Of ordinary things, and strange ones too: The Day It All Changed

March 05, 2007

The Day It All Changed

A tandem story by Highlander and Tom Q.
Comments on the story as it evolves are very welcome in the parallel comments thread.

Now this post is back on top. Nudge, nudge, Highlander!

Labels: fun, literature

19 Comments:

At 08 September, 2006 11:34, Highlander said…

Scrolling down the comments' section on one of my favourite blogs, my brain registered an interesting turn of phrase. My eyes picked up his name and lingered almost caressingly on it...
At 11 September, 2006 06:51, Tom Q said…

...and at the same time his eyes alighted on the very same turn of phrase. He took a deep breath, steeled himself and then began to type. This, after all, was the first time he had ever ventured into an online blogging adventure, having only recently inherited an old, delapidated laptop from his ex-girlfriend's mother. That was a separate story altogether, however.
At 12 September, 2006 22:25, Highlander said…

The letters on the keyboard of my laptop had faded, 'I should cut my nails shorter' - I thought. But maybe I will not, he used to tell me how much he loved my hands especially when I used his favourite cherry red varnish. I slowly moved the mouse on the 'refresh' button and there it was.... his name again. 'He must be online' , I smiled to myself. I could hear the wind picking up speed outside and was praying that the internet connection would hold. The telephone pole was quite flimsy.
At 13 September, 2006 03:55, Tom Q said…

He could feel her online presence - and as soon as she typed her first words his fingers sprang into action, but he faltered as he had never really learned to touch type - and his mind was moving too fast and his hands could not keep pace. He tried to slow down, decelerate, but the words just jumbled up and crashed into each other like cars on a highway on a foggy night. Even in his haste, he attempted to reduce his typographical errors - the last thing he wanted was for her to think he was just another illiterate webhead...
At 15 September, 2006 19:53, Highlander said…

It seems the pole was sturdier than I gave it credence..and while the connection held on I could feel the tingle in my fingers and a quasi drug induced rush to my head. The thought that at this exact second Justin's eyes -which I had never seen -were looking at the screen made my tachycardia evolve into an excited arrhythmia causing rapid breath symptoms mimicking those of the bird 'Tweetie' when caught in the paws of Sylvester the cat...
At 15 September, 2006 22:56, Tom Q said…

"Hello again", he typed. His fingers paused in mid-air as he hesitated - should he really ask her? He was torn. He knew that his insatiable desire to kill again was urging him on, catching him in a wave of emotions, and the barriers of remorse and shame were not strong enough to force those tidal waters back. He was drowning, and his fingers traced out the message:
"I think we should meet"...
At 17 September, 2006 16:32, Highlander said…

The Nokia tune of my mobile broke the contemplative reverie, and jolted me back into reality.
- "Captain Sarah, boss has asked me to send you the latest documents on the Rundi case, please have a look at them before we proceed further". My secretary Layla was always so efficient, even at this late hour-
- "I must remmember to give her a good performance appraisal this year. Hmmm...let me check the email about the Rundi case" .

Then I saw his message : "I think we should meet"...the same idea had crossed my mind as the most logical next step. However, I had an uneasy feeling which I suppressed as simply due to years of police training and the horrors I'd seen as an officer in the Department of Forensics. This guy seems to be so intelligent and interesting but he was going too fast. I should ask him for his photo - as I am not going to meet him while looking like a fool carrying a green briefcase or a red rose. Those things are for James Bond movies.
And so heart still beating I typed : " why don't you send me your photo and I'll reciproquate the favour ? "...
At 19 September, 2006 00:10, Tom Q said…

He read her reply and paused. The problem with this whole internet approach was that it was new to him. He had always just singled out lonely girls in bars and sated his desire to kill that way, using his charm, numerous disguises and his old beaten-up panel van to achieve his ends. The internet gave him plenty of anonymity - from his bogus email address and false name to his stolen wireless connection courtesy of an unsuspecting neighbour. But he wasn't sure about the photo - that would be hard to fake. He decided upon a suitable plan and responded: "Sure - I will send one over tomorrow - I want to make sure you get a photo of me looking my best".
At 21 September, 2006 01:37, Highlander said…

I was dreaming all through the night of how Justin looked like. "would he be tall or short ? bald or with a full mane of hair ? , would he have gentle hands ? would he be as charming in real life ?".

I had already picked which photo I wanted to send, it will be the one where only my eyes are showing....

And so it was with anticipation that the next day I logged in, "but what if he does not send his photo?" I asked myself....
At 21 September, 2006 17:31, Tom Q said…

The photo was perfect. He knew it. He had often used Old Charlie for fake ID and Passport photos, so Charlie was somewhat bemused when he had heard this particular request. Still, five hundred green buys some fancy photo skills, and Charlie had them and then some. He surveyed the results again. "Damn, I could submit this to a modelling agency", he thought. As an afterthought he had even had Charlie furnish him with a new set of credentials - drivers license, passport, the works - all under the name Justin Winter. It was definitely worth the extra expense, and he never knew when he might need them. He fired up the laptop, smiling wryly as he remembered wresting it from the hands of his ex-girlfriend's mother as she lay dying. "Hi, I am attaching a recent photo of myself - I hope you like it". He typed the message, and clicked send.
At 30 September, 2006 11:46, Highlander said…

An email from Justin Winter was dipslayed in my inbox . "There is also an attachment" I said to myself with my heart racing . " Did he really take up my challenge and send a picture ? Oh let him be just as nice outside as inside" I thought while the file was loading on my screen. There, was Justin, I could not believe my eyes how gorgeous he was, the right amount of muscles , the line of the shoulders and the narrow hips the come hither look in the eyes and the lips to damn a million soul. What was this guy doing being unattached and wanting to meet unknown females, he could walk anywhere and cherry pick the women!".

A little voice at the back of my mind started buzzing intently;"this is too perfect it cannot be true, charm , brains and satanic good looks ? Sarah it cannot be your lucky day there must be something fishy or someone is playing a prank on you ."
- " why would anyone play a prank on me ? so I'm meeting a guy I encountered online and he happens to be very attractive as well as interesting, why can't I be happy? why do I have to find a hidden trap ? Why can't I enjoy the moment? So I suspected him and he proved me wrong and candidly sent the picture. I must send him mine."

Little voice : "hold it don't get carried away, just send him the one you had prepared, if he really cares he will meet you even with half a photo ! Plus it is so romantic and will heighten the pleasure, men like mystery". The little voice won and so I replied "Hi Justin, I hope you will like my 'smile' , how does Friday evening sound to you ? nothing fancy just a pizza." The 'smile' as I called it was my favourite photo it was almost Jocondesque and the professional photographer who had taken that shot had asked for my permission to use it in his advertisements.
At 02 October, 2006 02:51, Tom Q said…

When he saw the photo he smiled. "This one will make a perfect addition to my gallery", he thought. He glanced over at the ruby red wall to his right - it was covered in frames containing the pictures, clothing and personal effects of many of his victims. But his most prized possession was the gilt-framed entomology box displaying assorted body parts pinned to an off-white styrofoam base. It was a pity that his most recent quarry did not have an entry there - in his haste he had moved things along too quickly and had only just evaded the police as he made his escape with her blood still dripping from his hands. He would have to be more careful this time. So he responded "Wow, you look fantastic. Unfortunately pizza is out of the question this week - I have just been called away on business to Latin America and will not be back for 10 days - maybe we can touch base when I return?"
At 10 October, 2006 20:49, Highlander said…

"Wow, you look fantastic. Unfortunately ..." hmmm Justin thinks I look fantastic based on the cropped photo of my smiling mouth? It's flattering but then instead of jumping at the chance to meet he goes on a business trip. I'm not comfortable with this. Justin is behaving differently than the guy who made all those wonderful, witty, intelligent , wise and informed comments on blogs.
Today I feel something has changed.
And so I thought aloud " Stop thinking like a cop, please leave the '101 serial killer' psychology on the shelve and out of your prospective love life. It has ruined too many relationships before. You are making the men to edgy Sarah !" .
- "Keep me informed about how your business trip goes Justin. We can meet for that pizza on the Saturday after you return" I replied .
At 13 October, 2006 16:04, Tom Q said…

So he waited. But he spent his time wisely. He was always meticulous in his preparations and did not like being in the dark on any subject. So he studied reverse IP lookups, internet messaging, message tracing and SMTP header formats. Old Charlie put him in touch with an expert in the telecommunications field, and he spent an expensive but valuable day learning how to hack into servivce providers. He trawled the hacker chatrooms gleaning useful nuggets on electronic identity theft. He furnished himself with a PDA so he could pick up email on the move, all under a flase account, of course. By the end of the week he was ready. He sat in his car and typed a message "Hi, I am back. I would still like to meet up - if you still want to". Then he looked out across the road at a small white cottage with a flimsy telephone pole outside and smiled.
At 24 October, 2006 22:26, Highlander said…

After I sent my message I kept tossing and turning all night. Despite all my vows to stop being suspicious, I could not relax, I felt like there was a piece missing somewhere but what and where?

Since sleep was impossible I thought I would do some work at least.
My eyes fell on the report about the murdered women with horribly disfigured bodies. Sadly the police never received any missing persons notifications about these women.

A few hours later as dawn was breaking I looked from the window.
There, right accross the road from my cottage was a dark green car. 'That's the third time I notice it, I wonder if someone is buying the house nearby hmm or it could it be some burglar on reconnaissance ? no one would be interested in this shack but there are a lot of lovely houses in the neighbourhood.
I better phone the police , they can come and check it out at least.'

'Officer Henry ? this is Sarah, I've noticed a car lurking in the neighbourhood for a couple of days now, can you check it discreetly for me please ? It's parked right accross the road.'

Ten minutes later I watched as Henry stepped out of his police vehicle and walked over to the green stationary car. I could not hear what he and the driver were saying. But I noticed the car pull out hurriedly afterwards.
At 26 October, 2006 01:17, Tom Q said…

He cursed as heard the call come through. That wire tap has just paid for itself in full. He knew she was smart, but he hadn't expected her to get spooked so easily. He shouldn't be surprised - he had been spooked when he had found out who she was. "Imagine stalking the woman who is in charge of the investigation of the crimes you are committing", he murmured to himself for what must be the seventeenth time this week, smirking. "And she's stunning - what a bonus". He shook himself out of his reverie. Fortunately, his discovery earlier in the week had enabled him to prepare for events such as these - there was a reason he had survived so long. When the squad car arrived and Officer Henry tapped on the cold glass window, he was able to put his alternate plan into effect. It was more than enough to convince the beat cop. But the switch of plans meant he had some ground to cover, so he headed off swiftly to work that angle. He glanced over at the cottage as he left - this was going to be a fun ride...
At 14 December, 2006 00:05, Highlander said…

I heard a car pull in front of my driveway, anticipating that it was Henry I went to open the door.

-"Hello m'am , I took care of that chap, it was nothing to worry about, he was looking for a property to buy in the neighorhoud"

I invited him for a cup of hot cocoa, but Henry excused himself and left.

While I was busy with the interlude, I had vaguely heard the incoming email message warning on my laptop. "Yes" there it was , another email from Justin . He was back earlier than planned and suggested we meet.
Hey maybe he is not bad, that was nice of him to return early and get in touch so quick !
"are you online ? " I wrote back ?
"yes" was the reply a few seconds later.
"Ok lets meet tonight at 9.30 pm at the entrance to King's Cross Station and we can decide where to go from there? You will recognize me easily. I'll be wearing a leather pantsuit and a purple scarf"
I was thinking a public crowded place would be safe enough for a first meeting. The guy was hot and interesting despite his strange airs.
Five full minutes passed before she received a reply .

"fantastic - leather ?I did not know you were into dominatrix ! yes 9.30 at King's Cross . You have my photo "

The phone rang it was Simone my best friend. I told her what I was planning to do and we laughed about it .
"I'm going to tease you so much by sms " she said.

I took pains to dress up, I wanted to impress him. Never felt that way for years. Then I drove to the train station, parked my car and took the direct to London.

By 9.30 pm I was emerging from the entrance. I had already learned Justin's features and was scanning the crowd. Then a thought crossed my mind what if it was not his picture ? Maybe he was a pervert or a psycho , or an old man or even a woman ? or somebody playing practical jokes? what if it was a criminal ? a murderer ? My heart was racing and I was now looking at every young man more carefully, and while my eyes were looking out accross the street I noticed a dark green car it looked familiar could that be a coincidence ?

"Hey sexy" whispered a drawling voice, I turned around and looked straight into the most impenetrable grey eyes I have ever seen. "Justin? "
The Justin standing in front of me was not that from the photo, but he was attractive in a kind of ascetic way, thin, tall and muscular, with a shock of blond hair falling in his eyes.
He took me by surprise, but I was determined to have the upper hand ....
At 20 December, 2006 21:35, Anonymous said…

He knew she looked fabulous. She knew she looked fabulous. And she looked even better two hours later, tied blindfolded to the black leather psychologist's couch in the dimly-lit room in the basement of his "safe house", as he liked to call it. It had actually been relatively easy to drug her food in the restaurant, having soaked various pizza-related toppings in the fast-acting narcotic earlier that day, and his explanation that she had celebrated their engagement with too much bubbly earlier in the evening had worked a treat. After switching to his panel van in the Docklands and taking all the usual precautions, including switching off her mobile phone, he had driven her unconscious body via a circuitous route to the sleepy village in the Sussex countryside. The leather pantsuit was swiftly discarded, at which point he let out an audible “phew” at the sight of her in just her underwear. He then enveloped her in a soft, black toweling robe, tied her hands and covered her eyes. It would be at least another hour before she came around, so he retreated to his viewing gallery and watched her via the closed-circuit TV camera. This was the part he always looked forward to – meeting their eyes for the first time once they realised the situation they were in…
At 13 April, 2007 22:01, Highlander said…

When I came around I did not know for how long I was unconscious but I realised immediately the complicated situation I was in. " Oh my God .... Sarah I think you have landed literally in the den of the latest serial killer, it is ironic as you have been following his case so closely... what are you going to do about it ?"

I was blindfolded and tied to some type of bed. The narcotic was now fading and I was trying to think clearly. The first thing was that he should not discover I was awake as he is probably watching me, so I must maintain a steady breathing rhytm. I really had to think about getting out of this alive. What are my options?

My friend Simone knows I have a date and she promised to check on me but that may not be for a while and Justin may have other plans. He has also probably switched off my cellphone so no one can phone me, but I think he is not aware of the internal crystal based oscillator clock which is continuoulsy updated using satellite signals. This means my personal -official issue- GPS tracking system is still functioning and the guys back at the office pinpoint my location up to an extent with a little bit of time delay. "OK Sarah you are not alone, you just have to increase the window of your survival until Simone or colleagues look for you. Hmmm unless you can get to Justin first ..he did look smitten by you earlier in the evening".

So I decided that two could play at this game of cat and mouse and I was not going to be the mouse for sure. " Justin I am so going to kick your ass". I maybe blindfolded but I still have the use of my mouth. That's when I made the conscious decision to smile widely.

"Justin darling ... where are you honey? are you a mind reader ? how did you think I would find this position so hot ? Oh you are even smarter and more suitable for me than I imagined" .

I was waiting for his responses trying not to show how my pulse was racing. I heard the door crack open and steps entering the room.

"I see you are awake...do you know what I intend to do ?"

" Whatever you have in mind Justin, I'm up for it .. I always fantasized about this, but my previous boyfriends chickened out. You on the other hand are a real man and I'm looking forward to our married life toghether ... so what's on the menu ?"

I could hear his sudden surprised intake of air which he suppressed promplty. He walked towards my head and removed the blindfold harshly. I blinked, then as my eyes adjusted to the the dim light in the room I looked up into his eyes and smiled " I love you Justin".
I could see his irises change size while my words registered in his brain. I bet none of his victims acted this way and I vowed I was not going to be one. That's when I noticed a shiny object in his right hand, Justin was holding a knife. I was really scared, not of dying but of being disfigured or tortured but I was determined not to let him see my fear.

" Please please use the knife to cut the rope on my wrists Justin, just like the hero does in the movies" I pleaded.

But Justin used the knife point to push open the front of my robe. The robe was black and soft at least I was not cold in my underwear, but it did set the gleaming alabaster coloured skin well like a jewel box. And if there is anything I know well it is when a man looks at me with desire. A man at that moment is lost and it is up to the woman to guide him if she is smart enough. So while his look and the expression on his face slowly changed I was trying to use this momentum to my advantage. So I whispered "Kiss me ..." while Justin was running the point of his knife from my lips to below my navel, he drew blood from the flesh just below my navel and I bit my lips in pain "Remember this is just a graze" I reassured myself..I could see his mental process, whether to just cut me up, go for the kill or enjoy a little bit of the chase ? He had not detected the fear in me yet so he won't be satisfied until he sees me whimpering and begging for mercy, as long as I am not afraid I would be alive.

"Justin, you do realise that I'm still a virgin do you ? In my line of work you don't get that much time for relationship and then the men are kind of afraid to approach me after a while. It gets so embarassing ..but with you I really can't wait anymore, I want it to be a memorable night.. Did I pass out earlier ? so sorry about that as I'm not used to drinking".

Justin's eyes were narrowing a little as he was reflecting on what I just said, but I was not going to be fussy about these things in order to survive. There is only my wits against his now and he still had the advantage. Justin cut the rope on my wrists brusquely injuring my thumb in the process. It took all the training I had in the anti-terror squad before I moved to this department for me not to scream. Still I held out. He pulled me up sharply and the robe fell, he dragged me to the bed at the other side of the room, and although the light was low I could see how he had carefully folded my leather pantsuit and purple scarf and left my purse next to them I also noticed he had placed my mobile and keys on the table not that they would be of any use anyway, but what I needed was my lipstick.

When we reached the bed, Justin did not let go of the knife but he was almost gentle his upper lip was sligthly twitching so I rose up to kiss him. Then I said " Oh you've brought my purse thank you Justin there is something I need in it , we females are a bit vain as you know and my lips are cracked" I knew he would not suspect me as he had removed what he thought were dangerous items and laid them on the table earlier. So I produced the lipstick. I had two a regular one and the special one blended by those nerds at the toxicology cente of my department. " It had better work" I told myself as this was my last chance, as long as I did not swallow it I would be ok. It contained a venom from the colubrid class of serpents, Alsophis Postoricensis with an immobilizing function. I was told that they had perfected the dose and its effect was similar to curare in paralysing.
I flicked it open and slowly put it on my lips, then I passed my hand through my hair and looked at Justin. " What do you think, pretty my love ? "

"Fabulous , simply fabulous" He replied and threw himself at me. I was afraid, this was not the romantic experience that I had dreamed about or waited for but my life was at stake here so there was no use fighting for any honour since he had no sense of honour, I only needed to make him kiss me passionately long enough. " Please God, make him do that", so I wrestled a bit and got hold of his lips. He pinned my arms back and started savagely to bite my neck all the while the knife was still in his right hand. I made a tiny terrified sound and he doubled his ardour, that's when his beautiful lips grasped mine firmly and started sucking. He let go of my arms only to tear out the underwear, I could feel his right leg trying to push at me. I was struggling with myself that in other circumstances I may have enjoyed this as he was incredibly handsome, but I had to keep focusing.

"Sarah" he breathed , "you know that I'm going to kill you don't you ? " . "Yes, yes, yes I replied please do it" . I was now thinking that the lipstick venom was not working, maybe I did not put enough? , and just as he was once more ravaging my bruised mouth, I felt his whole body stiffen, he raised the knife and planted it in my left arm . I could hear my screams reverberate on the walls of the basement.... I must have passed out from the pain because I woke up what seemed a few minutes later with his body lying seemingly lifeless on top of mine. His eyes were wide open but he could not make a movement. I was not sure if he was dead or if this was temporary. I handcuffed him with the equipment he had plenty in the room and tied his legs toghether and threw a cover at him. I then made a garrot for my bleeding arm and put on that black robe. I took my cell phone and went upstairs to switch it on, after I carefully locked and padlocked the basement door.

"Hello, this is Captain Sarah, get yourself ASAP here, I don't know the address but you can check it from the GPS tracking, I'm injured and we probably have solved the Rundi case along with the others".

My lips were very numb and stiff also, but I was glad for all the antidotes we had to take in toxicology classes. I was looking around the rooms when the mobile rang: "Sarah you are in a tiny village in the sussex and help is on its way.".. 15 minutes later I could hear the sound of a helicopter just as the police burst into the living room. The s.o.b. was going to get a life sentence if he was not dead from that poison.

A bleeping noise indicating an incoming text message made me look at my phone. That's when I saw the sms from Simone "Hey sexy howz mystery lover? ur2 silent having fun :P ;) LOL".