One

Night fell over the city like a warm blanket. The humidity in the air was heavy, and those without air conditioners were forced to leave their windows open making curtains billow out the side of high sided apartment towers. Sirens could be heard in the distance seemingly from every direction, traveling to unknown places, thousands of people ignorant to the sound, not caring whether it was a matter of life or death.

It had been the time of her life, he was sure. In his mind he imagined her and her friends, drunk off wine from a liquid lunch, giggling at each other and making suggestive comments about the men they desired. He had picked her as soon as he laid eyes on her, knowing she would be an easy target. It hadn’t taken much to get her into the alley and even less before he had her pressed up against the rough brick wall. Her leg was hooked up over his hip and he pressed himself eagerly against her, their mouths exploring one another’s feverishly.

His hand drew up her thigh to her hip, over her ribs, stopping briefly to gently squeeze her breast before settling on her collar bone. She was writhing against him, throaty moans escaping from her mouth each time they broke apart to gasp for air. His fingers followed an all too familiar path; following along the curve of her neck until he was cradling the weight of her head with his hand. His thumb brushed lightly over the taut muscles at the front of her throat and he felt out for a recognizable spot against her larynx and pushed.

He pulled away from her slightly and watched curiously as her expression turned from that of lust to fear. Her mouth open and closed frantically, her arms thrashing at him, pushing and pulling desperately in an attempt to free herself from the vice-like grip. He was all too familiar with the way the human body fought to hang on to life, he felt in it his own body regularly but more often he saw it in the eyes of others. Desperate for air, her fingertips twitching, eyes rolling back in her head she finally succumbed to being deprived of much needed oxygen and her body went limp. He let out a sigh of relief, it had taken longer than usual and he didn’t have a lot of time to spare. She wasn’t dead, only unconscious, but it was only a matter of time.

He slowly lowered her limp body to the dirt covered ground, tearing open the front of the flimsy button up blouse that covered her chest. She was beautiful, he couldn’t deny, and he reached up to push her blonde hair out of her face to take one final look at her. It was sad that someone so young and pretty had to die in such a brutal way, but she simply needed to learn how to share.

It was a bloody task but he was experienced, and had no issue keeping himself away from the gore. A noise in the alley grabbed his attention and his head quickly snapped in each direction, taking in his surroundings. He didn’t see anything but someone was definitely there, he could hear a voice speaking in the distance.

With a curse he cleaned up what he could and threw some empty boxes over what was left of the beautiful blonde on the ground. He only hoped that no one would see the body before he had a chance to get rid of it.

~*~

“Are you sure this is the way?” she asked, grimacing at the stench coming from the alley. Her black hair was pulled into a stylish ponytail, her makeup done to make her look every bit the 40’s pinup girl she was deep down. She was definitely not the type of girl that typically stalked around dirty alleys, nor did she want to become one.

The man next to her; heavily tattooed with a pair of sunglasses pushed up on top of his balding head, had a similar expression. The alley smelled of garbage and something else he couldn’t quite place. To describe it simply he would have said the alley smelled like death.

“Alex,” his companion complained, trying to get his attention, “are you sure this is the way?” she repeated.

“Yes,” he stressed, “They said the back entrance into the venue was down the alley. Last I checked this is an alley, as creepy as it might be.”

As a rule they tried to avoid the front doors because they were usually crawling with fans no matter how soon before the show it was. AJ (or Alex as he was generally called by his friends), being one quarter of the Backstreet Boys, always avoided the front doors. Normally there was a bay door where the buses went in and out that they utilized but at this particular venue the buses had to park off site and they were brought by car. AJ had been running behind the rest of the group and him and his fiancée Rochelle had come separately by cab. They were now trying to find the entrance before he got mobbed. No matter how many years it had been since they were at the height of their popularity, the excitement of seeing their idol always seemed to easily overcome women of most ages.

“I don’t think this is it,” Rochelle said, trying to see a door in the dim light. She had been fairly certain it was the other side of the building that the entrance had been on. She had seen a service door on that side, likely an employee entrance but AJ was convinced that it was the other side between the venue and the run down building next to it.

He felt a sudden wash of nausea and a chill ran from the top of his head straight down his spine. There was something about this that just didn’t feel right. He felt uneasy, the hair on his arms was sticking straight up and he felt like he was being watched, “As much as I don’t want to admit it,” he chuckled nervously, “I’m starting to think you might be right.”

He reached behind him for her hand but didn’t feel her familiar fingers reaching back to him. AJ turned towards his beloved, seeing her frozen in time, wide eyed and stone faced staring down the alley.

“Rochelle?” he asked anxiously, walking up to touch her shoulder. She was shaking, he could feel it under his grip and when he looked up at her face a single tear escaped from her eye, drifting down her cheek, “Sweetheart, what is it?!”

Slowly she raised her quivering hand, her breath coming in short pants. He could see the fear in her eyes and he followed her point, letting out a gasp when he saw what was in the alley with them. Immediately he reached into his pocket for his cell phone and for the first time in his life dialed only three numbers before hitting send.