Dr Roberts, Lisa thought. I hope she has someone to talk to.
She deserves to be happy.
‘I’m afraid that’s our time, Lisa.’
The therapist’s mellow, soothing voice broke Lisa’s reverie. She looked at the clock on the wall.
‘Oh my God, you’re right. Time passes so fast in here, it’s crazy. Do you find that, Dr Roberts?’
Nikki smiled diplomatically. ‘Sometimes.’
Lisa Flannagan stood up to leave.
‘Don’t you have a coat?’ Nikki asked. ‘It’s pouring out there.’
‘Is it?’ Lisa hadn’t noticed the pounding on the windows.
She was dressed in a tiny denim miniskirt that barely skimmed the top of her thighs, and a tank top with the words ‘ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE’ emblazoned on the front, a garment so tiny it would have struggled to adequately cover a child’s chest, never mind Lisa’s ample bosom.
‘You’ll be soaked to the bone out there,’ said Nikki. Standing up, she reached for her own trench coat, hanging on the back of the door. ‘Here. Take mine.’
Lisa hesitated. ‘Don’t you need it?’
Nikki shook her head. ‘I’m parked downstairs. I can take the elevator right to my car. You can return it at our next session.’
‘Well, if you’re sure …’ Lisa took the coat, smiling broadly. ‘That is so kind of you, Dr Roberts. Really.’
She took the therapist’s hand and squeezed it. It was little gestures like that, going the extra mile, that really set Dr Roberts apart from other therapists. She wasn’t in this for the money. She actually cared about her patients. She cares about me.
Outside in the alley behind the Century Plaza Medical Building it was cold, wet and dark. His legs ached from crouching for so long. His skin burned and so did his throat. Every breath felt like he was gargling razor blades, and every drop of rain felt like acid, a tiny burning dagger slicing into his frayed nerves. When it was over, he would get what he needed. Pain, unimaginable pain, would be replaced with exquisite ecstasy. It wouldn’t last long, but that didn’t matter. Nothing lasted long.
The streets of Century City were full of cars, but the slick sidewalks were deserted. No one walked in LA, especially not in the rain.
She did, though. Usually.
Sometimes.
Would she come out tonight?
Come out, come out, wherever you are!
There she was. Suddenly. Too suddenly. He wasn’t ready.
His heart began to pound.
She belted her coat and put her head down against the rain. No umbrella. She was walking fast, crossing the opening to the alley.
‘Help!’ He tried to shout, but his voice was so raspy. Would she hear him? She had to hear him! ‘Help me!’
Lisa Flannagan turned. There was a figure, a man, or maybe a boy – he was tiny – slumped beside some trash cans.
‘Please!’ he called again. ‘Call 911. I’ve been stabbed.’
‘Oh my God!’ Pulling out her phone, Lisa moved towards him, already punching out the numbers. ‘What happened? Are you OK?’
He was bent double, clutching his stomach. That must be where the knife had gone in. She squatted down beside him. He was wearing a hoodie that was soaking wet, covering his face and hair.
‘Emergency, what service do you require?’
‘Police,’ Lisa blurted into her phone. ‘And ambulance.’ She touched the boy lightly on the top of his lolling head. ‘Don’t panic. Help’s on the way. Where are you hurt?’
He looked up and grinned. Lisa felt the vomit rise up inside her. The face beneath the hood wasn’t human. It was the face of a monster, green and rotted, strips of flesh literally curling off the bones and hanging down, like the skin of some rancid fruit. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out.
‘Ma’am, can you give me your location?’
He recognized the terror in her eyes as she crouched over him, open-mouthed. Still grinning, he plunged the blade deep into her abdomen and twisted. Oh, the scream came then all right! Loud and piercing and horrified. He pulled out the knife and plunged again, so hard that his fist followed the blade somewhere deep inside her, somewhere warm and wet and enticing.
‘Ma’am, can you hear me? Ma’am? What’s happening? Can you tell me where you are?’
Dr Nikki Roberts leaned back against the soft leather of her Mercedes X-Class seats and waited for the garage doors to open.
Traffic permitting, she’d be back home in Brentwood in twenty minutes. Another long, empty evening stretched ahead, but she would fill it with mindless television and a bottle of Newton unfiltered Merlot and Ambien and sleep, and it would pass. Everything would pass.
Nikki felt guilty. She’d only been half-present during today’s session with Lisa. Maybe even less than half. That wasn’t fair, whether she liked the patient or not.
The garage doors inched open, agonizingly slowly.
Nikki edged the car forwards, towards the alley.
Doors. Garage doors!
Lisa heard the grinding of mechanical gears and the close, familiar rev of an engine. Blood was pouring from her stomach and chest. Not oozing but pouring, like milk from a jug. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t stand or run. She could only scream, and she did, again and again and again, each time the monster sliced into her arms and breasts and thighs. He wasn’t even trying to kill her any more. At least, not quickly. He was playing with her, like a cat with a mouse, delighting in the agony he was causing, in shredding her perfect body, piece by tiny piece.
The engine grew louder. Hope soared in Lisa’s heart.
Someone’s coming. Maybe it’s Dr Roberts? Please God, let her see me!
She drew in her breath and screamed, surely the loudest scream anyone had ever made in their lives. She could hear her own blood bubbling in the back of her throat and feel her eyes bulge as if they might burst from their sockets. Headlamps swept over her and the monster, lit them up like a stage spotlight.
The stabbing stopped.
So did the engine.
Lisa sobbed with relief. She’s seen me! She heard the monster’s knife clatter to the floor. She could feel her pulse slowing, and waited for her attacker to run, or for the car door to open.
Seconds passed. Two. Five. Ten …
Nothing happened.
