The first time he saw her was on a Sunday afternoon. The sun was shining and it was unseasonably warm. <\/span>She stood outside of an ice cream parlor texting with her plush lips pushed into a slight pout and her well-groomed eyebrows knit together. <\/span>She was dressed nice<\/span> and<\/span> her hair and makeup <\/span>were\u00a0<\/span>done. He suspected she was on a date, or at least she was supposed to be on one.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n She angrily shoved her phone in her pocket before storming into the parlor. He was tempted to follow her in but quickly decided against it. Instead he chose to observe her more openly, peering into the window from his seat with a bored expression to appear as if he was just people watching. <\/span>But<\/span> his eyes remained glued to her.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He watches as she pulls her phone from her pocket again, this time though she appears to be going though social media as she appeared to be less troubled, and more amused with the screen. When she finally reached the counter, she fished through her purse for her wallet. In the process she pulled out her car keys and name tag.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Bingo.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He recognized the name tag. It was for a local bookstore. A bookstore with only one location nearby.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The name tag was back in her purse as quickly as it was removed, preventing him from making out a name. It didn\u2019t matter, he knew where to look now. He knew where to wait now. Though, he still watched as she paid, collected her ice cream, and left\u2014likely back to her car so she wouldn\u2019t be seen eating alone.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He finished his ice cream\u2014<\/span>outside in the heat. The image of her long hair swaying in the soft breeze, the way her hips moved as she walked<\/span>,<\/span> and her soft figure.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n She was just his type.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As he stood to throw away his <\/span>trash,<\/span> he couldn\u2019t help but wonder how soft her skin would be, after he cut it up.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n . . . . . \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He waited a week before <\/span>going<\/span> to the bookstore, at least, he waited in the parking lot everyday for a week to figure out what days she worked before stepping foot in the store. <\/span>His heartbeat quickened at the thought of seeing her again, making him have a slight skip in his step.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He saw her as soon as he walked in. She stood behind the register, wearing a pink button-up tucked into a black pencil skirt. When she saw him, she gave a polite smile and then returned her attention to the customers waiting in line. He slinked further into the store, carefully looking at the shelves and taking time to pick a book. He wasn\u2019t a regular, and he didn\u2019t want anything other than her\u2014but he had to make it look <\/span>like he<\/span> wanted a book but didn\u2019t know which one.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCan I help you find something?\u201d He wasn\u2019t surprised an employee wandered over to ask if he needed assistance. H<\/span>e<\/span> looked the girl over. They <\/span>had a mousy <\/span>demeanor<\/span> and messy hair accompanied by thick-rimmed glasses.<\/span> Their posture was hunched and they were <\/span>as thin as a pole.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Not his type at all.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I\u2019m just browsing,\u201d he replied curtly but still polite. They only gave a small smile in return before scurrying away to bother someone else. He waited another few minutes before grabbing a random book off the shelf and walking over to get in line to check-out.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The line wasn\u2019t very long. Before he knew <\/span>it,<\/span> he was standing in front of an angel.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n She was even prettier <\/span>then<\/span> he remembered. Her hair was pulled back now, but she wore no makeup. She looked tired, but her skin still glowed healthy and clear. Her eyes are shiny and bright. Her teeth are white when she smiles. It all takes his breath away.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDid you find everything alright?\u201d Even her voice was perfect; a low and smooth alto like velvet instead of a screeching soprano.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I did\u2026\u201d his voice trailed off as his eyes focused on her name tag. \u201cLily.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n They stood in silence for a few moments while she rang up his book. She asked a few questions and he agreed to a membership with the store. Just so he had the excuse to talk to her a little longer. He handed her his driver<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s license with ease, not even worried about if Lily could identify him. Dead girls couldn\u2019t say no and she had no reason to cry wolf.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHere you go John,\u201d Lily said with a glowing smile as she handed him back his driver\u2019s license.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThanks,\u201d John replied\u2014relishing how her soft fingers gently grazed his own. <\/span>She also handed him his member card before finishing the transaction and handing him a tan shopping bag with his book.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He promptly left the store then with a satisfied grin. So, Lily was her name. So sweet and pure, it truly was fitting. It burned <\/span>its<\/span> way into his memory to the point of her name b<\/span>ecame<\/span> a blaring siren in his head.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Entering his car, he didn\u2019t wait long before pulling out his phone to find her on social media. He couldn\u2019t find a Twitter, and her Facebook was only viewable by friends. <\/span>Her Instagram though, that was open to public viewing. Her gallery was filled with photos of various plants that she had adorably named <\/span>human names<\/span> like Finn and Henry along with pictures of her cat. There were photos of her in cocktail dresses with a few girlfriends and some funny pictures referencing TV shows.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n There were no photos of men<\/span> and<\/span> no photos of family.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n She posted regularly, which was a minor annoyance at best since she did appear to have some friends. However, that was easily fixed with access to her phone.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n John drove home and then continued to analyze her habits.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Lily <\/span>Malcolski<\/span> was a <\/span>twenty-one-year-old<\/span> student majoring in botany. <\/span>The one true love of her life was her plants she kept alive in her basement with the help of a sprinkler system and some powerful UV lights. <\/span>She live<\/span>s<\/span> alone in a house her parents rent for her. Trust-fund baby and such. She worked most of the week and partied at night on the weekend.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Well, it looked like he was going to have to iron his button-up shirt soon.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n . . . . . \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n To be safe, he waited two weeks before he went out to \u201cbump into\u201d Lily.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Two, agonizing<\/span>, weeks before he could see her again. All the while the only contact he had was seeing her posts on Instagram, following her under a made-up account. She was trying to decide what to plant next in her garden.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He often found himself staring at her picture<\/span> for hours. Touching himself, imagining her soaked in her own blood. Her body cold as he crawled on top of her. The sound of his skin hitting hers.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Maybe he would even have her alive for a round or two, so he could hear her soft whimpers of pain and pleasure. He would make sure she felt good first. To see that conflict in her eyes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He shook his head abruptly. He could debate what to do later. First, he had to get ahold of her.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The club she was at was a hole-in-the-wall. Not at all where he would expect his precious Lily to be. However, he still found himself shrugging off the development and pushing forward. He slipped the bouncer a twenty and entered the establishment.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Thankfully, the inside was much better looking then the outside of the establishment. The place was still dimly lit and the music was still slightly trashy for his taste, but at least nothing appeared to warrant a call to the health department.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He scanned the bar and his eyes seemed to almost magnetize themselves to her. Lily sat alone on a bar stool with a cocktail glass in front of her, eyes glazed over as if lost in thought. He guessed her friends had decided to stay in for the night. That or they had already paired off for the night with some guy<\/span>s<\/span> they <\/span>had <\/span>picked up.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He wondered if they would miss her when she was gone.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Smiling, he prepared to make his entrance. The key was confidence but remaining grounded. If he was over confident, he would come off as a jerk which would make getting her to trust him much more difficult. If he was underconfident she would lose interest.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHi,\u201d he said trying to come off as safe or nice. She blinked and looked at him with wide doe-eyes. He had to restrain himself <\/span>from grabbing her to destroy that sweet innocents then and there.\u00a0 \u201cCan I buy you a drink?\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOnly if I can buy you one too,\u201d she retorted with a coy smile and a small laugh.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think I can live with those terms,\u201d He said before taking a seat on the bar stool next to her.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n She was quick to wave over the bartender, a lanky boy with an ill fitted shirt and dress pants and shaggy hair hanging in his face. <\/span>His eyes lit up when he saw her and John could briefly understand the desire that filled them when Lily was in the line of sight. Too bad she would never entertain a guy like him. Not a guy who couldn\u2019t even talk to her.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA vodka soda for the gentlemen,\u201d she said smoothly to which he just nodded.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd a martini for her, dry.\u201d He gave her a wink as he said it and she shyly brushed her hair behind her ear. The night might be easier <\/span>then<\/span> he thought.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The rest was a whirlwind of drinks and casual conversation as time passed by quicker <\/span>then<\/span> he would have liked. He needed to act quick if he was going to get this done. The longer he waited the more likely she was to tell someone about him. God, what kind of liquor had she ordered for him?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n His head was feeling fuzzy. He was vaguely aware of Lily grabbing him and letting his body lean on hers. He could hear her laugh and felt his body moving almost on its own. Then everything seemed to black out. It was a shame he messed up. She would have been his masterpiece.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n . . . . . \u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n When John woke up in the morning, he was hit with a horrible head ache and a bright light. His head felt heavy as he slowly lifted his head up\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Wait, lifting his head up? He should be sitting up, not just lifting his head up.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In a panic, John\u2019s eyes few open and his attempted to jerk his arms closer to his body. <\/span>But he was only met with resistance and the cutting feeling of plastic on his wrists. His vision was over loaded as he tried to take in his surroundings.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n There was a lot of green where he was and a few splashes of other vibrant colors. He could tell he was in a sturdy wooden chair from feeling and looking down in an attempt to stay calm. When he looked up again, he could see the wide array of plants. Some were more tropical<\/span>,<\/span> others more domestic. <\/span>Yet, it all felt eerily familiar as if he had seen the garden a million times before.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n John looked up and was met with blinding, florescent lights. So, wherever was he was it was inside.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cGood morning.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He jumped at the intrusive sound and his head turned sharply to face the source. And, as soon as his eyes met the source, the entirety of the previous night came flooding back. The club, the drinks, Lily\u2014it all came back in a whirlwind. But it didn\u2019t explain anything other then how he got to Lily\u2019s house and in her greenhouse\/basement.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t explain why he was strapped to a chair. Or why she brought him back to her place. Or why she now stood in front of him with a cup of coffee in hand like it was the most casual thing in the world to have a stranger tied up in her house.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDid I do something last night to warrant being tied up or is this just some kind of kinky foreplay?\u201d <\/span>He joked as he spoke, but something about the way she just stood there out of reach both upset and unsettled him.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t reply right away. Instead she took a long drink from her mug and eyed him curiously. Studying him for something, with the same unbridled inquisition of a child picking apart an insect.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re going to try and make a girl forget she met you, then you should try to be less interesting.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n His breath hitched.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This wasn\u2019t the first time a girl recognized him. Faces aren\u2019t always easy to forget and if they found him attractive, they would be more inclined to remember what he looked like. <\/span>But t<\/span>his was still the first time one brought him home and tied him up.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you recognized me from the bookstore you should have just said something last night.\u201d He gave an easy smile to her, but she still looked at him curiously. It made his stomach roll.\u00a0<\/span>