This story actually started out as something much different, but took a turn of its own. First draft, and I'm sure it needs some work, but I hope you enjoy it.
Who Wants To Live Forever"I don't understand, Professor Crims, wouldn't it be better for you to make this assessment?"
Alexander Crims simply shook his head and patted me on the back. "You'll do fine. Just remember not to let him get too close. You're the best I've ever seen, Jamie. Get inside his mind. Find out what makes him tick, but most of all, find out where he put those poor girls."
I stared though the glass at Daniel Desario. It wasn't hard to understand why the girls went with him. The dark curly hair and deep blue eyes. That sexy smile with perfect white teeth. Not to mention a body that made even the oldest woman on the street stop and stare. He was an Adonis. The perfect male specimen. And he was a killer.
"Shouldn't I at least look over the file? Get a feel for his method and why he took these particular girls?"
Sergeant Ames stepped up beside us. "The less you know the more likely he is to open up to you. Talk about the girls and why he killed them. Where he put them."
I glanced back at Desario to find he was looking at me. Straight through the glass, right down to my soul. A shiver ran down my spine, quickly followed by guilt. It wasn't a shiver of fear, but instead a shiver of excitement. One of anticipation. Almost sexual in its intensity. Dear God, what was wrong with me. This man had killed six women, and five of the bodies were still missing.
Picking up my notebook, I took a deep breath and gave Crims and Ames my best "shame on you" look. I felt like a fly caught in the spider's web, waiting for the moment when the poison would enter my bloodstream and life as I knew it slip away. "I hope you know what you doing."
The sound of laughter filled the room when I stepped inside. "Now this is just too rich. I think I've died already and gone to heaven."
Desario's voice shocked me. It wasn't loud and boisterous as I'd expected. Instead it was soft and soothing, with a quiet melody I couldn't quite put my finger on. Much like the sound of birds on an early spring morning.
"Mr. Desario, I'm Dr. Jamie Worthington. I'll be doing your assessment for the court. "
"Have a seat, Jamie. "
My hands trembled slightly as I pulled out the chair. My name had rolled off his tongue with just a little emphasis on the "Ja". The way a lover whispers your name just before he pulls you close and claims your lips in a kiss to die for.
Shaking my head to clear the image that had already started my blood on a slow boil, I opened the notebook and quickly jotted down the date and time, conscious that although we appeared totally alone, at least two sets of eyes were watching our every move, listening to every word.
"They didn't tell you, did they?"
I glanced up from my notes, seemingly calm and in control. "Tell me what?"
"Why you were chosen."
"I assure you, Mr. Desario, I was chosen because of my skills. Nothing more. Nothing less." I spoke the words with a confidence I didn't feel. "Now, why don't you tell me about yourself."
The deep blue eyes darkened. "Why don't we skip the bullshit."
I met his gaze, swallowing hard. I was out of my league. I knew it, he knew it and I had a sneaky suspicion that Professor Crims and Sergeant Ames also knew it.
"So what would you like to talk about?"
Desario smiled, white teeth gleaming. "Ask me what you really want to know. I just might answer it."
The spider was getting closer. Breathing down my neck. "All right. Why did you kill Tabitha Mars?"
He sat back, fingers linked in front of him, eyes locked on my face. Totally at ease. His voice dropped an octave as his eyes darkened in memory.
"I liked to watch her sleep. I could sit for hours watching the soft rise and fall of her bosom as she breathed. The gentle curve of her hip under the sheet. The delicate shadows beneath those long eye lashes. She was an angel of perfection. And that's why I had to kill her."
Desario gave me a dazzling smile. "No one understands. Perfection lasts for such a short time. But I preserve it forever."
Jotting down "crazy, crazy, crazy" I kept my voice steady. "And the others?"
"They were all perfect. Their skin soft as silk beneath my fingers. Hair that smelled like roses. Lips that tasted like wine."
Every word was a caress, washing over me. His voice mesmerizing. His eyes tempting me to explore things I had only dreamed about. He leaned across the table. "I only took what they freely offered."
"You took their life. Was that freely offered?" I had to get back to the job. Back to control before I found myself forever lost inside those eyes, that voice. Before I begged him to take to me too.
"They will remain forever perfect. Forever beautiful. Forever loved. It's what they wanted. What they asked me for."
Closing my notebook I stood up. I'd heard and seen enough to know for sure, and to make my recommendation to the court. The rest was up to Desario. We still had no idea where the bodies of Stacy Newton, Amanda Scarsborough , Katherine James, Beth Turner and Jennifer Strange were. And I knew asking him was a waste of time. He'd never tell me. "Thank you, Mr. Desario. I think we're through."
I walked steadily toward the door, proud that my inner trembling seemed totally masked.
"I'd love to show them to you."
Startled I turned back to Desario. "You'd what?"
He smiled at me, eyes never leaving my face. "I can see you appreciate perfection. I'd like to show them to you. Perhaps then you'll understand why you were here."
I knew Sergeant Ames was watching through the two way mirror. I could almost feel the tension through the glass. Sitting back down I opened the notebook again. "All right. Tell me where they are."
Desario laughed. "I said I'd show them to you." He nodded toward the glass. "I'll even let them come along for the ride."
# # #
The road was long and winding, the house totally obscured by trees. It almost looked out of place, as if it had been transported here from another time. Old and beautiful in a classic Dark Shadows sort of way. No one had spoken since we left the jail. Professor Crims and Sergeant Ames now whispered from the back seat as a group of six armed officers exited the car behind us.
Desario looked at me, his blue eyes darkening to almost black. "Welcome to my home, Jamie."
It was clearly an invitation. One he expected me to smile and warmly acknowledge. His gaze lowered to my breasts, watching the gentle rise and fall setting off a tingling that quickly consumed me. Damn him. He knew his attraction, and he knew how to use it.
"Gentlemen, would you like to come in and meet my family? Perhaps you'll grace us with your presence for dinner."
Crims and Ames exchanged looks before exiting the car. "You try anything funny and the only dinner you'll be having is dirt." Ames slapped the pistol on his hip. "Nothing would make me happier than putting one right between your eyes."
Turning to his officers he signaled them to spread out and start searching the area. "Stay close together. This psycho may not have worked alone."
The night grew quiet. Too quiet. No birds. No crickets. We were in the country, there should have been crickets. Desario turned to me, his voice a mere whisper. "I'd love for you to be a part of my family, Jamie. Stay with me. You'll be loved as you've never been loved before. You'll never grow old. Never wrinkle. You can stay as perfect as you are right now, forever."
I found myself whispering as I answered him. "What do you mean? No one can stay young forever."
He turned his gaze toward the old mansion. "They will."
I followed his gaze as five of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen walked out of the mansion. They could have been sisters, but I knew they weren't. And each of them could have been my sister.
Desario chuckled. "Now you know why they chose you."
They'd used me as bait hoping that Desario wouldn't be able to resist seeing me beside the others. Mentally adding me to his collection. "They're not dead. You said you killed them."
"I took their life and gave them a new one. One where they'll always be perfect."
"You're. . ." I couldn't finish the sentence.
"It isn't what you think, Jamie. If they had left us alone Tabitha would have joined my family, and we would have left with no one the wiser. They interrupted us before the process was finished." He gazed out the window, watching the women approach. "I didn't force any of them to stay with me. I merely gave them a choice."
Ames had pulled his gun. Crims was cowering behind him. "You kill people. What kind of life would that be?"
"We kill in self-defense. They threatened my family. Wouldn't you kill to protect your family?"
I watched as the women disposed of Ames and Crims. I'd expected an eating frenzy or something horrible like I'd seen on the movies. Instead with two swift twists of the neck they dropped the bodies beside the car and stepped back waiting. His hand touched mine sending sparks up my forearm. "You can leave, live out your life, grow old and die." He cupped my chin, his lips close to mine. "Or you can stay with me and never grow old."
My hands moved slightly, one quickly blinking the car lights on and off, as the other reached for the wooden stake just inside my jacket. The sounds of swishing arrows filled the night as I stabbed the stake just below his rib cage and up into his heart. "Yes, Daniel, I would kill to protect my family."
The car door opened behind me and Matthew pulled me out running his hands over my neck, checking for wounds. "You scared the hell out of us."
"I had to be sure she wasn't here." I turned watching as my three younger brothers walked slowly out of the forest. Twins share a bond few people understood, and I could feel Jasmine's pull. For just a moment I'd wanted to join her. Share the world she lived in now. For just a moment.
"Okay, guys, let's clean it up. I heard there were some strange disappearances in Kentucky."
