Free Promotional Chapter, Noah’s Introduction.

  Flashing lights from the street lamp bounced off his latex mask in a seizure of energy. 

He watched as the lights turned on from underneath the gap between the curtain and window. She wasn’t his victim tonight. The man turned on his heel, pointing towards the house at the end of the block. His eyes, dark gray and emotionless, focused glassily on a couple getting out of their car. They were young and drunk, barely able to contain themselves until they made it inside. The man unlocked the door as the woman stupidly clung to his back, slobbering on his neck like a dog with a bone. He turned to meet her, shutting the door behind him with a soft thump. 

The house lay still. The man outside waited a moment, watching as the lights in the bedroom flicked on. He trailed a gloved hand along the trees as he walked through the clearing behind the homes.

     It was a secluded, suburban paradise that boasted small town bragging rights and minimal security. He climbed the fence and crept towards the hatch on the ground.

He had scoped out this area before. An iron cutter was produced from a holster on his belt as he knelt down towards the cellar entrance. 

The chain, old and rusted, was snipped in under thirty seconds. 

Slowly and carefully, he lifted the wooden door and lowered himself into the depths within.

     It was pitch black when he closed the door behind him. 

He held out his arms, cautiously navigating his way through the mostly empty basement, until he found the gleam of light coming from the basement door.

     The man steadily crept up the stairs, mindful of any creaking. 

He pressed his ear against a door. The couple was talking elsewhere in the house. 

The door was pushed open slowly, his eyes blinking rapidly as they adjusted to the sudden light. He was in a long hallway that led all the way to the living room. 

Voices came from the closed bedroom at the end of the hall. 

     Mindfully, he closed the basement door behind him. The man stood up, turning his head to take in all routes of escape. The house design was very similar to a tunnel. 

One voice grew louder, and his head snapped back towards the sound. 

     The man was about to exit the bedroom. Quickly, the intruder stepped into the open room beside him. It was a quaint bathroom, with few hiding places. 

Instinct overtook him, and he stepped into the shower, closing the surrounding curtain. 

It was a dusty pink color, cheap and tacky yet reasonably thick.  

     The male’s footsteps sounded out as he trotted down the hall, whistling a bad rendition of some long-forgotten song. He stepped into the bathroom, flipping the light on and locking the door behind him. Stopping in front of the mirror, he smoothed down his hair and gargled with mouthwash before turning towards the toilet.

     Since he was already in his underwear, the process was one step. 

After he was done, he flushed and headed back to the sink to wash his hands. 

  The water was taking a while to warm up. He absently read the toothpaste bottle while he waited, clearing his throat before spitting into the sink. The water was nice and hot now, but the sink was clogged. 

He cursed, sticking his hand into the steaming water and feeling for the drain. Girls always did this. Their hair created more problems than it was worth. 

His finger grazed a slimy lump, and a smile danced to his lips. He’d tease Suzie about this when he got back to the bedroom. 

     The force of a grown man rudely interrupted his thoughts. Before he could scream, a gloved hand closed over his mouth, the other gripping his neck with intense force. The victim’s hands grappled for the pressure at his throat, but the water left him slipping along the glove with weak panic. His eyes shot up towards the mirror built above the sink. 

The intruder behind him wore a fetish mask that only showed his eyes, and a dark long sleeve shirt. They made eye contact in the mirror, which was broken rapidly. 

     Before he could comprehend what was happening, the masked man bent him over, shoving his face into the steaming water. It had still been running during the attack, 

 and heating up more with every passing second. The man’s eyes and face burned as he struggled against the attacker with all his might. 

     He was held down so firmly that his efforts barely showed, and the water only splashed a few drops over the sink. Only when the man was completely still did the figure let go of his neck. Gently, he carried the corpse into the bathtub and laid it down.

The intruder pushed the man’s hair away from his face, almost lovingly. He envied him. Beautiful and unblemished in life and death.

    He turned to go. The woman was still alive. 

    Suzie draped herself over the stained comforter, texting on her phone a mile a minute. 

Carson was off doing who knows what, so she took the time to send her boyfriend a cute selfie and waited for a reply. She felt mildly guilty about what she was doing. He was Sam’s coworker, they’d met while she waited for her boyfriend to go on break, 

and they hit it off instantly. 

    Sam, her boyfriend of three years, was definitely cute. He was sweet too, but there was more to a relationship than that. There was chemistry that was missing. Suzie wasn’t an awful person, she decided. She was just making a hard decision for both of them. 

     There was a small thunk somewhere inside the house. 

She couldn’t be bothered to investigate. Carson had probably knocked something over. 

The masked man headed for the bedroom, closing his hand over the blade in his pocket. 

The clock in the hall chimed midnight. He pulled the door open slowly, stepping into the doorway as his eyes locked on to Suzie’s.

She looked up from her phone as confusion washed over her. 

     “Um, Carson? What the fuck are you wearing?”

     He didn’t speak, taking another step closer. 

The woman noticed a pair of handcuffs clipped onto his belt buckle and playfully bit her lip. This was a prime example of why Sam just wasn’t working for her. Only Carson would pull something like this. 

     “Oh, are we role playing? Are you the big nasty burglar man who broke into my house?” 

“I can get behind this.”

She cast an appraising eye over his body, appreciating the muscle definition showing through his shirt, before tossing the cover off and standing up.

The woman was dressed only in her underwear, and the man’s eyes shifted to her bare breasts for a moment, before returning to her face.

     “What the hell, why not?” Suzie said, more convincing herself than anything.

He watched her as she stepped closer, the alcohol in her swarming her system. 

Suzie didn’t register the fact this man was taller and thinner than her previous partner. 

There was so much alcohol in her system that it was hard to register anything at all. Nor did she notice that he tensed as she came closer, his hand not moving from his pocket. 

She came within a foot of him, stretching her hand out to stroke his latex mask, 

before leaning up on her toes towards his face.

  “Please, mysterious man, I’ll do anything if you don’t steal my vinyl record collection.” 

  He moved finally, putting a hand around her waist and drawing her closer to him, 

leaning his head towards her lips.

“I can’t kiss you, doofus,” Suzie said with a laugh. “Your mask…”

She reached up, curling her fingers around the bottom of his mask—

     “Your breath smells like dog shit.”

Suzie froze. The intruder watched as her eyes widened, lips parting in horror.

Her scream was cut off by his knife plunging into the back of her neck. She gurgled, hands clutching at his chest, before falling still.

He let go of her waist and let the rapidly bleeding body crumble to the floor. 

Noah left the corpses where they were. There were no fingerprints, no witnesses, no cameras. He wanted them to be found.