behind a small tree, not moving a muscle as he came closer towards me. I started to wonder if he could see my body protruding from one side of the tree. He passed again within inches and went towards the trail to my right. I hoped he thought I had gone that way. I was afraid to turn on my phone as I always had the volume turned on high and he would hear it crackling.

I shifted my weight off my foot that was throbbing, making the smallest sound. He turned back, listening. He had heard something and started walking slower.  A mouse skittered towards his direction and he must be thinking that was what he heard and kept moving away. If only he would keep going, so I could move. Mosquitoes where starting to feed at my legs.

His movements were fading. Slowly moving one foot at a time towards the trail I took off as quietly as possible. Not silent enough I could hear him running back, heading in my direction fast. I heard a loud crack of a tree falling, crashing to the ground then swearing, loud moans vibrating through the trees, he sounded like he was in a lot of pain.

I stopped and hid again behind a bigger tree and listened, was he faking it and creeping up to find me? Slowly and as quiet as possible I went towards his moaning. There he was, blood dripping onto the ground a large dead tree had fallen and pinned him under it, he lay at an odd angle and was wreathing in pain. One eye closed shut and the blood and bruising looking a hideous black. It would take a bulldozer to get him out from under the tree trunk. He was not going to be chasing anyone soon.

I approached and now saw fear in his eyes. I stared down into his distorted face with a smile spreading on my own. Without help, he was going to die a slow miserable death. I turned and walked away.  All I heard was a feeble cry for help.

Then silence.

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Second scenario 

I crept silently back to see what had happened to the monster that had chased me. He lay face down beside a rock with blood running down from his head, it covered one eye, which was swollen shut, and his leg was bent at an odd angle, pinned under the tree. It was broken for sure. He heard me approach and looked at me through his one good eye. His face now showed fear as I neared and kicked hard with the flat of my heel right between his legs. I was furious with him for the fear he had caused me! He howled and tried to grab at me as I brought down my stiletto, hitting him on his head and neck repeatedly. The rubber tip had broken off. I hit an artery and the blood spurted onto the rock and ground. I backed away as his heart pumped out his lifeblood. His body shook and then he lay lifeless.

He would not be bothering anyone else again.

Lesson learned, I would never leave home without my gun again.

But weapons are where you find them.

Serial Killer:

After five years on the police force, I was transferred to a special unit to catch a serial killer that had been stalking young women, raping and slashing their body parts so it was nearly impossible to identify them. We had to find dental records and fingerprints to match up the bodies when we could. Sadistic was a word that we used often through this investigation. 

One of the girls had survived his attack, giving us a description of a man with sandy colored hair, blue eyes and a scar down his left cheek, around forty years of age. We had the sketch artist come up with a reasonable simile and published it in every local paper. We put her in protective custody around the clock as we thought he might try to finish her off. He now knew that we knew what he looked like.

We had gone beyond trying not to scare the public as the count was at ten and we knew there would be another one soon as his pattern was to wait until the weekends to find his next victim. Most of the girls lived alone, no boyfriends on the scene, so we knew he did his homework stalking them before he went after one. Usually he broke into their place late at night. Catching them sound asleep. Two girls had been found in a local park under branches off the trail that runners used. These two girls had their hair cut to the scalp with a cross cut into their forehead. This one really stumped us as to why the difference in his procedure. 

My boss came to me, and now I knew why I had been picked to join this task force, all the girls had red hair that he had killed, and yes, I was a redhead. They wanted to use me as bait and put my picture in the paper announcing a promotion for selling the most houses in the city. The picture would show my condominium inside and out and that it was on the market as I now planned to move to larger accommodations.

They moved me into this place before the picture was published and I was now the target for this crazy serial killer. My boss said I would be under surveillance at all times and would wear a wire 24/7.  All I had to do was wait for him to make his move and we would put him away for good and our city would again be safe.

The weekend was only three days away, he did not have much time to decide if I was going to be his next victim. I carried on as I was a real-estate agent and all my calls were recorded and checked out. Nothing happened when the weekend came and went. No new body appeared and we thought maybe he had been scared off with his photograph in all the papers.

The next week I felt like someone was watching me, but could never see anyone that looked suspicious. I only spotted my backup occasionally. I hope the killer would not spot him too. I told them to back off.

Friday night arrived and I had just opened a bottle of wine when the phone rang. I let it ring three times so the recording would start and we might find his location if it was him. I picked up. No one at the other end. Was this the night he was going to come after me? I poured a glass of wine and then dumped it down the sink, leaving the glass in view. I needed my head straight tonight. I started to light candles in the bathroom, running the water as if I was going to enjoy a leisurely night if he was watching from outside. My backup was one street over and my partner was next door in a vacant suite.

I waited an hour then emerged from the bathroom with my housecoat over my clothes and walked in front of my bedroom window. I had not closed the curtains so I was in plain view. Switching off the light I got under the covers and waited. We had radio silence and my partner would call the backup as soon as he heard me use our code and would be inside in minutes.

Two hours passed. I was about to abort when I heard the kitchen glass window tinkle softly. He was in and I sent my partner our code, shrinking farther down in my covers trying to breathe normally. My gun in my hand aiming at the door. My heart was beating twice as fast.

We had to be sure this was the killer and not just, someone trying to rob me, so I waited until I heard a scrape on the stair coming towards me. He slowly opened my bedroom door as I switched on the flashlight his sandy blond hair and scar on his cheek told me this was our guy. He showed surprise but recovered quickly moving towards the bed to grab and swing at my head missing only by inches. I lifted my gun and got off one shot as my partner crashed through the door. We had him handcuffed before backup was on the scene.

 

As he was taken away, he swore he would get me. My only comment was he would not be getting anyone again.

Unfortunately, he slipped on my stairs falling to the bottom step, while being taken out and broke his neck. Nobody asked if he was pushed or fell. We were just glad there would never be a trial.

So we never found out why he had carved the cross into the girls foreheads.

I will leave that to the shrinks to figure out.