* * *

I studied her now as she moved around the kitchen like a Stepford wife, something I noticed she did a lot, trying to get a feel for what the fuck was up with her. Had the town turned on her when her testimony fell flat and that side of things fell through?

It’s true that I had once been something of a hero to the folks in my hometown, but I never heard any static about anyone giving her shit about it, and besides, she’d gone off to college not long after.

Come to think of it, I don’t think she’d been back home since then except for the odd holiday here and there over the years. I’ll have to go back through my notes and see if I’d missed something, but I don’t see how, since I’d ate, slept and lived in her damn life almost everyday of the five years I’d been locked away.

Nah it wasn’t that. I’d noticed the change in her from the beginning, when she first went off to college. Her updates were always the same mundane shit. No keggers, no all night parties, none of the shit you’d expect of a normal college kid away from home for the first time. Especially in a big city like the one she’d gone to. A waste of a good college experience if you ask me. But I guess if you have the life of another human being on your conscience it was kind of hard to yak it up. Not that I thought she gave a fuck.

I took one last look at the monitor before heading for the backdoor. There was no racing pulse, no sudden jolt of conscience, no second-guessing myself. In fact I wasn’t even angry when I made my way to the wall that separated our houses and scaled it before making my way to her door. Nope, I was focused as fuck and ready for this little meet that was a long time coming. At least for me it was.

I could hear her moving around as I rang the bell. I looked down at my tank and sweats, my arms covered in tats, my head still shaved really close and knew if the kill lights in my eyes weren’t on dim I’d scare the fuck out of her before I made it past the door. I didn’t want that, I wanted her at ease. It’s the only way to draw her into my web.

Her soft reply of ‘coming’ set my heart to racing a bit, but I was sure it had nothing to do with seeing her again in the flesh after all this time and more to do with what was about to transpire in the next few minutes. It was the beginning of my well thought out plan for the destruction of her life. It couldn’t happen to a better person if you ask me.

Like most small town denizens she didn’t even bother asking who it was before unlocking the door and pulling it open. I almost felt sorry for her naivety but that shit died a quick death. Her ass wasn’t that naïve five years ago; she could deal. I braced myself for what I have no fucking idea, but it was a good thing I did. Damn she’s gorgeous. Almost too pretty to destroy. Whatever!

Her eyes widened when she saw me standing there. “Todd…” I didn’t let her get the words out, just pushed her back into the house and closed the door behind me. “Hello Mallory long time no see.” She stepped back and all the color drained from her face. Her hand went to her throat as she searched my face. I gave her enough time to see what lived there behind my eyes and saw realization sink in.

“Don’t be afraid I’m not here to hurt you; let’s talk.” She fought for words and the smell of her fear was heavy in the air. I didn’t miss the slight tremble in her arms as she watched me as if expecting me to pounce. I made my way to the table and sat down like I’d been there a thousand times.

“Aren’t you going to offer me something to drink?” I stretched my legs out in front of me and stared her down, knowing that for once I had the upper hand and that shit felt good.

“I…sure, of course, what would you like?”

“Nothing I’m good. Why don’t you have a seat?” I indicated the chair across from me with my chin and she walked on wobbling knees and fell into the seat like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Neither of us spoke for the longest time. I stared and she did everything she could to avoid looking at me. “So, how are you?” Her reaction would lead one to believe that I’d pulled a gun and held it to her head the way her body jerked and her fight or flight kicked in. I kept my tone deceptively mild and my pose as nonthreatening as I could muster under the circumstances. I hadn’t expected the blind rage that I felt even now.

I’d half convinced myself that I was over the raw anger but apparently just the sight of her was enough to awaken the beast. Before she fucked my life I was a different man. There were certain things in life, certain lines that I dared not cross. Five years in jail had erased them all. I had no filter left and what little humanity war and bullshit had left me had been wiped out between those four tiny walls that had been my home for the last little while. She’s fucked.

“What are you doing here? How did you find me?” Aren’t we just fucking brave? Though there was no hiding the slight tremor in her voice. She wasn’t fooling anyone. I took my time answering her, dragging it out, keeping her unsettled.

“I always knew where you were; but that’s neither here nor there. Tell me, does your fiancé, or even your new friends and neighbors know that you destroyed a man’s life because he refused to fuck you?” Always go for the shock effect. Leave them guessing as to what level of mind-fuck you’re about to unleash. She swallowed hard and her eyes welled with tears.

“I sent you a letter explaining…” I barely slanted my head to the side but it was enough to cut her off.

“I see, you’re one of those. You think a few words on a piece of paper are enough to make up for what you’ve done.”

“I was just a kid, it was a silly joke that got out of hand and besides the case was dropped, that part of it anyway. How was I to know that you would have drugs in your house?” that last one sounded a bit too accusatory to me. Like the fact that she was the one who sent those assholes to my home was somehow my fault.

“Do you understand that had you not made up that story, had you not set them on me none of this would’ve happened? You were the one who got that particular ball, rolling sweetheart. I gather from your reaction you see nothing wrong with what you did back then. Am I to understand then that you believe you had no part in what was done to me?” She didn’t have an answer; I didn’t expect her to, but why make it easy?

“I’m waiting. How has your life been? You follow any dreams, made any plans for the future?” I let that shit hang in the air as she swallowed around the golf balls that seemed to be gathering in her throat. She didn’t answer but I don’t think it was because she felt like being rude. More like she was trying to figure out what the fuck I was going to do to her.

“I told you to relax. If I wanted to hurt you you’d be gone already.”

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. If I wanted to do you bodily harm for what you put me through you’d be dead at my feet already.”

“Then why are you here?” My words seemed to do the trick and she grew just a little bit relaxed, but still not all the way yet. I needed her to be, needed her defenses down so she’d least expect it when I did unleash on her ass.

“I kinda thought we had unfinished business. I never really got to know you. It strikes me as odd that someone I barely knew could have such an impact on my life. I guess I thought I’d take care of that now; see why you did what you did. Make sense of the whole sordid mess.” I never knew I was such a good fucking liar. Something else I had to thank her for. My complete and utter corruption.

“Don’t you find that a bit odd? Your actions just might be the most influential aspect of my life, go figure. I don’t think I ever said more than five words to you in my existence and yet here we are. You made a decision that impacted my life in a way that changed it and not for the better.”

“I told you…”

“Yeah, I know, you’re sorry. But see, that’s not enough. I have this thing, think of it like a twelve step program. I need to move on with my life and in order for me to do that I need to square this away with you first.” She looked around the room, at the floor, her hands, anywhere but at me. Guilty fuck!

“I don’t know what you want me to say. It was all so long ago.”

Is she for fucking real? That shit was yesterday for me. I didn’t change my expression by so much as a blink. When she got tired of the heat from my gaze boring into her head she wised up and looked at me. Fuck if I didn’t see that same fear in her eyes that had been there that night. What the fuck is her problem anyway?

“Do I scare you or some shit?” Wrong fucking question, of course I did. She shrugged her shoulders for an answer and I’m pretty sure just a hint of sadness left her. There was some fuck going on here that I was missing. For years I’d attributed the fear in her eyes that night as fear of rejection but that wasn’t it. Somehow I didn’t think it was me she was afraid of, which made no fucking sense whatsoever.

I got to my feet and she melted back into the chair, her eyes going wide with fright as she clocked my moves. “I’ll be back, if you run, I’ll find you.” I left the way I came and headed back to my place. That had not gone at all the way I’d planned. Her fucking fear did something strange to me. Why the fuck should I care that she was afraid or of what? But I’m the type who likes to get to the bottom of shit, that’s why the fuck I’m here instead of off on a real vacation somewhere living it up after being penned like a fucking sheep.